10 Essential Amplifier Accessories For Your Guitar Amp

When you get yourself a new guitar amp, there is a selection of amplifier accessories that will make your musical life a lot easier!

Things like an amp stand, guitar amp cable and latching pedals help you get the most out of your amp whilst amplifier accessories like amp covers and cab simulation boxes allow you to maintain your guitar amplifier and get the best use out of them for many years.

So today, we’re going to look at a few extra options you should seriously consider purchasing after you’ve bought yourself a guitar amp.

In this blog we're going to be talking about the following amplifier accessories:

• Amplifier Footswitches
• Guitar Amp Stand
• Guitar Amp Cable
• Amplifier ABY Boxes / Amp Switchers
• Amplifier covers
• Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo CAB M / Cab Sims
• Expression Pedals/Volume Pedals
• Guitar Amp Speaker Cable
• Guitar Speaker Cabs
• Boss WL-20 Wireless Guitar System

Why do I need this? Because it allows you to change the channels on your amp!ifier.

If you’ve bought an amplifier with switchable channels, usually a distortion/gain and a clean channel you’ll need a footswitch to activate or ‘switch’ between each one. You’ll also need one if your amplifier comes preloaded with switchable effects like reverb and tremolo. This way you don’t have to walk over to your amplifier and manually change the settings or press the gain channel button by hand.

Most Fender and Orange amplifiers have separate Gain and Clean channels, so it makes sense that you should get yourself an amp footswitch as they’re some of the most essential amplifier accessories.

There is a vast range of different options out there that are from some of your favourite brands like Orange, Boss and Fender.

Footswitches like the Orange FS-1 Single Footswitch allow you to change between channels on your amplifier and activate things like built-in Gain and Distortion. If you have effects built-in, the Vox VFS2 2-Channel Amp Footswitch is perfect for triggering reverb or tremolo channels on your Vox amp.

You can choose whatever pedals you want as they’re almost always universal. However, if you want a safe bet that’ll work on pretty much every amp, then the Boss FS-5L Latching Footswitch Pedal is an industry-standard.

View all guitar amp footswitches here.

Why do I need this? Because it allows you to angle your amp so you can hear it correctly.

If you’re a gigging or rehearsing musician then a guitar amp stand is easily one of the most essential tools and best guitar amplifier accessories we can get hold of. Placing your amplifier on the floor facing you isn’t always ideal as the sound is firing directly at your knees. Last I checked you can’t hear through your knees. So, it makes sense to angle your amplifier towards your face. An amp stand allows you to effectively, and safely angle your amplifier towards you so you can hear it clearly which will help you play better as you can actually hear everything that’s going on and means you don’t have to crank your amp to ear-splitting levels to hear it.

It’s also a safer option than balancing it against the wall or against a box.

We recommend the TOURTECH TTS-AMP5 Adjustable Amp and Monitor Stand if you want your amp higher up, or the TOURTECH Foldable Amplifier and Monitor Stand which sits on the ground. Both do a great job at projecting the sound towards you, it just depends on what you prefer.

Why do I need this? So you can plug your guitar into an amp - you can never have too many cables! 

Guitar cables, or guitar amp cables as they’re sometimes known are actually the most essential amplifier accessories as they allow you to connect your guitar or bass to your amplifier. If you’re using a guitar directly into an amplifier then you just need the one cable. However, if you’re using a pedal, you’ll need an extra cable to go from your pedal to your amp. If you’re using multiple pedals, then you need some patch leads. We’ve covered everything you need to know about putting together a pedalboard here, but for now, you’ll just need either one or two guitar amp cables.

We recommend the likes of the Tourtech guitar cables as well as the Fender guitar cables. There are plenty of different options out there, and the only major difference is the quality of materials used and the angle of the jack lead. However, we don’t stock low-quality stuff here at PMT so whatever you buy will be reliable.

Shop all guitar cables here. 

Why do I need this? So you can run two amplifiers at the same time or two different pedalboards.

If you planning on running two amps together, which most professional guitarists do, you’ll need an amp switcher. These are essential amplifier accessories for pro-level players on bigger stages as they allow you to run two amps at the same time or turn one off at a time. These extremely useful pedals are great as they allow you to play two different amps at the same time and blend the sounds of these amps Amp switchers are also great as they can give you that extra boost in sound by allowing you to activate a separate amp when you need that extra volume and attack.

They go by many different names, like ABY Boxes, Amp Switchers and Line Selectors, so if someone mentions any of those names, you’ll know what they mean.

We recommend the Boss AB2 2 WAY Selector Switch (pictured), Fender ABY 2 Button Foot Switch and for the more adventurous – the Boss LS-2 Line Selector Pedal.

