What is the best 50-watt guitar amp? We know the right answer and will help you get all the essential information for a good buying decision.
A quality guitar amp will always be an important component in/of your audio set- up apart from the instrument itself. Though it sounds pretty ironic, it’s a fact that the amp influences the overall sound more than the instrument.
To be specific, the guitar amp you choose will have a greater impact on the ‘tone’ for the most part compared to your guitar.
And zeroing in on your ideal guitar amp is usually more challenging than finding the right guitar. A high-quality amp makes even an inferior instrument sound extraordinary, while a substandard amplifier will make your Stratocaster sound mediocre.
This article looks closely at some performance-driven, heavy-duty 50W guitar amps that are good both for gigs and home practice.
The 4 50 Watt Amplifiers
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Fender Mustang LT-50 (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Ampeg Rocket Bass (Close Runner-Up) | Check Price |
 | Vox Adio Air GT | Check Price |
 | BOSS KTN-50-2 Katana-50 | Check Price |
Fender Mustang LT-50 (Editor’s Choice)
The Mustang LT-50 is an exemplary embodiment of the level of specialization and expertise that Fender has achieved over decades of manufacturing top-quality guitar amps. Putting out a hefty 50 watts of power, the Fender Mustang L-50 comes reinforced with a 12” speaker, an ensemble of electric guitar tones, a full-color display, and a user-friendly interface.
No wonder the Mustang LT-50 is the go-to guitar amp for many players looking to practice comfortably at home or enthrall diehard fans at gigs.
The Mustang LT-50’s resourceful signal chain is reinforced with topnotch guitar effects and onboard amp sections model, ensuring the output of mesmerizing tones. In addition, Fender offers a TONE 3.0 app that guitarists and bassists can download for free on their PC or Mac desktop for storing, editing, and managing presets effortlessly. Players can also easily access plenty of exhilarating and stimulating presets from the TONE community of Fender.
If you’re looking for a user-friendly, flexible, performance-driven, and supremely affordable modeling amp, then don’t look beyond the Mustang LT-50. This compact Mustang LT-50 modeling amp comes equipped with 20 of the “greatest-hit-amps” of Fender, covering a range of musical styles and tones. In addition, the Mustang L-50 as a key member of Fender’s Mustang amp family comes preloaded with 30 exclusive factory presets with room for 30 users presets.
The Mustang LT-50 features an auxiliary-in and a headphone output for practicing silently in the comfort of your home. In addition, a specially designed built-in 12” speaker goes a long way in producing high-decibel sounds sure to keep your audience enthralled. To say last but not least, a USB interface helps players with patch loading and preset management.
Pros
- 50-watt combo guitar modeling amp featuring single 12” Fender Special Design guitar speaker
- Simple UI (user interface) with 1.8” color display
- Scores of preset tones for customized tone shaping
- Intuitive USB interface renders recording output and firmware updates a breeze
- Output for stereo headphones enables players to practice silently in private
- Responsive chromatic tuner for tuning your instrument with ease
- Multiple onboard effects such as multiple distortions, modulation, octave, delay, reverb, overdrive, and compression effects
- Compatible with 20 different amplifier models, including vintage -and latter-day high-gain amps
Cons
- Not quite suitable for bigger and medium-sized gigs and live shows, but it’s obvious for any 50-watt guitar amplifier.
Ampeg Rocket Bass
The RB210, 2×19, 50W Ampeg Rocket Bass Combo Amplifier features gorgeous drop-dead and delivers classic Ampeg tones for gigging players. Aficionados of Ampeg’s 1960s Rocket Series amps will warm up to the proprietary sparkling grille textile and the RB-210’s black diamond wrap. On the other hand, both professionals and amateurs will love to take along the Rocket Bass with them thanks to the amp’s universally-acclaimed snarl and punch.
Guitarists will find it incredibly easy to create phenomenal basslines with any instrument in their armory owing to the amp’s 3-band EQ, Legacy preamp, extraordinarily voiced ported Eminence speakers, and ultra-low/high tone switches.
The Rocket Bass is integrated with patented ‘Super Grit Technology’ (SGT) controls that help register a soft-to-warped overdrive, eventually allowing you to tag some sustain to leads and gnash to rhythms. In addition, the Rocket Bass easily adapts to hot-rails active humbuckers or passive single-coil pickups owing to the dual 0dB and -15dB instrumental inputs positioned directly on the front panel.
The Ampeg RB-210 Rocket Bass guitar amp is a charismatic road performer and a versatile studio buddy enabling bassists to impress their fans at gigs and record tracks at studios effectively. The perfect coordination of 50 W output, amenable high-frequency horn, and a pair of 10” ported Eminence speakers ensure dynamic performance.
The combo effects loop furnishes more options for plugging-in rack effects and compression pedals into your signal, while the SGT footswitch provides a 2nd channel for use in real-time.
This combo guitar amplifier is also reinforced with a post-EQ/-volume/-loop XLR balanced output to arrest your stage tone’s quintessence. This functionality allows players to go directly to a recording or mixer interface and use an ext speaker, especially in settings where you’ve to ventilate some air. In addition, a 1/8” headphone output and a 1/8” aux input come in handy for practicing quietly in private.
Pros
- 500W combo amp with two Eminence 10” speakers in a ported cab
- SGT overdrive adds excellent sustain to leads and grate to the rhythm
- Balanced XLR output nourishes a wet signal for feeding into a recording medium or soundboard
- Vintage architecture with state-of-the-art features
Cons
- Many players have reported that the SGT circuitry is subpar
Vox Adio Air GT
The Adio Air GT 50W 2 x 3Bluetooth Modeling Guitar Combo Amplifier from Vox is versatile for live performance, recording, and practicing. The Air GT efficiently replicates your preferred guitar tones by incorporating a comprehensive and impressive array of amp models and class-leading accurately voiced effects.
