Leo Fender’s revolutionary double-cutaway design has seen countless iterations over the years, but the Stratocaster has remained a staple of guitar music ever since its introduction to the market in the early 1950s.
The typical Fender Stratocaster’s array of single-coil pickups can be very temperamental when it comes to amp choice. Some guitar players (me included) love the hum and crackle of single-coils into a super-hot amp, but others prefer more noise control.
Top 3 - Stratocaster Amps
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In this article, I’ll run through some of the best amplifiers for Strat players. I tested each amp with a Fender Player II Strat, a popular mid-level pro-quality instrument.
5 Best Amps for Stratocaster-style Guitars
1. Vox AC15C1
The humble Vox combo amp (like the 15-watt AC15 and its elder brother, the AC30) is an icon of British music. It was key to the Merseybeat twang and jangle of the early Beatles, and was a definitive part of Queen axeman Brian May’s tone.
Vox AC15C1
The Vox sound is distinctive and immediately recognizable. I plugged my Strat in and played a Beatles-esque dominant seventh chord, and the bright, trebly chime of the tone was spot on.
The AC15 has a natural chime to complement the twangy sound of the Stratocaster. The AC15 also has a very gritty sound when you start increasing the drive. I’m not a huge fan of the Vox overdrive sound: I find it too harsh and brittle, especially when paired with a Stratocaster.
Vox amps typically come with a built-in Top Boost channel to boost high-end frequencies in the signal. WIth a Strat, this risks being too bright, but it can help add articulation to your tone if you’re using additional gain. It takes very precise tone shaping to achieve, but you can get close to the saturated Brian May lead tone with the Top Boost channel.
If you want easy switching between these two channels, you can arrange a footswitch. Otherwise, you’re limited to one channel at a time.
The built-in reverb and tremolo effects are fairly impressive, too. If you like old-school twang sounds you’ll have a lot of fun with these. Those used to Fender’s reverb and tremolo effects will find these to be very different, but it’s really a matter of personal taste.
I am always impressed by the volume on the AC15. On low volume, the AC15 is quiet enough that you could play it without disturbing anyone in the next room.
Turning the volume up would allow you to play with a drummer in a busy rehearsal room, but I would be wary about turning up to a larger venue with the AC15, unless you plan on micing the amp and running it through the PA.
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2. Fender ‘65 Princeton Reverb
The Fender '65 Princeton Reverb produces the classic American sound.
Pair the Princeton with a Strat and you get what I think is one of the purest Fender sounds. The tone is crisp, clear, and clean. The neutral tonal palette of the Princeton also dials back the twang of the Strat a bit and the tone is a bit more on the warmer side.
Fender Princeton Reverb - Tweed
The basic guitar-in-amp sound of the Princeton is a smooth, clean tone. Dense, extended jazz chords ring out nicely with plenty of articulation. The “scooped” sound is great for double stops and bluesy runs.
The overdrive channel on the Princeton leaves a little to be desired. Fender amps, when driven properly, can offer plenty of heat. Just ask Neil Young!
However, the built-in drive channel was more of a lightly gritty crunch than a true overdrive. Great for edge-of-breakup blues or country playing, but I wouldn’t bring it to a rock show.
However, the Princeton, like many other Fender amps, handles pedals very well. I’d use a nice transparent overdrive or a light classic drive to push this amp into overdrive and distortion.
The Princeton’s sound is smooth and creamy, especially with a Strat, and doesn’t really need anything added on top.
What the Princeton especially doesn’t need is added reverb. The onboard reverb is wonderful. At low intensity, the reverb is delicate and vibrant. By increasing the intensity, I get a very Dick Dale surf rock sound. It’s classic drippy surf-rock reverb with plenty of attitude, perfect for rapidfire tremolo picking and thunderous quotes from “Misirlou”.
