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)

By now you already know the details, so I won?t repeat what?s been said.

I play original free-form blues/jazz/rock. I?ve been using a Laney LC50 for about 5 years with one extension cab or another, currently with a Bogner (ported) Cube and JJ 6L6 power tubes. Very sweet sounding. I was looking for a back up amp and came upon the Soldano Astroverb 16 Head, which was packaged with the Bogner Cube, and picked it up. Pristine condition and recently serviced by Soldano. The amp is actually more versatile than one might think, and yet childishly simple to use. You can get as rude as your teeth can handle with it, or, warm sustaining grace, and mostly everything in-between. The key here is, axe volume/tone control. Dirty rolls off to clean very nicely on this little amp. I have a set of Ei EL84 power tubes on the way to warm it up a bit more.

Initially, I wasn?t crazy about the tone. I was running it through the closed back Bogner, and it just wasn?t open enough sounding for my taste. I tried it in large Line6 open-back with just 1x12. Boutique guys can laugh if they want at this relatively ?cheap? cab used with a name like Soldano. It works and works really well. The bass is big and the Soldano is articulate enough to never muddy it up. Now, my Laney gets played less than the Soldano, but by Friday I?ll have an a/b/y switch to play though both at the same time.

Too new. Never had to contact them, hopefully never will.

N/A

I?ve been playing since 1966. Have done a share of recording and touring as an opener for some wonderful artists.

If the amp were stolen, I?d definitely want to replace it with another Soldano Astroverb Head. I?m really fussy about ?my sound?. Fenders are too mid-range and Marshalls are too ... Marshally? I like velvet with an edge. The Soldano is giving that to me.

This single channel amp was made in late 2001, and has the basic layout - pregain, bass, mid, treble, master volume, presence and reverb controls. It puts out about 20 watts of tube power from two EL84s, and has 12AX7s driving the preamp and reverb circuits. Very durable and build quality seems very high - this head is played hard, stays on about full volume and I haven't blown it up yet! There's no standby switch, so it goes through power tubes fairly quickly(about every four months if played hard and frequently). It has all the features I really need from an amp.

As for as noise goes, this amp is very quiet and sounds wonderful with the various strats I own. It also sounds great with my ever rotating collection of overdrive pedals(Route 66, TS-808, old boss SD-1, old marshall guv'nor, etc.), along with the other pedals on my pedalboard(incl. time based) - all through the front input no less! It shines in delivering great classic rock distortion tones and cleans up well with a quick volume adjust on my guitar - I love it! Some reviews have stated that the bass response is a little weak and it's not quite loud enough, but I think this depends on speaker/cab choices. Typically, I run this head through a marshall 4X12 loaded with a combination of celestion G12H 30 watters and vintage 30s - with this combo this thing rocks with plenty of volume for virtually any size club(this coming from a marshall freak)! Tone wise, this amp is very JCM800ish, with a little more complexity, detail and more sparkle in the top end. The reverb sounds great if you use the "less is more" approach - I typically don't use a lot of reverb anyway. My astroverb has withstood the test of time, delivered the goods and I am extremely happy with this amp - hats off to Mike Soldano!

I NEVER gig without a back up(if you've ever gigged with old marshall gear often, you understand! Don't get me wrong - I still love 'em!). This being said, my astroverb has never failed me - but if it ever does, I can always grab one of my marshalls!

Never had to deal with Soldano - that speaks for itself!

I've been playing and gigging for over 25 years and have used mainly fender strats and marshall amps(mostly jmp and jcm 50 watters) and the occasional fender and mesa boogie amp. When I bought this amp I used it mainly for rehearsals and to drive my voice box at gigs - until one of my marshall heads died during a performance. To save time and since it was already fired up, I hooked the astroverb up to my cab and I haven't looked back since! If it were lost or stolen I would no doubt buy another one!

Very simple amp. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but hell I get lost when an amp has 4 channels and 3 pedalboards to get it to overdrive. Control layout is about as easy as it gets. Very good response from the EQ section and you can dial in a full range of tones without having to manipulate controls for hours. This amp was NOT meant to be Fender clone, or a Marshall clone or any "clone" for that matter. This is a straight forward high gain head, with low power ouput to really push the tubes. Simple and easy to use. IMO it is perfect...I would change nothing.

