apparently you all hate crate amps... I happen to know someone who gets these amazing tones out of just an epiphone les paul (a quite gorgeous one actually with it's blueish-greenish-blackish quilt top) and a crate amp (not sure exactly what kind, I think he has 2 or 3 different crate amps) I have no clue on the reliability, but he gets some awesome tones... then again, he's just a really good guitarist, so it might just be him... lol