It's way easier to rent gear in a major recording market like NY or LA then in the midwest. Chicago still has a few rental houses...
I love the 1176... own two of 'em but they rarely see use on "heavy" dirt guitars... They grab too hard on the chuggy palm mutes but work for solos or regular "rock" tones...
I generally prefer comps with a smoother knee for chuggy dirt guitar, more usable/abusable but not always.
My only rule is that I threw 'em all out years ago!