Sovtek Mig 100

I got my Mig brand new in 93. My moms friend was a dealer for Sovtek and convinced me I had to get this amp. Boy am I glad I did. I played Helmet inspired hard-core music at the time and this amp was perfect. Very simple amp. The Basics as far as bass,mid,treble,presence,master vol. Low and High gain inputs. No reverb, or effects loop. I ran a floor processor at the time through the Low gain ch. The amp is amazingly loud even in this setting. Over the years and bands I've run dry(no effects) and back again. Very Powerful.

With effects you can achieve every sound from blues to jazz to metal no problem. On its own good clean and very good rock tones. This thing just cranks. I run it with a Randle cab loaded with celestions. Ear plugs required.

I've had this amp for 15 years and all it has needed is new tubes. I never had a backup amp. Our roadies would complain about the weight. Well what do you expect? Its made out of old Russian tank parts!

Never needed to contact Sovtek.

I have been playing for around 20 years. Unfortunetly I haven't been able to use this amp in a while cause its just sooo loud. I have a '64 Fender Vibro Champ and a Vox. I'm not worried about it getting stolen because it's too heavy to carry more than 10 feet. I've heard that it is compareable to a Marshall JCM 800. I love this amp for its simplicity and rarity.

Tube, low and hi channel. presence, low mid and hi eq, master and volume dials. Basic features but thats not why you buy this amp

Amazing. I now have two of these.

use its distortion and you get greeeaaattt sounds out of this. Plug a les paul into this and crank it up (mind you only to about 4 or 5, otherwise the neighbors will call the cops) and you'll be in heaven.

I personally want as much gain as possible so I'll plug in one of my distortion pedals like the zoom tri metal, my electro harmonix metal muff or use my guitar sans amp classic along with some of the amps gain.

I play in a few bands...one is a metallic hardcore band where i want heaps of tightness for the real quick stuff and heaps of power and volume for those real heavy parts. The other band is a punk rock band and it goes just as well after dialling a different sound or adding or swapping a pedal.

Alone...fantastic amp....with the addition of a pedal....the amp excels I think.

THIS is why you buy this amp

I bought both of mine second hand and havent had any problems over the two or so years I have had them.

Second hand

Overall its an awesome amp and I have a lot of people asking me and my friend (who also plays one of these) how we get our sound.

I purchaced a Mig 100 head from Guitar Center bout 10 yrs ago. Paid $149.00 for it.Run it through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet loaded w/ Jensen's from Sear's Twin twelve cab's..Plenty of TONE! Bout a year ago it had slight loss of output.. Wait'n for a good amp guy to check it out. Great clean & great overdrive tones..

"82" Les Paul Costom..stock pick up's.

As mentioned, loss slight of output.Main amp!!!

Haven't had to use

Playing 30 yrs..Would replace if had to.. Own many vintage tube amps...

The Sovtek MIG 100 is 2 things: all tube and ridiculously loud. You've got your basic EQ knobs, pre-gain, and master volume. Nothing fancy, but if you like this amp's sound then you don't need fancy. This thing isn't very versatile, but it's perfect and very affordable for hard rock, metal, etc.

This amp sounds fantastic. I dial it in at full gain with mids boosted through a Marshall 4x12 and my Les Paul roars. At high gain it's really thick and full, but it does lack slightly as far as bite goes. Throw a fuzz, distortion, tubescreamer, etc. on in front of this and you've got a monster. I get sweet, full feedback from this and at high volumes it still sounds clear and gorgeous.

I haven't owned mine for long, but it weighs a ton and feels like it's made out of concrete.

This is my major complaint. I can't find ANY information online about this amp. If you buy one, make sure it's in working order or else you might spend a lot of time and money getting back to perfection.

I use my Sovtek in a stoner rock/metal band and it is perfect. Our other guitarist plays an Orange Rockverb 30 and a Black Matamp (both range from $1500-2000 each) and I can keep up with him, no problem. This amp is very specific to heavy and rock sounds, so if you're looking for clean and pretty, move along. If you want something that will shake the house and roar like a beast, get one of these.

I am a female musician, and 9 out of 10 times that I carry my Mig 100 into a venue, some metal head is instantly drawn to me. I use a Marshall 4x12 cab, and the Sovtek sounds good clean and distorted. My favorite pedal is my Big Muff Pi, and the two sound fantastic together. The features are minimal, but if you can really play, you don't need a bunch of fancy effects.

I play a vintage Washburn. The sound quality is fantastic.

I always bring it inside after gigs. It's heavy as hell. My only complaint is that the standby switch broke. And I had to fix it. But i did it upside down. Oops. I deal.

