12 beautiful boutique amps

Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature

Oft-mentioned in the Dumble lineage, this is the Cali brand’s most famous amp. John Mayer and Matt Schofield appreciate their loud, clear, majestic tone.

Mesa/Boogie Lone Star

The original boutique guitar amp brand, Boogie still makes world-leading, no-compromise valve amps. The Lone Star has been a Texas-inspired, do-it-all fave for many years.

Orange Custom Shop 50

Hand-built in England, this is as tonally devastating as it is wonderfully built. All-out rock tones from mild break-up to huge, crunching gains: unique, brilliant and well priced.

Matchless King Cobra

Matchless’s genre-defining DC-30 is the obvious choice, but we also love this. In short, it’s a DC-30’s EF86 channel with reverb and tremolo. Utterly astonishing.

Carr The Bloke

Steve Carr’s amp punches harder than an irate Klitschko. It’s a crunching delight for strong rock and blues-rock, in a distinctly boutique enclosure. Stunning build, too.

Fender '57 Bandmaster

Fender makes amps as meticulously as anyone. This 3x10, 26-watt reissue plugs the gap between a ’57 Deluxe and ’59 Bassman. It’s the sound of Townshend on Who’s Next?.

Bogner Goldfinger 45

Eccentric and enigmatic, you say? The man behind this four- 6V6 chameleon certainly fits the bill! You get two vintage- inspired channels, and a neat approach to effects loops.

Divided By 13 JRT 9/15

Created by Fred Taccone, this offers a mix of EL84s and 6V6s for a superbly capable, mid- power tone machine. Built one at a time in California, seen on pro stages everywhere.

Dr Z Maz 18 JR

You’ll scarcely believe the volume and headroom from two EL84s and ‘18’ watts. Hand-made in Ohio, Z artists include Brad Paisley and bluesman Buddy Whittington.

Jackson Amp Works Atlantic

The latest version of this diminutive tone monster gives you varying options of EL84 and EL34 valves for a huge variety of classic-voiced clean and drive sounds.

Cornell Design Your Own

What’s more boutique than having your own amp made? Brit Denis Cornell offers a custom-spec option on his amps, hand-built in the UK. Clapton likes ’em, after all.

Hughes & Kettner Puretone

You may think the German brand is all about technology. Well, the Puretone is one of the most visceral, stripped-down EL34 rock heads we’ve ever played: true fact.