Shop Line Selector & Amp Switchers here. 

Why do I need this? To keep your amp safe and clean

If you’re going to be carrying your amplifier from place to place or even storing it away for extended periods of time an amplifier cover is a great way to keep your amp clean and also protect your amp from any damage. They also stop people from fiddling with the settings too!

You can get specifically branded guitar amp covers from most brands. We stock a range available here but we highly recommend looking into getting one if you’re serious about caring for your amplifiers!

Shop all guitar amp covers and carry cases here.

Why do I need this? So you can maintain your tone and gig anywhere in the world without having to worry about amps

If you’re an experienced gigging musician, or you're a guitarists/bass player who absolutely loves their tone and wants to protect it al all costs, then chances are you’ll love the Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo CAB M. It's really difficult for us to maintain that exact sound we want across different venues and in different rehearsal scenarios due to poor acoustics and bad sound systems. In addition, we want to be able to rehearse whenever we like at home, so playing in silence is an absolute necessity should there be a sleeping baby or partner in the next room. This solves all those problems. 

Although it’s a little pricey, the Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo CAB M is worth every penny as it allows you to run the exact sound you want into any guitar cab and blend your own amplifier with any of the built-in amplifiers. Example: you can run your own Fender Blues Deluxe amp alongside a simulated Vox AC30 and get the power and blended sound of both. You can also add in a  world of effects to your own amp, run it as an amp it's own and feed it directly to the PA system and even practice your songs at home with headphones on. It's basically an entire studio's worth of amps in one handy box. You can travel anywhere with just this and your pedalboard and you can gig anywhere in teh world without actually having to rely on an amplifier. 

A great piece of kit that all pro-level guitarists, technicians and all guitar amp users should have at home.

Why do I need this? To swell volume, drive your amp and get the best out of your effects pedals

Technically an expression pedal is a guitar accessory, but we’re throwing this in as they’re a great way to manipulate effects and the volume of your amplifier without having to use your hands.

If you’re shredding on your guitar or getting really into some rhythm parts, the last thing you need to be doing is taking your hand away from the strings and turning the volume pot down. A volume pedal takes all the effort out of lowering or pushing the volume as you can just angle the pedal to your liking. A great addition and a fantastic amplifier accessory that most guitarists have in their kit.

Shop the full range of Expression/Volume pedals here. 

Why do I need this? To hook up an extension cab safely (don't just use a guitar cable!)

Next, we have the humble, but very important guitar amp speaker cable. If you have an amplifier capable of connecting to an extension/speaker cabinet, you’ll need an amp speaker cable to do so. These are an absolute necessity as you cannot use guitar cables as you risk damaging your amp and the cable if you do so. This is because speaker cables are capable of handling the high signal level required to transfer a signal from your amp to a cabinet. Guitars cables are not.

We recommend the range of budget-friendly Tourtech speaker cables for those with amps that use extension cabinets.

Why do I need this? To expand and fill out your sound - more speakers = more power! 

If you want to expand your sound and get a lot louder, then an extension cabinet is the way to go. Be sure to check that your amplifier can actually allow an extension cabinet to be connected. This information is usually found on the back of your amplifier labelled “Extension” or “Speaker Out” so make sure you check before you purchase a new speaker cab!

Good quality speaker cabinets expand your sound and can actually make your little practice amp sound even better as you might opt for improved speakers than the ones installed in your amplifier.

Shop a full range of Guitar Speaker Cabs here.

Why do I need this? So you don't have to use a guitar cable!

Last but not least we have the Boss WL-20 Wireless Guitar System. If you have an amplifier at home, you're a gigging or rehearsaing musician who hates cables then you're going to love this. The Boss WL-20 Wireless Guitar System is a Plug-and-play wireless transmitter/receiver that you plug into your amp and then into your guitar, instantly allowing you to play without the need for a guitar cable! It's THAT simple. 

This removes the need for a guitar cable from the guitar to your amp and allows you to move around with up to 50ft / 15m range (line-of-sight propagation)*. You have up to 12 hours continuous playback via the built-in rechargeable battery and the 2.3ms latency ensures you're ready to gig and record. 

If you hate guitar cables, this solves all those problems and is an instant plug and play solution packed full of great features including cable tone simulation and stress-free setup. An essential amplifier accessory and something that makes a great gift too. 

And that’s just a short selection of what we feel are some of the most essential guitar amplifier accessories. Shop a full range over at PMT Online today or call into your local PMT store to speak to our experts and pick up everything from guitar amp cables to guitar amp stands and anything else you might need.