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I'm wanting to buy a new amp and am stuck on four amps: Fender Stage 1600, Line 6 Spider II 212, Marshall MG250DFX, and Randall RG200G2. I like rock, hard rock, and metal. I also want it to have a good clean vintage sound and have the best sounding distortion for all of these types of music. Which one of these amps would sound the best for what I like?

THANKS.

are you gonna be using this amp live or just at home for jamming?

i would take the Marshall

I'm gonna play live with it.

Everyone wants an amp that does great cleans and the best distortion. For the most part a single amp is a compromise.

Check out the peavey Classic 30. Cleans are good, good classic rock distortion, plenty loud. Add an overdrive pedal and it'll do metal too...

I have the Fender Stage 160 (the forerunner of the 1600 w/o the extras.) The clean channel on the 160 is great! I use it exclusively and use a Boss ME-50 for distortion and effects. The pristine clean channel takes effects very well. And that amp is LOUD! The gain channel on my 160, on the other hand, is an quot;acquired taste.quot; One that I haven't acquired yet so that's why I use the ME-50 for gain.

I'd go with the Marhsall or the Randall...The Marshall distortion is a bit smoother, but the Randall clean is a bit nicer.

If you're going to be playing live with it, definitely rule out the MG. It's far too unreliable. Out of those four, I've never played the Randall, but I'd take the Fender. I'm not particularly keen on any of them, but I despise the Spider II and MG. If you're serious about playing live, look a bit more expensive. If you want to stay solid state, check out the Vox Valvetronix series (hybrid, but close enough), the Roland Cubes, and the Line 6 Flextones. I've heard excellent things about the Tech 21 amps too, but haven't played any of them.

Make sure to try out amps before you buy it though.

take the fender...its a great amp. the effects are usable and it does a pretty good job clean. i played a hss american dlx thru it and was VERY suprised and im usually a big tone snob.