If You’re Considering Purchasing Your Own Home Guitar Amp - Part 3: Tube Amp Edition

“Electric guitars need to be played through an amp!”
With that mindset, I wrote in this last blog and the one before that.
This time, I would like to talk about tube amps that can be used at home.

As I’ve mentioned before, a common question we get is:
“The Fender Blues Junior is 15W—can it really be used at home?”

FENDER / Blues Junior IV, Black, 100V JPN

The answer to that question is both YES and NO.
If you're in a situation where you can play at a reasonable volume at home, then yes, you can use it for home practice.
However, if you're living in a one-room apartment, using it at home would be difficult.
Since the volume people can play at home varies from person to person, I can't give a resounding "YES" answer to everyone

There's a well-known 5W practice tube amp called the Fender Champ:

FENDER / '57 Custom Champ Guitar Combo Amp

Some people might think, “5W? That must be super quiet!”
But once you actually try it, you'll find it puts out surprisingly loud volume.
There are even stories of people not being able to use it in an apartment because it was too loud.

Many older tube amps can be difficult to use in environments where only low volume is allowed.
This is because vintage-style tube guitar amps often produce a certain level of volume as soon as the volume knob is turned up from zero, even just slightly.

Also, tube amps rated at around 5W are known as single-ended amps, meaning they use only one power tube in the power amp circuit.
Compared to push-pull amps (which use two power tubes in Class AB configuration), single-ended amps tend to have more low-level hum or noise.
This is kind of like the difference between single-coil and humbucker pickups—though I’ll just skip the technical details here. Just keep in mind that this can happen.

With many amps that are reissues of vintage models, even the design-related noise is faithfully reproduced, just like the originals.
So while that subtle noise might not bother you when trying it at a music store, it's common to hear people say, “Once I got it home, the noise became really noticeable!”

For this reason, modern tube amps released in recent years often have advantages:
They can produce lower volumes and tend to have less noise, making them better suited for home use in some cases.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some tube amps available at Sound House that are well-suited for home playing.

MARSHALL / DSL1C Guitar Combo Amp

This is an amp that lets you enjoy the classic Marshall tube tone at just 1 watt!
The volume can be turned down significantly, making it an excellent option for use in environments where you can’t make much noise.
For those who love the Marshall sound, this is one of the best amps for home use.

SUPRO / Delta King 10 Tweed & Black

This amp also allows you to lower the output volume.
It delivers a vintage-style sound while also being equipped with modern features that offer great ease of use as well.

Laney / CUB-SUPER12 Guitar Combo Amp

Although this amp is rated at 15W, it has a wide volume range, allowing for low-volume practice.
There’s a 1W mode on the input side, which helps further reduce volume (note: it doesn’t convert the amp to a true 1W model).
Since it’s a 15W tube amp with a 12-inch speaker, it might even be suitable for live performances, as long as extremely high volume isn’t required.

PLAYTECH / NOVA Tube Combo 5W

While I was writing this article, PLAYTECH released a new tube amp.
Many of the 5W tube amps released by various manufacturers are often based on the Fender Champ, and this model is no exception. It uses a 6V6 power tube, making it a very Champ-inspired amp.
It also features a 1W switch, which allows you to reduce the output volume, making it highly practical for home use (note: this doesn’t make it a true 1W amp).
As an entry-level amp for experiencing the clean tone of tube amps, this could be a great choice.
Let me know if you want a summary of all the amps mentioned or help deciding which one fits your needs best.

PLAYTECH / NOVA Tube Combo 15W

Although this amp is 15W, it also has a 1W switch, which allows you to reduce the volume, making it very practical for home use.
The 5W version I mentioned earlier only has volume and tone controls, so it doesn't distort at low volumes.
However, this 15W model can produce a fair amount of distortion.
The distortion isn't the heavy metal type, but rather it’s more suited for rock and blues.
Additionally, since it’s equipped with a 12-inch speaker, it could also be used for small-scale live performances.

So, I’ve introduced several guitar amps available at Sound House.
Speakers like 12-inch or 10-inch models are originally designed to produce loud sound, so even if the volume can be turned down, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll sound good at low volumes.
For truly low-volume playing, speakers under 8 inches are generally more suitable.

That said, as mentioned in the product descriptions, models equipped with 12-inch speakers can potentially be used for live performances as well. I say “potentially” because the necessary volume varies depending on the band’s overall sound and the venue, so it’s hard to make a blanket statement. These days, there are live bars that host weekend gigs, so for those who frequently perform at such places, amps like these could be quite practical.
Back when I lived in my hometown, I often played live at places like these myself—so I’m considering writing more about this topic in a future post.

I hope this has been helpful for those looking to enjoy the classic tube amp sound at home!