Best Guitar Amps Under $500 for Indie/Alternative
When it comes to indie and alternative guitar tones there are quite a few styles to choose from. The tones range from glassy cleans to super fuzzy and super ambient. We will let you know which one we think fits best for each tone. Let’s get started.
Boss Katana MKII Series- $249+
In the past few years boss has been stepping up their game with their guitar amps. At first I thought katanas were just a budget guitar amp for beginners and has proven to be way more than that. They offer great clean tones, not too dissimilar to the Roland Jazz Chorus and it’s an amazing pedal platform for fuzz (specifically big muff style fuzzes). A few other great things about this amp is that it has many effects built in that sound near identical to the boss equivalents, it can be used at bedroom volume and it’s super light.
Genre/’s- Shoegaze, Stoner and DreamPop
Artists- My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Slow Dive, Nirvana, Joy Division, The Cure.
Boss Nextone Stage- $479
I know we talk about Boss amps a lot on here. It almost looks like we’re being paid to write about them, but the fact is that they’re just that good. This amp is great if your looking for glassy cleans and warm edge of break up tones similar to boutique amps like Morgan, Divided by 13, Vox and Marshall Plexi’s. This is an amp that your pedalboard will love and the tones from this amp is unbelievable for the price.
Genre/’s- Indie pop, Garage Rock, Psychedelic
Artists- The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, The Stooges, Lou Reed, Libertines, The Kills, U2 and The Killers
Bugera V22- $439
This amp is an affordable all tube amp that has tonal similarities to a classic Vox AC30. It has amazing chime which goes great with ambient tones. What makes this amp even more great is the fact that it is easy to change the tubes, so there is no need to go to a repair shop to get them changed.
Genre/’s- Indie pop, Garage Rock, Psychedelic
Artists- The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, The Stooges, Lou Reed, Libertines, The Kills, U2 and The Killers