Sovtek Mig 50

Not sure of the exact year, but I think this is a mid-late model. I got this on craigslist after searching for a good deal on one for a couple months.

This is a very minimalistic, bare-bones amp, and I love it for that. The mig 50 pushes 50w using 3 12ax7 preamp tubes and 2 6L6 tubes in the power amp. It is a pretty loud 50w, I have played small-medium size gigs with it without having to turn it has 4. Amp has two channels (rhythm and lead), volumes for each, TMB stack and presence knob.

I got this amp because I have been looking for a nice raw plexi/bassman type tone, and after a lot of research I decided this amp would fit my needs perfectly.

I use this amp with a '72 Fender Telecaster Deluxe reissue (mainly), but have also played it with my '83 Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe and a '64 Kent Videocaster. I play punk/indie/classic rock and get distortion using 2 homemade pedals. One is a modded germanium fuzz face, and the other is a modded MXR distortion +. I also use a crybaby wah. I plug into both channels using the Y-cable setup (sounds best this way). I'm running it into a 2x12 Avatar cab (vert. style) with 1 Eminence GB128 and 1 Eminence V12.

When I first bought the amp, the mid control pot was busted, the rest were scratchy, and only a few seemed to actually do anything to the EQ. I replaced all of them with off-board alpha pots (stock values) and high quality wire. The EQ is now much more responsive. Typically I set the bass to 3-4, roll back on the mids 2, treble at 7, presence at 8ish (though it is very hard to hear the presence impact the tone.

This amp needs to be played pretty loud to sound good, but sounds awesome! At band practice I usually run channel 1 at 3.5 and channel 2 a little higher at 4. This is a bassy amp, and I like a lot of bass, but I still find it necessary to roll back on it. The first channel is much bassier, and the 2nd channel is has more treble and breaks up a little sooner. They both seem to break up even sooner with the y cable.

The amp stays very clean until you turn it to 1 or 2 oclock where you get that natural tube breakup/distortion/compression. Depending on your action, you can get it to start breaking up around 10-11 o'clock. Many people compare this to a Marshall JCM800, but it is definitely very clean, moreso than a plexi, too. The 6L6's give it a Fender feel, much closer to a hot rodded bassman, but still very unique. Cleans can get fenderish and chimey, and when it starts to break up it gets very gritty and raw. It also has a hint of some sort of full, natural echoey/reverb sound that I really love. Huge depth of tone were talking about here.

Around 1pm is this amps sweet spot, but it's typically a higher volume than I need to use, but the amount of crunch and breakup you get can be easily controlled with your volume knob and pick attack. You can really go from soft strumming to hard and go from clean to dirty very smoothly, and then kick on an overdrive and it sounds very natural. Still, at the volume I play at it stays very clean until I really dig in, then I get some good transition dirt.

This amp work really well for my style of music. With my setup I get really great clean and distorted tones for indie rock. It has a really superb warm clean tone that works well as a pedal platform.
I play stuff like fugazi, joy division, sonic youth, replacements, husker du, pavement, velvet underground and I've really had a good time sculpting my own unique sound with this amp and my homemade pedals.

I really like the tones I get from it with my tele- the gibson can be a bit bassy, I usually need to adjust the EQ when changing guitars. I should mention that your guitar's tone knobs will also greatly impact the sounds you can get. Your guitar's character really shines through. Before this amp I was a believer of the "tone knob always on 10" school of thought, but no longer.

It still has the Sovtek tubes in it (they sound pretty good), and I'm not sure how many hours are on them. I'm looking forward to getting it a nice new set of tubes and a rebias. I think with some EHX or JJ's this amp will easily be able to compete with boutique style amps that are going for $1000+. Some hotter, higher gain 12ax7s will probably sound really great, too.

If you compare this amp to all other amps, regardless of price, it is probably more like a 9. But, there's really nothing better for the money so it gets a 10.

I am the 3rd owner of the amp, and the guy I got it from has had it for the past 10 years. It has never given him any issues outside of those cheap broken pots.

I never gig with a backup probably because I am stupid, but I think this amp is built like a tank, and I feel comfortable relying on it.

Bring it to a good amp tech, or DIY. Those are about your only options

For $275 I couldn't ask for anything more. These amps are going for a lot more than that all the time, and for good reason. This amp delivers a killer unique tone that works for lots of different kinds of music (indie, punk, classic rock, blues, pop). It takes pedals really well, and stays quiet at high volumes. It's got the basic features you need to get a straight up clear, crisp tone.

