Fender vs Marshall vs Blackstar vs Egnater (Page 1 of 2)

Okay, so in just over a month's time I will finally get my redundancy pay out from work (seems like it's been forever) so will be getting a Les Paul and a new amp.

Les Paul wise I've spent the last couple of weekends trying a few different models and, while I'd love to get the new JB Standard when it lands, I decided to go for a Gold Top Traditional and possibly upgrade the pickups to a set of BareKnuckle Mules I have sat in a box already but will give the Classic 57's a fair trial first and may or may not swap out the plastic parts for black...

On the amp front I'm still undecided though...I don't currently have one so this would be my only amp and I am not too bothered about it being suitable for practise at home (I'm moving to a house in the country soon anyway so no neighbours to worry about) but I would want it to be suitable for gigging.

I'm not currently in a band, but intend to do my best to put a blues-rock band together in the next 12 months and want an amp that will cope with a wide range of styles. I'm not looking for insane amounts of distortion, the heaviest I'd go would be Bon Jovi...

As well as the LP, I will also be playing a Strat and a Tele (though I expect the LP to become my main guitar as has been the case previously when I've had one) and want a good clean sound (think John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room) as well as a good thick OD sound. In the past I've usually used the clean channel with a Tubescreamer for the Strat and Tele and then set the OD channel up for the LP and that is how I would intend to work this time around as well.

My first choice of amp for the past decade has always been a Fender and I came very close to buying an "Evil Twin" last year but it fell through when my car needed work doing on it. They're usually available on eBay for around £4-500 so would be the cheapest option, but I'm not sure about the OD sound from these as I've only ever used the clean channel and a TS. Around this price as well as Fender Deville's but I've only had chance to play through the new Mk3 versions so would welcome any feedback on the older ones (also comparison of 2x12" vs 4x10").

The other obvious choice of amp would be a Marshall. A friend of mine a few years back had a Vintage Modern and I loved it, but I'm a little concerned about versatility when switching between Strat/Tele and LP and not being able to get a clean sound I'm happy with. Other options would be a DSL50 or DSL100 or a TSL60, though I would prefer a combo rather than head and cab (but that's not a deal breaker and there are pros and cons to each)...the JVM's seem to be just out of my price range even though the option to tie one up with a Boss GT multi-effects and use Midi switching is very appealing!!

2 other options that have come up when I've been looking around are the Blackstar Stage 60 (2x12" combo) and the Egnater Renegade 2x12" combo. I like the ISF feature on the Blackstar and the Stage 60 has 2 OD channels so I could potentially use one of these with the Strat/Tele and do away with OD pedals. The Egnater appeals to me because it has a Tube Blend option so I could have the clean channel set with a 6L6 based sound and the OD channel an EL34 based sound (ie best of both worlds)...

So what do you all think? My combined budget for guitar and amp is about £2000 and I've managed to get a local store to agree to match Thomann's price on the LP (whatever it is on the day - at present it's hovering around £1300) so that leaves around £700 for the amp (I'm happy to buy the amp 2nd hand as I would try it first)....

Over to you...