Soldano Astroverb 16 Head

The Soldano Astroverb 16 head is a pretty simple set up. Master volume, reverb, bass, mid, treble, volume and presence; single channel, no effects loop but isn't that all you need for rock?

For recording and practice the Astroverb packs a pretty good punch but it's over all volume is affected dramatically by the master volume so with lower master volume settings the amp only gets so loud. I say Mic it up for clubs but if you have lead footed drummer you may need more fire power.

Although I have used a boost peal with this you have to be careful not to overload the power tubes or the amp can get pretty grainy. That's nice if you like that effect but for me a little goes a long way.

If you dig big sounding Brit voiced amp, continue if not look somewhere else.

The Astroverb can touch upon a fair amount of classic Brit voiced amp tones so it's easy to move from Beano era Clapton to Black Crowes and Gov't Mule. If your taste leans more towards extreme metal this isn't the amp for you.

While the Astroverb works well with both single coils and humbuckers you will have to fiddle with the eq and presence knobs to find a happy middle ground if you switch back and forth. Occasionally the amp can get a bit glassy with single coil pickups especially with a lot of reverb but that can be trimmed out with the treble and presence settings.

That said, this is a pro level amp and not a toy.

Since I got the amp used and one of the tubes is slightly microphonic I can't complain too badly.

However, it you look at the pc board construction, the transformers, the tube sockets this is a well built machine.

Haven't spoken to them, can't tell.

For a Brit voiced rock amp the Astroverb is a pretty happening unit. For blues and hard rock the Astorverb is a no brainer and I'd love to hear what it sounds like through a ToneTubby 4x12 cab. Please note the Astorverb is not set up as an ultra clean amp with a ton of headroom nor is it set up to be the most brutal extreme metal amp ever made either.

I, for one am glad I ditched my "boutique" Marshall/Trainwrek amp for the Astroverb. I can go from dry low watt Plexi tones to JTM45 to JCM800 and with reasonable volume levels and I think I got the better end of the deal.

2006, 20 watt, single channel head. Great blues to high gain rock tones.

Great for high gain sounds but lacks headroom. Good clarity with stock tubes, excellent after switch to JJ EL84's. Overall preamp gain is less than the SLO, but easier to get the output tubes distorting. Still has that distinctive Soldano sound. Amazing harmonic content, balance and depth. Works well with single coils, but noisy, I prefer my LP. Noise level with the guitar voume off is almost nil. Excellent tube reverb. The best small high gain amp I have used.

So far so good. Excellent quality componants, I expect it will be very reliable.

Not sure yet, I sent an email a week or so ago with some simple questions and no response yet. We'll see.

Pretty impressive little amp. I expected it to be great and it was.

This is very straight forward amp with one channel. With two speaker outputs and single input, it's all I need.

This is the most important issue and I can really recommend this amp. It is not an amp for clean sounds, but it's not a metal amp either. I play blues-rock mostly and this Soldano is the sound. Before I bought this amp, I also read these reviews and somebody claimed that it's not clean and it's not loud enough. For rock this amp is pure ten. Because it's low wattage your can can turn it way up, and boy then it starts to sing. I use with 4x12 cabinet this combination kicks ass. I made a comparison side by side with Marshall DSL50 and Soldano wasmore to my taste, but also guys in my band preferred Soldano. Sound can adjusted to different guitars easily because tone controls are really working proper way. Input gain and volume control both have useful range from 0 to 11. It's not like in Marshall where you can use (master) volume from 0 to 11 o'clock.

I was recording in studio just before Christmas some days and there were Engl, Marshall and other amps. We took every take using two amps having Soldano always as otherone. This we chose by listening guitar/amp combinations.

I just want mention that I regularly use two amp setup and Soldano is then giving distortion and the other is clean and I add/use some Keeley mod BluesDriver and comp in signal chain. Comparing to MesaBoogies I have had Soldano is pedal friendly and QUIET. It still can produce good dynamics even I add pedals in front of that. I play with strat and old Gibson 335. Strat has hand made Lundgren pickups (Highly recommended!!) and I'm very satisfied now when I have played about one year with this amp.

