If You Think You See with Just Your Eyes, You're Mad
I've been looking around with no particular purpose at amps. All I've got right now is a Squier (cheapo Fender) 10W practice amp. It's actually more than fine for around the house. Anything past like 4 makes the pictures rattle (and starts to distort), but, I'm curious about what makes bigger, more expensive amps so much better (besides vintage tubes). So, I look at all the Fender amps, and see the 25W Frontman. It retails for $230, sells on the street for $140. It has reverb and slightly better EQ possibilities. It's generally got good reviews, and for me it would be 2.5x as powerful. Then, I discover that in adddition to the Squier line of cheapies, Fender makes a Brand X line. They too sell a 25W amp ($220, or $130). I download their manuals to see what's the diffference between them. Guess what it is? Nothing! They have the same controls, but slightly different knobs. They even have the exact same part number! Why would they do that? I'm enough of a poser geek that I would pay the extra $10 for the Fender plate on the front. Who would want a "Brand X" amp?
I think I'm going to check out the local pawn shops. They always have guitars and stuff from losers.