At 12 watts, the Princeton Reverb isn’t the loudest amp around. It’s definitely a practice amp, although I have used a Princeton with a power trio in the past. It does have quite a bit of volume, but you probably aren’t going to play in big venues with it.
Luckily, cabinets and external speakers can easily be connected to it, making it act more like an amp head, or you can mic the amp and run it through the PA.
The Fender musical instruments company always intended for their guitars and amps to play together, so it’s unsurprising that the combo of Strat and Princeton works so well.
You could happily cover just about any genre of music with this setup, but I particularly like it for blues, jazz, and country.
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3. Boss Katana 50 Gen 3
The Boss Katana 50 Gen 3 is the market leader for at-home amp modeling technology. In simple terms, it’s not just one amplifier: it’s a wide variety of amp tones built into one combo-sized package.
If you’ve ever plugged your guitar into GarageBand or a similar program, you’ll be familiar with the experience of playing the Katana. You can pick from a range of classic preset tones and built-in effects.
Does it sound exactly like the amplifiers and tones that it claims to model? No.
However, most of the sounds are extremely viable, whether you’re recording at home or taking the Katana to a gig. I took the Katana to a wedding gig I had to play, where the setlist was a wide range of covers from the '50s to now.
The Katana was perfect for this gig: the presets I dialed in pre-gig were easily available, so with a Strat on, I could cover everything from Elvis Presley to the Killers with serious ease.
Boss Katana 50 Gen 3 - Controls
For at-home playing, the Katana offers a range of very satisfying customizable options. It’s pretty easy to plug into your computer (or phone, if yours is powerful enough) with a basic USB-C cable.
Possibly the most appealing aspect of the Katana for me is the volume taper. With a tube amp, you need a lot of volume to achieve certain tones. If, like me, you live in an apartment, this level of volume is not always achievable. With the Katana, you can get in the ballpark of these sounds without rattling the neighbors’ windows.
I had a lot of fun with the amp’s “lead” setting. Armed with my Strat, I was able to pretty closely recreate the Iron Maiden sound.
The Boss Katana is like an off-the-rack suit. It’s built to do everything. It handles pretty much every tone reasonably well, but stacked up against a real Fender or Marshall, it won’t compare.
However, for an intermediate player who needs a range of tones for live use or at home, it’s pretty hard to compete with the user experience and the price. You could feasibly replace your existing amp and pedals with the Katana for most applications, and few audience members would know the difference.
It does take some getting used to, but once you master the presets and the software, the doors to hundreds of incredible tones will open up to you!
Further reading: BOSS Katana vs Positive Grid Spark (a much more in-depth take on the Katana)
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4. Bugera V5 Infinium
For a long time, tube amps were limited to larger, expensive makes and models. Getting your first tube amplifier was a rite of passage for serious guitar players. They were neighbor-irritatingly loud, extremely heavy, and very expensive. You had to replace the tubes if they wore out, too!
For many players, like me, that was part of the appeal. You had to earn the tube tone. However, tube amps have become easier and cheaper to make in recent years. This has opened up the opportunity for companies like Bugera to make small tube amps that sound just as great as their full-sized cousins.
The Bugera V5 Infinium is one such amp. It is a small, lightweight full tube amp built for the average guitarist at a very affordable price.
Bugera V5 Infinium
Smaller tube amps often sound dull or muffled. Fortunately, the Infinium offers plenty of depth and clarity. It’s only a 5-watt combo amp, so it doesn’t sound like a full Marshall stack or a Fender twin, but it’s a great tone nonetheless.
Besides, Jimmy Page recorded some of Led Zeppelin’s greatest guitar tracks on a little combo amp.
I played some Cream and Hendrix licks through the Bugera and they sounded fantastic. I delved into some later Clapton stuff, too, and with the Stratocaster’s neck pickup selected, this little Bugera offered some very appealing “woman tone.”
The Infinium might also be the perfect companion for cheaper guitars like a Squier. It doesn’t cost more than most Squiers and you won’t lose out on sound quality when playing a cheaper guitar through the Infinium.
