Soldano Atomic 16

I give this an 8 simply because the amp is basic and straightforward. To me, it's a 10, but I like simple amps. It has what I need, pre, master, T-M-B, and presence. Two speaker jacks (in series) with a 16 ohm, 12 inch internal Soldano speaker, but it sounds just a little better powering a closed back cabinet (like anything). Tone controls are very reactive and the range of different gain sounds available from Pre and Master adjustments are amazing. The main feature this amp provides is TONE!! Beautiful, magical, singing tube tone!

Actually, it should get an 11!!! Really, it's pure magic!! It sings from classic crunch to hard rock to hi-gain. Beautiful, clear, and defined distortion with each string and note cutting through and standing on it's own. Purchased used, I drug it to a show the evening FedEx dropped it off, tweaked a few knobs and went to work! I use a '99 Fender American Standard Lone Star Strat with SD humbucker at the bridge, a Vox 847 wah, and a Snarling Dogs Very-tone for a clean boost. We play rock, mostly modern but some classic. No noise from this hi-gain amp, nice and quiet. Powering my Marshall 4x12 the Atomic 16 (pre amp and master each on 7) kept up with the drummer, bass, and the other guitarist's 100w Marshall TSL2000, cutting through better than my 100 watt JCM800 2203, custom made 36 watt TMB, or custom 50 watt Plexi clone ever did. I am not sure how to describe it other than magical. Roll off your guitar volume or switch to a single coil while lightening your touch and it cleans up pretty well (not fender clean, more of a marshall crunchy clean). Dig in, crank the volume and the saturation comes on cutting straight through without the need to be louder thank everything else! The somewhat "brite" sound of this amp fills the exact frequencies the band needs a guitar to cover and comes through beautifully. Very touch sensitive and "playing adjustable", more than any amp I have ever played. It covers a HUGE range of sounds for a single channel amp and is the perfect power to get both the preamp and power tubes screaming at practice or small gigs. It sounds like a (much better) JCM800 or a 18 watt TMB with some extra gain and MUCH more clarity. It is NEVER muddy and because of this the amp can be unforgiving to mistakes. Be prepared to really hear all the good and bad of your playing!! The good playing sounds better than ever, but the bad is not hidden behind mud. ***The Atomic 16 sounds much better than any amp I have ever used. Soldano's are MAGIC!!

I have only had it for a short time, but let's be serious....it's a Soldano....this thing is already over a decade old, works perfectly, and will most likely outlive me!!!!

I emailed Soldano a couple of small questions and they were answered VERY quickly. They were answered by Bill S. !!!!! (the designer of the HotMod), so it was obviously an very well informed answer. These guys are known to have THE BEST customer service in the industry. So far, I must agree.

I have been playing rock in clubs for 15 years (I should be better by now!), own a JCM800 2203, Fender HR Deville, and handwired 36 Watt custom TMB and 50 watt non-master Plexi clones. All great amps with great sounds, but I kept searching for something which was missing. I found it and it is named Soldano.
If my Atomic 16 were stolen I would buy another instantly, no questions, no matter what else I needed to sell. It is magical!
After one set playing through this amp, my girlfriend (a former touring road manager who has seen hundreds of bands/thousands of shows) said "Never play out with any other amp! That amp is amazing!" Into the closet go the 2203, TMB, and Plexi. The tone, the clarity, the sound of the Atomic 16, it's all amazing! You must hear one and play through it to understand.
I really could not imagine being happier with this amp. Soldano's really are magic and I do not think I will ever buy another brand of amp. This really is that much better than all the rest. The Soldano reputation is not myth, it is real. This Atomic 16 is the ultimate low wattage rockin' tone machine. Thank you Mike Soldano!!!!!!!!

This little amp does not have many bells and whistles. But it has one thing no other little amp has.. The BEST tone. By far. The Atomic 16 is easily the best small Amp I have ever played. Its lower gain and High gain sounds are as good as it gets. And I have been working Pro for 25+ years now.. For the tone, its a 10..

I use it with a vintage Strat all the way for sparkly ringing clean breakup, as well as the famous singing Soldano solo sound. I use mainly Preamp gain around 4-6, preferring the lower. I then kick in an old 80's Pro Co Vintage small box RAT for solos or Power crunchy sounds. Perfect for SRV or Gary Moore tones. With a Music Man Luke it is TOTO heaven in a small package.. I Removed the original Speaker for a Celestion Vintage 30. I was not at all surprised to see others have done the same. Vastly better. Awesome.

Only purchased a short time ago. Had a peek inside, No mods, repairs etc. Yep its Soldano, its reliable. Regular EL84 tube/valve replacement and Servicing is a must. I own a SLO 100 as well and it is Super reliable. Never broken down.

Soldano is always happy to answer your questions and concerns. Regular servicing should avoid repairs. Tubes are tubes, they dont last forever.

These little gems are no longer made. Im proud of mine, I love it. I am using it for a Doobies, Eagles, Beach Boys Tribute show as well as Corporate Events. I use 'In Ear' monitors at all times,so I can use it on any stage, so low power is not a problem. I also own a Soldano SLO 100, Marshall JMP'71 and '76 and Mesa dual Rec 100 as well as Boutique Labsystems 30 watt and 50 watt amps. For Low power, This is EASILY the Best small combo amp I have ever played. I would replace it only with another Soldano Atomic 16.

