Guitar Amplifiers

At BBZGuitars we know that a great combination of guitar and amplifier is important to any guitarist whether just starting out, playing the guitar at home or gigging. So we’ve carefully selected a great range of valve and solid state amplifiers for all budgets and requirements. These include world re-known makes such as Kustom, Traynor, Sound City, Vox and Behringer.

If you’d like to view any of our amps online you can do so by clicking on this link for BBZGuitars Shop. Alternatively, if you prefer to shop in person, a warm welcome awaits you at our Buckinghamshire guitar showroom in High Wycombe.

Kustom offers a wide range of amplifiers for electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass. With its high-end US-made valve amps, which come in either combo or head and cab combinations, Kustom has developed a stunning range of amps for either gig or home use. Amps, such as the Coupe ’36 and ’72 series and Defender, offer plenty of muscle for playing loud coupled with the ability to dial in your signature sound at lower, practise volumes.

Kustom High Voltage Hybrid amps deliver great valve tones at a budget price. With valves in the pre-amp and a solid state power circuit, they also have built-in digital effects and Direct Out capabilities with either, 100, 65 or 30-watt Celestion-loaded combos. Kustom’s Stage Combo range delivers valve emulation and shimmering clean tones; again Celestion-loaded, these amps kick out great tones for the price point and come with eight built-in 24-bit digital effects.

For rehearsal/ bedroom use Kustom has a range of combo amps which produce fantastic tones, either 10 watts or 16 watts. Check out the 12-Gauge in this range which, for a 16-watt rehearsal combo, unusually comes with a 12-inch speaker. This really allows the tone to shine through and fills the room with rich, low volume sounds, usually reserved for much more expensive amps.

Acoustic amp-wise, Kustom produces the Sienna range which comes in 65, 30 and 16-watt combo versions. All with feedback filters, four band EQs, microphone and guitar inputs and eight 24-bit digital effects (65 and 30 watt), and analogue reverb in the 16-watt. With an electro acoustic it’s really important to plug into an amp that won’t just feedback but will also enhance the organic sound of your instrument. Kustom has really managed to deliver here.

For bass, Kustom produces the high end Groove Bass stacks and combos ranging from 1200 watts of sheer power down to a 600-watt combo (either two x 10 inches or one x 15-inch speakers). Kustom’s standard bass combos (100, 30, 16 and 10 watt versions) deliver great sounds for the smaller venue; direct Injection into the PA or desk, or rehearsal. The larger two have built-in multi effects such as Chorus, Flange and Delay.

Arbiter resurrected the Sound City brand in 2007, popular and played by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend, back in the day. We tried them out and grabbed the chance to be a dealer. Nowadays, the Sound City amps have come back with a kind of attitude which both harks back to the glory days of the British Invasion, as well as delivering more contemporary high-gain tones. They come in three combo configurations of all-valve amp: the 20C, 30C and 40C. The 20C is very Marshall-like while the 30C is more like a Fender and the twin 12-inch 40C is very Vox AC30-esque. Also available in a 50H Head (50-watt) and four x 12-inch cabinets, all the amps come with switchable clean and overdrive channels. The warmth of the clean channels on these amps should be checked out if you’re a jazz or blues player, while the overdrive is brilliant at delivering rock and metal tones. For the price point, and all-valve circuitry, these amps are probably the ones to test drive.

Traynor amplifiers are made in Toronto, Canada, by Yorkville who has been a manufacturer of boutique guitar amps for more than three decades. These guys really know their stuff and pride themselves on producing very high quality and robust amplifiers. The founder actually tests the amps by dropping them from a great height, re-valving them (if necessary) and testing them out. If they work, they’re built right and the model will be produced. We won’t be encouraging you to drop the amps at BBZGuitars. However, if your style of music is jazz, blues or rock and you’re looking for one of the most highly regarded amplifiers on the market, check out the Traynor amps we’ve got in-stock. The two models we have are the YCV20WR, a beautifully voiced all valve combo with two channels, and a single Celestion G12M Greenback speaker; the fantastic tones this amp delivers have to be heard. Also in BBZ showroom you’ll find the YCV50Blue, an all valve 50-watt combo (in blue), again its two channel vintage voicing is sublime. Both amps have spring reverbs and the single Celestion G12M Greenback speaker.

Vox amplifiers from England defined the sound of rock and pop music with their AC range of combo and heads, as famously used by The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Rory Gallagher and a host of other icons of the industry. The great ‘all valve’, amplifiers of the ‘60s have been reissued and Vox has extended its range to include the new Valvetronix series, which uses clever modeling technology and valve driven pre-amps to emulate 11 classic amps (including the AC30 and AC15 combos). From the 15 Watt AD15VT, through 30 watt, 50 watt (1 x 12 and 2 x 12) and 100 watt models, Vox has even added an ‘attenuator-like’ control on the back of the larger amps, which allows you to control the output level while maintaining the tone of the amp when it’s being driven at full volume. Speaker-wise, Vox uses either its own custom speakers or classic Celestion drivers, depending on the model.

Whatever you’re looking for from your next amp, we recommend you come and try-out the range at BBZGuitars’ Bucks guitar showroom. Of course, if you already know what you want and you can’t get down to High Wycombe, you can always purchase it through our online store.