Soldano Avenger Head

It's simplicity is what sold me on it, and good control over your instruments volume knob cuts the gain back to a light growl for a great live clean tone in a pinch. Fortunatly I run a fender bassman for clean, but lately the Soldano has been holding it's own to cut down on weight while touring. I currently play punk rock, but with a simple switch of a patch cable from the high to low input this amp can play any genre you throw at it from metal to blues. Every guitar sounds dynamically different with this amp, whether you find this a pro or con I will leave that up to. All I know is that it is nice having my strat sound like a strat and my les paul sound like a les paul.

Some noise at high volume, but what high gain tube amp doesn't. Currently running groove tubes... love em. American strat with a Duncan JB junior, American Tele with a single coil, Les Paul with a Duncan Screamin Demon, Godin with a Duncan passive / active switchable. Every guitar has it's own unique sound with this amp. There is no blending of tones ever, and sound guys are tellng me that the amp is very easy to mix, but yet punches when you want it to without having to switch channels.

Not a problem yet, not sure what the future may bring, but not to worried either.

The joys of simplicity, why would you need customer support?

I hate to rave on something because nothing is perfect, but this amp fits me and my playing style very well. It may not be for you, but in my opinion it serves every purpose I need it to serve. If your looking for effects loops or other channels, than buy an amp with those things. The people bashing this amp for being so simple are failing to see how versatile Soldano made such a simple amp. If your looking for bells and whistles buy a Mesa, if you are a serious musician that understands bells and whistles don't make a musician, their music does... than this is the amp for you.

This amp is amazing. It doesn't have very many features, but it is also not a do it all amp. That is not what it was made for. It is one of the best amps I have ever heard with respect to its intended purpose.

Absolutely the best I have ever heard. Remember that this amp was made for anger. It is not a clean amp. If you want a clean amp then buy a Twin. This is for sonic brutality and it sets the bar for that.

Amp is built to withstand the rigors of war.

Very helpful. I have talked to them several times with different questions about different amps. I have sent e-mails plenty of times and I always get a quick and helpful response.

Crazy cool amp. I have owned just about everything and its pretty cool that the grail came onto the scene before I die. Now I can go to my grave knowing that I have played the best.
The guy below is probably a Jazz Player.

this is a 2008 model 50 watts with the effects loop. Not very versatile only one channel. It has plenty of volume for 50 watts. There is distortion aplenty but not very musical at all.

The sound quality is awful on this amp. It does not sound like the slo circuitry everyone is saying. Ive tried every setting imaginable and it always sounds terrible. Like an amp with a cheap fuzz pedal plugged in to it. I have top grade guitars,cables,and fx but none of these makes a difference...you cant fix what isnt there. The ditortion is brutal for sure but just as surface noise.not musical at all.do not buy into the hype over this amp.....play one first before you buy

I will have to say this amp is well built. immaculate wiring and all on the inside is well done. I would say that it would be dependable

This is where Soldano falls the shortest..there is no customer support. I tried to get help from them on just simple suggestions on how I could make this amp better......and no answers at all..no response.I guess I wasnt important enough. There are other amp companies that are far superior.

I would give this amp an overall low rating. Its for the most part useless. It is well built but what good is it if it sounds bad. I would not buy it again.or any other soldano product simply because they dont care about the people who buy their amps

One channel high gain tube amp.No effects loop.No channel switching...no bs pure signal path. I dont know why some people complain that it dosent have enough features...Duh! Thats what its sold as...a one channel no fx loop amp.Anyone that WANTS and or uses an FX loop for any FX other than a noise gate or maybe a small EQ for a boost knows nothing about tone....especially with a soldano. The outpute circiuit (with 5881 tubes) is designed to compress and distort at even moderate volumes 4-up. If you run time based fx through a loop in a head like this (or the slo,hr+) it will muddy them up.It amazes me when people are like "yeah, i have been touring for 20 years...blah,blah, and i run my rack/pedals in the FX loop"???Sure...The best way to run time based FX is to load down the outpute (like with a plamer ss) run the line signal into your fx/fx mixer then into a CLEAN tube power amp or mosfet/solid state power amp then yr cabs.Thats the only way to do it. I love this amp the way it is. I dont need reverb-delay ect and i use my volume knob to clean it up. Simple is better...especially in tube amps. Those 3-4 channel bells and wisle amps suck...more wires,less tone. The added feature that i dont use alot is the depth presence. It adds low end. This amp dosent really need low end....its kinda voiced that way.