I'll make this short and sweet.I took my old Marshall 2x12 master volume Lead combo(1978) and put this preamp in it after studing the schematics off the web.KILLER!!!!I also changed the driver caps to the same as a SLO 100 for more bass.Kept the same value power supply caps-50uf all the way even for the preamp but I changed the cathode cap on V-1 first stage to .68uf to compensate for the large(50uf) power supply cap.I now refer to it as my ATOMIC MARSHALL!!!

With the gain on 2,Master on 2 or 3,Treble 5,Mid(50k pot)on 3,Bass 10,Presence 3 to 5 you get Tweed clean- very responsive.Great for country or blues.Especially with single coils.At gain settings of 3 to 5 you get old school crunch that still cleans up nice as you roll down your guitar volume.Gain on 10, treble on 6 you get great metal/crunch power chord chunk fest pick harmonic city whatever.I almost forgot,I also changed the cathode follower plate resistor value to that of the SLO preamp to 220k which ands more gain than the stock Atomic value of 100k.I'm so proud of my old amp now.It sounds way much better now than it ever has.

Learning all this tech stuff finnally payed off.Thanks to Mike Soldano's great preamp design my old amp has some real usable tones.WARNING!!!!DONT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING,YOU COULD DIE TRYING!!!No joke Guy's I done my home work for the last 10 years.Took electronic courses-bought all kids of books.I've put this old amp through pure hell since I got it in 1980.Changed the preamp at least 4 differant times before this one.I wanted a plug in and play simple design with not much knob fuss.This is it.

Never mind.

Bass since the age of 6.Guitar since 10 and yes I'm 40.SO WHAT? Yeah its got caster's and some one could roll it right out the door.Go to pick it up and you'd better be buff cause it fells heavy as hell to me.Matter of factly,I used to sit on it and ride it across the dance floor till I'd reach the band stand.If I was as matterialistic as I used to be I'd come close to suicide.Now I guess I'd collect my insurance if it did'nt turn up and buy a Soldano AVENGER or mod another one.

All of the features have been covered. This is one of the first 100 made.

I play in a Metal band. This amplifier is perfect for practicing at home,and has plenty of power to push a 4x12 cab. I run Les Pauls and some fender strats though this amp,they both sound fantastic though combo.

Strong as a tank! Very dependable! I have gigged with this amp for 3 days out of the week,for almost 3 years now. No problems here. Great amplifier!

Never dealt with.

10!!! Shame they don't make this amplifier anymore. I tried the Astroverb 16,but found it lacking in tone. I will be keeping this amp for along time. Great job on this one Mr. Soldano! Please bring it back!

6 CONTROLS LIKE OLD MARSHALLS. HAS GAIN LIKE A MARSHALL WITH ONE EXTRA STAGE.
12" SOLDANO LABELED SPEAKER?? I cHANGED IT OUT FOR A CELESTION VINTAGE 30
2 POWER-TUBES AND 3 PREAMP-TUBES

GIVES A GREAT ROCKING BLUES TO SCORCHING 90'S METAL.
VERY QUIET AMP WITH A LITTLE HIS IN HIGH PREAMP MODE. EVERY AMP I KNOW WITH A LOT OF GAIN WILL HISS A LITTLE WHITE NOISE FROM THE 12AX7'S. MULLARDS HELP HEAR ALOT.

IT SOUNDS CLEAN AND VERY NICE IN THE SYUDIO BUT NOT LOUD ENOUGH TO GIG VERY FENDER CLEAN. JUST LIKE A MARSHAL IN THAT RESPECT.

THE DISTORTION SINGS AND SINGS. LOTSA SUSTAIN HERE.

NO PROBLEMS IN 14 MONTHS OF GIGING ALMOST EVERY THURSDAY AND SUNDAY.

BEEN PLAYING 12 YEARS. I OWN A SUBWAY ROCKET AND THIS A-16 IS STILL MY FAVE.
I LOVE THE GAIN AND STRING RESONCE OF COURSE. I HATE I DON'T HAE THE CASH FOR A SLO.
I WISH I HAD A CELESTION 4X12 INSTEAD OF A 2X12 EXT CAB TO GO WITH IT.

I WOULD BUT IT AGAIN IF STOLEN.

it has preamp-bass-mid-trebel-vol-presence
12" Speaker and 2 outputs

Sounds awesome from bedroom levels to barom levels. Somehow the have set up the preamp to run the same type of tube gain regardless of volume. Pretty cool! The distortion sounds as if you have a built in sustainer/compressor but without the limiting that those effects inheret. It's just smooth, warm, and raunchy. This amp should be called the Soldano Sustainer or something like that,LOL

Very solidly built. No problems hear. The paint is smooth and hard on the control panel too.

A+ Satisfaction. I shipped the amp to them and it only took 1 week for an effects loop to be installed. It is now tube buffered and makes any effect sound warmer than going straight in.

I had to pay top dollar I guess. Got it at Guitar Center and they let me have it for the sale price with no tax. That was good enough for me after all the amps I demoed. Mesa Subway, Peavey Classic 30, and a Fender Hotrod. I was tired and the Soldano sounded the smoothest, the warmest and the most hot-tube sounding at low volume of the bunch.

