Are you looking for the best practice amp for metal? Then, you’re in the right place.
One of the most important parts of practicing is the ability to hear how your licks will sound before the gig or before you and your band enter the shed to write some new songs.
It is difficult for metal musicians because it is not easy to find an amp that you can push hard enough to get that “metal” guitar sound while keeping volumes low enough for an apartment or home.
This article is about finding that perfect practice amp. Read on to find the best practice amp for metal.
The 6 Best Practice Amps for Metal:
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Fender Mustang LT-25 (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Fender Frontman 10G (Close Runner-Up) | Check Price |
 | Line 6 Spider | Check Price |
 | Blackstar HT-5R | Check Price |
 | Fender Mustang I V2 | Check Price |
 | Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 | Check Price |
Fender Mustang LT-25 (Editor’s Choice)
This amp incorporates the best features that the brand has learned over the years to produce amazing sounding amps on the earth.
First of all, it is suitable for beginners as it comes with a simple interface. This amp will fulfill your purpose, whether you are a beginner or experienced, well-versed, or still learning.
The group of thirty presets group covers a wide range of music tastes and great hits of guitar tones. Presets can be manually adjusted according to your wish and saved.
It produces good metal tones with a flexible signal chain, and the sound quality effects and output from this practice amp are very warm and solid.
You can create different unique metal sounds with a multitude of onboard effects.
A USB connection allows you to manage firmware updates. With headphone aux, you can practice without disturbing others.
Pros
- Budget-friendly
- Versatile
- Very portable
Cons
- None we could find
Fender Frontman 10G
This is a simple practice amplifier. There are gain and volume controls that take care of the hardness and loudness of the amplifier.
You can shape guitar tone’s low and high frequencies with treble and bass controls. In addition, it features an easy-to-use overdrive or front panel clean switch for thick overdriven distortion.
This amp is small and needs almost no place in the beginner’s bag.
It is solid and of good quality out of the box. All controls are responsive, and this is perfect when you are going on vacation or want to play just getting creative.
Pros
- Great sounding amp
- Perfect size
- Worth for beginners
Cons
- None we could find
Line 6 Spider
Now you can rock out with unlimited guitar tones as this amp comes with more than two hundred amps, effects models, and cabs. As a result, you can virtually enjoy numerous guitar tones. In addition, a new modeling engine comes with a punch of quality uncommon for amps in this category. For original tones, you can mix up to 8 effects.
You can enjoy the additional power as it comes with a speaker system consisting of a high-frequency tweeter and a guitar speaker. Meaning this amp sounds excellent with acoustics, electrics, and music. It gives clear tones.
When you play guitar via this amp, you can save money on an additional amp. Moreover, for a better experience, you can play music through this amp while practicing. There is a special presets line up, and its Rig presets are established from popular albums and songs.
It is packed with many features that you require to practice and perform live to reach the next level. A built-in tuner allows sounding excellent. The metronome keeps riffs on point and in time.
Pros
- Powerful yet simple
- Lightweight
- Decent tones
Cons
- Cabinet quality should be improved
Blackstar HT-5R Amplifier
If money is no object, this is the metal practice amp you must buy. To put it simply, the tone from this amp is perfectly crafted for metal music.
Additionally, it is small and lightweight. On top of that, it is a tube amp and low-powered but has just enough wattage to overdrive those tubes to create the perfect tone.
Unfortunately, being a tube amp, this is a pricey practice amp. It clocks in at just under $500. So what do you get for your money? You get a great practice amp that is also a great recording amp.
It features all-tube amplification with dual-channel (Clean and Overdrive), each with knobs that can help you fine-tune your tone. These channels are foot-switchable. The amplifier also features emulated speaker output (1×12 and 4×12), meaning that you can use it for recording and with speakers and sound like a larger amp.
It rounds out the feature set with a footswitch for changing channels, a headphone output, and a series effects loop.
Overall, this is the best practice amplifier for metal.
Pros
- Small and lightweight while being able to produce an excellent, all-tube tone
- can double as a good recording amplifier
- dual-channels and footswitch
- edgy look
Cons
- Price
- Not much else
Fender Mustang I V2 Amplifier
It is an excellent little amplifier that is made better by its ability to model 17 guitar amps. However, it is not a specialty metal amplifier. So if you are not looking for an amp specifically for metal but the one that sounds good, you may have found your new practice amplifier for your metal music.
The Fender Mustang features 17 amp presets and can edit those presets via knobs “on the fly.” Additionally, it comes with utilizing the unique FUSE software system.