I have only played my ash body home made (all parts,warmoth) super strat through it.(marshall 1960a cab 75watt skrs) I am using a SD 59'r paf pup. It sounds perffect through it. I dont use the gain cranked all the way up (between 5-6). I used to own an slo and an hr 100 ( both sold due to money problems) and i would use a Dimarzio super distortion in my strat through them. Gain on 10! I thought it sounded good at the time but i was going through some rehersal tapes and man!!! MUD! With some buzz.Tons of sustain but i would rather sacrifice some sustain and gain for better harmonics with a lower output pickup. The sound is just pure articulation with great sustain and harmonics...i emphasize the upper mids with the eq settings. More of an early van halen, matthias jabs,lynch tone. Its perfect.

All i can say is this is the third soldano i have owned and i never EVER had problems with them. They do chew through output tubes a little quicker than other high gain amps but it has to do with the output circuitry...its normal.I have talked to mike and staff just for basic questions (tube life,biasing) and they have ALWAYS been cool and helpfull.

Soldano is probably the best in customer service. Bad reviews are probably from other manufactures that dont like the competition. soldano INVENTED the first comercially available "hot rod amp" and they are ALL hand built in the US...other companys cant always say the same.

I have owned a TON of high end amps. If you like van halen,matthias jabs,george lynch, erric clapton,warren haynes, players that need sustain purity and articulation in their tone...this is the amp for you. It will do harder newmetal as well but its better for more bluesy based sustained riffing(listen to man on a mission by VH, tease me please me/alien nation by scorpions,in my dreams by dokken)....not really an AC/DC classic rock open style playing amp.Its also not an amp for begginers!!! It will expose poor teqnique in a hurry!! But hey, you will get better quicker if you own it.Soldano amps are just great and have always been...have a great resale value too....that bailed me out a few times so its kinda an investment....hey, im a starving musician.

100watt single channel hi gain head. thats all. no more no less. no fx loop.

was good when it worked. MY amp died after using it for 2 weeks just like the reviewer below

since it only worked for two weeks i returned it to the dealer who 'fixed' it only they sent it back with some bolts replaced with rusty ones, badly badly matched power tubes, preamp tubes that kept falling out the sockets, high levels of noise a low frequency hum even with the gain and master controls at 2

accused me of being an idiot. soldano where marginally better than the dealer

i wont buy anything off them ever again. SLO's might be ok but these are garbage

Newer 100watt model with open grill. I play in a hardcore band and do more at home. amp is single channel with hi and low inputs. no fx loop. basic, simple. wish it had a slave out.

using a les paul custom with bareknuckle emeralds. suits the style. gain fuzzes up when you crank it not a bad thing. just different. needs playing loud. not noisey at all. not compared to a 5150. low input is horrible.

mine was terrible.
had it two weeks before the output transformer died while playing live. would ALWAYS take a backup if going away.

The tech's used by the dealer (sounds great, uk) delayed the repair of the head. Then themselves / bill at soldano accussed me of using an attenuator in an incorrect fashion leading to the breakdown of the transformer. now im being refused a refund and im probably going to have to take the amp back and sell it on loosing a few hundred pounds in the process.
I probably have bad luck. but i wont own another soldano unless its an SLO and i wouldnt get anything through the dealer i used again.

wouldnt replace it if it was stolen.
id look at something else. maybe try a cornford. whatever.
loved it when it was loud. compared it to a lot of other heads. it was next level. in a good way. but since it only worked for 2 weeks and i feel like ive been treated badly when trying to sort it out, ive lost my confidence in Soldano.