If it were stolen or lost, I would probably try to find another one for a good deal like this, but I doubt I would be able to. I would maybe try to track down a cheap silverface bassman head. I was choosing between this amp, a fender bandmaster, silvertone 1484, and this amp's cousin the mig 60. I was on a budget and I needed power and some clean headroom, so this one was the best match for me. I'll be hanging onto this guy for a while.

I also own a Epiphone valve jr head that I play through an Orange PPC112 cab for practicing in my apartment (the Mig 50 is really loud and sounds sort of bland at low volumes, but is beautiful for live/band situations). These are both great affordable amps, but are pretty different.

I can't exactly remember what year my MIG 50 was built, but I believe it was the late 80's.
I felt compelled to comment on the amp now because there seems to be so much interest in tube amps, and even the values of the Sovteks are going up.
When I bought mine I was told it was designed to be directly comparable a JTM 45. Baloney! What it sounds like to me is a silverface era Super Reverb, of course without the benefit of reverb. It is very harsh. Someone said in an earlier review than anyone that compares this amp to a JCM 800 obviously never played a JCM 800. I totally agree. This amp has its own character and it would be up to the individual to decide if they like it. I decided I did not.
Plenty powerful, but the tube sockets are fragile and mine even arced.

Harsh. That is the only way I can think to describe it. Even my DS-1 and Tube Screamer pedals didn't hit it off with this amp. Like I said before......think post CBS silverface Fender amp with 45-50 watts output. I gave up on the amp within about three months and bought something else.

Tube sockets arced almost immediately, then eventually the rest of the guts started to shake loose. Add to that the ultra compact chassis tends to cook the innards like an oven. The only company I know of that ever managed to get that much stuff in a tiny cabinet was Mesa, and that is a major difference in component quality right there. A fan would have been a good idea.

A local tech fixed mine twice, the first time as a favor to the dealer, resoldering the loose caps was mine to pay for. I really don't know if Sovtek was in the loop or not.

This is year 46 for me on-stage. I'm a cover tune lead guitarist (primarily all sorts of loud music) and have been through a lot of gear. My reviews are an attempt to share what I have learned by way of my many mistakes, and conversely, by lucky strikes too. The MIG was a pointless exercise.
Again, if a sterile, harsh tube sound (which actually sounds like old-school solid state to me) is your cup-o-tea, or if you are a tube snob (someone who thinks tubes always produce a superior sound to solid state) then this amp may be for you, but find one cheap so you can unload it without losing your shirt, because the value of these is riding on the coattails of the new wave of popularity of better quality tube amps. I promise you, if you want the JCM 800 or 900 sound, or the Plexi vibe, or any of the other classic, warm tube sounds you dream of, save your allowance and go buy something you really deserve. I eventually ended up with a Mesa I played through for about seven years and I think I really got my money's worth, but it was pricey! It pays to be patient.
I got what I paid for when I bought my MIG for $250. My Line 6 Flextone III plus sounds much better.

Pretty much as basic as it gets. 50 watts, TMB stack with a volume for each input and a presence control. Everything you need to get a classic British sound, though.

Basically I bought this amp as I heard it was the poor man's Plexi. Does a pretty good job of the tone I anticipated; the bass is a bit much sometimes though. I play it mostly with a Les Paul Classic, though the Telecaster will be used on it for clean recordings.

This is an amp that begs to be played loud. Mine had the master volume mod installed before I bought it. I'm probably going to have it removed. It sounds classic and gritty; if you want a smooth sound, avoid this amp or throw a smoother sounding OD in front. You won't get a smooth sound plugging straight in, though. There are definitely some sweet spots on both volume controls. The EQ is next to useless; only the mid and bass controls seem to do anything.

There are several tricks you can do with this amp. One I favor is running an overdrive in front of an ABY. Then you can have one input mixed lower, one higher, and be able to overdrive them both or flat out run both inputs jumped together. Very sensitive to picking attack. There is a sweet spot where you can pick lightly for your cleans and strum hard for your dirty sounds. Its not even necessary to roll off on the volume. Just digging in affects your tone greatly with this amp.

I bought it for a few reasons. 1) As a tube backup. For the price, its hard to beat. 2) As a good doom/stoner rock sound. It fulfills both duties very well.