This is an amp that does Rock to Very Hard Rock in a smooth way and under small room environments at that. This is THE recoding amp for anything from Van Hallen, Thin Lizzy, GnR, Ozzy, to Slayer. It does it all in the Rock area and with the warmed up sound of EL84's the whole time.

1 input
6 knobs pre/bass/mid/trebel/vol/presence
Power switch
2 speaker jacks on the back. Best through a Marshall cab.

No Diodes all Tubes. The gain comes from 1 extra 12ax7. Dreamy gain..

The most tube saturated gain there is. Everyone else relies on pedals or diodes for clipping and this amp gets it with 3 12ax7's wired soley for maximum gan. It's an unrealy very responsive gain that doesn't get brittle or muddy like a pedal or diodes can do.

very thick circuit board all hand wired. So Solid!

great guys..email them sometime, you will see.

I paid $700. I know a bit too much for me, but I needed it for my gig and the AC15 was in the shop. Well, the AC 15 got sold because this can nail the vox to the wall and drives better than any Marshall or boogie. It's in the tone of this thing that will really take you. Give one a spin. Stay away from the reverb version. It weakens the gain somehow.

Basic amp that reminds me of a Marshall 18 watt amp with an extra gain stage.. It does what it does perfectly. Marshall and of course Soldano tones for the small gig and studio.

Like I said, souds fantastic for gain. Great GnR tones, Warren Haynes and Gary Moore is in this box too. Sounds so sweeeeet. Gain with articualtion and string definition is hard to get these days. But not with the Atomic 16!!

Built like a rock. It's dropped off my Marshall 1960 cab twice and still lives to sing. I only broke 1 power tube from the last drop and I popped in a new JJ and it still runs perfect. Very solid cab!

Great people the will recover your cab in any of there coverings and will even add DI and FX loops if you want. Very fast emails too.

My favorite High Gain amp of all. It's light and solid. Its versatile in any gain situation. I would buy another if they would make some more. Get rid of the reverb version guys and bring back the Atomic 16!!

First Check this one out to see how cool they look!

http://home.t-online.de/home/martin.hornauer/english/soldano.jpg

It's all soldano. Think Gary Moore's Live Blues Sound. A soldano pushing a marshall celestion cab. Well this 1x12 is loaded with a Vintage 30 and sounds great. It comes with an additional extension jack to run another cab.
1 input
6 knobs pre/bass/mid/trebel/vol/presence
Power switch
2 speaker jacks on the back.

Hint: The jacks are in Series so you can disconnect the loaded 16ohm speaker and run two separate 8ohm cabs. This makes the small box sound which is really what you need for studio or home use, go away and gives you that very thick thumpy bottom for live use!!

This amp although only one channel is for some reason extremely versatile.

It must be how well the interaction of the tone and gain controls work. In the studio I can't beat the tones I get with this thing for live recording.

The Atomic blows away my Superchamp and makes my Studio 15 run for it's money. They both sound like a tube amp that's been attenuated or run through a very good overdrive pedal. I have this same gripe with the Jubilee amps. The Studio 15 sounds the best out of the "Diode Driven" amps.

The Soldano just shines with a more pure tube saturation sound to it than a transistor or diode driven gain stages seen in the other studio use amps. Who's seen the Atomic 16's layout, are there any Diodes in the gain stages? It sure doesn't sound like it to me.

I think because of this non-diode or transistorized sound it produces, it works better with pedals because your not hitting the solid-state stuff here, you are just hitting the tubes. I think this is why there was no FX-Loop included. That and it takes away from the simplicity.

I don't know...It just sounds so darn good to me.

Very quiet operation, silent in all but the highest of gain and presence settings.

Soldano makes such a refined circuit. Add to that the simplicity of a one channel combo with a celestion Vintage 30 and you have the most smoking recording amp on the planet.

The overdrive is what you can tell this thing was built for and it makes my fender Superchamp sound brittle compared to the soldano's creamy thickness. The preamp and presence controls are your key to great tone and the volume of course.

Some people complain of it losing bottom end when maxed out. I think these people either need to use NOS tubes, or change their speaker.

The best thing to do is use it like a head and plug into two cabs if you want a full/half stack kind of sound from this little guy in a small club. Don't forget he is only 16 watts.

Pound for pound, watt for watt, this will blow away any Superchamp in creamy smooth rock balad soloing tones. It's a mini Mesa Boogie doing Santana with all the warmth you would expect from that kind of tone.

You can get an excellent Still Got The Blues, and Parisienne Walways drive for leads.

It does a better overdriven marshall cruch tone than the famous Marshall Studio 15 can. The soldano can do a better JCM800 sound that is.

This is another place the atomic shines. Guns 'n' Roses "Apetetite for Destruction" is within this amps tonal pallet 100%. Remember the Marshall Jubilee was not out yet when GnR released their first album. So If you want Slash's "Sweet Child of Mine", "Night Train" or "Welcome to the Jungle" soloing capability, then you want the Atomic 16!! If you want Slash's "November Rain" then get the Jubilee.

Now the studio 15 is my second favorite amp to record with so don't get me wrong here. I use both actually most of the time I record.

Think Studio 15 as the rythym machine and the Atomic 16 as the solo machine if you can have both to use at the same time.