Amp is an early model, labeled 093. It has one channel so no need for channel switching. The amp covers hard rock and metal, the full spectrum. It probably needs a reverb, but I can do without a clean channel. It's 100 watts so plenty of power. All tube.

This amp is great for metal. It is capable of a very dense, heavy tone, and is still good for leads. I find the neck pickup sounds better for single notes, as on the bridge pickup single notes can get kind of grainy (I played a Gibson SG Supreme with Iommis and a Jackson 7 with Duncan Invaders through it so far).

It is a great, affordable amp for any metalhead. Used ones are going for about $900 now - a steal, considering it's a hand built USA made amp, and it sounds this good.

The only problem is it doesn't have as much identity as I'd like to hear. You don't hear it and say "Soldano Avenger!" as you would with something like a VHT. I think you could get either a 5150, a Marshall, or even a Mesa to sound something like this with the right tweaking.

It does make a little bit of hum, and it needs a lower gain preamp tube in the first position. There is no shielding on the preamp tubes.

I would gig without a backup. Top quality.

No experience with them.

I've been playing for awhile and have tried out plenty of amps. This one's a keeper. If it looks like it gets a low rating it's only because it doesn't have an original tone. It's kind of anonymous, but it's an anonymous sound that screams METAL! and it has a great presence that can be a little unforgiving. Ever note is clear and in your face, no matter how high or low you have the presence, or gain.

I have a the newer exposed grill version of the Avenger, which is cool because I like seeing the tubes light up. Gives me the feeling this amp is alive. Well it's a 100w single channel super high gain amp that cleans up better than any other high gain channels I've ever heard. I wish it had an effects loop and a switch to go from a 100w to 50w, maybe in the future. Have had it for 2 weeks now.

My setup is simple: 2 guitars (but I only use 1) a Gibson Les Paul 57 VOS Goldtop, my baby, and a Schecter 7-sting with EMG's. My cab is the Marshall 1960A Lead, and now the Soldano Avenger, as well as a few Monster studio pro 1000 cables. Before I had the Avenger I was pushing my sound through a Line 6 150w Spider III, which is a very decent head amp for only $400. But no matter how much I turned it up, and no matter how I adjusted the tone I couldn't get that great scoop sound you hear in early Metallica albums. Think Damage Inc., Disposable Hero's, etc. Plus the mids were lacking for classic Iron Maiden to the creamy rich overdrive of Randy Rhoads. I originally tried out a Soldano awhile ago but my ear wasn't as tuned as it is now. I found it lacking punchieness I said, which is laughable when I think back to it. I tried it about 4 months later and caught the Soldano bug like everybody else does. Afterwords is was one of those obsesive compulsive things, I had to have on! I defidently wanted the Avenger, even though I had never played it, but I wanted to be safe and get a versitile amp for all my needs. I heard the Avenger doesn't clean up too well it that kinda scared me off. My orginal plan was to get a Hot Rod 50+ and was dead set on it till I played the Avenger. A guy at Guitar Center I had talked to serveral times demoed the Avengers versitility to me. The guy was playing some great heavy metal chugg rythems and then switching to some fantastic cleans by just switching to the neck pick up and having the guitar vol at about 2 1/2. This amp just responds so well to guitar vol and pick attack. The only thing that has dissappointed me about his amp is it does get muddy with gain at 11, at least for palm muting. Good for fretboard tapping though. I can get what ever I need without pushing the pre-amp past 7 1/2.

Haven't had it long enough to comment.

They haven't answered the phone everytime I cal them, but they're ran a Mom & Pop store: Very curtious and helpful with any question, no matter how retarded it was. I don't look forward to having to call them, but it relives me that when I will have to I'll be in good hands.

