i am thinking about purchasing a 56 degree oil can wedge. how much bounce do i want on the club?

depends...but i assume you hit more shots of the fairway from 100 yards in then the bunker...that said you want a fairly low amount of bounce...nothing over 8 or 10 degrees. having less bounce on the fairway means your trailing edge on the wedge is not much lower then your leading edge letting you hit a cleaner shot if you will (basically you will take a better divot with less bounce) but it will tend to dig....as for sand its the other way around...you want as much bounce as you can handle, say 12 to 16 degrees...that meaning your trailing edge is way lower then your leading edge, making it more difficult for the wedge to dig in the ground and "sweep" through the sand...as for what i can remember a good majority had 16 degrees as an unwritten standard on 56 degree wedges...these days its whatever you prefer...as for myself to give you an idea i play a 54 degree vokey with 10 degrees of bounce and a 58 degree with 12 degree of bounce...you be able to figure out what i play from FW and Bunker now ;)