ProToneThinline

Hey OP, if the Craigslist Gods are kind you should be able to find at least a silverface Fender amp from the 70's of at least 40 watts (trust me, tube watts are louder than solid state watts) for the kind of money you are looking at. It may need service (tubes, capacitors), but it will likely outlive even you due to the construction methods used at the time. I have a basement full of old Fenders bought for stupid little money over the years. I have a Showman, Bassman, Bandmaster, Deluxe, and an old 210 Super Amp that all told cost me less than $1200, but that comes from 30 years of cruising music stores. It's going to be really hard to find a deal on a Vibrolux these days. These amps are actually quite popular now. A decent silverface will run you around $1,500, with a blackface about $2,000+. A newer Custom Vibrolux Reverb will be around $700, but they don't sound the same as the vintage VR's. They don't sound bad, just different. The "red knob" Super 210 (or 112) is a great amp that you can find cheap. The clean channel is typical Fender clean, and the OD side is very Boogie-like. I had a 112 back in the day, and regret letting it go. Locally, I've seen these go for as little as $200....... The Prosonic and Supersonic amps have good drive channels, but their clean channels are just "okay". As far as most newer Fenders go (Hot Rod, Blues, etc.), the cleans are good (good, not great), but the drives sound awful. If you go this route, you'll need a good OD pedal. Fortunately, these amps take pedals very well.

But