After two month usage reverb tank (accutronics) broke. This was not Soldanos fault, they buy these parts from accutronics. No other problems, used it on various gigs here in Finland...

Even I'm located here in Finland, I got almost immediate reply to my problem and I was able to track down that it was reverb tank that broke. I got replacement part in a couple of days, so that's service.

I have got positive feedback about my sound after I bought Soldano. I think one mixing engineer put it right way: that sound has balls. It was a festival with several bands, but he pointed out that guitar sound. Highly recommended. But remember it's not for clean sounds at all.

simple to the point

I was VERY suprised! I wasn't expecting much, but there was a blem on musicians friend so i took a chance. Lets's start w/ the bad, well . . . sorta bad. The full blown distortion can easily sound 80's. you have to work to get it modern. It IS a soldano after all but I only play 80's stuff in the privacy of my studio (Talk Dirty To ME!!). Now for the good, I figured I'd use this for heavy stuff. (I should note I'm a studio owner, songwriter and producer and I never play live) I was suprised that the clean stuff was nice. It breaks up quick but you can squeeze some nice clean stuff out of it. My favorite thing about this amp is the controls. Take the EQ. The diference of tone between , say, 1-5 is even a bit more than 1-10 on my mesa. There is a WIDE scope of tones w/ little movement on the nobs. I have to say I've used this for ballads that aired on soap opera's (hey it's not sexy but it pays!!) I don;t have many amps: Cornfors Harlequin, Fender Blues jr., Mesa recto recording pre, Marshall JCM 800 cab. So I use everything I have to the nth degree. I record this w/ a 421 and a 414 right up on the grill of my Marshall cab through a Chandler Limited TG 2 (a KILLER mic pre!!!!) and a pair of distressors and it is totally awesome and supriingly versatile. For the price it's a more than good buy! I should also mention my 2 main guitars are an amer strat w/ duncan buckers and a mahogany strat w/ duncan p-90's

seems like it's built like a tank. VERY solid

e-mail them w/ a little question about the output tranny. responded the same day.

i think i paid 8 and change-ish for this as a blem from musicians friend. for the price it's a killer deal.

it's another step in my quest to own every good amp ever made!! :)

All tube 20 watt single channel amp with reverb. One input, controls for pregain, reverb, bass, middle, treble, volume, presence, 2 16 Ohm taps for cabinets. The power section uses 2 el84's and preamp has 2 12AX7 and uses 2 12AX7 for 6 spring reverb tank. All parts and materials seem to be of very high quality - nothing appears to be cheap or cheaply constructed.

This amp is best suited,in my opinion, for blues to rock/alt/pop music styles - which is what I like to play. It can get nice clean tones, but not at very loud volume (hey it's only 20 watts) clean sounds won't be "pristine" clean. You can probably get away with heavy styles of music if you had to, but I don't think this amp should be a first choice for heavy metal players - unless you want to rely on pedals???

I think this amp excels at rock crunch rhythm sounds (pregain at around 7-8 and the post(volume) anywhere from 3 and up. You get a nice grind with the pre and volume both at 12 O'clock. The amp respond well to overdrive pedals. As for the tone controls, there is good news and not so good news. The good news is that the Mids are nice through all of the range - never harsh - very sweet. The not so good news - this amp has a lot of treble(highs) and you can get yourself into trouble when blending decent amounts of both Treble and Presence. Also, the bass is nice but could be more. NOTE: Like others have stated - you will need to carefully match a cabinet with this head. I originally paired this head with a Sovtek 2x12 (eminence legend type speaks) and was pretty disappointed with bass response. I sold the Sovtek and picked up an Avatar custom 2x12(greenback and g12H30) and was extremly pleased with the results - I have bass now!!
The reverb is good - but I don't really use much past 2.5/3.