I also appreciate the tube life monitoring at the back of the amp. This is a great feature that more tube amps need to implement since it takes away the annoying guesswork for times when you need to replace the tubes on your amp.
The Infinium is definitely the least versatile amp on this list. With only one channel, you don’t get a wide spectrum of different sounds. Instead, you are just getting a varying amount of gain. Younger players raised on modelers with countless tones built in might find this frustrating, but I appreciate when an amplifier simply sets out to do what it does best. It’s a Bugera amp that sounds like a great Bugera amp.
At only 5 watts, the Infinium is also not the most powerful. It does get quite loud for its size, but you won’t be taking this amp to a gig. I’d love to use the Bugera for studio work, or for at-home practice, but with a loud live band like mine, you wouldn’t be able to hear it.
Read more: our full review of the Bugera V5 Infinium.
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5. Fender Blues Junior IV
Another fantastic Fender Amp, the Blues Junior IV is a massive improvement over the older models. Where previous models tended to sound a bit harsh, the IV has a fantastically full and strong sound.
The Blues Jr is a personal favorite of mine!
The Junior IV is also balanced much better than the previous versions in my opinion. The bottom end is very full and the highs are sparkly. The biggest difference, though, is in the mids.
The mids are much fuller which evens out the frequency range and gets rid of that scooped sound from the older models. The Blues Junior really feels like Fender’s impression of a British-voiced mid-forward amp.
As expected, the clean tone is terrific. Dense jazz chords sound lovely and warm on the neck pickup. There’s plenty of cut and quack on the middle pickup. The bridge pickup is sharp and articulate without becoming brittle.
I played some classic country licks and ran through Zach Top’s “Sounds Like the Radio” to put this amp through its paces and it was excellent.
When you turn the gain up on the IV, you start to see why it is called the Blues Junior. Playing with a Strat, this amp gives me the exact sound I hear whenever I think of blues. It’s a great edge-of-breakup tone.
Softer playing elicits cleaner sounds. Striking the strings harder generates a crunchier drive sound. Think John Mayer or Eric Clapton live sounds for an idea of this tone. It’s awesome for high-octane Chicago-style blues playing.
Activating the Fat mode I almost immediately get that fat and heavy Jimi Hendrix style of blues-rock. A Strat and Blues Junior IV might be the easiest and most affordable way to get a nearly perfect blues sound there is.
The Junior IV is only a single channel amp, but it luckily plays really well with pedals. That means you can easily set up a good clean sound on the amp and then use pedals if you want to switch to overdrive.
I’ve played the Blues Junior at venues of varying sizes. These days, sound techs tend to mic up the amp through the PA, and the Blues Junior offers plenty of stage volume for you to use.
You can comfortably play this amp at lower volumes, although the drive tone won’t be quite as satisfying without the tubes running as hot. However, for home practice, it is quiet enough so that it won’t disturb anyone in the room next door. Overall the Blues Junior IV is an easy recommend for any blues player.
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Choosing the Right Strat Amp for 'You'
Because the Fender Stratocaster has such a unique and recognizable sound, you want to pair it with an amp that will accentuate that sound rather than hinder it.
What Do You Play?
Depending on the type of music you play, one amp might be more appealing than another.
For jazz, funk, and similar genres, an amp with a great clean sound would be a better pick. For example, I would choose something like the Princeton Reverb over a Blues Junior. Even though both amps have great clean sounds, the Princeton’s is a bit smoother and creamier.
If you are playing higher gain or with a lot of overdrive, an amp that handles high gain better or with a better natural overdrive would be chosen. In this situation, my choice would be reversed and I would pick the Blues Junior over the Princeton Reverb.
Of course, for higher-gain music, you probably want to use a humbucker-equipped Stratocaster rather than a single-coil model, lest you incur unpleasant hum or feedback.