Not too worried about it; its worked fine as long as I've had it and it'll primarily be a backup anyway. I've had problems with the two fuse system before in British sounding amps so I'll always carry the fuses just in case. It'd be stupid not to anyway.

Good luck. Its so old I'll just take it to my local tech if there are problems.

Of the amps of this style that I've owned (Laney AOR, JCM800) this one holds up just fine. Very classic sound. Just plug in and go. You don't really need to use any of the tricks I do if you have the opportunity to play loud. That being said, I truly believe that the MV mod is not the way to get a better sound out of this. I think you'd be better off using an OD instead.

I compared it to the Laney AOR 50. I like the Mig better because it doesn't have all the push pull boosts. Its a little more straight forward.

For the money its a great find. Definitely try it before you buy it though. Some people will find the grit annoying. I like to turn it up to where its gritty, then back off a bit. Overall, worth the money. If stolen I'd look for a new one. It all comes down to bang for the buck.

Mine is circa 1994, as is the 2 x 12 Sovtek Speaker cab with Eminence Speakers (16 ohm). Two inputs (Russian words ala Low & High), Bass, Middle, Tone, Presence.
This is a follow-up review after owning it for about 3 months.

OK...after the Honeymoon was over...I learned that, with a good set of tubes with a rebias, and some elbow grease...this amp will have many guitar players stumped because its got it's own unique killer tone.
Yes...Tone is subjective...but do yourself a favor; If you find one for under $500 bucks, hand over the cash, walk away, and try not to bust out laughing, because the dude that sold it to you doesn't know how collectable or valuable this 50 Watt Beast is, due to it's unique...and very cool tone.
It's clean...it's dirty...it loves pedals (Zendrive,Fulltone). And that's all you can ask for in an amp. My Fender tech....a tone snob...finally admitted, that when this amp is set up right "it rocks". This from a guy who builds amps, is regarded as one of the top Fender BF repair guys in Nor-Cal, and techs for pro's!
I have a Dr.Z, '65 BF (original), Mesa Boogies, and this amp is in the same class.

Don't know when the amp was built, but it looks like cira late 1980's, early 1990's, from the research I've done. Very "Plain Jane": 2 Inputs (in Russian) that I believe translate to Rhythm and Lead, 2 Volume controls, 1 Treble, 1 Mid, 1 Bass and 1 Presence, Stand-by and Power. A single 4, 8, & 16 ohm speaker output.

50 LOUD watts, 5881 tubes with 12ax7 pre's, black tolex. The guy I bought this from was using for a Bass, and through a 2x10 cab. His band said the amp was too loud!!!

I use custom strat, tele and LP style guitars (MJ engineeering), as well as the real deals, with a Gretch 6120,a nd a Music Man Super Sport with MM-90's, for a full sound arsenal. The amp is surprisingly quiet using either channel on it's own, but together (in the recommended y-cable set-up), it's a little noisy at high gain settings

I'll tell you right now, while this amp is not the "cat's meow" but it's THE most under-rated amp on the market. For a few hunder bucks, it smokes amps in the $1000-$1500 price range. The clean is damn near Dr. Z-ish, and with y-cable set-up, you can gnarl ala Marshall, or clean up Fendery, with just the roll of your volume control. Also, you'll actually find the use of your guitars tone knob plays a huge role in the variations of sounds you can achieve.

Only owned for a month now, but the previous owners have taken great care of this thing. My amp tech, a Fender guru, was a little snobbish about this amp at first. But he stated, and I quote; "when the amp is set up right, it ROCKS"

Uhhhh...anyone speak Russian? Better have a good amp tech, and buy a case for her!

I'm an old gear hag, player and appreciator of music for the past 35 years. I set this amp up in my home studio, and tracked a great tone, with a Heil PR40, and it kicked butt! No..it doesn't have a reverb, but even through a Boss DD, it sounded really good.

If you find one of these for under $500, buy it. I found that they are increasing in value (even though I bought it for the unique sound), at more than double what I paid. If you can, get the Head, so you can match it up to speakers you like. I'm, using Mesa EVM's & EV SRO's, and the guy I bought it from is having remorse!

I live within 20 minutes of both Mesa and K & M, so I'm a bit spoiled amp wise...not that that matters.

It's pretty limited. There is no gain channel and no master volume.