The 50W Adio Air GT amp features a pair of 3” stereo speakers housed inside a specially designed cab belt out everything from clean vintage harmonics to the AC30’s time-honored crunchy tones.
The high-class internal components and the heavy-duty adaptable circuitry of the Adio Air GT guarantee an unparalleled listening experience when matched with a smartphone, tab, or any other audio playback device.
The Vox Adio Air GT features a Bluetooth MIDI interface, enabling you to regulate the amp from your preferred device wirelessly. At the same time, players can take the Air GT amp anywhere they want to for a stellar performance owing to the functional add-ons like battery power, aux-in, and USB output.
This lightweight and compact amp delivers 50W of booming stereo output punch well above its weight. In addition, the Adio Air GT featuring two 3” speakers reproduce sonorous tones that never get overly loud, thereby guaranteeing an unprecedented listening and playing experience. Thanks to Adio’s remarkably high output, players feel equally at home using the amp in gigs as well as for practicing at home.
This small but very well-built 50W amplifier from Vox will be a great guitar practice companion for you.
Pros
- The most versatile modeling guitar combo amp for performing, recording, and practicing
- Dual effects modules with modulation effects coming into play before delays and reverbs
- A pair of 3” speakers exploit 50W power output for vibrant tones
Cons
- It feels incredibly light and flimsy
Boss KTN-50 Katana-50
The state-of-the-art combo guitar amp in the revered line of Boss’s Katana Series amplifiers, the KTN-50 MKII, takes your guitar’s soundstage to the next level. An immensely powerful guitar amp, the Boss Katana-50 comes equipped with a versatile 12” speaker pumping out 50W of thumping power. So regardless of whether you’re an acoustic or an electric guitar specialist, you can create your signature tones from scratch.
Cab-style monitoring and output enable the KTN-50 amp to perform effectively but silently in live concerts and recording studios. In addition, you can make the most of every conceivable tune in your armory thanks to the multi-channel footswitch furnishing hands-free access remotely.
The incredibly advanced Katana-50 MKII comes in perfectly handy for making your core set up enormously powerful, equipping the platform with more features, additional effects, and better sound.
The upgraded all-new Katana-50 features five exclusive amp characters, each having novel voiced variations and five distinct effects modules where every module features three variations. In addition, this guitar amp’s utility has received a massive boost in the form of upgraded editor software, power amp input for multi-FX, modelers, and various other upgrades.
The Boss Katana-50 MKII not only outshines as a standalone amp but outperforms as a power-driven cab for a high-end preamp, multi-effects pedalboard, or modeler. You can harness the Tube Logic power section straightaway by hooking up the Power Amp at the rear panel-in jack to bypass the amp’s preamp and effects.
Alternatively, you can easily optimize the input for pairing with your specific gear through an adjustable gain and a high-pass filter, courtesy of the Boss Tone Studio.
The class-leading KTN-50 MKII comes equipped with the same features and core tones as the 1st generation of Boss amps. In addition, the five elementary amp characters of Katana-50 provide guitarists with everything, including natural vintage tones to contemporary high-gain sonic, together with an immaculate voice optimization for acoustic-electric bass.
Boss’s proprietary Tube Logic support enables the Katana MKII to replicate the true output distortion attributes of vintage valve or tube amps, making the sound more responsive and rich as you boost the volume.
Nevertheless, the Katana has the edge over its vintage tube counterparts in that this combo guitar amp’s variable ‘Power Control’ allows players to keep things under control without sacrificing sonic quality. Another noteworthy and practical feature of Katana MKII is that the amp lets you back up your preferred effects setups and amp characters in Tone Setting memories for immediate recall.
You can make the most of a total of four tone settings selecting straightaway from the onboard panel.
Pros
- 50/525/0.5W 1 x 12” guitar combo amp with five discrete effects modules and five amp voicing
- Four slots for tones
- 60 onboard effects encompassing three enthralling reverbs, a trio of boost voicings, three ‘FX’ features including a smart envelope follower, octave down, and tremolo
- Rear panel USB (type B), footswitch for hands-free operation, headphones/recording output, power-amp input, and stereo aux input
Cons
- Limited effect switching options (thus requiring to use an external pedalboard or buying the 100-watts model)
Is A 50 Watt Amp Good Enough?
An amp’s wattage rating makes a world of difference depending upon whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting. Selecting an amp with an appropriate wattage is challenging for a beginner and quite perplexing for pros. If you’re a member of a peripatetic band, you’ll want to go for amps that are audible amongst amps used by other band members.
We have written a lot about small amplifiers, so there is no sense in repeating everything. So, first, we would recommend you to read our articles about low-watt amps in general and amps for bass practice specifically. You will find many valuable thoughts and tips regarding the use of such amplifiers IRL.
What can we say about 50-watt amplifiers? FiftyFirst, watts is not enough for big events; it’s a size of an amp for a small venue or garage/home practice or some types of recording.
Generally, 50-watt amps are not quite suitable for any metal subgenre because you definitely can’t get a lot of bass from such an amp. However, blues, jazz, or country sound great with a decent 50-watt amplifier.
Final Thoughts: The Best 50 Watt Amplifier for Practice
We collected and reviewed all the essential information about the top four small guitar practice amps available on the market at the moment. All models are good, and you can pick any of them to pair with your guitar.
However, the model from Fender is probably our winner in terms of both price and versatility. It’s the best 50-watt amp on our list.