There's just something about Soldano's that is almost magical. An amp+guitar shouldn't sound this good all by themselves with no studio behind them, but somehow Soldano never dissapoints me.

Soldano Avenger head. 100 really loud watts. 4-5881 power tubes, and 4-12AX7 preamp tubes. One awesome channel with two different input modes. No loops, or anything to get in the way of the tone, although I do miss using my TC 2290 in my rig sometimes. If you want one REALLY good rock sound, this is it. I've owned it for two years, and feel it deserves a good review.

Being an owner of a Custom Audio OD-100 SH, it's hard to like any other amp. However, this amp sounds VERY similar on the high gain channel to the OD-100. If anyone's truly played them side by side, there would be no arguement here. There is no doubt that the OD-100 is more touch sensitive, and is the best channel switching amp around, but they both have a similar feel in the high gain mode. The Avenger doesn't clean up very well, but has tons of sustain, overdrive, punch, and TONS of bottom end, especially with the Soldano cab. It's almost too much, even at low settings. It stays super tight, but has that bit of a saggy feel that makes the amp awesome to play. The EQ is very sensitive on this amp.

The low gain setting is much more usable for versatility. You can get more bluesy on this mode, and still go into hard rock territory if you want to. It doesn't clean up very well, but it still gets cleaner than most amps. Pedals work VERY well in this mode. I don't use this mode much on this amp. The high input is what this amp is all about.

This amp is definitely voiced for rock and hard rock. You can for sure do metal, but this amp doesn't sound good with the mids scooped like a Mesa Mark 4 would. If you like the 80's hair metal sound, like Dokken, Ratt, or Winger stuff, you'll love this amp. Even Zakk Wylde fans would love this. Harmonics jump off the fingerboard with little effort, even with the gain only set on 4.

Soldano's are built better than almost any amp on the market. I'm a touring musician that is out on the road about nine months out of the year. I've owned a Decatone for many years now, and have never had a hiccup or anything. Just regular tube changes every six months or so. I'm very confident that these amps will hold up on the road and during a show.

In the top 5 for sure. The guys at Soldano have always been willing to help, even with silly questions. They usually get back to you within a day or so.

I own several amps from old Marshall's, a couple of Mesa Mark series amps, two Custom Audio OD-100 SH heads, a Diezel Einstein, Soldano Decatone, and a Boogie Triaxis rack setup. I've been a full time touring musician for over 10 years now, and have learned over time what amps work best for me, and for the road. Even with good cases, amps get messed up pretty bad from all of the vibration during traveling, and from handled repeatedly. Soldano's are great. I've used my OD-100's for almost two years now, and they've held up great, but they're really heavy. If I have a smaller gig, and just need the one channel, the Avenger is awesome, and MUCH lighter in weight.

Overall, it has killer tone, and plenty of volume for any gig. Do yourself a favor and spend a little extra money on quality.

1 awesome channel. High and low inputs make it more versatile. Works best in a two-amp setup though if you need instant sound options. I was very surprised at the wide range of tones I have been able to get just from using the different inputs. It can actually get kinda' bluesy. But c'mon! Its a gain MACHINE! I think it was made in 2002 or 03. It has an excellent amount of power. You should really experience it in real life.

This amp sounds perfect for what it is made for and that is high gain. Don't buy this amp for clean tones. I use guitars with humbucking pickups. A les paul with a duncan full shred in the bridge and an explorer with original gibson 500t and I guess the 498t in the neck. The saturation is unlimited. The notes cut through very well and I would say that lead lines have a lot of character. Not the typical harshness you get from some high gain amps.

Have always gigged without a backup and it has never broken down. It is built like a rock.

Never dealt with them due to its reliability.

I've been playing for 12 years. I also own an 80s jcm800 that I love. I would buy it again if I were gigging in a hard rock band were it lost or stolen. I love its sound, I hate that I don't have 2 of them. I compared it to the mesa dual rectifier and marshall jcm2000. I chose this one because it is in a league of its own. I wish it had reverb.