How to pick the best amp for ukulele?
Your choice for the best amp for ukulele can depend on what you’re specifically looking for. If you don’t have any particular feature in mind, we’ve identified the most important ones for you, which we will explore more in-depth. These features are the type and configuration of the amp, its power and speakers, the quality of sound it produces, the controls and effects, its connectivity, its weight, size, portability, and finally, the different brands and prices. All of these factors play a role in making amps for ukuleles great.
Type and configuration
With the exception of the AROMA Mini Portable Guitar Amp, which is an amp + recorder, and the Powerwerks (PW50), which appears to be PA system, the rest of the amps for ukuleles are all combo types.
Combo types are the most frequent kind of amps you’ll find across ukuleles and guitars, and it’s because of its versatility. In a nutshell, it means that the unit will have both the amp and the speaker in it.
If you’re looking for even more flexibility in your amp, you might want to explore modeling amps that incorporate digital technology to bring more options for tone and sound.
Power and speakers
With the best amp for ukuleles, you’re definitely playing the wrong instrument if you’re looking to make your entire house or garage shake. That being said, you’re still getting a fair amount of power packed into these tiny-sized amps.
The amps for ukuleles all vary in terms of their power, but generally, you’ll find that they range between 5-15 watts. However, you can also find professional models, such as the Fishman PRO-LBT-600 Loudbox Artist, which provides 120 watts of power. That is definitely not enough to blow the windows out of your house, but still enough power to give the sweet sounds of the ukulele to a nice and small gathering.
As for the speakers, you will find models with single, dual, or even more speakers in the amplifier. This mainly depends on your preferences and whether you need a stereo effect or not.
Quality of the sound
You want to ensure that your amplifier makes bright and crisp sounds, and that can be adjusted with the EQ. The EQ is controlled by knobs on the amp that can either increase or decrease the frequency. With frequency, there are three primary ranges, and they are bass, middle, and treble.
With bass, much like an electric bass guitar, you tend to feel more than you hear. With a middle frequency, the range is a bit wider and tends to affect the clarity of sound. For treble, you’ll get much more of an airy and life feeling since this one controls higher frequencies.
Controls and effects
Most of the amps for ukuleles have controls on them that are organized by channels. There are usually one or two channels on the amps, and you can think of a channel as a control set that can take in a signal from one or two sources (usually one). Plugging your microphone into one channel and your ukulele into the other channel will allow you to have control over the volume and other features of each sound source. The Fender Mini Deluxe is a great example of a product that comes with various effects, including different presets, flanger, phaser, vintage tremolo, and more.
Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity options for the best amps for ukuleles, there is a number of options. As for the inputs, all amps for ukuleles have sockets for 1/4″ instrument jacks, and some of them also come with 1/8” aux ports.
The 1/8” input jacks are fairly universal in that they will allow you to plug in your electronic devices, such as a phone or mp3 player, to jam along to your favorite songs.
As for outputs, the vast majority of the amps for ukuleles have a 1/8” output jack for headphones. However, there can be more ports for various needs, so you must pick them accordingly.
Weight, size, and portability
One of the most distinguishing features of the best amps for ukuleles is the ease of transportability of these devices. With the exception of the studio products that are much more heavy-duty amps, the rest of the models weigh no more than nine pounds, including the Danelectro Honeytone N-10, which you can attach on your belt.
If you can imagine how light nine-pound product is, you’ll also be happy to know that some amps even come with handles to make it even easier to move them around from your car to your garage and vice versa. Therefore, you really should have no issues with the weight of these amps since they are quite light.
Battery-powered amps vs. amps with adapters
The best amps for ukuleles can run on either batteries or with an AC adapter. Each amp is different and has different power requirements, but it might be helpful to find one that runs both batteries and an AC adapter for more versatility. This is because it’s always better to have back-up options in case you can’t find a socket.
Some amps like the RockJam Busker Bluetooth Rechargable Amplifier, come with their own rechargeable batteries, which is an excellent feature to have because you don’t have to worry about finding new batteries. The only downside to run amps on batteries, if they’re not rechargeable, is that you’ll have to constantly keep purchasing new cells to use the product. This will cost you money in the long run.
Having an amp that can use both batteries and an AC adapter can give you the ability to play wherever you want even if there is no wall socket nearby.
Brands and prices
There are plenty of great brands that produce the best amps for ukuleles, with Fender probably being the most notable brand name of the group here. As for the prices of these amps, they tend to vary, just like with anything else that has plenty of options.
If you are searching for something more affordable, the Danelectro Honeytone N-10 costs only $22. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you’re looking for the highest quality amp you can buy, you’ll find our premium pick, the Fishman PRO-LBT-600 Loudbox Artist, which is available for $650!
All of the other best amps for ukuleles can be found in between these two price tags, but you can find most of them for under $200, including the Fender Mini Deluxe, which boasts amazing effects.