But still if I had to choose only one it would depend on the application needed since the marshall has a few cool features that the Soldano does not. The Soldano still has the better overall tones and harmonics. The Atomic 16's controls are way more interactive, making the Soldano the more versatile box of the home studio in my opinion.

The atomic must mean atomicly rich harmonics!! hmmm

This was an early one I think. Maybe 1996 or 97?? I've never had a problem with it.

I bought this amp used almost 2 years ago, it was a customer return (opened Box), so it was basically new with a used price. It seems it was overlooked when the Atomic heads came out and then discontinued for the Astroverb. It sat in the back stockroom and I only got this one by chance, because I asked the manager to call me if he gets a used one in. It came in the original box and it even smelled sort of new.LOL

Damage Report: I let this fall off of a 4x12 when I got to far away from it while jamming and semi-Drunk last New Years Eve. 8^) I was quite scared but it was still working and my Girlfriend stood it back up, next to it instead of ontop. It's worked since then without a flaw so I am happy.

I replaced the original speaker when I first bought it just because I liked celestion Vintage series speakers. I actually change speakers pretty often if I don't change cabs.

And you can't forget that everyone needs to do regular tube maintenence to keep the sweet tone coming out of it.

Soldano is probably the only builder that uses PCB's that are thicker and more reliable than PTP boards. The Atomic's were all made by one individual tech from start to finish. This means you dont have assembly line slop, cheapness, or mistakes.

You're the best in the Biz...thanks Mike!!!!

Never needed any help from them, although they do answer questons quickly and every time! Better than the other Big Names out there.

I payed $570 out the door. He wanted $600 but obviously everyone was into the heads or Astroverbs so he budged a little. This amp is by far the most fun I've had with an all around rock'n'roll amp. With the Astroverb at $700-$800 this is the far better choice. Less moving parts is always a feature to me. If I want lush reverb in the studio I use a Modded Fender 63. At the gig I use my trusty RV-2.

Just a note the Atomic has Very little headroom! This should be obvious. 2 EL84's and 3 12AX7's in a sngle channel. A feature this amp was seriously made for!!

Why oh Why did they stop making these? How much reverb do you really use with all that gain, huh? And is it worth the extra complication to the circuit(posible noise), the extra tube, the extra heat, the extra weight, the extra transformer strain, and the extra money$$$?????

This Atomic 16 amp is an Atomic bargain and for recording 70's-90's hard rock / blues rock, and yes even late 80's and early 90's metal. You just won't find any better in tone or craftsmanship.

Power/Preamp/Bass/Middle/Treble/Volume/Presence, all goes to 11!
Three 12ax7 and two EL84 tubes. Mine has an effects loop mod done by Soldano. An extra 12ax7 tube added since the effects loop is tube buffered. 12" custom Eminence speaker. Not many features, but ever knob counts.
Beside no stock effects loop, I really don't understand why there is no standby switch. The amp mute itself for about 5 sec when it's turned on so there is no loud pop. However a standby switch would save me some tubes life during cigarette break thou.

My main guitar is a 2000 Parker fly DLX. I agree with several of the previous reviews; this amp is truly a trick pony, very versatile. And 16W is LOUD! Enough to cut through a band.
I've never own a Marshall but for me the amp sound pretty Marshallish. Similar to JCM 800 or not? I really don?t know. It has slightly less sustained then a Mesa Boogie and less but much tighter bottom end and wonderful treble with rich harmonic. When I first got the amp I'm really not used to how its bottom end sound; I always have to crank the bass all the way to 11 and still hear too much treble. Even my friend's Kalamazoo has more bass than my Atomic. Then week later I went back play my Mesa and found the bottom end just really, really, really loose and muddy! Soldano certainly have thought me how a good bottom end should sound.
It has slightly less gain than my Mesa Rocket44, but very usable gain through out level 1 to 11. Turn to 9 to 12 o'clock for bluesy drive and after 3 o'clock it adds more grind than gain. It can easily go from ZZ Top to Zakk Wylde. Turn up the preamp and treble and listen to that full and rich harmonic sing! Unlike Mesa, crank the EQ knobs won?t increase the volume, which is good for playing at bedroom level. The volume knob is very sensitive and sounds great even at extremely low volume level. The Presence is my favorite knob, tweak it wisely and it really makes all the difference. Compare with other amps I?ve played, the presence knob on Atomic really works. The parallel effects loop works great for delay pedals. IMO, the biggest con is lack of lower bottom end for modern metal rhythm; there is just not enough punch. I wonder if Soldano offer XL mod for Atomic and Astroverb?
In conclusion, an excellent small & light lead player amp for bedroom level practice and small gig.

Built like a tank! Go to Soldano website's tech section to read how they are constructed.

Good customer support. I email them ask about the user manual and they scanned the manual and email to me. Their email response is kind slow, but one can always call.

I replaced my Mesa Boogie Rocket44 with the Atomic 16. The Mesa is just too loud, I can never turn its volume over 3 and it's just too heavy to carry around. In that sense this amp is exactly what I need; high-gain amp that's light enough to carry around with one arm and sounds great at bedroom level while loud enough for small gigs. A perfect light weight, low watt, high gain amp.

Very straight forward. 1 input, 6 knobs (pre/bass/mid/trebel/vol/pres), 1 on/off switch and 2 speaker jacks on the rear. 1 channel and a 12" speaker. No loops or headphone jacks. The only thing I wish it had would be a standby switch. Being what it is, I feel no need to rate this in this paticular category.

