lAs @mattswain said, donât focus on the âbeginnerâ term. I believe that to be marketing speak for âyou didnât spend so much that you feel bad for abandoning thisâ. Those products should be considered throw-away in general. Instead, I recommend that do enough research to feel your purchase will be something you will want to use long term. That doesnât NEED to be expensive! There are a lot of options, so do some research to fill your personal needs best.
I have several options that I use depending on how and where I want to play/practice. Each is targeted at goals of âdo everythingâ, âsecondary setup locationâ, âportability to the back yardâ, âquiet/personal practiceâ.
- Do Everything - this was expensive and purchased after I knew just enough to realize I enjoy fiddling with signal chain settings. It includes a Line 6 Helix modeling effects processor and the Line 6 PowerCab amp that ties into it. I use this pretty much daily for anything I want to do. Cost was around $2k.
- I work from home (since lockdown - never went back to the office!) and I have an amp and speaker under my desk with guitar behind me I can grab when I have a few minutes. The amp was $68 on amazon on sale, a Hotone Mojo Diamond. I do like the sound of it and it is the right volume for home. The speaker is a gutted Fender Champion 40 that I picked up for $50 from a local used guitar store. This is just the 12-inch speaker and cabinet, not even a face plate. Total cost about $120. The sound options are limited, but I prefer to play in its range, so a good option for me.
- Laptop with 1/4-inch to USB interface and headphones. This is my portable setup for going to back yard on a nice day. Iâll assume you have a laptop and set of headphones (NOT Bluetooth!). My laptop is a Mac, so I use Garage Band that is part of the operating system install. There are options for Windows, but I have not used those. The interface was about $20 on Amazon and I see no fault with it - it just works. I see mine is no longer sold, but there are plenty of others.
- I also have a budget âheadphone ampâ. Mine is a Lekato Headphone Amp. There are a lot of similar products (search âFender Mustang microâ will get you the style). I like the sound of the laptop better, so donât use this much. Cost was I think $35 on sale.
- I have an external small speaker that can accept an aux input from a headphone output. I can use the speaker with the laptop or Mojo Diamond, or headphone amp. It doesnât sound very good compared to a larger speaker, but is sufficient for use in a hotel room when others want to listen. It is easily portable compared to the other speakers I have. Cost was $18 on sale if I remember correctly.
- I initially purchased a Spark 40. I was always unhappy with it and didnât realize how much better I could sound with better choices. I posted my comments about it here. Lots of folks like the Katana and the THX-10. There are lots of posts on the Katana and a few on the THX and others on our forums here.
Lots to think about. Ask about anything I listed if you have questions.