Guitar amps come in all different shapes, sizes, colors…you name it. The key is getting the right amp that serves your needs in the best way. For many players, all they need is a small practice-type amp that’ll just get the job done. No need for a full-blown stack costing several thousand dollars just for that!

Fortunately, technology has come a long, long way in recent years. It’s not uncommon to find a wide range of guitar amps that will cost you less than $100 bucks, and a good number of them are pretty killer! What’s not to like about that?

Well…plenty. While some of these amps are great values, others are the definition of the word ‘cheap.’ At KGR we do prefer the term ‘cost effective’, but sometimes you have to call things for what they are. Some of what you’ll find don’t offer much more than poor quality and lousy Tone. So, yeah…in these cases, ‘cheap’ fits the bill pretty well.

With so many small amps on the market these days, how are you to know which ones rock and which ones suck? That’s our job – so sit back, take a few minutes, and we’ll guide you to the best guitar amps for under $100 that we have come across.

Best Amp Under $100: Our Top 3

Best Guitar Amp Under $100 For Rock

Don’t be fooled by its size – the Orange Crush 12 packs a lot of punch, and it’s a great amp that will give you some truly awesome sounds. You may think that small amps can’t handle some good ‘ol rock and roll, but you’d be wrong – and Orange is here to prove that to you. Orange has had a resurgence in popularity recently, and they have done everything they could to take their classic citrus tone and pack it into this 12w little monster.

Best Guitar Amp Under $100 For Metal

The word ‘metal’ conjures up visions of a wall of Dual Rectifiers or classic 5150’s. Got a trick-out for you here – the Blackstar Fly 3 has a ton of fire under the hood, all in a very portable (and ‘cost effective’) package. Yeah, you can melt steel with the right metal amp, and we were pleasantly surprised by how hot the tones dripping out of the Blackstar Mini were. If metal is your thing, this 3-watt beast should be right up your alley.

Best Guitar Amp Under $100 For Clean Tones

You’d think that clean tones are pretty easy to pull off, but that isn’t always the case – especially when dealing with a solid-state practice amp that hasn’t ever seen a tube in its life. With the Acoustasonic 15, Fender has used its reputation as one of the best clean-sounding amp manufacturers to give you one mighty fine-sounding amp for those times when a little dirt just isn’t in the cards. Utilizing some innovative tone circuitry and onboard effects, you’ll find that the Acoustasonic 15 makes getting those pristine clean sounds a pretty easy thing to do.

Best Guitar Amps Under $100: Individual Reviews

Key Features:

• 3-band EQ
• 6-inch custom speaker
• Distinct Orange tone
• Retro Aesthetics

Maybe it’s the manufacturer’s commitment to analog circuitry, or maybe the 6-inch custom ‘voice of the world’ speaker that has been afforded to this 12-watt practice amp that gives it a truly unique set of sounds to fiddle with. Whatever it is, the whole Orange Crush range features some fab rock-era tones. Whether it is cranked-up wails, articulated Brit-pop, rhythmic, funky chunks, or heavy overdrive you are after, there’s something for every taste.

Alongside your standard 3-band equalization, you have an overdrive dial and a gain dial. The overdrive controls the amount of headroom, causing your signal to break up and the gain piles on the dirt and noise until it’s a gravelly mess.

On top of that, you have a volume dial, and you can achieve decent levels for practicing. Alternatively, you can practice with headphones. It has a ¼ inch single-channel input and a ¼ output, this is great if you have a decent set of headphones to use. The port emulates the modeled cabs and sounds awesome.

It doesn’t appear at face value to offer much more than some others we have looked at that sell for half the price, but the quality does speak for itself. Top-notch, non-imported manufacturing, (no shoddy soldering), closed-back cabinet. Instantly recognizable branding with its eye-catching orange basket weave Tolex and woven speaker grille it will stand out and ring out.

Verdict: The Orange Crush 12 packs the distinctive looks and tones of Orange into this hard-working, deceptively loud 12-watt amplifier. 3-band EQ, gain, overdrive a punchy custom speaker, and a cab-emulated full-size headphone port, what more do you want for a hundred bucks? Easily our choice for the best guitar amp under $100 for rock players.