My Sovtek is used. One time I had to change a tube, and the part was difficult to find. But I have had the thing for 10 years, and that was the only time it needed a company part.

I have been playing for ten years and the Mig 100 is by far my favorite piece of equipment. And I don't play metal.

This amp does not have a million freatures but it has exactly what is needed to get the job done and have great tone. Most of the time the key to good tone is to keep it simple. It is one channel with no effects loop and no BS

Its really hard for me to rate any piece of gear on sound quility because I feel that every piece of equipment does what it does and every piece of gear no matter how good or bad it sounds is useful. So it is hard for me to rank anything on a scale, but I can tell you how the amp sounds. This Amp sounds like a Marshall JCM 900 but with more gain and low frequences. It is a very "heavy" sounding amp but is still clear.

This thing is built like a tank!

There is very little info out there on this amp.

I play mostly Metal, Rock and guitar hero type stuff with my bands but I also work as a studio musician, so I have to be able to make any tone at any time. I own 7 or 8 amps and about 30 guitars. This amp is a great add to my collection of amps. Some of my amps cost up to $3,200 and this one keeps up. If you are looking for a heavy sounding marshall type amp with no extra junk added on this is your amp! If you want to hear it I am always recording with it and you can hear it and contact me at myspace.com/jeremymrussell

I've had my Mig since 97 and it has seen it's share of pain and suffering but has held strong. This amp is as bare bones as can be while still being useful. 1 Channel, no reverb, but at least you can adjust the treble, mids, bass, presence and gain. It had everything I needed for a heavy rock tone. Now that I've toned down my playing I wish it had some reverb. In addition, this thing needs to be cranking loud to sound its best. And this thing gets VERY loud.

I bought this amp to get a heavy ac/dc like rock sound and it delivered. I rarely used my Mig at high gain but it can go there. I preferred to stay around mid gain for a great heavy tone that still lets you hear individual notes. For the heavy, drop D riff driven music I played this amp was perfect. Variety is not this amps strong suit. No channel switching, no reverb, nothing. I would push it with a distortion pedal for leads and that extra special grind. You'll never mistake a Mig for a rectifier but what you will get is a great solid heavy tone that still sounds like a guitar.

I am literally shocked by the reliability of this amp. My amp has been through absolute hell. Ice cold practice spots, filthy NYC clubs, crappy band van, drunken band mates, mold, and oh yeah my apartment burned down too. This amp survived it all with nothing more than tube changes and a replaced output jack (my singer snapped the cheap plastic one off). To suggest that this thing is bullet proof is not an exaggeration. 10 +

yeah right... I don't think you can even buy original parts for these things. I always heard they were built from post Cold War Soviet surplus.

Yeah, its basic but gets the job done with style. I have yet to play through another high powered head that I like as much as my mig. My 4 x 12 cab is tired and shot but I've played this through my 2 X 12 with vintage 30s and it sings. I love the sweet simplicity and tone tone tone. I'm struggling to figure out my next move. If I can find a way to get some good cheap reverb then my mig will rise again. Otherwise, the Sovtek may get shelved. That being said, I can't imagine selling it.

I has the necessary! Bass Midle treble and presence! Low and Hi gain input! The only lack is the missing of other channel and fx loop :S

I use this amp with his original cabinet with 2 Eminence V12 Speakeres and 2 Celestion seventy 80's.

It's heavy the cab and the amp! and it's loud has hell!

I play metal and Hard Rock.
I use only de Hi-gain input, and I add some drive with a Marshall Gu'v'nor pedal for the solos, It sounds very good!

The sound is very like Mesa crunchy stile.

I play with a Yamaha Pacifica with 2 humbuckers EMG H4 (passive version of the EMG81) and this amp really kick ass live and in a studio!

This thing is contructed to last I had mine at 12 years, but I think it has 15 years. Never had a problem, and never let me down! I use a Line Flextone III in the back up just in a case, but never had to use it in live situation!

Unfourtunely they don't produce anymore this amp, but recently I send complements to electro-harmonix about the amp and can you believe, the president repplyed to me!!! :)

Maybe some day this amp re-apear on the market, I hope so!

If you whant just distortion in a amp and do not whant to spend money in a Mesa or in a Marshall, these amp is a very good choice and sound great.

If you wahnt just a very clean and flat and very linear channel, to play with pedals, for that this is the best amp you can ever had!

I hate when people complain about a lack of features on an amp. If you want a bunch of nonsense features, buy a Line 6 or one of those Marshall Triple Super Lead heads or something like that.
Personally, I prefer amps to have very few options. As long as I can adjust the bass, mid, treble, volume and gain I'm a happy camper. It does exactly what it needs to do, and for anything else I can bring in outside help.