I use an LP Junior and an LP Standard. I play mostly bluesy inspired rock (no high gain stuff). The amp is a one trick pony as it only has 1 channel. This is the combo so it's not overly huge with bass response, and mine sounds a bit upper middy/edgey but not in a bad way. It can get fairly loud for an amp pushing around 20w, and can drive larger cabinets fairly well too. You can get from classic blues/rock sounds all the way up to thick heavy overdrive. I don't feel that it would be so good for newer heavy metal styles or jazzy cleans though. Great rock sound in my opinion.

Seems reliable, most Soldano stuff is. This one is used, so time will tell. I think Soldano should have used some type of clip retainers for the valves though, I just don't like the way they hang there. The circuit board is very clean and all the joints are solid, solid construction. Rating based on limited time with the amp.

I've e-mailed them a few times, they have been fairly helpful. I asked about the bias setting once, but didn't get a clear response. No biggie though, they do answer your e-mails which is more than some other companies do.

I've been playing for about 14 years now and have owned many amps in that time. Some people compare the sound of this to an 800 series Marshall. Having owned one of those I'd say that fairly accurate, but I believe that this Atomic can get a bit more gain that the 800 (eventhough I don't go super high gain). I also used to own a Marshall Studio 15, and in all honesty I would have to say that this Atomic sounds closer to the Studio 15 than an 800. Most likely because they share similar cbinet sizes. I had this in the head variation a few years ago and have always kicked myself for selling it (along with the Studio 15). I though since I'm downsizing my gear this would be a good amp to have. I see no use keeping all my larger stuff when I don't gig or play out anymore, so this fits the bill. You can get great sounds out of it without blowing the roof off. The only thing that was annoying was that the tolex was peeling off. I took care of that with some contact cement and a Sunday afternoon. My only real complaints are, no standby switch and no tube retainers. But if you keep the contacts in the tube sockets snug, the tubes won't fall out. A great no frills amp, it's all about tone! They don't make these anymore (just the Astroverb) so get one before the prices skyrocket when this achieves "legend" status.

Soldano stopped making these amps a few years ago. I bought this amp brand new a year ago. It still had it's tags and about a 1/4 inch of dust on it. It sat in the backroom of the music store until someone discovered it. Basic features as mentioned by the other reviewers. Single channel, three 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 6BQ5/EL84 power amp tubes, 16 watts,12" Soldano designed speaker, bass, mid, treble, presence, preamp gain, and master volume controls. Wish it had reverb but then that's what sets the Astroverb model apart from the Atomic. I looked at an Astroverb and it was several hundred dollars more. I wasn't willing to pay it. Just wanted a cool no frills practice amp. I would of loved to have found a used one at the prices of the other reviewers but couldn't find one used. I'm glad I bought this one. It was worth every penny.

I originally intended on buying an Orange AD-15 with Reverb amp for practice. I thought it would be cool to own an Orange amp (solid state). The Orange amp sounded OK but while I was playing it I kept looking at the Soldano sitting next to it. I had to try it out. This definitely was a far superior amp. Of course it was much more money. If you like to rock out this is your amp. What I liked most about this amp was that you can get great gain tones at bedroom levels. I do weekend jams with my friends with this amp and it sounds great. You need to crank it to about 9-10 to be heard over the drummer. Luckily the volume goes to 11! I love tube amps. I think there are alot of good solid state modeling amps out there but tubes amp are still superior in sound. The Atomic 16 is no exception. It has a warm, smooth quality sound. At low volumes the amp cleans up well and you can get nice jazzy tones. This amp is mainly for guitarist looking for bluesy to high gain tones. I have miked this amp and it sounds huge!

Built like a tank. I take care of my amps. Expect to have this amp for many years.

Only contacted Soldano regarding amp covers. Bill Sundt e-mailed me with information regarding amp covers. He said they never made them for Soldano Atomics but that Studio Slips could make me one. I got a very cool Blue Paisley amp cover for this amp. Studio Slips already knew the measurements.

I own alot of great amps. Matchless, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, vintage Fender, etc. This amp is a classic. I paid more than the original price for this amp (about $500). I don't regret the purchase. I'm happy I got a new one. This is a very nice amp. It's well built, looks great and most importantly sounds fantastic. If you can find a used one I recommend buying it. There are not that many amps at this price point at the same level of quality as a Soldano. I wish soldano still built smaller combo amps.

Features are limited to volume, bass, middle, treble, presence and pre gain. It is a 20 watt amp with a 12" Soldano Power speaker. the tube complement is 2 EL84's and 3 12AX7's. It is Class A/B made with hand wiring.

The sound was great and loud for a 20 watter. The amp has an open back and the 12 speaker utilizes limitless resonance to get a warm bottom end and a tight high end - very warm sounds. The gain was classic, much like the Boogie "Mark" series. It was a little noisy at the 7-10 pre gain level but nothing too bad. Incredible tone and response from the tone controls.

I replaced the tubes with Groove tubes. The breakup was smooth and the tone was pronounced. It has not broken down in 2+ years. Not much of a gigging amp unless it is a very small venue.

Never used them.

