I've been researching and fretting for months about which head would go with which cabinet and whether to buy new or used on CL, how much does the thing weigh, and how many ohms is it again that work with how many ohms, yadda yadda. Today I just walked into Sam Ash on a whim and tried out four amps all priced $500-600, three used (a Hartke, a GK, and an SWR) and the new Rumble. The GK rig was by far the loudest and richest (I think it was 700 watts) but it also weighed about 700 pounds. No way I could move that by myself.
The Fender sounded next best. Really smooth and strong, like it wasn't breaking a sweat and still had plenty in the tank, even with Gain and Master at 75%. Then I picked it up and realized my life was about to change. I used to have to keep my 300-watt Line 6 Lowdown at my drummer's house for band number 1 because I hate moving it, and had to cart an inadequate 50-watt Ibanez back and forth for band number 2. Now I can sell the Lowdown, get back about $250 on the purchase (I paid $550 incl tax for the Rumble), and simply carry the Rumble and sound incredible wherever I go, because it weighs nothing and sounds like an earthquake. And it has a 5-year warranty.
I got home and plugged in my Jazz. Sweet Mother of God. The Rumble actually started causing my acoustic guitar's strings to start sproinging away by themselves. Never seen that phenomenon before. I'll never have to buy another amp again! And if I do, it'll just be a cabinet for the Rumble. Something has happened to my psyche in the past few hours... I think it's called peace of mind. I can just stop thinking about amps, which ... you can't put a price on that.
One final thing: Just realized I now have everything I need. A Jazz, a Precision, and a Rumble. All Fender. Hell, even my instrument cable is Fender. They somehow have captured all my musical dollars. They're like Apple.
The Fender sounded next best. Really smooth and strong, like it wasn't breaking a sweat and still had plenty in the tank, even with Gain and Master at 75%. Then I picked it up and realized my life was about to change. I used to have to keep my 300-watt Line 6 Lowdown at my drummer's house for band number 1 because I hate moving it, and had to cart an inadequate 50-watt Ibanez back and forth for band number 2. Now I can sell the Lowdown, get back about $250 on the purchase (I paid $550 incl tax for the Rumble), and simply carry the Rumble and sound incredible wherever I go, because it weighs nothing and sounds like an earthquake. And it has a 5-year warranty.
I got home and plugged in my Jazz. Sweet Mother of God. The Rumble actually started causing my acoustic guitar's strings to start sproinging away by themselves. Never seen that phenomenon before. I'll never have to buy another amp again! And if I do, it'll just be a cabinet for the Rumble. Something has happened to my psyche in the past few hours... I think it's called peace of mind. I can just stop thinking about amps, which ... you can't put a price on that.
One final thing: Just realized I now have everything I need. A Jazz, a Precision, and a Rumble. All Fender. Hell, even my instrument cable is Fender. They somehow have captured all my musical dollars. They're like Apple.
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Apple is the evil bane of all geekdom. 
