Re: Best Hi Gain Amps for Under $1000
I'm amazed that no one recommended the Engl Gigmaster 15. Man that is one seriously underrated, under-talked about, under-recommended amp. The Gigmaster sounds great. It has a real good quality distortion sound, a nice clean channel that isn't pristine, but puts out awesome clean-ish tone. It's also very a very loud 15 watts, definitely capable of gigging. Furthermore, it has great output features and power soak which you can run all the way down to 1 watt. It might be a small amp head, but I assure you it's no toy. It's a real high quality amp. Moreover, it's only like $800 new.
To be quite honest, as much as I love the Mini Rectifier, after having compared the Gigmaster 30 and Rectifier 25, I would have to say that the Gigmaster has an overall better distortion. The Mini Rect wins in the clean department by a small margin, perhaps, but that's really a matter of taste. I only give it an extra point for cleans because of the flexibility built in to the Mini Rect clean channel.
The Gigmaster also has something the Mini Rect can't do and that's a big mid boost. You can get an aggressive distortion or a smoother distortion, and I think the Gigmaster has more cut in a mix than the Mini Rect. I think the Gigmaster sounds slightly more hi-fi, but that could be the speaker cab I was using at the time I compared them.
