There's more to being a musician than what you do on the stage: while that's the perfect place to turn it up loud with a standard guitar amplifier, sometimes you don't want anybody but yourself to be listening in on the tunes. That's when headphone guitar amps come in handy. There's a solid variety of these little amps to choose from, so you can get yours with as few or as many features as you like. Then, all you need is your favorite set of 'phones and you're ready to rock.
Some of the best guitar compositions come from simple experimentation; that's why jam sessions are so great. When you want to have your own personal jam session, using a headphone amp is a fantastic idea. That way, you can keep your genius to yourself until it's ready for its first audience. You'll have the freedom to experiment all you want without having to worry about unwanted ears listening in, and that'll give your new riff even more of an impact when you unveil it on your main amplifier.
Every guitarist would love to have a place all to themselves to play their heart out, but the reality is that we can't all be so lucky. Family, neighbors and roommates are usually a factor, and they're not as likely as you are to appreciate that you finally nailed that tough passage at two o'clock in the morning. Here's another situation where headphone guitar amps come through for you: since you're the only one hearing it, you can focus on your sound completely. With a headphone amp, there's no more curfew on shredding.
Whether you're recording or just plain playing for the fun of it, a headphone guitar amp is a great thing to have. You can even choose headphone amps that will work with pedals, mixing consoles and other connections, giving you a ton of versatility in how you use them. If there's one thing that's universally true about these amplifiers, it's that no guitarist should be without at least one.