I have a Fender Mustang III 1x12 combo that's surprisingly versatile (decent emulations of the classic Fender gear, and pretty fair emulations of your other major formats) and loud enough to play against drums'n'bass (not at stadium volume, but for garage rockin' it'll do). And cheap - you should be able to find one used for 2-and-a-quarter Benjamins. Zero resale cachet. Gotta love it. You can do some decent experimentation, and learn what kinds of sounds you like, and which you don't, and then invest in the real deal when you have more experience and ducats.