Practice amp

A small, low-wattage amplifier intended for playing at home rather than on stage, usually with a modest speaker and limited features.

The current generation often includes modeling, effects and headphone or line outputs, which makes them useful for silent practice and recording as well as for playing in a room. What separates a good one from a poor one is how it behaves at low volume rather than how loud it can get, since the whole point is that it works at levels that will not annoy the neighbours. Small speakers inevitably limit the low end, so voicing matters more than size on paper.

Example: a small modeling amplifier with a headphone output lets a player work on parts at midnight without waking the household.

Practice amp

See also