Which Amp, I know I know...

First off thanks for all of the replies. The only Problem I have is that unfortunantely even though I live in "Music City USA" there are very few actual locations that have more than a small crappy assortment of low end models. As for my price range, it doesnt matter. I cant afford anything yet but I am working towards a goal and I am trying to find any and all amp suggestions. So basically put, I am willing to work my ass off to get this thing if I know it is what I want. All of the suggestions so far have been good and varied like in all of the other posts I have read and even in the guide to buying a new amp at the top of the forum, however, only a few of them really break down into some details. I'm asking a lot of all of you I know but I would like to know more specifically about some of these amps. For example could I take a Mesa and crank the clean up to say... 5 and be able to be heard in a club venue over drums bass another guitar and vocals and have it stay truely clean? And can I take it a play some metallica song with heavy distortion and the switch channels and play Autumn Leaves as a chord solo without any hint that I had just gone from octane lit metal to warm fat, but not fuzzy, clean sound? Thanks so much for your help and my apologies for such a long response.
Stephen

The mesa nomad that I had didn't have a lot of headroom on the clean side, it was the 45 2x12 combo..great amp thought, no doubt.

For stellar cleans with enough gain for other things I'd look at some used Riveras. The cleans have tons of headroom and the gain side is insanely versatile. I've sung the praises of both the mesa and the rivera, but the rivera is the only one still sitting beside me right now. Not all models are created equal so if you find one, it might pay to call Rivera customer service and talk to someone about it prior to buying a used one that you can't play in person. His amps are built like tanks, huge transformers and enough push pull pots to make a NASA engineer giddy. Solids amps all around, but new they're pretty steep...used market is where you'll get a deal.

ric232: Check out 18watt.com for some samples of what an 18 watt sounds like.

First let me tell you that the Lonestar Special will not disappoint. It is hands down the best amp that I have ever played through. It has the best clean that I have ever heard, so dynamic and full. infinately tweakable, and the active eq is just nuts. The pots have an emmense range.

The 18 watt reference is in how the amp breaks up. The OD is so fluid and smooth, yet has this element of disorder. I have an american deluxe strat HSS, with the SCN singles it sounds very black face, yet when I switch to the HB it sounds more dense, and rich. With the drive active, and about 12 o'clock, and the gain at 12 o'clock you can acheive this very sensitive, and dynamic vibe where you play softly and the amp sounds very clean, but if you dig into it, then it breaks up without begoming muddy. Every note holds this clarity that is unbelievable. You have control over your tone and feel just by how you play. I have only heard of two other amps that had this feel, mojo, or whatever it is; they were a Matchless DC30, and an 18 watt Marshall.

One thing to note is the power section. The amp resonds differnently in 30, 15, or single ended 5 watt modes. The power amp can be set independently for both channels. I have the clean on 30 for the headroom, and the dirty on 5 for the single ended class A push.

If you want one of these, then jump on it before Mesa changes their mind about these and quits making them. like the heartbreaker, blue angle, maverick etc.