Fender allows you to plug this amplifier into a PC or Mac and do some pretty incredible things. For one, you can dig into the presets and change them to your liking. Two, you can record your licks to your PC or Mac. Finally, FUSE can record you jamming along to your favorite tracks or maybe even practice over a recording of the rest of your band!
I am weary of this software system, though, because if you spend so much time getting your tone right on your practice amp yet cannot reproduce that tone on your gigging amp, I am not sure how much value is there. So take that for what it is worth.
Pros
- Sounds good
- Amp presets are good; some people don’t like them though
- FUSE software
Cons
- A little complicated
- Modeling capabilities may not matter if you have a different gigging amp
Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 Amplifier
It is a “kitchen sink” practice amplifier. That is, it has everything and the kitchen sink built-in. For some people, that will be invaluable. For example, if you are a multi-instrumentalist, you can use this amp for keyboards and guitars.
It also has exciting models for acoustic and bass guitar. So if you play acoustic, electric, and bass guitar, this is a practice amp to look at. It also features models for each instrument type.
There is something about doing too much that can sometimes be a hindrance rather than a help. Unfortunately, the Vypyr can come dangerously close to having too much on board. But, the tones it produces really can’t be argued with; it sounds good.
Peavey has also created a software suite to go with this line of amplifiers to record your playing and modify the amplifier presets.
One thing to note is that different speakers sound right for the different instruments. If you are going to practice bass guitar, you pretty much need the 12″ model.
So, that means you will also be practicing the electric and acoustic guitars on that size speaker. To some people, this may be a big difference.
Like the Fender, this is not a metal-specific amplifier, and because it tries to do so much, the tones it offers may not be the metal tone you are looking for. So test this amp out before you buy.
Pros
- Sounds fine
- Suitable for acoustic, electric, and bass guitar
- Lots of options
Cons
- Modeling amplifiers have a lot of options
- May need to get a larger model if you want to practice bass
- Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none
How to Find the Best Practice Amps for Metal
What Type Of Amp Is Right For You?
As previously stated, it is often challenging to find relatively low volume amplifiers yet allow the sound to be pushed hard enough to produce the edgy tone needed for metal music.
That being said, we are looking for relatively small and relatively low power amplifiers that can be used in apartments, bedrooms, basements and keep your neighbors and family members from screaming at you.
Tube Amplifiers
This type of amplifier is sought after because of the tone that it can produce on its own. There is no need for further sound sculpting via pedals if the tube amplifier is good enough for some people.
But, tube amplifiers run on the higher side price-wise, even for low-power amplifiers. So, if you are looking at tube amps, be warned that the price range may be considerably higher.
Tube amplifiers often require a lot of power to push the tubes hard enough to get them to overdrive. In this case, you will have to be discerning in what tube amp you buy for practice. You want to push the tone hard enough to get the distortion and overdrive you need.
Solid-State Amplifiers
I think for the practice amp that the solid-state amp is most accessible and will allow you a lot of flexibility in the practice room. Distortion and overdrive are created mostly electronically in a solid-state amp, so you can play at lower volumes than a tube amp while getting acceptable overdrive levels.
Another exciting aspect of solid-state amps is their ability to sound like other amplifiers through modeling technologies onboard some models. It is an excellent addition because it is an excellent solid-state amplifier, like buying a few in one.
It is invaluable in the practice room as the experimentation ability you will have on some amplifier models will be limitless.
What Is Size Amplifier Right For Me?
We are considering practice amplifiers, so the main criteria to consider here are your practice space’s size and your proximity to people who might complain about the volumes. For example, if you live alone in a detached house, there may be no reason for you even to consider a practice amplifier.
You need to consider some things if you live with a family or in an apartment,
Speaker Size
In my opinion, the smallest practice amp that sounds good is the best. So, when considering speaker size, go smaller if possible. Smaller speakers will also require less power to drive.
Wattage
Following the previous point, if we purchase a smaller speaker amplifier, we can get lower wattage and still drive the speaker as it was meant to be driven.
But, if we have a tube amplifier, we need to ensure enough wattage to overdrive those tubes. Solid-state amps do not have this consideration.
Weight
I like lightweight practice amplifiers. That opens the possibility of taking the amplifier and practicing when I am not at home.
Recommendation: What’s the Best Practice Amp for Metal?
The best practice amp for metal is the Fender Mustang LT-25, hands down. The only problem is you are going to pay for that tone. However, you get more than enough for practice and recording metal.
If you cannot stretch your budget for that amp, take a look at the Fender Frontman 10G.