I have been playing for 13 years and just wanted a practice amp with good sound. I tried the Electar 10 tube and the Fender Sidekick and the Kustom 10 watt tube. This Atomic 16 blows them away quite handily. Again it is more of a practice amp, BUT, it might be able to be used in the studio, especially with the 12" speaker. I would get another if this were stolen. Soldano puts out great products.

Not many features - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle & Treble and Presence. This is a straight ahead basic amp built with a 12" speaker, which is unusual for a small amp. Most have 8" speakers.

I use Kramers (old and new), Fender strats, Ibanez RG and EX series as well as a Gibson SG and a variety of strat style guitars. Preamp is a little noisy at very high settings, depending on guitar. The tone was incredible especially at high settings coming through the 12" speaker. Clean is clean and high gain is classic. The tone controls respond very well. Plug in some effects and you have ultimate versatility. Again the tone is incredible. You can play jazz to blues to classic rock.

So far so good for 7 months. Have only used it in practice sessions with a band.

Bought it used and only have 1 year warranty with local dealer.

It is a great amp for practicing and small venue gigs. You can use foot pedals and the response is incredible without much noise or hum/hiss.

I gave this an 8 because I would of liked a slectable impedance for different cabinets. I talked to Bill Sunt at SOLDANO and he said it wasnt needed that the amp would push a 16,8,4ohm load just fine . Still I had to call to find out .If you want reverb,EFX loop, channel switching than this amp is not for you. The controls are Gain.Bass,Middle,Trebble,Master Volume,Presence. Two speaker jacks. And thats all youll need

I currently use my Fender AMERICAN Standard strat (stock pickups) alot but I have an Ibanez Rg with a Screamin' demon (Bridge) & Invader (neck). This amp gave me exactly what I was looking the HR 50 sound in a 1x12 combo to play in the house. If you are looking for "death metal" "grindcore" look elsewhere this amp gives "TONE" not noise. I have played Country,Classic rock,Blues with this amp and it has deliverd. I t sounds good at all volumes I was really pleased with the sound at low volumes. I played a couple of gigs with it I used an ol' sm57 sounded just like my HR50. I would like two of them one for rythm and one for lead. The clean is ok but if you want to play Joe pass jazz get a DR.Z. I you want to play Death metal get a MKIV yes they are better than the rectos. This amp is a solid blues, country, Hard rock amp I played SOLDANO amps for over ten years now and achieved tone in every situation possible.

Havent had any problems all SOLDANO'S are solid

I have e-mailed Bill Sunt the head tech at SOLDANO several times and I get a quick response every time. His brother is currenlty working on a pre-amp in MOD on my HR-50 so I can use my SP77 as the pre-amp and the HR50 as the power amp. I had Bill s brother install some new tube in my HR50 and he said that one of the caps wasnt up to par so he replaced it. These guys are great

Like I said I have been playing SOLDANO's now for over ten years so I knew what they were about.I have had this amp for a year now and it is my main amp now. Man I'm tired of lugging halfstacks around (LOL). This amp is a versitile portable amp that is sound good at low volumes for the house and will crank up for a gig ( you need to mic it man) I dont use reverb or effects.I use the volume on my guitar for level changes the pickups aswell so this amp fits me. I gave it a 9 because as you increase volume you need to make some minor EQ changes not a bad thing for me but I thought you'd want to know

First year amp, I believe it was 1995 or 1996. Purchased new.
I give this amp a 4 for features becuase it is quite simple. No reverb, no effects loop, no line out, etc. Very straightforward single channel amp. Exactly what I was looking for at the time, or so I thought.

I used PRS Guitars mostly through this amp because I my strat sounded like shit through this amp. The PRS sounded decent, but not one nice clean sound was available at a usable volume. The distortion was very bright and lacked bottom end, due, I believe, to the open back cabinet. I did enjoy the range of sounds available at low volumes, the high volume sounds were not to my approval. When cranked, the amp sounded like it wanted to give up. All meaningful low frequencies promptly departed. High volume sounds were limited in the tone department. Just when you get the power tubes to break up, and sound starts to get nice, the amp lets you down.
So - I bought a Soldano 4x12 with Celestions.
What a difference the closed back cabinet made. Took the sound to right where you want to be on a high gain amp. Still no clean sounds, but who cares when the distortion sounds like that! Complex with rich harmonic balance. Even tonal response and sensitive to picking dynamics.
I understand an open backed combo will not sound like a 4x12. However, I also understand that you should not have to buy a big ass cabinet to make your combo sound half decent. That's why I bought a combo, so I wouldn't have to haul a big ass stack around with me.
I ended up buying a big ass stack anyway. Rating is for combo. Combo with 4x12 gets a 9.9 without a doubt.

No problems with reliability. Ever. All Soldanos are solid.

10.
Used them 3 times. Spoke to a real live tech every time. No hold time. Very nice peolple as well.

Overall, I am going to hit this thing pretty hard due to its design. In my opinion, Michael had no business building this amp with an open backed cabinet. A lot of money for NOT a lot of USABLE performance.
I have 2 other combo amps, with open backs, that simply smoke this amp in terms of tone. One says Marshall on it, and the other says Fender. Neither of these amps wuss out when turn up the wick.
Needless to say, I recently sold this amp to my new best friend on ebay that helped me make a lot of money. I sold for way more than I paid for it new. I guess these are hot right now.
One more point of qualification, this amp friggin smokes in head form through a closed back cabinet. My review only applies to the 1x12 combo. One bit of advice, don't pay too much for one of these.

