Thanks for the suggestions, guys. If not as a first amp, I'll definitely consider these for the second and third and...

Blackstar - I've been curious to put those to test, especially considering the Marshall filiation. Plus, it has the word Black in it, must be a sign. ;) They seem to do nice little 1 x 12 combos which pack pretty much all the features I'm after.

Spacey - The drummer in my last band (mid 90s) used one of those gizmos to record his songs demos, w/ an old Gibson SG. I hated to admit it, but I think he had the best guitar sounds for demos - better than either the other guitar player or mine...

Herb - I browsed through Craigslit here in Vegas. There sure seems to be a few deals. 

That would only be fair to find the deal I guess, since I've sold some of those amps for peanuts - one Marshall combo which I loved - my first Marshall actually. I carried this thing on my shoulder by subway to just about every pawn shop I could find in Montreal. I think I got like $70 for it, just because the knobs were a bit noisy - nothing a 5 minute maintenance couldn't handle.

Go with the Blackstar!


Dimmu Borgir use them

Anyway, have fun finding your next amp - it's like hunting for a girlfriend to your girlfriend(s) and nothing sparks excitement like that!!

LOL

And Opeth too. Was one of my favorite bands in the genre, back in the days. :)
I've watched and listened to a couple of demos on Sweetwater's web site - including their little pedals - man, they sure pack in a lot of gain. Which would be cool because I could probably use that for some of my own projects. 


Probably won't be before a while, but it's fun to shop around for those things and see what my options are.

He he, there ya go! All the cool folks use Blackstar so there's no reason why you shouldn't get one;)

Yeah, they pack a lot of gain those things, but on the other hand, they do take it easy as well if you want them to. I have two bands at the moment and in both the guitar players use Blackstars - different models, I don't remember which. One is a full on metal band and the Blackstars deliver the neccersary gain to anger things up. The other band is a punk band where things are a little more rock and roll-ish, sound wise, and the Blackstars deliver there as well. And all four guitarplayers I'm currently "involved" with ditched their distortion pedals after geting them. IMO, they are a great allround amp but not good for crap guitar sounds

Still, I have a great love for Mesa Boogies as well. But for different use.

Keep dreaming and shop around. Soon, you won't be able to resist!!!!

I love Mesa Boogies, but, for other guitarists. They're just not the right amp for me.

We were in the studio once - our first time actually - and I was trying to nail that solo, and having a hard time getting the right amount of gain from my own rig for it to really sing. I knew I could do it but the engineer wasn't the most patient guy and he began to be a bit pushy and said to just plug into the other guitarist's amp - a boogie. 

2 or 3 takes later, he said we were done, but I felt nauseous every time I heard that song afterwards. It's like it wasn't me playing - the solo was alright, almost too "perfect" - I hadn't earn that one, it always felt like we'd cheated.

Yeah, I see what you mean. No wonder an amp makes such an impression on a guitarist. I mean, the amp is the extention of your guitar and your guitar is an extention of your... you know.

What I don't like about Mesa is that they aren't as diverse. It's harder to dial in that sound that you hear in your head - IMO - which I find easier on Blackstar, Marshall (although, you get the Marshall sound none the less) etc. However, I really like the massive amount of power a Mesa can produce and they always sound really defined. The right player, the right guitar and the Mesa is perfect. But they break easily... For metal and hardcore type of stuff, I LOVE the Mesa. But then again, Engl is a strong contender there. I used to like Crate too but LOL - it's SOOOO 90's now!