Bumping this again... I am really fighting the GAS now.
I'm sitting here trying to think of justifications for another amp purchase.
Here's the deal: I have 4 heads already; really only one that I use regularly though. Two marshalls, two Mesas.
My main gigging amp - Mesa 5:50+ - does most of what I want. Love the cleans, plenty of volume, good channel balance, relatively simple. The overdive channel voicing does not have quite the crunch/thud/smoodge that I would like. It's great for leads but more like the orange channel on my dual recto (which is in semi-retirement for reasons that are too tedious to go into) - than the red channel, which is great but can sometimes sound a little sterile.
So here's my justiication:
A Hovercraft Falcon (or maybe some other amp I have not yet come across) might give me a 2 channel, 50 watt platform with Fender-ish cleans on one channel, and Orange-ish/Matamp-ish grunt and sludge for drop-tuned stoner riffs on the other, assuming it was voiced right. Leads might not be perfect but I can goose 'em with a tube-screamer or other slightly dirty boost to cut through when needed.
I wonder what the cleans are like on these amps. Good cleans are really, really important to me; my gold standard are vintage Fenders (like Princetons or maybe a Twin).
To be honest, I love my 5:50+ and I can get what I need from it; but a great alternate amp - especially an affordable one - that has a voice like I described; well that would be awesome.