Now the fun part. For those of you out there in ToneLand who care, you already know this.........this is for the rest of you still searching. YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO GET EVERY TONE YOU WANT FROM ONE AMP, JUST AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. I use a 2 amp set up and run in stereo, sometimes 3 if the room is big enough. This is my "dirty" amp. Rated at only 16 watts, but the beauty of this amp is that you don't have to worry about turning up a 100 watt amp to 10 to get the tubes to do what you want them to do........break up. This amp when pushed is a screamer. Nice, gritty but not too harsh distortion. Pure tube distortion is a beautiful thing. Listen to Santana or Sonny Landreth, or Stephen Bruton, and you will "get it". I either blend this amp with my Fender Vibrolux to get a good mixed tone or just use this one for dirty chording and solos. Again, rated at only 16 watts, but those are some serious watts friends and this thing is loud. I usually run a 2x12 speaker cabinet with it, loaded with one vintage celestion and one greenback. If the room dictates more sound, then I will run a custom cabinet that has 2 10's and 2 12's. Even though this is a standard size 4x12 cabinet, I wired it so the 10's are together and the 12's are together.....ala Lenny Kravitz. With the bigger cabinet you get a great bottom end, but the 10's let the high end and bite still come thru.....no mudd here. The Astroverb really shines here as pushing a larger cabinet makes the amp work a little harder....and drains the tubes a little bit sooner. I can turn the amp almost to 10 and get a very nice, clear distortion from it that is perfect for heavy blues, and rock. Try it, you'll like it. I am waiting for my first order of Tone Tubby speakers from A Brown Soun to see what they will make this sound like. From all indications it could be an organsmic experience.

Tank, nothing more to say here.

Mike Soldano is a great guy. He still answers emails in person when he can. Very knowledgeable and willing to educate you on what is what. I have never had to service the amp, but if Soldano's customer service is any indication, there should be no issues.

I have been playing for a long time and have been kept up nights searching for 'THAT' tone. I have A/B'd many many amps and when it really comes down to it, the tone is in your hands, baby. SRV sounded like SRV because of his hands and soul, not his equiptment. Yeah it helps to have a custom shop strat and a Dumble overdrive special, but not all of us humans can or ever will be able to afford that luxury. I shop for economical, great sounding gear and this amp fits that bill perfectly. If you want a great sounding amp that has a sweet distoriton and you can change speaker cabinets for different applications, get the Astroverb. If you want a clean amp that will play nice, get a Peavey Tweed classic 4x10 amp and run them together. You could get the Astroverb, the Peavey and a speaker cabinet for the astroverb for less than $1200. That is less than a few of the New Fenders or an original blackface deluxe. Remember, equiptment when used correctly can enhance your tone, but if you don't have the chops, desire, balls, and open mind to explore your INNER TONE, even the Dumble $15,000 (ridiculous) amp cannot save your soul. Its all in the hands - IT'S ALL IN THE MIND.

I find it hard to rate this one. Thiers amps that are packed with features and amps that dont have any but stick with one awesom tone. Thats the Astroverb.

Played with buckers and wah. I wanna address one thing really quick. Everyone on this page and the other Astroverb review pages jumped on the people who said its not loud enouph. Guess what. With a loud drummer, Its not. Period. You bedroom jammers or people who spend all your time in a band that just practices and doesnt play out shouldnt really rate volume or you should specify what your situation and style is that its loud enouph for you. I use it as a practice studio amp for my band. There, in a contained area, its loud enouph. My drummer can get loud as does the whole band live. So as much as I love this amp and as loud as class A power seems, I cant use it at giggs. I play the largest rock clubs from DC to Boston. My band is as pro as you get, not half rate musicians turning up to cover up bad playing. Were just a loud rock band. God knows those 2 things never went together. As much as I love it, 20 watts of class A just isnt quite there for loud rock. Especially at outdoor giggs. Theres a simple solution though. Stage monitors. It works fine for many people who like to use small amps live but I still prefer to use my SLO half stack. Then I dont have to rely on other people to hear myself. Its been my experience sound crews handle live guitar sound the worst of any instrument when it comes to monitors.

