Oh Yeah! I almost forgot! I am currently playing though a fender princeton chorus (there's one of your answers Elmo45). It's got a very good clean sound for a solid state amp, but the distortion channel isn't really to my liking. I figure that I should keep the amp that I have now, buy an amp that has a very good distortion channel, and then switch between the two with an A/B switch box. And if I get enough money saved up in the future, I can replace my princeton chorus with an all-tube Fender to get really nice clean sounds.
The kind of music that I play is rock, but nothing heavier than metallica, which is why I am leaning toward buying either a Marshall or a Mesa/Boogie(2nd answer for ya, Elmo). I'm not big into stomp boxes or pedals. I would rather have a good sound comming right from the amp. I think it sounds more natural that way.
Let's asume that I am talking about Marshalls and/or Mesa/Boogies here. Everyone knows that these tube amps can achieve amazing sounds when they're cranked. I've been thinking that I should maybe buy a combo vs. a half stack because that way, I can crank the combo and get awesome sounds without completely becoming deaf. Now, my question is; should I really go with the combo instead of the half stack? Does the half stack have any capabilities that the combo dosn't? Hopefully I can soon find an answer to my first question at the top of the page, "Marshall or Mesa/Boogie?"