Soldano Decatone

You know the features, three channels, but shared EQ. Footswitching between channels can cause audible pops. This is the lightest 100W head I've ever owned... and also the quietest!! Even with channel volumes up, this is still a relatively quiet amp. It is not punishingly loud like I've come to expect from other 100W amps - but still loud enough to be heard over the band.

This is a nice amp, but not the holy grail. Cleans are excellent. Crunch is great. Lead is o.k. The main problem is the shared EQ. If you want the Lead channel to be a higher gain version of the Crunch channel - you can't get this out of the amp! The crunch channel is voiced much warmer than the lead channel. Bright switches can compensate a little, but not enough. It will depend on how you want to use the amp, but make no mistake, the crunch and lead channels are completely different animals and are in no way similar - and the global EQ cannot compensate or strike a good balance. You can see that Soldano probably intended for the crunch channel to be used mainly for rhythms and the lead channel for more cutting and present leads... duh. If this is your bag the Decatone will deliver. Aside from this, the Soldano sound has an inherent paper tearing edge to it... which you may or may not like.

Soldano builds stuff really well.

Soldano are great people who will help you out with whatever you need.

I had been looking for a great and simple three channel head for gigging. I don't mind shared EQ, but I prefer crunch and lead to be similar in voicing... which this amp is not. I played one show with this amp and it performed admirably. Ultimately I didn't care that much for the overall tone of the amp. And the difference in tone between the crunch and lead was just too much for me to accept. I have owned many "similar" amps in the past (Marshall 30th, Custom Audio 3+SE, Bogner 100B, etc.). I ultimately decided to gig with the 3+SE in a rack setup. All of those amps are more consistent in tone from channel to channel compared to the Decatone. For a three channel head I would take the Marshall 30th over the Decatone... even though the 30th itself is still not the holy grail!

I purchased this amp from Musician's Friend in early 2000. The box it was in was very dusty like it had been sitting in the warehouse awhile. This is a 3 channel 100 watt tube amp. For each channel there is Gain, Volume, and a bright switch. It has a 3 band EQ which is shared by the 3 channels. I guess having seperate ones would be to much to ask for but I wish I could do a little more tweaking on the different channels. That said the channels do seem to be voiced in such a way that they go together well. Each channel has a bright switch which I use on the Crunch and Overdrive channels. The Normal channels doesn't need it. There are also a Presence and Depth controls. The Presence is for fine tuning the Hi's over all channels which works well. The Depth is something that has just been around a few years but I think we well be seeing more of in the future. It allows you to add or subtract Low end to the sound of the amp. I find this feature very useful on the gig cause I can add cruching lows with it and the Overdrive channel for a tune and turn it back down for the next song which may call for a clean tone. I use the depth sparingly since it can interfear with the bass player. I mean it's that low ..almost like you hooked up a subwoofer. The map has a effects loop with a mix control and a Ohm switch for using different cabs and speaker configuations. I don't use the effects loop much at all cause I never seem to get the effect (most the time a echo or delay device) to work consistently over all 3 channels. If I get the echo just right on the Clean channel when I switch to Crunch it is double what it was on the Clean channel and it's just a echoing mess on the Overdrive channel. I've tried getting this to work in the garage a few times but I just can't seem to figure it out. I'll try again one day. There are 3 buttons on the face of the amp for changing channels that light up Green, Yellow and Red for the 3 different channels. The 3 button foot switch has the same 3 color leds on it so you know what channel your using. The foot switch uses a Midi cable to connect to the amp which is pretty cool cause if it ever breaks you can replace it with any Midi cable. One sort of cool feature is that the amp well only power up on the clean channel so you never have to worry about it coming on in Overdrive and hurting your ears or your speakers. It has a Stand-By switch on the front panel also. Last but not least is a Master Volume which ....well it's the master volume what else can I say about that. I give it a 9 due to the freaky effects loop and no reverb.

I have several Strats which I use, my favorite being a stock 68' I've had since the mid 70's. I have a 92' SRV Strat with the Brazilian Rosewood finger board. A Jimi Woodstock Strat with the guts out of a Eric Clapton Strat in it. Just didn't seem right that Fender made the EC Strat LOUDER then Jimi's so I fixed that. My main "let's go to the gig" guitar on my current gig is a modded Peavey Predator Strat style body with a Warmoth birdseye maple and rosewood neck, Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, a Schecter Vibrato and a Roland GK-2 pickup for driving a old Roland GR-1 Synth. I looks like a strat but it's not and I didn't want to mount that Roland thing on a good guitar so I've tried to make this one as stage ready as possible. My back up guitar on the gig is a PRS Custom 22 10 top with trem and birds. Along with these guitars I use my home made pedal board with: Samson wireless receiver, Clyde Standard Wah, CS-Deja-Vibe, Distortion Pro, Fulldrive II S-FY, Ultimate Octave, H2O Chorus/Echo, Little Laneli spring reverb, Boss Tu-2 pedal tuner plugged in to the dry output of the H2O so it isn't really in my signal path. All this except the Samson Receiver is powered buy a Voodoo Lab Pedal Rower supply. What can I say I like my Big Box of Crayons. Now on to the amp.

