As a guitarist myself, I can assure you that the statement “you can never have enough pedals'' has much truth to it. You really can’t have enough of these bad boys. A multi-effect pedals help you in creating different tones which may be required to cover a specific song or just trying out new effects, broadening your musical horizons. Now let's see about what an best amp in a box pedals is.
A best amp in a box pedals, or AIAB for short, emulates the preamp section of an actual amp, often modeled after famous amplifiers. So you don't have to carry your amp for small events or rehearsal sessions. Today, I shall provide you with a list of the best amp in a box pedal, I could find.
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8 Best amp in a box pedal review
1) Fender Champion 20
PRODUCT DETAILS
Fender is a well known and respected company in the music industry, mostly known for its guitars, basses and best amp in a box pedals. Today, I have with us the entry-level Fender Champion 20 amplifier. This practice amplifier has a host of features that one would not expect at this price point especially from a brand as respected as Fender.
This amplifier has 20 watts of power and an 8” fender speaker with a single channel and input. This amplifier lets you shape and modify its sound with an array of effects and has an equalizer section which allows you to adjust the bass and treble.
A nice feature of the champion 20 is that it allows you to plug-in an mp3 or anything music players through an auxiliary and lets you jam along, while also providing you with the ability to shut of speakers and jam using your headphones, making it easier to practice at night or in loud-environmental settings.
Coming to the key features, the ones that make this amp special is that at the turn of a knob, 17 various amp models suited for almost all genres of music.
For example, one of the best amp in a box pedals models, Tweed, creates the tone of older fender amplifiers while the Metal mode increases the gain and makes the tone mean and perfect for playing some Death.
Another great selling point of this amplifier is that it comes with in-built effects, neglecting you that urgency to purchase a pedal. This helps save some extra cash, add a twist to your original composition or lets you cover that song perfectly, you can’t cover a Metallica solo without that Wah effect.
With a tap, you can adjust your delay and tremolo amount. At this price point, this is easily one of the best amplifiers out there and its a surprise the number of features they offer whilst maintaining the kind you’d expect from Fender.
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2) BOSS RC-3 Loop Station Pedal
PRODUCT DETAILS
The successor, the improved version of the BOSS RC-2, the BOSS RC-3 packs a solid punch. The RC-2 only offered about 16 minutes of mono recording time while the RC-3 offers around 3 hours! Now, that’s an improvement!
The RC-3 is USB 2.0 compatible allowing you to connect to a PC and import/export WAV audio without much hassle and has 99 slots available for your backing tracks.
This really makes jamming seem effortless has now you can just add your tracks without worrying about deleting the previous ones to enter a new one. The RC-3 also houses a feature called “auto-record” and it does what you would imagine, it automatically starts recording when you start playing.
The Aux-in allows you to record external stereo audio sources and turn them into loops so that’s neat. This best amp in a box pedals also has some pre-set drum tracks. Specifically, it has 10 drum tracks. Now, that may be enough for you, maybe not. Nonetheless, you can always add more pre-recorded loops.
I understand that is a hassle to some extent, but if you really want to add new ones, that’s the only way otherwise, you are better of looking for other options. The drum tracks feature genres like Latin, R&B, Rock and more.
A feature you might appreciate is true stereo I/O for all you guitarists out there that like to incorporate external stereos. It creates some noise, but it’s negligible for practicing at home or local gigs, however, if you’re kinda OCD about any kind of extra sound, this might be an issue for you. This has my stamp of approval.
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3) Behringer Vintage Tube Monster VT999
PRODUCT DETAILS
Behringer has created this Monster of a stompbox in order to replicate that warm sound you got from a 12AX7 vacuum tube and it did it right. Right out of the box, you would notice that the VT999 is big! Almost too big, like it did not have to be that big. Okay, kinda pushing it but it is larger than I expected.
This best amp in a box pedals comes with its very own power supply as batteries are not a practical option for this thing as it drains a lot of power.
However, what matters is the sound. The pedal delivers powerful sound which is very versatile. Providing you with warm blues to a subtle overdrive to mind-numbing distortion.
This thing sounds great, I preferred the lower gain settings more as I found it sounds best for classic rock and blues, however, you can go high gain and get some good heavy distortion as well.
The EQ controls on this, are ingenious, It has, instead of a traditional 2, 3 knobs! Each one for Treble, Mid, and Bass. Now, what the big deal here is that it allows you to tweak the sound more precisely and aids you in finding that sweet spot you probably are looking for.
It also has a knob for gain and master volume. VT999 offers an integrated and switchable noise gate with an adjustable threshold to keep the sound noise-free, though honestly, the pedal, in itself, does not create a lot of noise. As one would expect, the pedal has a mechanical hard‑bypass footswitch.
Oh, it also has a status LED, so that’s nice. Overall, this pedal is much suited for those wanting to get that classic blues or rock tone but it can handle almost anything.
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4) JHS Double Barrel V4
PRODUCT DETAILS
This pedal is for all those lovers of tone that comes with a low-to-medium gain. This tone-stacking pedal offers you a low-to-medium gain setting that just doesn’t get any better.
This pedal doesn’t have that death metal distortion, but it does work fantastically for those wanting an old-school tone with stacking abilities. Made of 2 parts, the right side is the Moonshine V2. It is different than the rest and is tweaked to sound like one of the most famous overdrive tones ever created.