Single channel, three 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 6BQ5/EL84 power amp tubes, 16 watts RMS into a 12" Soldano X-12000 custom designed speaker, bass, mid, treble, presence, preamp gain, and master volume controls. No effects loop, no reverb, no extra channels, just simple, the way great amps usually are.

As with most simple amps, the sound is very dependent on how hard you drive the amp. With the master volume set low, you can get warm, but grindy clean tones up to AC/DC crunch tones. With the master volume set high (don't let the 16 watts rating fool you, this baby keeps up just fine with my power hitting rock drummer), you can get decent clean tones, but more importantly (as this is what the amp was designed for), you can get very rich, sustaining distortion. Not death metal, but plenty heavy for Van Halen/Dream Theater/Satriani/Vai tones. And the distortion is very dynamic. I use a PRS custom 24 w/ "10" top, and with the preamp set to 11 (mucho "cool" factor) and the guitar volume set to 3-4, I can get very "textured" clean tones. It's a clean tone, but the tube breakup adds extra harmonics that sound great. If you really want to be impressed with the tone this amp gives, and most Soldano's from what I hear, use it with a band. That "way too bright" sound people complain about works wonders with the band. The sound blends so great with a band, without having to kill your ears with volume, like most Marshall's and Boogie's I've used.

Super reliable. I had the amp shipped to my house in NJ from CA by those brute UPS guys, and then sent from NJ to Miami FL by those same brutal hands. When I got it, some of the tubes had been knocked out of the sockets (poor packing by sender), and I was kinda worried. Using my clean shirt, I put the tubes right back in place, powered it up and was blown away. No problems. I don't think many amps can survive such torture without breaking in some fashion.

Great support, answers to my emails usually come back in 1-2 days. Very nice.

Soldano amps are magical. That's my new slogan. Ever wonder why people pay $3200 for SLO 100's? Listen to one some day. Clapton, Van Halen, Vai- they have great ears. What else do they have in common? They use Soldano's. All Soldano's have the same basic gain structure. And because Soldano builds amps with such tight component tolerances, they all sound virtually identical. They all sound incredible with a band. What else can I say? I love this amp. Great, simple, all tube, portable combo for around $600 new. I'd recommend looking into this amp if you like tone.

Controls are basic - preamp level, bass, mid and treble, volume and presence. I can't understand why there is no standby switch. No effects loop - I don't need one. Basically not tons of knobs to tweak but the amo sounds so good - who cares

I LOVE the sound of this amp. I use a Les Paul and find this amp gives me classic R&R tones. Great for both lead and rhythm. I used to say there is no clean on this amp but if you set the presence full up, the tone gets very tight and sounds clean.

I don't do much playing out these days but everything on the amp has always worked 100%

I've never had any problems with the amp but everytime I've contacted Soldano for information, they have responded quickly and with the requested info.

I bought this amp because I really love my Soldano HR50+. I thought the Atomic 16 would be a great, lightweight, portable amp for jamming. I was right. It weights nothing and has a ton of tone. A jamming buddy of mine is the manager of a big music store that doesn't carry Soldano. He was VERY impressed by the amp when he heard it.

1996 1x12 combo. 2 el84, master vol, presence, high, mid, bass, one chanell, pretty straight foward, nothing too fancy.

This sounds great. The best High gain el84 amp made. Can get great old school mid range tones with nice power tube break up, or high gain pre amp scooped mids distortion sounds approaching the death metal world of tone with some help from hot pickups. The most versatile tone machine I own and I own a lot of amps (Vox, Orange, Matchless, Fender, Marshall).
It does not get a grat clean tone but how many master volume amps do?
It is also not loud enough for some places. (Hint Hint Mr. Soldano! Offer us a 35-50 watt atomic with 4 el84s so I can show this off in front of big crowds!)

Had it for almost 2 years and no problems but the occasional power tube replace. I play this amp about 20 hrs a week. Use it mainly for recording and practice. Very solid, great parts. Soldano can run with any of those "high end" amps.

Communicated with Soldano via email a couple of times. Answered all questions pretty quick.

Been playing for 15 years. Was introduced to this amp by accident. It was the only amp available when I was trying out a guitar. Put the guitar back and walked out with the amp. The amp is a cross between a Vox AC15 and an 80's Marshall JCM.
I would get another one without a second thought.

This is an update by Mark from the last review. I now have the good forture of living near amp guru Bruce Collins of Mission Amps and dropped my Atomic off for his inspection. As you might have read I tried to tame this amp a little by replacing the speaker and preamp tubes. Big mistake!. Bruce took one quick glance at the chassis and discovered it was an exact copy of a Marshall 800 but with EL-84's. Bruce checked the rating and it produces 18.9 watts with the volume on all the way and the preamp at 6. The rest of the controls at that point are strictly for tone variation. The Groove Tubes that I installed were supposedly a matched set but couldn't have been further apart. After Bruce biased a new set of EL-84's for me it made a huge difference in that tube dimentional tone everybody loves. So the moral of this story is , no matter what the box the tubes come in says, have a qualified amp tech rebias them for you . The Mojo Tone speaker I had installed was too flappy for this amp so Bruce plugged the Atomic into a cab with a Celestion Vintage 30 in it and, Wow! Anybody who has one of these Atomics owes themselves this speaker or the equally fantastic WeberVST C12B. I had also tried using 12AT7's in the preamp section instead of 12AX's to tame the harshness of the amps drive and was informed by Mr. Collins that by doing so the AT choked to work harder and therefore defeated my intent. The second two 12AT's aren't critical as they more or less idle along. So I've revitalized my appreciation for the Atomic 16 thanks to Bruce Collins. One last note; I was told by a reliable source that the Atomic 16 are discontinued. So, if anybody out there likes the sound of a Marshall 800 but wants it in a small package, keep your eyes open for a used Atomic 16. I'm interested in what you have to add so feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below.