As far as the tone goes what can I say. I play an SLO and love it. I bought the AV16 and thought it was a very good version of the overdrive channel of an SLO in a small combo package with a nice class A vintage edge. Cleans up good with the volume knob. Cuts through. For home and practice I cant say Ive found a better amp. I could use an FX loop though but Im sure Soldano would do that for me for the right price. So for what I use it for its a 9. For live gigging Ill give it a 7 as a backup amp but doesnt get a 9 simply becouse I cant always hear it without relying on pro sound. And for home use or recording I give it a 10.

Considering the value you get for 450$ used. This amp is incredible. If you want an amp you can play live with this may or may not be it. It depends on the music your playing, the lineup and were you play at. For home, practice or recording this amp is worth its weight in gold. Thats why I gave it a 10 for fantastic value when It got less in every other catagory. For many people no sound is perfect or features, or reliability, etc... but for value this deal is unbeatable.

Amp isnt very versitile but thats not why i bought it, it seems to do rock VERY VERY VERY well. It has one channel and thats all i need since i have an AB switch and can just switch to my Marshall JCM2000 anytime i want to. No features that i actually wish it had because i bought it ONLY for the distortion sound so i can use my Marshall for clean and od, and my soldano for distortion. I use this amp in the bedroom and will eventually gig with it.

I use it with my Gibson SG and it sounds GREAT. Nice smoothe lead tone on the rhythm pickup and a great rock rhythm tone when using both pickups. Its pretty noisey but ill survive. I run it thru a Marshall 1960A cab and in the bedroom i have it on volume 5 with the preamp on 11 (*impersonating Nigel* it goes to 11 =) I get a great kiss, acdc, oasis, and other great rock tones. I like to think of it as the "american marshall."

I'm VERY happy with my purchase, i decided to get my marshall modded so its only 50 watts. I like how this amp is only 20 watts, thats a GREAT amount. I love the sound, i dont even give a shit about the lack of features, it has everything i wanted it to have (reverb, gain, and the basic eq controls). I didnt really compare it to anything. I knew i'd need something for a live situation for a gain boost andat the same time, i wanted a different tone than my marshall for variety and one day i played this a decided i must have it. I think this is a great amp for the studio, bedroom, and for gigs. I love it, its a wonderful amp, especially for the price

20 watts, about 18"wide, 9"tall, 10"wide. Nice and compact but don't let that fool you. Has reverb, pre,bass,mid,treb,master vol & presence. 2 speaker jacks on the back.

I play a les paul with emg 81&85 active pickups, run it thru a gt5 then thru the head thats plugged into a 2/12 cab.
Playing everything from bb king to alice in chains. This thing cranks. Its a very efficient (loud) amp.I wish it had 2 channels but its nice & simple. Great for allman bros type stuff. Not at all muddy like the mesa's, nice smooth tone that can cut right through the room. I pump the hell out of it with the gt6.

Built like a tank, High quality assembly. I don't expect any problems.
I use it without a backup.

I wrote them once & they got back to me the same day.

I think I finally found it. Well worth the cash, I wish I had purchased one before. I don't think you could go wrong, I tried a few mesa's & they were way to dark & muddy sounding. My other guitar player uses mesa. Great tone & lots of balls. Loud enought to gig with & small enough to get some serious meltdown. If you need anymore sound just throw a mic in front of it.*******note********expect a lot of complements******

As has been stated before. This is a single channel class A 20W all tube head with tube reverb.
The front plate:
input socket, preamp, reverb, bass, middle, treble, volume, presence, power switch.
The back plate:
power socket, a sloblo fuse, 2 16ohm speaker outs.

This is amp is based on the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid).

Plug in the guitar, tweak things until it sounds right, play.

Another channel would be useful, but I'm certainly not complaining. I'll buy another one and A/B it.

I play an Ibanez Jem 7Vwh, an old Larivee electric w/custom pickups and a yamaha tt-somethingorother. All tonally very different. I play a lot of guitar rock and blues. I have the head attached to a unbranded 4x12 cab loaded with Celestion Celestion g12-70s. Currently it's guitar straight into the cab.

