I'll preface this by saying I haven't really upgraded my amp since I started playing. I have a Peavy Bandit 112 Transtube and I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe from my room mate for $200 because he needed the money, but I'm not crazy about the sound. I'm selling some of my gear to finance buying a new amp. I'm going for kind of an alternative rock sound, think Foo Fighters. I'm torn between buying a Vox AC30 and I've found a pretty good deal ($950) on a Mesa Boogie Trem-o-verb combo. Beyond the question of sound, I question the build quality of the newer Vox amps. I LOVE the Vox "clean" where it breaks up early and it's distorted, but not heavily. The problem is I can't get the saturated distortion sound I want out of the Vox. I've tried a few different pedals with it, my favorite so far being the ProCo Rat. I just feel like with that combination I would be stuck with one sound. I want versatility though.

I'm going to try the Mesa out tomorrow. It's in a different city about 2 hours away. My dad lives there and when he tried the Mesa out he said he liked it better than the Vox. One problem I have with the Mesa is that I don't know much about the Trem-o-verb. I know it's a discontinued model that is basically a Dual Rec with Tremolo options on each channel. Also it's 100 Watts which may be too much head room to get the sound I want at a lower volume. I'm not playing arenas or anything haha. Anyways I came here for opinions. What do you guys think? Thanks!
user
Want versatility in amp sound, want ProCo Rat
assistant
I'll preface this by saying I haven't really upgraded my amp since I started playing. I have a Peavy Bandit 112 Transtube and I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe from my room mate for $200 because he needed the money, but I'm not crazy about the sound. I'm selling some of my gear to finance buying a new amp. I'm going for kind of an alternative rock sound, think Foo Fighters. I'm torn between buying a Vox AC30 and I've found a pretty good deal ($950) on a Mesa Boogie Trem-o-verb combo. Beyond the question of sound, I question the build quality of the newer Vox amps. I LOVE the Vox "clean" where it breaks up early and it's distorted, but not heavily. The problem is I can't get the saturated distortion sound I want out of the Vox. I've tried a few different pedals with it, my favorite so far being the ProCo Rat. I just feel like with that combination I would be stuck with one sound. I want versatility though.

I'm going to try the Mesa out tomorrow. It's in a different city about 2 hours away. My dad lives there and when he tried the Mesa out he said he liked it better than the Vox. One problem I have with the Mesa is that I don't know much about the Trem-o-verb. I know it's a discontinued model that is basically a Dual Rec with Tremolo options on each channel. Also it's 100 Watts which may be too much head room to get the sound I want at a lower volume. I'm not playing arenas or anything haha. Anyways I came here for opinions. What do you guys think? Thanks!
user
Trying to evaluate a new amp vs a
assistant