A very low serial number this amp has all the basic adjustments and operates very quietly. It's light weight and plenty loud and although it's 16ohms you can plug into 8ohm cabs without worry. Two EL 84's for power and three 12A7's for the preamp section.

I've played a Fender Strat, Ibanez LP, and a 12 string electric through this amp and of course the humbuckers overdrive more easily. Single coils aren't lost at all, though. I was looking for an amp that had neither a Fender tone or a Marshall tone, and this amp has it's own sound. In theory bottom end should be filled in by the bass player so this amp is voiced without much bass. Extention cabs alter this however. I wished it had more clean headroom and more harmonic tube tone. I changed the speaker to a mojo tone alnico and replaced the tubes with Goove Tubes going with less hot pre-amp tubes to get warmer tone. I was successful to a point but the circuitry is just designed with too much gain to achieve that. So, dialing in a particular tone takes quite a bit of fiddling around thereby making it hard to use on stage unless you stay in one particular flavor. After all that said, I find this amp leaving me wanting and frustrated for more harmonics as I don't play much in the relm of this amps capabilities. For what it was designed for though, you won't be disappointed. One last note, If you plug in pedals to this amp, say a chorus or delay, the amp comes alive at volumes out of the gain stage.

You needn't worry about this product. I met the gent that built this amp.It's way over built. I've had the Atomic since they first came out and have used it quite a bit with no problems at all.

The Soldano people are fast and friendly folks to deal with. I took my amp in to have a slave port added. The same guy that built the amp greeted me and in 24 hours I had my amp back.I get the impression that if this amp ever did faulter, which is unlikely, warranty is a non issue, they're that proud and sure of their product.

I've been playing electrics for 10 years now and like you, I'm always looking for that magic combination in an amp. Just because I chose the wrong amp for my playing styles at this time doesn't mean the Atomic isn't great for what it was designed for. I'm still keeping it and play through it regularly. With an Akai echo delay pedal.One can never have too many amps!

Basic 3 band eq, preamp gain, presence and volume. Plenty loud for a 20 watter. Extension cab jack comes in handy to run to a 4x12. 2 power tubes and 3 12AX7's. No reverb, channel switching or headphone jack.

I bought to use primarily as a practice/blues jam amp. Samll lightweight 20 watt 1x12. A good basic amp. The preamp gain starts the signal breaking up at around 2 with humbuckers. It's kind of hard to get a Clean-Clean sound or a real good Gain-Gain sound, but for classic rock or dirty blues it should do well. You definitely need a pedal in front to get decent sustain and harmonics, actually sounds better with a neck pickup. The tone is much better through a 4x12 cabinet which it drives surprisingly well. The internal speaker leaves a lot to be desired. It can get raspy at high treble levels very fast. Definitely not a metal or a jazz amp.

I've been playing on and off 20 years and bought it primarily as a basic second amp. I wish it would either have a better clean sound or a dirtier gain sound not just the middle ground only. I've only had it a few days and probably would look elsewhere if I had it to do over. If the middle ground is your teritory then it would make a great little amp.

not much has been said about this amp except for the reverb atomic 16 but this is a powerful little amp and i have been tweaking it for several months now and i am amazed at the different tones i can sqeeze out of it just a preamp knob and volume presence bass treble mid but they are very sensitive i tried eqs all on zero and presence all the way up and it was ok but the best sound is with a danelectro daddy o with the clean side working the treble is piercing but i nedd to get it into a large place with good acoustics so i can find the best tones like i said this thing is loud i hook it up sometimes to a mesa boogie vertical 2 12 cab and it rocks reverb or not, this is a very light amp also and the presence control really pushes the sound way out there

this is not a noisy amp and the distortion is sweet and adjustable. i put two groove tubes 10s in it and it seemed to give it more headroom but for clean blues licks this amp has class but you cant stand in front of it because it seems too loud, i think this would be the perfect amp for me but riight now im trying differnt cabs with it i still am not sure which el84s to use in it from 2 on up to 10 in groove tubes but if anybody has a good idea on two better el84s to use in it please email me with some advice thanks

this looks like a well built amp the company answered my email by the second day. Im keeping this amp because i geuss they only make a reverb version now and the price has gone up i go this one for 500$ups

one year warranty they have a pretty good reputation i geuss

playing for 30 years have hot rod deluxe boogie dc2 and pro junior but this amp is just simply unique and simple i would not want to let it go unless it were for a 50 watt soldano head or something then again this thing is so portable and if you crank it all the way up it has responses from tubes and strings that just grab you, it does seem a little too trebly but they advertise tone controls that really work so i think this amp is well worth the price in simplicity and portability and crunch to clean and in between