what amp for my strat?

[lilfoolish50]

I'm looking for an amp, I know the idea of what I want, but I don't know which amp can give me what I'm looking for.
I've got a '85ish stratocaster, s-s-s. Not willing to replace or modify.
I play alt-rock/pop-punk, A Day to Remember/Paramore/Rise Against/Yellowcard style. Heavy, but obviously not metal. I do both rhythm and lead.
I need at least two channels footswitchable for clean and gain.
Prefer combo, due to living space, but open to separate head and cab (cab would have to be 2 speakers, not enough space for 4).
Enough volume for mid-size venues.
Soundwise, clean channel needs the potential to be acoustic-sounding. Like almost if you could mic the strings and just put that through speakers? That kind of "blank" clean.
Gain channel--here's the tricky part i guess--I want a sound that can again hit that rock heaviness, but i want to minimize (or completely eliminate if i can) any gritiness, raspiness, chunkiness, fuzziness etc. I want power with none of that stuff extra. Plus also, I prefer a lot of brightness and clarity, something that can cut through the mix.
$2000 range.
Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.

[TimmyP1955]

Just hit the shops and play through everything you can find - for any given amp, someone will love it and someone else will hate it.

I think you can avoid Fender Hot Rods of any sort. The Fender ToneMaster is a nice amp, but hard to find.

I'm not a big Mesa fan, but many really like the Lone Star series. I heard a Stiletto closed back combo that didn't sound bad.

Check out the Egnater Rebel series, Orange, and Bogner. And a Guytron should you encounter one.

[silvershadow]

I have an SSS strat as well and it took me a while to find the right amp. I looked at various fender amps and others as well but I ended up grabbing the Peavey Valveking 112. I love this amp. It has the crisp clean tones associated with fender amps and guitars and it can crunch it up with the best of them. The gain channel on this amp is amazing. It has great tone and the price is much better than a lot of the tube amps out there. I

It has a foot switch do do exactly what you describe and the gain channel can go from classic rock to a really heavy fuzz. It is a 50w amp so it can really put out some sound, but it can also be subtle as to not blow your neighbors away. It also has a texture knob that I will let them explain:

"If you haven't turned a ValveKing around, you've only heard half of the story. The rear panel is where you'll find the patented Texture control, which adjusts the amp's response characteristics from modern Class A/B push-pull to vintage Class A, or ANY tone between the two. From metal to jazz and modern to vintage, the ValveKing has the tonal options you are looking for.
"With the Texture knob set fully to the A/B position, the amp runs at full power, hitting hard and offering tons of headroom. As you rotate the knob toward Class A operation, the amp becomes increasingly sweet, with a softer attack and lower volume. Evenorder harmonics are added in the process, and the power output can drop to as little as 40 watts. This useful and well integrated circuit should be standard equipment on every tube amp." - Guitar World"



I highly recommend checking it out. I think you will be quite pleased and with a 400.00 price tag you can't go wrong.