As far as dynamics, the amps really expresses changes of guitars. Guitar volume roll off and pickup switching and pick attack are pretty good - not most responsive amp I've heard but better than most.

The amp definitely has it's own voice(not a marshall or fender clone - which is cool) and it's a good voice. The amp is probably pretty versatile - but again, is better suited for blues/rock as opposed to country or jazz.

I have only had it for about 5 months - but no probs

The manual is very weak - if you can call it that(construction paper folded in half). I contacted their support with questions before buying via email and they were responsive. I am sure their support is fine - but I do think they could spend more money on product literature/marketing and their website has been pretty much unchanged for sometime - I know - I am being a little picky but when you spend almost 800 bucks for a single channel amp - it'd be nice to have a professional looking manual for reference.

Well, I have been playing for about 17 years and rate myself as an intermediate player - I wish I was better but I keep trying. I was in an active cover band for 4 years and consider myself more a rhythm guitarist and not anywhere near a virtuoso although I can pull of some modest lead work from time to time. I picked up this amp becuase I thought it was a good match for what I was looking for - a nice rock amp that is a little more basic in features but more mature in terms of dynamics and player expression. I believe that this amp does all of this fairly well and inspires me to play better and work more on leads. This amp is pretty articulate and you technique will be revealed.

I have owned a fair amount of gear in the past, and what I don't like goes back or gets sold on ebay. I currently lean towards the lower wattage amps (under 30watts tube). I just can't justify 50-100 watt tube amps for small-medium gigs - It's nice to use an amp where you can push the post past 2 or 3. Anyway, I use to gig with a peavey classic 30 stack - which I sold. Just got rid of a Sovtek mig 50 stack. I have a VOX Cambridge 15 hybrid practice amp - I like it very much. But the amp I've relied on most is since 91 is a Peavey Bravo 112 with a 112 Mesa boogie 3/4 back ext cab that I love and compare all others to. The Soldano is very close to the peavey distortion but more detailed with better mids. Like most here, I have spent numerous hours at guitar stores auditioning amps in search of the perfect amp - I am not sure that you can get all your favorite tones from one machine - but this amp has a few of them for me.

As far as guitars, I play mostly Fenders American deluxe and mexican strat with Lace pickups - also home made peiced out strat copy guitar with DiMarzio pick ups. I like to keep the signal path pretty clean and uncomplicated (guitar>overdrive(either robert keeley mod ts9/DOD YJM308/blues driver>Phase90>Delay(Boss dd5) Sometimes I use other pedals(Small Clone chorus,dynacomp)

If it were stolen - I'd be pissed!! - I would look again but wouldn't rule out other amps(I test drove an Ashdown Peacemaker 50 and really liked but a little too pricey - can't justify the expense)

Overall this is a sold tube amp that can get you useable sounds without much coaxing or outside help.

good luck

My amp was made June 17th, 2004. Brand spankin new. This amp is about as simple as you can get. Couple of knobs on the front, speaker jacks and a fuse in the back, just the way I like them.

The only thing I would have liked to see on this amp that's not there is a standby, but you just have to turn the volume to 0 when you switch it on and it should be alright.

For the rest of the info on this, go to the soldano page or something.

I guess as far as features go, it doesn't have many, because it doesn't need many. For what it is, I find the amp so far to be extremely versatile, and a little tweaking of the dials will give you just about whatever sound you want.

I'm playing a Gibson SG pretty much stock into a volume pedal, crybaby and a boss tuner. Playing it through a 4x12 cabinet with Eminence Swamp "Thang Speakers".

I play the rock.

Compared to my marshall, it isn't noisy at all, but that also depends on the wiring in the place you're playing. At home, no noise, at jam, bit of noise. Haven't gigged with it yet.

