Solar Guitars turns its CHUG circuit into a pocket headphone amp
The new CHUG PLUG puts Solar's high-gain circuit into a rechargeable plug-in practice amp with cab emulation and an aux input.
Sep 6, 2026
Credit: MusicPlayers.com (via source)
Solar Guitars has released the CHUG PLUG, a compact headphone amplifier built around the gain circuit from its CHUG pedal. It plugs directly into a guitar and pares the controls down to Gain, Tone and Volume, with speaker-cab emulation intended to make high-gain practice possible without a full amp rig.
The unit is rechargeable over USB and adds a stereo 1/8-inch auxiliary input for playing along with music from a phone or other source. Solar's launch package also includes headphones, a USB-A charging cable and a tote bag. At launch, the company is offering the CHUG PLUG free for a limited time with purchases of Solar or S by Solar instruments.
It is a small accessory rather than a new floor pedal, but the format is interesting: a recognizable high-gain preamp concept has been reduced to a direct-to-headphones practice tool aimed squarely at metal players.
Why it matters
The CHUG PLUG moves a familiar high-gain guitar circuit into an unusually simple mobile-practice format, with cab emulation and play-along input built in.
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