PV Bandits are absolute garbage too. Screw Line 6, unless you're planning on shelling out on a Vetta or something, but as far as Pods go there are million better ways to record direct in silently than those things(apparently the only thing they're good for).
BV's are great, but succumb to many component failures. I guess for the price that won't matter, as most of the repairs you'll most likely need to do to a BV combo are farily cheap.
Some good high gain tube amps for around the price of a B-52 or much less(and much better):
-Peavey Ultra(head or combo. The predecessor to the Peavey XXX(very similar. Awesome bang for buck(200-400$)
-Ampeg VL Lee Jackson head(100W tube, 7 preamp tubes(1 for FX loop, 1 for reverb, rest for dist., and integrated power attenuator!).(250-500$)
-Peavey Triumph(head or combo, a lot like the Ultra(very high gain with the right tubes)
-Crate Stealth(Lee Jackson designed. Head or combo. Fuckin awesome and cheap. 200-500$)
All are discontinued. But you can have them for very cheap off ebay and they're very likely going to sound better than a B-52. Very solid amps apparently. I'd love to own that Ampeg and perhaps an Ultra combo. Or all of them.
Still deliberating wether or not to sell my Engl head. If I do, I'm buying an Engl pre and probably an Ampeg VL combo, apart from the Ampeg SS-70 I'm most certainly getting.
