"If you’re starting out and practicing at home, you might be self-conscious about playing through even a small practice amp until you’ve got your chops up to speed": Sounds familiar? Here's 7 low-volume ways to play and practice guitar without an amp

The electric guitar is a notorious loudmaker, synonymous with the ear-shattering walls of sound propagated by innumerable rock trailblazers. The draw to the electric guitar, felt by every new guitarist, near-invariably results from one special musician or moment; an eye-widening sound or spectacle that reveals a world of sonic possibility. And about 60 per cent of those moments were probably something to do with Prince.

It’s at the very least funny, then, that electric guitars are so plinky and quiet at rest. To get those tone-rich sounds that pulled you in to start with, you need an amplifier and some neighborly understanding, amongst other guitar-rig essentials… or do you?

Nowadays, there are many ways to get great tone from your guitar – or, at least, to hear it in a better light than its unamplified worst. In some cases, you can even benefit from an ampless approach, whether getting high-quality, tweakable guitar recordings at home or practicing without having to endure a lifeless sound. Here, I’ll look at some of the better ways to play guitar without an amp, taking in contemporary tech and old-school hacks alike. I've included some suggestions for gear you should check out, too, including plenty of budget options.

1. Through your audio interface

One of the most versatile ways you can play guitar without an amp is by using an audio interface. With one of these, you can play your guitar into a record-ready track in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), and hear it in your headphones or studio reference monitors – allowing you to apply any number of digital effects to create your ideal tone completely in the box.

The amount of guitar effect and amp emulation VSTs out there is, quite frankly, mind-boggling. If you want a fuss-free experience in getting some familiar and usable guitar tones, something like IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube 5 would be just the ticket.

If you’re willing to get a little more granular, then you might benefit from finding a good convolution plugin; convolution uses impulse response recordings of rooms and tones to recreate said room or tone digitally. It is the simple yet arcane science that underpins a lot of today’s highly impressive pedalboard amp and cab sims, and you can benefit from it by finding and loading impulse responses of your own.

My at-home needs are somewhat basic, lucky as I am to have access to a well-equipped studio space for amp-ful recording. I use a simple two-input audio interface, in the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Gen 2 (they're up to Gen 4 now); there are better budget options on the market today, though, like Universal Audio’s Volt series (which have some nifty built-in hardware that enriches your incoming signal further). If you’re wanting a more involved at-home guitar-recording rig, you’ll also benefit from a DI box (or two) to balance your incoming signal.

Budget rig
Universal Audio Volt 1, $149
IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5CS, free
Fender Original Series Instrument Cable 15ft, $18.99

Mid-price rig
Audient iD14, $258
Radial Engineering Pro D2 Stereo Direct Box, $199.99
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro, $199

2. Guitar headphone amp

If you’re starting out with electric guitar and practicing at home, you might not have a ton of gear yet – and you might be a bit self-conscious about playing through even a small practice amp until you’ve got your chops up to speed. This is precisely why plug-in headphone amps like the Vox amPlug3 series or Fender Mustang Micro Plus exist.

These jack-loaded headphone amps are designed to plug straight into your guitar’s output jack, and feed effected audio to your ears via a headphone-out jack on the unit. Vox’s amPlug3 headphone amps copy the signature sounds of their larger amp roster, using clever analog circuitry and some on-board digital effects to give you some versatility. Fender’s Mustang Micro Plus, meanwhile, is 25 different amp sounds in one – and has 100 preset sounds you can edit with a proprietary app, as well as Bluetooth for playing along to backing tracks.

Budget rig
Vox amPlug 3 AP3-AC, $49.99

Mid-price rig
Fender Mustang Micro Plus, $129.99

3. Pedalboard headphone amp

If you’re wanting to use a pedalboard while you practice, or if you’re looking for an easy way to sound-sculpt and song-write without breaking out your stage amp, there’s a different class of headphone amp that could suit you down to the ground. Major and boutique pedal manufacturers alike have come out with their own pedalboard-friendly headphone amps too, from Old Blood Noise Endeavors’ OBNE Headphone Amp to Walrus Audio’s recently-announced Canvas rehearsal pedal.

Budget rig
Harley Benton MiniStomp Phone Home, $15.60

Mid-price rig
Walrus Audio Canvas Rehearsal, $255

4. Wireless guitar-amp headphones

There’s another nifty way to experience your guitar rig ampless-ly – and not just ampless-ly, but cableless-ly too. Wireless guitar-amp headphones exist, primarily in the form of Boss’ innovative Waza-Air headphones and the newly-launched Positive Grid Spark Neo; these smart cans enable you to avail yourself of countless tones via the Tone Studio (Boss) or Spark apps. The Waza Air offers glorious spatial audio, too.

Budget rig
Positive Grid Spark Neo, $199

Mid-price rig
Boss Waza-Air Wireless Personal Guitar Amp Headphones, $318.50

5. Multi-FX headphone output

If you’ve got a multi-effects pedal on your board, or, indeed, if your multi-effects is your pedalboard, then there’s a chance you’ve already got a pedalboard headphone amp integrated into your set-up. Headphone outputs can be found on countless examples, but some standout options include Boss’ entry-level GT-1 and the Fender Tone Master Pro – which also offers some outstanding amp emulations.

Budget rig
Boss GT-1 Multi-Effects Pedal, $205

Mid-price rig
Fender Tone Master Pro, $1549.99

6. Unplugged

My penultimate suggestion here might seem a little glib, but walk with me for a second: you could always forget about plugging your guitar into anything at all. This option is particularly viable if you’re in a position to choose your guitar, as you could always plump for something hollow-bodied. Gretsch is a great brand in this regard, with full-sized hollowbodies, pickup-toting acoustics, and some solidly-performing semi-hollowbodies.

Whatever your guitar, a handy little hack from me to you; for more volume, try resting the headstock against a window while you play. The results may surprise!

Budget rig
Harley Benton BigTone Trem White, $285

Mid-price rig
Gretsch G5622T Electromatic, $666

7. Things that shouldn’t be amps

Finally, it cannot be left unsaid that there’s an exceedingly fun way to play guitar without an amp: plugging in to something that isn’t meant to be an amp in the first place. There’s a long and rich history of young guitarists and future legends modding their tube or transistor radios to play their electric electrically, and you could be next in line!

I’m not advocating that you poke around in electronics if you don’t already have some knowledge in the area – or at least until you’ve educated yourself sufficiently on the ins and outs of safe modding practice. Some undertakings are simpler and safer than others, and perhaps a better place to start – like adding a jack input to a battery-powered portable radio. In some cases, you can benefit from this esoteric guitar-amping approach in electronics already equipped with some kind of jack-friendly input.

My own discovery here related to an old portable reel-to-reel tape recorder with a small integrated speaker – which, coupled with some quick mods for 3.5mm input and USB power, made for a pocket-sized, phone-charger-powered Pignose-style micro-amp in disguise. Another popular repurposing is of karaoke machines; you’ll find a rich seam of young guitarists on TikTok using old karaoke machines to achieve crunchy, lo-fi tones galore. Here's my Soldering Iron Kit of choice ($13.99).

Conclusion

Ultimately, there are a couple of ways to look at playing guitar without an amp. On the one hand, it’s a practical alternative to scaring the local wildlife while practicing your scales or writing new music; on the other, it’s an opportunity to experiment with your sound, whether perfecting your pedalboard in controlled conditions or finding new tones in unexpected places. Either way, ‘play’ is certainly the word!