I play a PRS Custom 24 and an 81 Les Paul Standard through it and it seriously roars. I pair it with my 120 watt Matamp GTVtc and I get complimented on my rig EVERY SINGLE SHOW I play. I dont use the "clean channel", but I get a decent clean by decreasing the output on my guitar. One channel is totally fine if you use the volume knob on your guitar.
The distortion is unreal. I find it strange that some people are saying that it's not good, because I play heavy doom and it suits my needs perfectly. Right now I play it through a Marshall 1960a cab and an Orange cab, and it sounds ridiculous.
It used to hum really really loud, but that has since been fixed, and while it's not as quiet as my Matamp, the hum is very minimal and pretty much what you would expect from a high gain amp (if not less).

I do use it at gigs without a backup, but I'm not going to lie...sometimes it scares me. It has had several grounding issues which has caused to start buzzing on several occasions. While these problems are easy to fix (usually a loose grounding screw), I'm still nervous at times.
I bought it used and it had been heavily modified. All of the plastic parts were replaced with metal ones. Metal input and output jacks and metal on/off & standby switches. If you're going to get one of these I suggest doing the same

I compare these things to the reuben sandwich. Its component parts are terrible, but for some reason the end product is a masterpiece.

No idea. Its good to have a reliable amp repair guy though.

I've been playing for 14 years and I've owned several amps and I think this thing is great. It seriously roars. Its unbelievably loud, and disgustingly heavy. Plus it looks cool. The person who owned it before me ripped all the tolex off and stained the wood and its very cool looking. Paired with my Matamp its pretty much my dream rig (finally). If you want to hear the combination of the two, check out my band Ancestors http://www.myspace.com/fleshintostone

Basically if you play heavy music or rock & roll I highly suggest this amp.

I got mine with a 4X12 Sonic cabinet off a friend for $300. Money well spent. Pretty basic, workhorse amp. One channel, low and high inputs, 4/8/16 ohm speaker outs, weighs as much as a Fender Twin and has more than enough power. More than enough power. It's got plastic jacks but metal switches (mod?) hasn't caused me any problems that way. Very basic eq (treb, mid, bass knobs) input volume works well to adjust gain while master volume adjusts overall level. Simplicity=perfection with this thing.

Great mildly dirty, fuzz tones to very clean, depending on what guitar used and where you want the gain to go. I don't use any effects pedals or any of that nonsense, but if I did, I don't think distortion would be one of them. Low input can get a warm, jazzy tone, not bright, but well defined. I prefer the high input & play my '62 melody maker with the vintage lil' black pick up and it gets an awsome, twangy yet dirty, tele-with-an-attitude trebly sound that works out great for what I play. The high end has the potential to rip your ears apart if you play too loud without turning down the treble a bit and I'll raise the mid to get a little more warmth & buzz. Not a "quiet" amp at all. It pretty much goes from "zero" to "rock" without much in between. If you're looking for the clean Fender tone but need the power & (natural) distortion of a Marshall, this is perfect stage gear.
Only issue with this is when I'm standing around in between playing with the guitar volume all the way down I get audible radio signals, but a lot of things cause that to happen. It's really only in my practice space anyway.
I totally love this amp.

This amp is a tank! I've had this thing get slammed around in the back of a van and once dropped it and none of that ever phased it. It's what I use at every show and to record with and it works great under any condition so far. I've had it about 2 1/2 years, maybe a little longer and it's always been trustworthy. Taking the same good care of it like any other tube amp is of course, the way to go, but I think one could be negligent with one of these and not run into too many problems. They seem to be built for the war. The only issue I had with it was with the fuse jacks on the back. One of them got smashed while being transported. They're those spring-loaded finger screw fuse covers and the "russian" variety are big, weird things that look a little unstable. Mostly they just stick too far out of the back. I replaced the smashed one with a cover that screws in with a phillips head and is flat against the housing and problem solved.No problem with tubes or anything else and all the guts are protected with a metal-mesh "cage" in the back.

I dunno.

I've had different combos and half-stacks before and so far this one is my favorite set up. As far as tone, dirty-ness, volume and reliability are concerned, this one rules. I love the simple, power house amps and this one satisfies. I looked at Orange, Sunn, Acoustic, and, yes, Marshall amps, but this is one I could afford easily (and kind of fell into my lap) so I can say it works out nice for what I need to have. It would be better for me to have a smaller, more portable combo and something that didn't weigh as much as a volkswagon, but I don't mind hauling this thing around since it makes a sound I really like.