wow! I rag on carl perkins and the whole conversation comes to a screaching halt. My point was, as a musician, you play as much for yourself as for the audience. You're right, the audience doesn't care if you play a pro guitar or amplifier or good strings. All they want is for you to play a song they like. You, as the guitarist, are seeking out that "tone." I've played at way too many shows to count and through way too many rigs to name. I can almost always get a workable sound, but nothing compares to playing through your own rig. That's why I was asking about suggestions for backing up my Pro Reverb. I finally have an amplifier that gives me the break up when I want it, but stays clean when I don't. It's bright without being piercing and has low end for days. The only drawback is there really aren't any more of them, and if anything ever happens to it I don't want to hang up my axe or suffer through a lesser tone for the remainder of my (hopefully many) playing days. Any suggestions out there?