I would like to get the full 90 watt head as my first boogie, I don't need that much power however having the 3 channels would be preferred. Are there many tone differences between the 3, head or combo, just need to get the best sound for small to medium sized venues and jams, I don't care about weight, just pure tone and versitility. Mainly play blues, rock, hard rock.
If you
want to get the full 90 watt and you can afford it without starving yourself or your family,
and you don't have chronic back issues (or better yet, if you have somebody who can carry it for ya)... just go for it! Take it from somebody who deep down wanted a 90, but made countless excuses for the more "reasonable" 25 and 35 options before finally giving in... save yourself the time and hassle if you know deep down that the 90 is what you're really after.
A few comments:
TONE: the differences are negligible, but they
are there. No matter how you set up, no matter what room you are in, with all things being equal, the 90 will bring you a tone that is simultaneously sweeter and more authoritative. Oh, and perhaps counter-intuitively, it still sounds better even at the most hushed bedroom volumes compared to its smaller cousins.
This doesn't mean that the 25 and 35 sound like garbage by comparison. Quite the contrary: they sound pretty sweet. It's just that the 90 sounds a little bigger and better. Always. Like, I dunno... maybe 5%? The problem with this is, if your ultimate goal is the best possible tone available, that 5% will never stop bothering you. Tiny differences can mean a lot.
It's a shame, because the 90 takes up so much more space and is generally so much less convenient... and hardly anybody these days bothers actually pushing amps like this to the point of infuriating the neighbors, so it almost feels like an ornament at times. But the bottom line is, you
will get a better sound.
OPTIONS: There are fewer shaping options on the 25 and 35 and You don't get the Tweed, Edge, or Mark I settings. While Tweed is kinda nice, I don't personally care about the other two, so no big loss there. The biggest issue for me, by far, was the lack of a 3-way switch. If
all you plan on doing is bedroom playing/recording, that's not an issue. But if you perform live, in an eclectic variety of genres, and don't want to rely on too many pedals, it's kind of annoying you can only toggle between two settings on the fly. I mean, even a Hot Rod Deluxe comes with a switch between Clean, Gain, More Gain settings,* and you can easily find one of those at less than 1/3 the cost of a new Mark V:25 and cabinet.
For me, it took several rehearsals to get over the denial, but eventually the the 2 channel issue negated the portability advantage of the 25 and 35. Yes, I'm lazy and don't like planning the night's set list around the sounds immediately available at my feet. It took only having 2 channels before I realized just how much more flexibility 3 gives you.
PORTABILITY: 35 and (especially) the 25 kill the 90 here. It's no comparison. I don't even like moving my 90 up and down the stairs. Granted, I'm a wuss, but even so, the 25 and 35 were a breeze to cart around, and the 90 just, well, sucks.
PRICE: This is just my opinion, but if you're going for high-end gear, you should worry less about the price tag itself than locating
exactly what you want to play/play through, making absolutely sure, then saving up.... making sure again, then getting it. In the meanwhile, you can still get a more than passable sound out of a used Fender, Peavey, Blackstar, Vox, whatever floats your boat, then turn around and sell that when you've got your dream equipment. So if portability is your most important factor, get the 25. If portability is most important but you also
need just a little more oomph and a solo boost, get the 35. Otherwise, might as well get the 90, regardless of cost. (and fwiw, you can find used 90s in great condition for hundreds less than new V:25s right now)
FINAL NOTE: Others may disagree, but unless you've put in a lot of time in the amp and it still sounds absolutely
perfect to your ears, stay away from the combo version. There are just so many more easy options available to you with a head/cab.
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* Yeah, we all know nobody actually uses the HRD gain channels, but still ;-)