Headphone Guitar Amp Review

time Posted March 1, 2011 * Comments(0)

To practice guitar quietly you need a “headphone guitar amp”.  In the privacy of your own bedroom or basement you can have an entire Marshall stack between your ears!  There are bunches of headphone guitar amps on the market right now, and many are just, well….very cheap!  That’s why we recommend a couple different units for you to check out..

It’s not just a chinsy personal guitar amp, it’s a “modeling” headphone amp.  It’s got effects that include Reverb, Chorus, and Delay.  It even has Phaser, Tremelo, and Wah!  In as far as amp models you can get a jazz combo all the way up to balls out metal crunch. 

The Vox Amplug

The first one is the “Vox Amplug“. The first time I saw this a friend brought it band practice. He actually had purchased a Vox amp, and got this headphone amp for free with it. He lived about an hour away from our practice space, and he came right from work to practice. His work was 30 minutes from his house, so he didn’t want to go home and load up all his gear (traveling one way in the car) and then double back to practice (traveling another way in the car). And he didn’t want to leave his amp his car all day. So he used to leave one guitar in the practice space, and then bring this headphone amp in his pocket.

I thought it was pretty funny, actually, at first. He would plug his guitar into the Vox Amplug, and then we’d use a 1/4″ to 1/8″ converter and plug it directly into the PA. Guess what – it worked just fine! I was always amazed with the preset channels how easy it was for him to just plugin and go. He could sound like Red Hot Chili Peppers one minute, and Metallica the next. This unit I personally recommend for bedroom practice or situations like the one we had at practice. It’s nice because it plugs directly into your guitar, and you plugin the headphones into that. As an added bonus, it has a mp3 or 1/8″ aux input – so you can plug your mp3 or CD player and practice alone with the music!

Vox Amplug Classic Rock Headphone Amp

You might be able to find one used on eBay too:

Vox amPlug - AC30 (Headphone Amp, AC30)
USD 9.98 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-28 03:14:33
VOX AMPLUG CLASSIC ROCK PLUG IN GUITAR HEADPHONE AMP
USD 39.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-29 18:24:18
Vox amPlug - AC30 (Headphone Amp, AC30)
USD 39.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 18:02:08
Vox amPlug Acoustic Headphone Amp
USD 39.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-25 01:37:35


Rockman Guitar Ace

My next choice would be the Rockman Guitar Ace. I don’t know how long they’ve been making this model, but I can remember Rockman headphone amps as far back as the 80′s. I don’t know for sure, but they might have been the first to make a guitar headphone amp. In any event, these are awesome units, they remind of of an 80′s walkman tape player. The only caveat here is with the Rockman you don’t have as many settings as the Vox Amplug. You get compression, volume control, and clean, or semi or heavy distortion.

Rockman Guitar Ace Headphone Amp

ROCKMAN BASS ACE headphone practice amplifier amp new
USD 104.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 19:22:09
ROCKMAN - Bass Ace, Headphone Amplifier
USD 74.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-25 01:47:56
ROCKMAN GUITAR ACE headphone practice amplifier amp new
USD 104.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 23:16:24
Dunlop Rockman Guitar Ace Headphone Amplifier GA
USD 114.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-24 04:31:25


C Tech Pocket Rock-It S1

The last recommendation is the C Tech Pocket Rock-It S1 headphone amp. It’s a little cheaper than the rest, and it has a 1/4″ jack right on the back so it plugs right into your guitar. The advantage of this is that you can now plug your headphones into that, and you don’t need a cord at all to practice. It has the least features of the 3, but you do get one clean and 2 dirty channels, with EQ sliders for highs and mids. It’s a good deal for about $35 new.

C Tech Pocket Rock-It S1 Standard Guitar Headphone Amp

If for some reason you didn’t like one of those 3 – like I said there are cheaper headphone amps out there, and you can get good deals on most of them on eBay – check out these auctions too…

NEW HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER FOR GUITAR & BASS FREE SHIPPING
USD 29.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-24 23:40:38
Joyo Mini Guitar Pokect Headphone Amp Amplifier Metal
USD 16.58 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-29 03:52:18
ROCKMAN BASS ACE headphone practice amplifier amp new
USD 104.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 19:22:09
Dean Headphone Amp Stack In A Box Practice Amplifier
USD 49.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 19:22:18
Vox amPlug - AC30 (Headphone Amp, AC30)
USD 39.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 18:02:08
Dunlop Rockman Bass Ace Headphone Amplifier Amp BA
USD 114.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now
End time: 2012-02-23 19:46:24

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