What kind of sounds. Well, when I first got it, I didn't like it. I set it like a would my marshall and played. It sucked. It was extremely bright and lacked the little bit of thud I like in the bottom end, which I thought was odd considering the SG has a bottom end like a hippo. So I left it overnight, and came back the next day to fiddle with the knobs again. What I learned from this is that the presence knob works quite well, and a little tweaking of that changed the sound dramatically.

Now that I've got it dialed in, pre on about 8, reverb on about 1.5-2, Bass on about 7-8, mids on about 5, treble on about 6, volume on 8 and presence 1-3 somewhere, this thing is amazing. I imagine those settings will change abit as I tweak more, but for now, they are rock.

Set like this, the amp sounds like a marshall with the rock all the way up. Smooth, thick distortion just oozing out of it. Rolling off the volume on the guitar and mixing pickups, you get a beautiful warm, clear slightly overdriven sound. With the volume cranked and the pre down around 3, I actually found the clean channel was excellent.

This is the nicest sounding amp I've ever played.

And for those concerned with volume. My band is LOUD. The other guitar player has a Hiwatt Custom 100, and this little 20 watt amp into a 4x12 keeps right up to it. 20 watts is a conservative rating for this amp. It is louder than anyone could possibly need.

Had it less than a week. Seems like it's built quite well.

I've sent them 3 emails so far, no reply yet. A toll free tech line would be kinda nice. I guess I'll just wait for the email.

I've been playing around 12 years.

Lost or stolen? I'd probably have to kick some ass. Buy it again? Very likely. For the money, I don't think you could find a better amp brand new.

The small size, ability to just smoke the tubes at a totally usable volume and the amazing tone I'm getting make this probably the best amp I've ever played. And I've played ALOT of amps before I finally chose this. The complete lack of extra bull that people think they need to sound good also appealed to me quite a bit. I like it simple.

This amp is amazing. Good tone at low volume, bitchin tone at high volume. Loud enough to fill a room and keep up with any drummer. Built to last a lifetime.

Beware of where you buy this amp. I used musicians friend and got a blem. Yep, sent it back for another one waiting on backorder(about a month). So one day I find a box on my doorstep(still knew it was on backorder). I was excited and opened it up. It was the same goddamn fucking blem amp head! Same serial # and all. These people are fucking incompetent. They did pay for return shipping both times. Next thing I know the backorder was extended. I'm sure this BLEM will be shipped to the next customer who orders this amp. This is my last purchase from them. This has been a long running problem with these assholes. They get returns and sell them as new. Sometimes I'd get lucky. I'm so sick of this mail order place. This one did it for me. No more buying from these jerkoffs. Over the past year I got 4 items that were blem and/or returns(still had customers old invoice in the box!). I guess it turned out for the better. I decided to settle with a Genz Benz Diablo 60(when it comes out this august). What I mean is, it's more versatile than the Soldano.

Sounds like the last reviewer is used to his mesa amps which are muddy and hide your playing errors. I think he doesn't like this amp because of the treble. Soldano's have tons of treble with 100% CLARITY. I think if he gave it a fair shake he'd learn how to use it or at least not bad mouth it. Many people buy treble boosters for their amps, but in this case you don't need it. Anyhow the Soldano has superior clarity and gain over mesa and marshall amps minus the mud(this is a fact).

It's just plain obvious that out of all the positive reviews on the atroverb-16 head/combo versions(1x12/2x12)on harmony central that there is only one ignorant flamer. Hit the mute button! You can have the most expensive amp in the world and if you can't play it will suck no matter how long you fart around with it. At least do more research before you buy something. And I don't mean just reviews on harmony central!

Ignore the one and only flamer of this amp. Here's my response to his lack of guitar talent/skills.....


quote: "The gain sounds like a cat dragging it's butt on the ground. I've heard better tones all the way around from little cheap SS practice amps"

YEAH RIGHT! Are you deaf AND STUPID? Don't quit your day job buddy.
That is the most outrageous bunch of BS I ever heard.

