The problem wasn't lack of tone or response.... the problem was lack of headroom. I fail to see how less knobs on a low wattage amp will solve this issue.
Well, my rock band has just changed drummers, and the new guy is much louder, so I may have to hunt down some more headroom of my own, so I understand it's important depending on circumstances.
Not necessarily. He has a studio kit rather than a stage kit so he's not as loud as he could be, and he doesn't pound on the skins like a caveman either. 30w is actually a really good balance with him provided you want a really compressed/overdriven tone. The thing is that as a rhythm player I want a cleaner tone with more note separation and a more percussive, dynamic attack than I can get out of a balls to the wall 30w amp.