Before I bought the Flextone, I auditioned (at Bob Young's suggestion) a Fender Deville. It is a great amp. It is not as multi-dimensional as the Flex, but it is great at what it does. For me, the deciding factor was size and weight, cuz I ain't so young, either.

This will probably make a lot of players gag, but I am a firm believer that the music comes from the player and not the equipment. I do NOT obsess over nuances of tone. Give me a pro amp and a pro guitar, and decent strings, and I will get what I want. And it does not matter a whit to the audience, who are happily ignorant about the whole issue.

Carl Perkins plugged a guitar into an amp...and played. That's all you need to know.