I'm guessing this the kind of party that is perfectly fine running late.
Some interesting suggestions and observations above. My latest acquisition was also the K&K Tubemeister 18 and, as noted earlier, it's pretty useful. I happen to prefer using it either direct or as a preamp, sometimes running it into or paralleled into a Tech21 Trademark 60 SS amp, which can be run transparently enough to be pretty useful that way...not quite like the PE60 referred to earlier, but close enough.
Those experiments have really got me looking at other preamp options, especially since I'm developing a decided preference for second order harmonic distortion and would way rather not push my power stage much, if at all. There are lots of interesting options on the preamp path and would love to know if anyone else is pursuing this quest.
At the moment, I might even be giving serious thought to hunting down one of those old rack mount Mesa Recording Preamps, which seem to be running in the $500 range, used of course. There are also some pretty intriguing and useful peddle options, such as the
Ethos Overdrive unit, not to mention some other full-plate voltage tube varieties.
Also, I have to say that, at the moment, for direct recording and even just regular at home/studio practice, I'm actually preferring to use the Scuffham
S-Gear plugin. If I could figure out a good road-worthy VST host solution, I'd be very satisfied with this, short of a number of $2000 boutique alternatives on my wish list. At $99, it's
far and away better than any of my otherwise decent "real" amps.