As much as guitarists dream of harnessing the power of a cranked tube amp, in reality, it’s not really practical when practising at home. The main reason is due to many of us leading hectic lives, and as a result, we often resort to practising whenever we get the chance and, in some cases, late at night when everyone else in the house is in bed. But surely there must be some way of getting the bone-crushing tone we want without having to worry about disturbing our neighbours or irritating the rest of the household.
Boss’s Pocket GT Guitar Effects Processor and Fender’s Mustang Micro are both great for enabling guitar players to play their guitar without getting noise complaints, while still delivering great tones, effects, and even recording capabilities. Whether you need to practice quietly at home or do some quick recording on the road, these headphone amps can fit into your workflow.
Boss Pocket GT
Picture this: You have some free time to play a few songs or backing tracks. You sit in your bedroom with your smartphone and Boss’s Pocket GT. You connect your guitar and headphones to the Boss Pocket GT, and it will receive music from the YouTube videos you play on your phone via Bluetooth.
From that moment on, Boss’s Pocket GT will be the “remote control” to “Play”, “Stop”, make loops of a section to practice it several times, and program pre-set changes associated with the timestamps of the video you want. And, of course, tweak and memorize your sounds with many guitar amps and effects to choose from, taken from Boss’s GT-1.
It works with Bluetooth and has an internal battery. The only thing you need is your guitar cable and headphones.
Design
Boss’s Pocket GT is made out of plastic, all in black and with a 7-segment digit display, which together with its size reminds players of a normal pedal.
Sound
There’s not a whole lot to say about the Pocket GT as a standalone device used for practising in silence. It’s a pleasure to try out and tweak sounds, and the quality of those sounds is no different from what you’d get from any other Boss GT.
Where things can get a little fiddly comes from the Bluetooth, as there’re two separate connections involved – audio for streaming and the other being the MIDI for the app – and you have to make sure MIDI is disconnected before trying to pair up it up for streaming, which can become frustrating.
However, when you get past it, it’s no trouble to balance the levels of guitar and video, and there’s even a semi-effective ‘centre cancel’ switch that removes selected midrange frequencies from the streaming source which makes extra space for your playing.
Pros:
- Compact: Boss’s Pocket GT is lightweight and compact enough to carry around for practising.
- Connectivity: You can simply use your phone.
- Sound: They’re based on Boss’s GT-1 Engine.
Cons:
- Material: Plastic instead of metal may affect durability.
Fender Mustang Micro
Fender’s Mustang Micro is a headphone guitar amp that sells itself on the simple idea that you can play your guitar whenever you like and no one else can hear it but you.
The unit has dozens of amp models and other effect combinations to allow you to dial in the tone that inspires you the most. Fender’s Mustang Micro is tiny. The unit fits into your pocket and has a quarter-inch jack that can rotate 270 degrees so that it should fit pretty much any electric guitar.
Design
The Mustang Micro has a simple layout, with one large dial mounted on the front to control master volume, and a series of +/- buttons which is on the side of the unit for selecting amp type, EQ, effects, and a modify button that can be used for adjusting one select parameter of each effect.
On the other side of the unit is a three-position slider that turns the amp on and off, or to turn it into Bluetooth mode. USB-C and headphone outputs complete the spec. To use the unit, simply plug your guitar into it and connect your headphones, and you’re ready to play.
Sound
In days gone by, we were lucky if our practice amps had a headphones output, that dry, direct signal had no sense of ambience or space. Driven by the same amp and effects modelling technology found across Fender’s Mustang series, Fender’s Mustang Micro does a great job of giving a tone that’s fun and inspiring.
The good news is that there’s no latency either. Given that the unit was designed to fit all popular guitar models, there’s a sound for pretty much every player out there, from crystal clean chime, through to high-gain weapons-grade metal tones.
The unit gives clean options including a ’65 Fender Twin Reverb, a ’65 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and a ’57 Twin modelled after Fender’s classic tweed 2×12 tube amp combo. Rounding out your clean tone options is a setting that has been voiced after Vox’s AC30.
Crunch options offer a variation on the theme, including a ’65 Deluxe plus Tube Screamer setting that’s great when you’re workshopping your Texas blues. The unit provides a direct mode that gives a transparent studio preamp mode that pairs well for bass guitar and acoustic.
Pros:
- Sound: Great range of sounds.
- Portability: Very compact.
- Stream: Can stream music via Bluetooth.
Cons:
- None