How about a Blues Jr. with a more sensitive speaker upgrade? That will give you a lot more volume. A lot of people gig with them. I think they are cool little amps. Also I tried out the new III HRDx and the volume taper definitely wasn't much of an improvement and has almost no taper at all, like the original ones. Very minor improvement there. The Blues Jr. III amps are supposed to have that popular mod already built into them; the sparkle mod I think it is. This could be a cool amp in my opinion. You could probably also get some more clean volume by using a good clean boost pedal in front of the Blues Jr. Like I said, a lot of people gig with them and don't have a problem. If your drummer is post hard core metal slamming, you definitely will need a lot more power, but if your group is moderated I would think that it would make a light and really nice amp, with a few minor upgrades, like the super sensitive speaker. You can get an Emminence fairly cheap.
Also, if you haven't noticed, over at the Fender Forum that Bill M. guy has a big thread on the Blues Jr. and can answer most questions and has done a lot of testing of speakers and so forth. You should be able to determine from reading the huge Blues Jr. thread there if the amp is going to be loud enough to cut it in your band. You would definitely have a good Fender clean, especially with a recommended speaker if you need to upgrade it for more volume. I think that amp has a lot of clean headroom to begin with, and with a clean boost - who knows?
HRDx would be definitely cool, even the old one, in my opinion. Not much different with the new one that I could tell.
I have played a couple Blues Deluxe amps and I think they are really nice, have great tone, and I didn't miss the extra third channel - the "More Drive" one on the HRDX. I think this would be a super great amp. You would definitely be able to compete with any aggressive drummer and be able to knock the doors down with this amp. It is always good to have that reserve power when people start cranking up the volume competition.
I had the fifteen watt Tweaker and liked it but it blew up on me and I didn't want to go thru the warranty rigamarole. I was able to get a credit toward a new amp and got a Peavey 6505+ combo - definitely zero clean channel, speaking in Fender clean terms. A neat ultra high gain amp. The Tweaker was cool but had a complicated circuit with a lot to potentially go wrong. People like them though.
The Classic Thirty or Delta Blues would totally be awesome. The Classic Thirty might be a little more leaning toward a more clean tone. That Classic Thirty really cranks out some volume and nice tone. It seems to me to have a little more cut to it than my Delta Blues, which is a very nice amp in its own right.
Definitely good luck with this, and you definitely have a real good bargaining chip with that Club 40.