I don't find the amp to be noisy at all, there's some hiss with the preamp at 11, but nothing beyond what you'd expect.

I'll try not to wax too poetically about the sound, but here goes:

This amp is simply THE sound I've been looking for. The 20W is loud enough for home, jams, small clubs - I play for fun, I dont need stadium filling 100W rigs here. I love that this amp sings with the master volume around 8 - a level that works well with the other band members.

It's a very responsive beast. With the Jem I get an excellent blues/rock tone, bright and full - the first time I played it with the group the other guitar player's jaw dropped and he wondered what I was doing to get that tone, he colored green when I told him it was just me straight into the head. The Yamaha has a far warmer tone and sounds great.

Tonally this amp is excellent for overdriven blues sounds (I dont do a lot of clean work) through to some modern heavy distorted sounds.

Due to the responsiveness of the amp it's very easy to set the preamp high and then control the gain from your guitar - this is most obvious with the Jem, this amp just works beautifully with it.

Using the eq on the head itself yeilds interesting results. They are very responsive and can drastically alter the sound. The amp seems quite bright to me, although I generally like a very fat low end and less highs than most (The classic Marshall tone has always sounded far too ratty and midrangy to my ears).

Considering the price you can pick these up second hand I'd suggest you check it out if you can. For me this is the amp I've spent 15 years looking for.

It's built like a tank. I trust it. Haven't had it long enough to make a sweeping statement about it, but I hold Soldano, the company, in the highest regard and their attention to quality and detail is obvious in their products.

I know everyone says this, but having done a reality check on the hype surrounding these guys I'd say its all true!

a) I called and asked some really dumb questions about tube amps and how they work, this being the first real reason I've ever had to buy one, and they always answered it in a way I could understand without patronizing me or making me feel any more stupid.

b) I called again and asked several questions about a cab that might have been made by them. When it turned out it wasnt theirs the guy gave me some tech advice anyway.

c) I bought used, I asked for a manual, it's in the mail.

I've been playing 15 years, I've mentioned the guitars, but I also have a Crate GFX-212 and a POD (now very retired).

Would I buy another if this one was stolen? I would hunt and kill the thief, but not until I'd bought a replacement. Actually based on this one I intend to buy at least one more (for A/B).

The amps tonally incredible. My only suggestion is to go find one to play through and make up your own mind. For less than $500 you can own a simply incredible amp.....plus, raving about a product makes no sense until you hear it.

I can't think of anything about the amp that I hate, the lack of another channel isnt much of a headache, I love that i can control everything from the guitar.

I checked out H&K, Marshall, VHT, Carvin Legacy and several other amps over two months and couldnt find anything that was *the* tone. I checked out the 1x12 Astroverb and loved it, plugging in the extension cab hooked me.

20W means being able to turn it up to 11 without maiming small children and animals, this was a huge selling point for me, why buy a tube amp if you're never going past 4 on the master volume????

Based on Soldano's customer support you should consider taking a look at their gear. There equipment is a little pricey new for most players, but second hand you can find Astroverbs and HotRods in the $400-500 range.

I was looking for something that didnt sound like a Marshall and had its own character and flavor, and something that would tweak my ears. The soldano is that amp.

Sorry if most of this review sounds like a marketing piece but I feel like Ive finally found *my* tone.

This is # 13 built in 98' according to the inspection and initialed paperwork by the builder due to the low serial number. I play in church praise and worship with varying styles of musical influences intertwined, rock, blues, alternative, carribean and country.I wasn't pleased with the sound when I first brought the amp home. out came the EI preamp tubes, After 3 days of testing tubes and tube combinations I ended up with a GT chinese 12AX/7 in the first socket and 2 nos RCA7025's in the following sockets and finally the new EH 12ax/7's in the remaining sockets. After changing the power tubes with GT EL84's #4's I went back to the original power tubes. I'm awaiting some nos GE's to replace these. I wouldn't mind if the amp had channel switching, but what the hey,for the time being it is doing what I require of it.