Key Features:

• Mini amp
• 2 channels
• Tape-delay style effect
• ISF
• Battery or DC operation

Producing sound that has to be heard to be believed, at just 3 watts of power, the Blackstar Fly 3 combo amp is something else. For the main part, micro-amplifiers aren’t all that impressive, but Blackstar has given this palm-sized powerhouse the benefits of the same ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) tech that the whole of the rest of their range of amplifiers has.

In terms of decibels, you can’t expect miracles, but sonically speaking is a surprising piece of kit that can sit on a bookshelf. The clean is pretty sweet and has a range of flavors you can dial in with the tone knob. The overdrive is much more impressive, add to that the digitally reproduced tape-delay emulation, and using the ISF nature of the amp, you have access to a smorgasbord of different soundscapes at your fingertips.

It has a solitary full-size jack input and an auxiliary mini-jack for you to jam along to your MP3s. There is also an emulated output mini-jack that you can use for silent practice via headphones. You can hook two of these babies up with the rear-mounted extension port. The Mini-amp functions with a DC power adaptor or 6 AA batteries, so you can use it away from power outlets.

Verdict: As mini-amps go, the sound doesn’t get much better than the Blackstar Fly 3 in terms of creativity. The EQ and tape-delay utilize Blackstars patented ISF, which takes the tone from a focused American style twang to a British crunch. Super-portable, with battery power optional, you can take it wherever you want to. Easily our choice for the best guitar amp under $100 for metal players.

Key Features:

• XLR and TRS inputs
• 3-band EQ and Chorus
• Whizzer cone
• Great articulation

Next up is an amp from Fender featuring a dual input panel that has an XLR input as well as a ¼ TRS that provides a pristine clean tone. You can use the mic-line for singing with a semi-acoustic/ electro-acoustic plugged in.

The dials and inputs are front-facing as opposed to top-mounted, leaving space for a carry handle. This, along with its lighter weight, makes it a highly portable practice amp. Decked out in a tan-colored, textured vinyl with a black, cloth grille, it has a vibe of its own.

The cab is a sealed unit, and the speaker is a combinational array set-up, so the sound is great. As well as the 6-inch standard speaker, you have a smaller ‘Whizzer’ cone that acts a little bit like a tweeter bringing out some of the higher frequencies. This lets your treble end sing out and gives the clean tones a much brighter feel.

Each input channel has a dedicated volume dial, you also have a 3-band EQ and a chorus attenuator. It is 15 watts has great headroom, very little breakup, and is great for shimmering chords and jazzier tones.

Verdict: The Fender Acoustasonic 15 is a beautiful practice amp with a bonus XLR input channel that could serve a busker well. The 6-inch speaker benefits from an additional Whizzer cone that brings clarity to articulate the already clean tones. The chorus dial adds a bit of glimmer and shine. No no-brainer as the best guitar amp under $100 for acoustic players.

Key Features:

• Practice amp
• 6-inch speaker
• Tube-tones
• Appealing price

The Fender Frontman 10G is a starter amp in their series, marketed as a beginner’s model we think it makes a great cheap practice amp regardless of your experience playing. Sporting Fender’s Iconic looks with its silver thread grille cloth and skirted dials, the 10G is an homage to the Blackface amps that came before it.

You have access to tweaking your gain, volume, treble, and bass, in addition to an over-drive select switch to kick things up a notch. Equipped with a 6-inch speaker set in a closed-back enclosure, the bass end of the spectrum is punchy and impressive. The tube emulation is pretty spot-on, you can mess around with it and achieve a host of memorable sounds from the decades that precede it. It has a good amount of warmth for a small, low-watt digital masquerader.

The volume level is ideal for bedroom practice, you can also use the headphone auxiliary to practice late into the night without anyone complaining. There is also a 1/8 inch auxiliary-in to connect modern audio devices.

Verdict: Easy to dial in a range of tube-type tones, the Fender Frontman 10G is far from a beginner’s amp. With an ideal volume for bedroom practice but a capable 6-inch speaker to help push the dirt and crunchier tones, it’s 10 watts of a sweet choice with an affordable price tag that brings unbeatable value. If you’re looking for the Fender sound, this is the best guitar amp under $100 that will get you to that tone.