[skeksis]

Sorry for the long post, just trying to put the relevant info out there.

Last night I was switching between my 3 amps: a '66 Princeton Reverb (my first choice, usually), a '63-ish Silvertone 1482 (in the 5E3 vein), and an '64 or so Airline 9015A (20+ watts, 2x12", 2x6L6 but low voltages & small transformers).

Used my Harmony-made '64 Silvertone 3-pickup semi-hollow w/ bigsby.

Note that I've been shopping for a large-gig amp... I love the Airline and Silvertone for what they are, but I don't trust 'em to gig w/ and haven't ever converted them to a 3-prong grounded cord. Currently I use the PR for most everything outside my home.

What really jumped out at me was how UNFORGIVING the PR is! what I mean is that it sounds fantastic when 1) you're guitar is perfectly in tune, 2) guitar is perfectly set up, 3) volume/tone settings just right on guitar and amp, and 4) when you hit every note flawlessly. But if any of those drift a hair from ideal, the PR seems to exaggerate the problem. The payoff is there -- it's better than my other amps -- if everything is just right.

Alternately, I could get really good results in the silvertone and airline even when the stars didn't align perfectly.

Anyone else noticed this? I can see how the super clean BF/SF circuits get a reputation for being unforgiving.

My question is: what are some "more forgiving" amps? I would guess that earlier, less 'clean' circuits would fit that (tweeds?) but where would amps like the Blues Jr or AC30CC come down? What's a good, well built, mid-to-large combo that's a little less finicky? (I've been looking for a vibrolux reverb, but starting to wonder if there's other options I should consider, probably not a bf/sf fender?).