hey, i'm liking the idea of getting a small tube amp (30 watts?) and just miking it at big gigs, so that i can crank it without having to turn everything else up to match it and still get the good tube sound. i like the distortion on like a marshall AVT series kinda sound, i'm a sixties kinda ear with a eighties kind of style, for sound. i like higher gain, i like to do advanced soloing and stuff, so i want a good brand to get. i also like the sound of a mesa boogie rectifier (but who doesn't :)) so i want to figure out what kind to get within my budget. i don't want to spend really more than 500 at the most, but i'd like to hear about all sorts of stuff if possible. does mesa boogie's smaller stuff sound good?

thanks in advance guys