“The battery promises ‘hours’ of wireless playing time. The modelling tech promises a lot of different tones”: Mooer unveils the Hornet 15W Li, a take-anywhere combo packed with effects, guitar tuner, presets and 9 preamp types

Mooer Audio has refreshed its desktop amp series with the Hornet 15W Li, and it’s portable, packed with features, available in white or black finishes, and as the name suggests has a lithium battery that allows you to go wireless.

The lithium battery promises ‘hours’ of wireless playing time. Mooer’s amp modelling tech promises a lot of different sounds. If you are familiar with the Hornet series, it should look familiar; the styling is retro, the performance anything but.

There is a big old-school dial on the front. This cycles through your nine preamp types, each based on classic guitar amps of yore. You can run the Hornet 15W Li in live mode, and what you see is what you get. Or you can save your favourite sounds to nine presets. And that might be a handy option once you consider the onboard effects.

There are three types of effects on offer, modulation, delay and reverb. Helpfully, the modulation and delay have their own tap tempo buttons. Your modulation options comprise chorus, vibrato and phaser. The delay types are analogue, tape echo and digital. Add some depth and ambience with room, hall and church reverbs.

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Okay, with 15-watts driving a 6.5” driver, this isn’t going to be heard over a Marshall stack. But this Hornet has everything you need out of a practice amp. It has one of the most essential pieces of kit that any guitarist could need, a guitar tuner, onboard and ready to go.

It has Bluetooth connectivity so you can jam to tracks. It has a guitar headphones output for silent practice, which is often a life-saver. No one needs the neighbours to hear your 715th attempt at getting Surfing With The Alien under your fingers.

There is a three-band EQ, plus dials for volume and gain. If you’re not of a mind to use Bluetooth, no worries; there is an aux in for providing audio from an external source.

As for the amp models, between the pair you’ve got all the classics. The White version has tones modelled on the Fender Twin, Fender Blues Deluxe, Mesa/Boogie MKIII, Marshall Plexi… There’s even a boutique Two Rock model plus a bass amp and Mooer’s own acoustic guitar amp algorithm.

The Black version has a Roland Jazz Chorus model, a Fender Twin, and then some real high-gain options, such as the “PV 5150” model for for Eddie Van Halen’s Brown sound, the Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier, a Bogner Uberschall plus Mooer Audio’s very own metal guitar amp sound.

All this from a 2.9kg amp that can be run via a DC adaptor or from its 4000mAh lithium battery battery. For more details, head over to Mooer Audio. Price TBC but guaranteed to be budget-friendly.