I've been playing 18 years and was an equipment freak,I've spent thousands of dollars on gear and now I'm down to this amp and a 75' stratocaster with stock singles in the neck and mid,with a dimarzio sd-1 in the bridge. I set the pre at 6 and the master at 7 with the treble at 7, mid at 5, bass at 8,rev at 3 pres at 4, excellent clean sound with plenty of headroom, preamp wide open cleaner and quieter than a boogie, I've owned 3 boogies, an early 70's mark I, a studio.22, and an mid 80's mark III. I've had this amp about 6 months and am still dialing it in, versatile for a single channel amp.

for as long as I've had it, the only problems I've had is a noisy preamp tube (nos) sylvania 12AX/7, I use it w/o backup due to the nature of nos tubes. I bring extra preamp and power tubes, as a precaution. The other is that the rattling of the tubes due to the vibration caused by volume that I play. I need to rectify it, this bugs me

I recently e-mailed Soldano about the rattling we'll see what happens.
To this point the unit doesn't need any servicing, This amp was built in 98'the warranty is no longer in place.The amp came from the factory with a one year warranty.

Since Soldano no longer manufactures this amp,I would replace it with another astroverb.
I no longer have to carry a 50, 60 ,or 100 watt amp to get the tone I require. I like the casters it came with. I don't know if that was a factory option or not. I may fit it with tilt-back legs so I can get feedback from the amp. When I purchased this amp I was considering buying a subway blues, I'm happy I got the Soldano. Now my next purchase is a Marshall studio 15, I'm in the process of going back to a multi-amp setup, but it looks to me I've found the main ingredient to base my system around. This may help, if you lay out a significant amount of cash for an amp,and you're not pleased with what you hear, start substitutng tubes, this is a lot less expensive than selling what you have for a loss. If you have buyer's regret over a purchase,next time make sure it is really what you want.

This is a 20 watt, single channel head powered by 2 EL-84 power tubes. It has 5 pre-amp tubes, two of which are dedicated to the reverb (as well as an accutronics reverb tank). The controls are: gain, reverb, bass, middle, treble, master volume, and presence. Taking a cue from Nigel Tufnel, every one of the chicken head knobs go to 11. It has 2 16 ohms speaker outs, and that's about it as for features. A VERY straight-forward head.

This is THE GREATEST sounding amp I have EVER played. I'm using this amp with a Gretsch Electromatic Jet II guitar and an Ampeg 4x12 cab, and I play melodic to heavy punk rock (i.e. Weezer, Fenix TX, A New Found Glory, Jimmie's Chicken Shack) with ska/ska-core overtones. This head suits my style absolutely perfectly. For cleans, this head is very clean, though not cleanest. However, it doesn't matter because the tone is in my opinion better than Fender cleans (warmer, fatter, spankier), so it more than compensates. But then, when you crank the preamp, you get the sickest distortion you'll ever hear. Perfect for leads, but still the most kickass rhythm sound you'll ever hear. Endless sustain. Warmth that Boogies and Marshalls just can't cut. While it's absolutely perfect for my style (sounds better than my favorite bands' amps) you can use it for nearly any application. Have fun with it! Also, because it's a low wattage head, you get really thick, full sounds at bedroom practice volumes.

I haven't had it for very long at all, but I can tell that it's NOT gonna fail me for a while... I'd gig with it without a backup. Not a problem... just don't go throwing it off your roof, and it won't break.

I have never dealt with Soldano, but I have heard that the man Mike Soldano himself often deals with customer support. I have also heard they have the greatest customer support on the planet. I hope for my amp's sake that I'll never have to deal with the sick people at Soldano, but if I do, I'll be glad it's them.

I've been playing for about a year and a half, but I'm obsessed with having perfect tone, and this amp got me there quickly. If this amp were stolen, I'd buy another one in a second... probably two. I love this amp's tone and its ability to sounds wicked kickass at low volumes. Only thing it's missing is an extra channel. If you want the tone of the Gods, go with this amp, man!

My head is a '99. This amp is a single channel all-tube head with
EL-84 power tubes. The controls are fairly simple: Gain, Treble, Mids, Bass, Reverb, and Master Volume. There is no efeects loop, only
two speaker outputs on the back. I have found that this all I need as
far as the amp goes. I have tons o' pedals for other effects anyway.

