Aren't they typically a lot more expensive? I'm sure I'd love one, but getting to play with my tiny solid state Marshall has reminded me how much I love that sound - though it's only an approximation of the real deal, which is the sound of the majority of my favorite players and early inspirations - Page, Ronson, Frehley, Rhoads, Wylde and all those guys: Les Paul + Marshall.

Yeah, I guess it is a little more, but maybe you could find a good deal on one.  I was only being bad and tempting you to try it - hehe...

Well, we're working on something here - a few things actually - which may result in me being authorized to work. If everything goes as expected, maybe eventually I'll be able to afford a Marshall (or a few), a Mesa Boogie and even a Hiwatt. ;)

A Hiwatt eh?  Gonna do some Who covers?
 
 

I know it's heresy but I never really got into The Who. Maybe it's something that'll hit me out of nowhere someday, like it did for Bowie.
 
Stiil, 3 of my favorite players played Hiwatt - Page, Gilmour and Bolin.

Of course, David Gilmour could probably play a 2X4 with strings on it through a box of soap with a radio speaker glued in it and make it sound like angels weeping...
 

You know, the more I look at the DSL, the more it looks like it could potentially be exactly what I'm after. It seems that it's a Plexi sounding kind of amp. It has:
 
- 4-12AX7 and 2-6V6. 
- Pentode/Triode switch to drop power down from 15-Watts to 7.5-Watts (ideal for home studio use)
- Celestion G12E-60 speaker (not familiar w/ that one - worst case, could be replaced.)

My other similarly priced (a bit more expensive actually) option was the Slash signature. I'm not much of a Slash fan, ergonomically, it looks like a bad idea because of the reversed EQ (from left to right Hi, Mid, Low), and the speaker is a Vintage 30, which I already know I wouldn't want as my first or only option.
 
So the DSL looks much closer to what I am after...

You really have to try them to know what you want.
 
Sometime after I moved into my own house I decided it was time to acquire a Marshall half stack so I perused the Marshall literature at length and went to the store expecting to buy a TSL 50. But I ended up not liking it and came home with a DSL 50 instead. Love it, but it's so dang loud that I mostly play my little tube amps instead. 
 
If you get the DSL, also get a 12AY7 tube to put in position 2 (which is the cascaded gain stage tube), as the lower gain tube makes it much nicer - unless you're into that overloaded preamp gain sound.

That's one thing I keep reading - that they're very loud. In spite of which a few friends advise me to go for a bigger one than the little 15 watts. :s
 
Or then, they suggest that I get the Boogie TA-15. It seems to be a huge favorite. Unfortunately, that's an entirely different budget. Whereas the little Marshall combo sells for $599, the Boogie goes for $899. And then you need a cab...
 

As for the speaker, a friend sent me this: From Mojotone: The G12-60 is a custom made Celestion speaker that's very similar to a Vintage 30. Our opinion is the G12-60 is slightly warmer/darker than a stock Vintage 30 Guitar Speaker. The G12-60 has excellent low end response with smooth top end sparkle. Some of our staff members have said "this speaker sounds like a Vintage 30 that has been nicely broken in."
 

So basically, as far as the speaker is concerned, both the Slash model and the DSL are v30-centric... ish. :/