[brandondrury]

Basically, the way I see it, going to Guitar Center or the local equivalent is about like going to Walmart. If your tastes are demanding, you are not going to come out happy buying at Walmart. However, I have no problem buying Salsa and underwear at Walmart. So, it's up to you to choose your battles.

There are probably at least 3 bad ass tone guys who know of all the sleeper amps. You've got to find these tone masters. There are all kinds of amps that are cheap and awesome, but you've got to stay up on it.

For example, somebody brought in a Mesa Boogie DC-5. They are about $500 now for a 1x12. I was blown away by the distortion (more like a Metallica type of deal). This distortion was about 30x better than the Rectofier fizz, but under half the price.

I guess I'm saying that there are a lot of great sounding discontinued amps out there.

My 1971 Marshall Superlead head has made me way more money than a savings account or a cd (if I was to sell it today). You may want to consider going the vintage route. You have to scrape up extra cash up front, but I can't think of too many amps that sound amazing and provide profit.

Brandon