How to Choose Your First Guitar Amplifier
Buying your first guitar amp is a big moment. It’s the piece of gear that determines how you sound, how inspired you feel, and how quickly you improve. Choosing the right one can make learning more fun — and choosing the wrong one can leave you frustrated.
Here’s a clear guide to help you pick the perfect first amplifier, with a practical look at where a more serious amp like the Wretched Beast 50W sits in the journey.
Step 1: Decide Where You’ll Be Playing
This is the most important question:
Are you practicing at home?
A small 10–20W combo (solid-state or modeling) is usually ideal.
They’re lightweight, affordable, and quiet enough for apartment use.
Planning to rehearse with a band?
You’ll need at least 30–50W and a speaker that can keep up with drums.
Eventually playing shows?
A good tube amp becomes worth the investment — reliable, loud, and inspiring under stage lights.
This is the environment where a gig-ready amp like the Wretched Beast 50W is built to excel. It’s not a “first amp,” but it’s the kind of amp many players upgrade to within a year or two once they need serious volume and clarity.
Step 2: Choose Between Tube, Solid-State, or Modeling
Tube Amps
Best tone and feel
Loud enough for gigs
Require occasional maintenance
A tube amp like the Wretched Beast 50W offers the most authentic sound, but it’s generally more than a beginner needs. Still, some serious first-time buyers choose to “buy once, cry once,” getting a real tube amp from the start.
Solid-State Amps
Affordable
Low maintenance
Great for home use
Modeling Amps
Tons of tones
Built-in effects
Perfect for experimenting
Step 3: Consider Features You Actually Need
Beginners often get overwhelmed by long feature lists. Here’s what matters:
Master volume (lets you practice quietly)
Headphone jack (late-night playing)
Aux input (jam with YouTube or Spotify)
Simple EQ (bass, mids, treble)
For future gigging, you’ll want:
Effects loop
Higher wattage
Durable construction
These are areas where pro-level amps like the Wretched Beast 50W begin to shine — it’s built for the long haul and for real-world gigging.
Step 4: Match the Amp to Your Style
Metal / Hard Rock → High-gain tube amp or modeling amp
Blues / Classic Rock → Tube combo
Indie / Ambient → Modeling amp with lots of clean effects
Punk / Hardcore → Simple, loud, reliable tube amp
The Wretched Beast 50W is voiced for heavier styles, so it’s a natural upgrade once players move past early practice amps.
Step 5: Plan Ahead
If you’re committed, it can actually be cheaper to skip the “starter amp” and go straight to something you’ll use for years. Many guitarists buy a small 10W amp, outgrow it within months, and end up buying a gig-capable amp anyway.
That’s why some new players jump directly to a full-featured tube amp like the Wretched Beast 50W — it’s powerful but still controllable at lower volumes with its master volume, making it a long-term investment.
Final Thoughts
Choosing your first guitar amplifier doesn’t need to be complicated. Start with where you’ll play, what style you love, and how loud you need to be. Then match those answers to the right type of amp.
Beginners can start small, but keep your future in mind — and when you’re ready for a true performance-grade amplifier, something like the Wretched Beast 50W becomes a natural next step.