[cakirby]

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

you could of course go for an orange, a mesa and a vox and have coin left over for 3k.

I guess what i really mean is that a huge stack is probably too much haha

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Originally Posted by Plexi8759

I'm not sure I would go with an ac30 either ... I've never actually owned a Soldano so I can't speak for it. I have owned however a Marshall TSL and a Mesa dual rec and of the two regardless of whether you like British or American the Mesa was hands down the better sounding amp. I liked the Mesa cab better also even though they were both loaded with celestion vintage 30's.

Not all Marshall amps were created equal and there are some out there I would consider junk and though the TSL doesn't quite make the junk category I think you could do better.

For 3k I would definately consider a dual amp set up. One primarily for clean tones and one for overdrive/lead tones. With a super high quality switcher like a Framptone AB/Y.

I've also found that generally the less complicated a tube amp is the better it sounds. When I search and try out new amps I usually end up getting single channel amps that I set for particular tones and then I switch between them.

My favorite overdrive tones come usually from a single channel marshall JMP (non master volume / 4 inputs). I crank the power amp from 5-8 range and use a Keeley TS 808 for some slight solid state clipping. The non master volume marshalls also have a wide range of tone options by bridging inputs and the two separate volume knobs for mixed levels of two different voiced input columns.

For lead tones I use a katana clear boost to saturate the preamp much like a gain knob and it gives you more sustain and girth. For rhythm work this is also very much in the hardcore territory. Either way it's a huge range of tone options.

Vintage 30's are a great choice for this type of tone though I'm pretty convinced by the less expensive WGS vet30's and ET65's.

For clean tones I use twin reverbs though the most important thing needed is lots of headroom which the ac30 doesn't have compared to a lot of bigger amps.

You can get a good late 70's / early 80's non master volume JMP head for around $900 on eBay and a good RI twin combo for about $700 - $800.

If you liked a mesa... the soldano will blow you away. I own a Rect-O-Verb and a Soldano SLO. the clean channel is pretty good. Some people bag on it, but IMO, it just takes some getting used to as the EQ is active. The gain channel is seriously awesome. I would consider a decatone, an SLO, or a lucky 13.

I will say a frenzel would do half of those artists well. I believe you could get most of your muse and switchfoot tones easily enough.

Personally though, I think if I were going to suggest one amp, a Soldano lucky 13 or a decatone would be the top choices.