A guitar amp head holds the preamp and power amp in one unit and drives a separate speaker cabinet, letting a player mix and match heads and cabs for each room.
A guitar amp head holds the preamp and power amp in one unit and drives a separate speaker cabinet, letting a player mix and match heads and cabs for each room.
About Guitar Amp Heads
An amp head packs the preamp and power amp into a single unit and leaves the speaker to a separate cabinet. Splitting the rig this way lets you mix and match: keep your favourite head and swap cabinets to suit the room. Modern lunchbox heads take it further, delivering serious tone from a box small enough to carry to rehearsal in a backpack.
The JOYO banTamP and banTamP XL series lead the range with 20 watt dual channel hybrid tube heads; see the dedicated JOYO amp heads page for the full line-up. Beyond that there are Foxgear 100W British and American voiced heads, the Peavey 6505MH Mini and Classic 20 mini heads, Hotone 5W compact heads and the Hartke LX5500 bass head, with more low-end options among our bass amps. Match your head with a guitar speaker cabinet, or if you would rather keep things simple, browse combo amps and the full guitar amp range.
An amp head is a guitar amplifier without a built-in speaker. It contains the preamp and power amp and connects to a separate speaker cabinet, giving you more flexibility over speaker choice and stage volume than a combo.
Never switch on a tube amp head without a speaker cabinet or load box connected, as running it unloaded can damage the output transformer. Always match the cabinet's impedance to the head's speaker output, and check the cab's power handling suits the head.
A head and cab rig separates your tone from your speakers, so you can upgrade either independently, run bigger or multiple cabinets, and transport the head on its own. Combos win on simplicity; heads win on flexibility and expandability.