Whoever compares this to a jcm 800 has probably never played a marshall in their entire life. It has a very bassy dirty growl but when played at low volumes it has a beautiful clean. The downside of this head is that it's stuck in one type of tone, dirty. Changing the settings really does little for it. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. My favorite thing about this amp is that it is LOUD, like a good quality head should be. Playing a medium venue i'll usually have this cranked at 2 and it will over power the PA.

The thing is built like a tank. The knobs and switches are pretty crappy though because they are made out of plastic. You can trust that this amp will give you little problems though.

There is none haha.

Great amp if you know what kind of sound you are going for. It is pretty much is a very over driven amp, it's hard to avoid that. So it's great for sludgy rock, punk and just over all loud in your face music. If your trying to do something technical it's probably not the head for you.

Two inputs (high and low). Bass, mid treble, presence controls. No master volume. Simple controls aren't for everybody, but the Sovtek covers what I need, so it's good with me. Oh, and all tube - hooray!

Tubes are a wonderful thing, and this amp sounds really nice. I mostly use a Brian Moore guitar with dual humbuckers that coil tap, and use almost all the different options (neck, bridge, both, single coil, humbucker). It's a warm but not mushy sound, with decent headroom for cleans, and it takes pedals nice. I play alt rock / hard rock (Coheed & Cambria, Hum, King's X) and it works well for me. It has a plexi vibe to it, and it's a great little head!

Never had a problem, built like a tank!

No support.

OK, this amp is a really nice - it's well built and sounds excellent. Is it not as full featured as other amps, but it's a great little amp, especially for the money!

who needs knobs

radrad amp. easy too use. warm, bright, great jcm ish distortion. Paired with an orange 2 X 12 cab it sounds great (especially with a tele). At low volumes it can be hard to tune in great tone and distortion since it is a master volume amp and all...but theres an easy fix...THD hotplate or a good distortion pedal...pro co rat or jekyll and hyde are neato.

broke once....but i dropped it on some stairs so i'll chalk that up as my fault.

great...cheap

everyone else has outlined the features so i wont go into that - i DID get a morley a/b/y box to split / jump the channels and it does produce a better tone I ALSO noticed that if EVEN one of the two jacks was no signal I could slightly affect the tone especially at lower vol levels in a good way by tweeking it.

others here have said think JTM 45 / BASSMAN yea thats right FOR SURE i also managed to get a "super reverb" sound BUT that involved - a tube screamer followed by a ibanez compressor followed by a dan electro "reel tape" echo pedal and it took a while - also if you get one of these and are not happy with the tone - think about a speaker swap before you dismiss it. this thing loves my strat and also sounds very very very very good with my paf equipped tele.

dont know

local tech how good / cheap is he?

amps are like gems you have to polish it out - might need speaker swap / tubes? / totally recommend tube screamer in front - a compressor behind the tube screamer allows for more vol control lower levels for soundmen and the reel echo a big sweetener for me -
- i got this because of the reviews here - it was big fat warm and round right out of the box but lacked a little sweetness to my taste - i wasn't sure the tone was gonna be a sweet as i had hoped for - but after redoing my pedal board / speakers eminence texas heats 4x12 (i was chasing a more of the fender sound & took a few hours to break in the speakers)- it is NOW... ALL THAT ! bottom line EXCELLENT PLATFORM TO FIND YOUR SOUND WITH - fantastic value - this amp is worth more like $800 i paid $400 i wonder how long that will last - remember when you could get a SF FENDER TWIN for $400

3x12AX7, 2x5881, blendable normal/bright inputs, no preamp gain, no master volume, no reverb, no effects loop, no problem, no sh*t

For best results, use a Y-cable into both outputs with NO pedals (except a tuner if you must), into an 8 ohm 2 x 12 cab. It doesn't seem to like 4x12 cabs so much. Both volumes must be beyond the halfway mark.
Sadly, real world conditions, noise-level laws etc will rarely make it possible to use as above, but trust me it's worth holding onto for those rare, happy occasions when you can.

Ne'er a problem, gigged, recorded etc. I'm reasonably careful. Runs VERY hot. Give it time to cool down before transporting and don't chuck it about. Should be ok.

Funhouse. Powerage. Overkill. If any of those album titles mean anything to you, you will love this amp.
Saw two of them finish on Ebay recently for $269 & $370, respectively.
Still a bargain after all these years.