Monoprice 611720 1×8″ 20-Watt Guitar Combo Amp

The Monoprice 611720 is a beginner-friendly guitar combo amplifier with an impressive feature set. For a cheap amplifier, it allows for standard tone shaping via its 3-band EQ.

And it comes with a built-in overdrive, complete with dedicated volume and gain knobs. All of these give it the standard functionality of regular 2-channel guitar amplifiers, making it ideal for learning the ropes of basic tone shaping.

It has a flat clean sound that you can shape to your liking via the 3-band EQ knobs. This sonic malleability is its main edge over other electric guitar amps that have limited EQ controls.

You can try different EQ settings like the famous scooped mid sound or the more in-your-face reverse U shape. It’s also worth noting that the amp has excellent low-end for its price tag.

The Overdrive button engages basic distorted tones, the level of which is adjusted via the gain knob.

The gain knob allows for low to medium gain overdrive sound, but there’s not much control over the voicing. Thankfully the 3-band EQ allows for tone shaping, but you’re still getting the same vanilla flavor distortion.

Interestingly, the amp has a line output that can be used for recording or for plugging into a PA system. This is a feature that is usually only found in more expensive amps. It also helps that it sounds amazing in mid-gain settings.

Other practice-friendly features of this amp include having an auxiliary input jack and a headphones output.

At 20 Watts and with an 8″ speaker, it has a bit more headroom than many of the budget guitar amps in this same price range. This means less muddying as you raise the volume, making it the best amp under 100 bucks in terms of volume.

But it still is a practice amp, so it will have a hard time coping when used in band settings.

Cons

• Limited volume
• Single overdrive voicing

Specifications

• Power Rating: 20-Watts
• Speaker Size: 8”
• Effects: Overdrive
• Controls: Gain, Volume 1, Volume 2, Treble, Middle, Bass, Overdrive
• Inputs/Outputs: ¼”, AUX-In, Headphones, Line Out
• Weight: 15.4 lbs
• Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 13.4″ x 15″ x 6.9″