Amps have a huge impact on the tone of your guitar, and a Marshall will never sound similar to a Roland Jazz Chorus, even if both might be tube amps. So, you have to decide beforehand about your requirements in terms of tonality and musical styles before you purchase an amp for your Strat.
As you progress as a guitar player, limitations in your tone can inspire creativity and actually make you better. If you play music well-suited to the sound of the Bugera amp, its lack of versatility will be a benefit, not a hindrance.
At the end of the day, the music should always come first.
Tube or Solid State?
Many guitarists believe wholeheartedly that valve amps are better than solid-state amps. I would argue that solid-state amps have gotten to the point where they are close or even equal to tube amps in terms of sound quality. Amp modeling technology has advanced so far in recent years that most listeners won’t know the difference.
But both amp types have their benefits and weaknesses. Valve amps usually are a bit warmer and have a better natural distortion, while solid-state amps are balanced much better. To conclude, they sound equally good and loud when both clean and distorted.
For players like me who were raised on valve tones, even the best solid-state modeling technology doesn’t replicate the feel and response of a real valve amp. It’s up to you how important that is, and whether it fits into your budget.
If you have the budget, a valve amp would be my choice most of the time. For beginners, however, a solid-state amp might be the better choice even if you have the budget.
Solid-state amps are a bit more straightforward. I have seen beginners become confused as to why amps have valves and think that they are used differently.
The other big benefit for beginners is that solid-state amps are much easier and cheaper to repair. Valve amps can often cause confusion here as well since the amp’s sound will start to degrade and beginners don’t realize that the actual valves are dying and simply need to be replaced.
Another consideration is that fewer and fewer manufacturers still make valves for guitar amps, as most amplification technology (not just for guitars) is solid-state these days.
Buy Amps and Guitars in the Same Price Range
This is something that often causes issues for guitarists, especially beginners. To be clear, a great guitar player can make just about anything sound good. Just check out this video of Zakk Wylde playing a Hello Kitty mini guitar.
Generally speaking, cheap amps sound worse than cheap guitars. A higher quality amplifier like a Fender tube amp or the Vox AC15 is going to get more out of your Stratocaster than a cheaper model.
For players on a tighter budget, I really cannot recommend the Boss Katana enough. For its price, beginner and intermediate players will have great tones, even with cheaper guitars. The sounds from that amp are good enough that they’ll inspire you to keep playing, which is the most important thing at that stage of your development.
Your Primary Use Case
If you've recently bought a Strat and are still exploring the guitar, a modeling amp such as the Boss Katana or Yamaha THR would make excellent choices. They're perfect for not only bedroom practice sessions but also exploring various tones.
Sure, you're not going to get the oomph of an actual tube amp, but spending a lot of money upfront on a costly tube amp might actually backfire if you end up discovering that it doesn't quite match your preferred genres or musical styles.
If you're already convinced about getting a tube amp, however, you can start with a low-watt tube amp like the Bugera V5 I've talked about above. There are a few other quality options too that I've discussed before.
Even a 5W tube amp still sounds full and the volume is usually enough for most use cases other than playing live in front of a large crowd.
If you're strictly looking for a practice amp, it might be obvious that it must have a headphone jack. This is one scenario where you'd be almost entirely limited to solid state or modeling amps, since very few tube amps have a headphone jack.
Closing Thoughts
The Stratocaster is a fairly versatile guitar. It sounds great through almost any amp. That means there are many other amps out there that are great companions, apart from the ones I've discussed above.
Ultimately the amp that you pick needs to match your playing style and preferences, and fit in your budget. So, although there are a few popular combinations for popular Fender and Squier Strats, it's impossible to pick out one or two amps as the absolute best option for those guitars.
At the end of the day, the best amplifier is one that inspires you to play.
Regarding the Fender ‘65 Princeton Reverb amp. The speed and intensity do not affect the Reverb. They affect the Tremolo circuit.