"It wasn't the cabs I'm using - I tried it with several - single 12", 212, 412, it doesn't matter it still sounded awful"

It's funny he left out what BRAND cabinets he used! Probably a used Behringer cab or some other cab under $199 with noise maker speakers.


"I think this thing is one of the most overrated amps there is on the market. I think people are in love with the look(yeah it does look cool) & the idea that it's a SOLDANO!! "

It's too good of an amp for you. LOL, overrated amp? LOL. Tell that to Eric Clapton. No one but a LOSER buys an amp because how it looks which is apparently you.


"I've seen people mention swapping tubes but, why pay $800 for something just to have to change tubes to try to make it sound better"

BECAUSE THEY CAN! Oh my god.. I had to spend $25 on power tubes to experiment. OH MY GOD!... Call the doctor he lost his mind. You probably still play with stock guitar pickups on some cheap import guitar. That could be your problem with it sounding crappy as well. LEARN HOW TO PLAY YOU FLAMING IDIOT!


"However, I imagine it would be reliable because it does seem sturdy"
uh..duh. That's a well known fact of Soldano amps. At least you think it's 'seems' sturdy. IT IS BUILT LIKE A TANK.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know.

Overall Rating: 1
I've been playing about 15 yrs. My style is blues to hard rock, ranging from Stevie Ray to Scorpions to Metallica. I was really disappointed in this amp. I really wanted a Soldano because I thought they would be awesome but, now I'm not sure. I suppose I would try an SLO-100 one day if I hit the lottery. I would not ever purchase another Astroverb for any price. I've probably had about a dozen amps ranging from Crate SS to Peavey SS(still better than Astroverb), peavey DeltaBlues 210, Mesa Nomad 55, Mesa DC3, Mesa .50Cal(very nice sounding amp), Mesa subway blues(awesome amp by the way!), Reverend Hellhound(cool!), & Vox Valvetronix 120 Hd w/412 cab(very versatile, great sounds)

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/18/2004 09:44

You know the features as listed below. Features are minimal but, that's not why I bought it. I bought it because I thought it would have great tone. It had the features that I wanted so I'll give it a ten here.

This is where I was highly disappointed. I tried for a solid week to try to get some tones out of it but, just did not like the voicing of the amp. To me it sounds like pure crap no matter how you adjust the settings. It wasn't that it didn't have enough gain or anything like that-I don't care about gain. It just doesn't sound good. The gain sounds like a cat dragging it's butt on the ground. I've heard better tones all the way around from little cheap SS practice amps. It wasn't the cabs I'm using - I tried it with several - single 12", 212, 412, it doesn't matter it still sounded awful. I will say this the clean tones where better however, it didn't take well to distortion pedals so, you can hangup getting a good sound that way. I think this thing is one of the most overrated amps there is on the market. I think people are in love with the look(yeah it does look cool) & the idea that it's a SOLDANO!! I've seen people mention swapping tubes but, why pay $800 for something just to have to change tubes to try to make it sound better. If you care about tone don't buy this amp, it is high priced garbage. Also, let me add I tried several guitars with single coils & humbuckers.

Don't know shipped it back to musicians frien after a week for a full refund. However, I imagine it would be reliable because it does seem sturdy.

Don't know.

I've been playing about 15 yrs. My style is blues to hard rock, ranging from Stevie Ray to Scorpions to Metallica. I was really disappointed in this amp. I really wanted a Soldano because I thought they would be awesome but, now I'm not sure. I suppose I would try an SLO-100 one day if I hit the lottery. I would not ever purchase another Astroverb for any price. I've probably had about a dozen amps ranging from Crate SS to Peavey SS(still better than Astroverb), peavey DeltaBlues 210, Mesa Nomad 55, Mesa DC3, Mesa .50Cal(very nice sounding amp), Mesa subway blues(awesome amp by the way!), Reverend Hellhound(cool!), & Vox Valvetronix 120 Hd w/412 cab(very versatile, great sounds)