I usually use an '89 Strat Plus Deluxe with Lace Sensors or an '86
Japanese Telecaster with a Bill Lawrence bridge pickup. I play a wide
variety of rock: straightforward, jazz-influenced, psychedelic, crunchoid...and this amp admirably handles it all. There is plenty of
gain for just about any application except really extreme scooped-out
stuff.

This is an extremely reliable amplifier. The only other head I own that I consider to be sturdier is my old Ampeg V-4. Soldano DOES NOT
cut corners on quality! I would and have used it on plenty of gigs
without a backup. Don't even worry about it unless you're playing
underwater!

I haven't dealt with the company, but that's only because I haven't had to. Soldano has a reputation of impeccable customer support and
I go along with that. Chances are, however, you'll never need to call
them!

I own tons of other gear:Fenders, Ampegs, Marshalls, Traynors, etc...
and this thing kicks ass and takes names! I bought this from a music
store after trying out an Atomic 16 combo. I knew they would eventually come out with a reverb model, and I jumped at the chance
when they did. I ordered it in the very stylish black & white snakeskin(a FREE option!) and couldn't be more pleased. As to the previous review about it being not loud enough: ARE YOU DEAF?!? I
run it through a semi-ancient 8-ohm Music Man 4X12 with 75-watt Celestions and trust me-there is PLENTY of volume! Or maybe Mike
Soldano put a Sonic Mojo in mine, because the man himself autographed
the back of the head! Try one (or any other Soldano product)-you
WILL NOT BE SORRY!!!!

This is a '99. It is a 20 watt head with 2 el-84's
and 5 12ax7's. 2 for the reverb. It has one channel
that dials in some very flexible blues to hard rock
tones. It has pre-amp,bass,mid,treble,volume,reverb
and a presence knob. And 2 16 ohm outs. Which can drive
a single 8 ohm speaker,I called Soldano to make sure.
Thats about it. This amp really is not loud enough to get over a loud drummer.Almost though, I find myself needing more.Sad but true.

OK, this amp sounds wonderful. I'm using a Am.St.Tele with a Duncan
Vin.Stack and a Hotrail.Into the amp, then to a Mesa 112 closed back cab with a 90 watt celstion, designed for Boogie.No pedals needed.
It can get fairly clean,but,clean and loud,not quite. Just put as much gain as you want and use your guitar for the rest.It responds very well.I play real dirty blues to hard crunching rock,and it does this well with the amp cranked all the way up.Its not a real high gain amp, but those el84's add alot, at high volumes.But sadly this anp is not loud enough for me,and I really wanted it to be.I took it to one small gig,we do play loud,but the drums were'nt miked and I ended up having to mike the amp.We play loud ,but my amps got to get over any acoustic drummer,or its not loud enough for me.But Hey,the tone is red hot.
Its 20 watts and it is louder than my Deluxe Reverb, wich is also 20 watts.But that closed back cab, maybe it.The reverb sounds real good to my ears.Not real long but I made it surf anyway.Sounds great but I'm going to have to sell it.Just not loud enough for my gigging needs.

This amp is built really nice.I took it apart and although its a printed board its got alot bulkier leads than any other I've seen.Which I think is important.Very solid feeling and really clean internally.Keep an extra set of tubes ,and I'd say this thing is very dependable.

one year factory warranty.Called them up about the speaker impedence and a manual.and they were very curtious and fast.Had the manual in three days after the call.Pretty impressive,better than boogie,it took them three weeks to get me a manual.

Ive been playing for 12 years.And have played through alot of different amps and have owned several good ones [mesa mark4,fender twin,deluxe,bassman,marshall super leads,traynors,wich kick ass.And this amps tone, fairs well with all of them.I actually like it better in alot of ways.but really not loud enough.I even considered just buying another one but I'm trying to keep the trips to the car down.Are'nt we all? I think this amp would be great for recording.
And later when I am more financialy stable ,I'll buy another one.With out a doubt.I hate knocking this amp in any way,and I'm really not
I knew it was only 20watts,but I had to try .Seductive tone