It offers you that sick crunch you need for riffs and overdrive for solos. Essentially the same as V1, however, with some improvements. A knob for ‘Clear’ is provided to get that perfect tone.
The right side, the Morning Glory V4, is the best selling pedal of this line. Based on an overdrive, known for its transparent gain and touch dynamics, purple-and-gold. The control on these is simple to easy and stacking is very simple. If you want a crunchier tone, add Moonshine into Morning Glory for added gain.
There is a lot of customization available allowing you to achieve that perfect tone which you are looking for. You cannot go wrong with this best amp in a box pedals.
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5) Wampler Tumnus Deluxe Overdrive Pedal
PRODUCT DETAILS
This full-sized pedal by Wampler is a 100w beast that is a full-sized version of its predecessor the Wampler Tumnus which was a tiny, Klon-clone, pedal that nailed the legendary tone of that pedal.
The Wampler Tumnus Deluxe isn’t just as good, it is better. It delivers the same, mean, gritty tone we have come to expect from it. Being a 100w pedal, it can handle all kinds of venues.
The few additions that are present on the deluxe model have only made an already great product better. The new 3 EQ is one of the additions to the deluxe model over the original.
It hosts a treble knob like the original, allowing you to get the higher frequencies, while the other 2, mid and bass, can cut or boost the frequencies you want.
At the flip of a side-mounted switch (Buffer switch), you are provided with tonal clarity and true bypass performance. You can use this pedal with your amp for a boost, with another pedal and as a stand-alone overdrive, however, you may choose to use this, you will be impressed and satisfied with the tone it provides.
Wampler has released several “amp in a box” and they are known that have amazing sounding pedals, so a quality sound is expected and delivered. This pedal, like their rest, is a hand-built and high-quality standard. This best amp in a box pedals is excellent and I personally did not find any flaw in it.
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6) Friedman BE-OD Overdrive Pedal
PRODUCT DETAILS
Okay, I really thought Marty Friedman had something to do with this pedal, but apparently not. However, I have seen Tosin Abasi from Animals as Leaders using it so it got my attention. The BE-OD pedal is supposed to replicate the legendary tone of their Friedman BE-100 amplifier.
Delivering you that Authentic British Overdrive Tones, this thing is as advertised. This best amp in a box pedals has all the controls you need and controls that were there on the amplifier: Volume, Gain, Tight, Presence, Bass, and Treble. This thing is again beast! You can take it slowly with some nice, subtle gain to absolutely melting your face.
You get that metal, “chug-chug” sound and I played some heavy metal riffs with some pinch harmonics and oh boy, was it a pleasure playing.
The pedal is well built and the knobs feel secure along with offering you customize as you please to get your desired tone. The only problem I faced was that being a high-gain pedal, so it is not surprising, this thing is noisy and it lacks a mid knob.
Other than that, I could not find any noticeable issues that are worth mentioning. The tone on this sort of goes past the point of being “overdrive” and rather becomes “distortion” which I, as a metalhead, had no problems with but again, that can be tweaked. You can’t go wrong with this one.
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7) Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI Effects Pedal
PRODUCT DETAILS
Bassist, I got something for you. The Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI is known for its versatility since 1994. This multi-functional, multi-application amp offers you the ability to create that perfect tone for your bass and makes your old and ordinary instruments pop out and gives them a new life with its fantastic sound.
With 5-6 string bass now becoming mainstream, the company has added, and I quote, “a switch to adjust the bass frequency to extend into those lower registers”. The SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 delivers powerful and rich sound, making your bass sound as good as it can.
The drive control adds spank to your tones early, then goes into distortion territory, basically adjusts the overall gain structure and overdrive while the presence control controls (ah! The English language) the amount of definition and upper harmonics without increasing the volume.
It also offers controls for Level and Blends with the 2 EQ knobs for Bass and Treble. The active eq is tuned for bass with 12dB of cut or boost. This best amp in a box pedals offers three outputs namely: an effected XLR, effected 1/4 in and a parallel, unaffected 1/4 in.
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8) JOYO JF-14 American Sound Guitar Effects Pedal
PRODUCT DETAILS
That last but not the least, we have the JOYO JF-14. This best amp in a box pedals was created to replicate the sound of a Fender '57 Deluxe amp,.adding the right kind of overdrive and the natural distortion you get from pushing a tube to the limit.
Despite being a “budget pedal” this thing is solid, being housed in a metal aluminum alloy case and would, probably, easily, tank a drop or two.
This thing allows you to get that legendary fender clean, to some overdrive and everything in between. Offering you 6 controls for shaping EQ and overdrive response, this thing will let you play around those knobs till you find that perfect tone and, as a result, experimenting on this would be really fun. An impressive addition to the pedal is that it has 3 Band EQ with Level, Drive and Voice control.
Meaning no matter what style of fender music you are playing, this baby will find a way to get you that tone you desire. Just note, this thing is surprisingly loud. Overall, this is a great, cheap alternate to get that American sound.
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CONCLUSION
And that’s the list for best amp in a box pedals folks. Hope you found what you were looking for. Be very clear what you are looking for. Even after reading the review, do your part of research and buy the one which suits your expectation and budget.
Also, share your views about this article in the comment section 🙂
Gibson is a blogger and reviewer, whose passion is helping people with all the aspects of music through the blog he provides. Also, he is an artist and loves to create his own tunes by purchasing good quality musical tools. With his own experience, he has provided a great list of tools for you in this blog. Seeking the best quality musical tools? Read this blog and end your music thirst!