This is bar none the best guitar amp of it's type I have every heard PERIOD! By this type amp I mean 100 watts, Multi-Channel Monsters. I had made up my mind that I needed a 100 watt Marshall again after all this years being a Die Hard Jimi Freak and went about the task of looking for one. I was tring out Marshalls in a shop in Baton Rouge and I was about to buy one when the sellsman suggested I try the Decatone. Church was out Ballgame over. In this one head I found all the tones clean, dirty, bonecrushing brutal that I was looking for. I came home and found that Musicians Friend carried them..even though I had never seen them in there catalog before. But there they were on the web-site no less. I when about ordering one right away. I found a used 4X12 Marshall cab with Vintage 30's to go with it

I was instantly impressed with the clean channel. As other reviews have stated it is very Fenderish...like a Twin. It stays Clean all the why up to 11 that's right 11 with just a hint of breakup if you wack the strings hard. This was a big deal for me cause so many amps these days breakup much to early for me. I mean they are good in the right place but to have a LOUD, BIG, CLEAN Tone is hard to get out of must amps....except a Twin maybe. The channel is very full, warm, round and the Fender high end sparkle is there if you want it. You can hear the notes of each chord very distincly almost as if each string had it's own amp. Being the Jimi head I am I have over the years come to the conclusion that many of his recording have a very clean tone..even the leads. Even those that make your head explode are really clean for example his version of "All Along the Watchtower" those guitars are clean as a whistle but very powerful and strong none the less. Being a old Blues fan also it reminds me of the Big Tones on ol'T-Bone Walker records. I wanted that in a amp and the Decatone did it. This channel has a hard time keeping up with the other 2 so you have to crank the gain to get enough volume out of it but that OK cause it's still CLEAN!

The Crunch is another Spectacular Channel. You could sell this channel buy itself. Opps... I think they do and they call them 59' Bassmans and 100 watt Marshalls. This is great for Classic Rock and Blues. You can set the amount of Breakup and Distortion with the gain and use your guitar volume to control this channel. EQ'd correctly reminds me of old Bassmans and EQ'd different with a little more gain goes right in to Marshall Plexi land. At first you want to crank the gain but I'm finding a lot of usefull tones as I lower the gain and the amp seems to speak a little clearer. I could do a blues/rock gig with channel alone.

I've opened this baby up on a few occasions to change tubes and to have the local amp guru bless it. This guy taught Hartley Peavey how to work on amps back in the late 50's or early 60's. He isn't impressed with all that gain and distortion but he had to admitt the clean channel was to good to be in a head like this. He didn't like the double sided PC board but came to the conclusion that is was the only way to get this much stuff in one amp. He did mention that the PC board was of high quility and was thick and probably well not warp for some time if ever. He was also impressed with the contruction and wiring of the amp. Very neat and professional..better then he seen in any Fender, Marshall or Mesa Boogie. The solder joints are big and strong looking also. I told him that the amp was hand made by one person at the Soldano factory and he said it sure looked that way.

I use this amp a few time a week for the last 2 years. I just changed the power tubes from the stock 6L6 Sovteks that came in it to Phillips short bottle 6L6's from ARS electronics. Had to adjust the bais and Bill Sunt from Soldano gave me the correct voltage to use no problem. It was smokin' with he Sovteks but I think the Phillips made a difference. I also have JAN Phillips NOS 12AX7's..5 of them in the preamp and effect loops section. I use this amp with out a back up even though now that I think about it there is a reissue Twin in the bands equipment truck if it did break down. I have a feelling that the Twin well break down before the Decatone well. I dig the Phillips 6l6's cause they glow Purple heeheeeheee and you can see them thru the grill. I bought a used anvil case for this head and it rides in the truck. Never had a problem with it. The metal corners where stating to tarnish so when I changed the tubes I took each off one at a time and polished them with Blue Majic metal polish and now the are good as new. That is not a fault of the materials it just the fact that i live in a swamp below sea-level and everything rusts down here.

Bill Sunt at Soldano answers my e-mails with in a day. He has been very helpful with guestions about the effects loop, changing tubes, baising, useing a Fender Vibratone cab with the amp. I think Soldano make a product so good that it doesn't need support but it's nice to know that the guy that designed the amp well answer your e-mail or phone call. If it breaks for some reason you have to send it back to them which is a hussle, and things do happen but I think they well work with you on getting your problem solved as best they can.

I've been playing for 30 years. At least 20 of those as a pro or semi pro. I can play Blues, Funk, Soul, R&B, Top40 back when there was something worth playing Classic Rock and Jazz/Fusion. I know a few high dollar county tricks and licks also. If the joint is jumpin' I've done my job. I can shut up and back up a singer or leave a stage a smolding pile of rumble if the gig calls for it.

This amp isn't cheap but for the amount of tones it delivers it is worth it. I would have to carry 3 amps to do what this one does.

I dealy love this amp. Over the years I've owned Marshalls, Fenders, Boogies, Music Mans (the all time sleeper amps) tuck and rolled Kustoms. This is the best high watt amp I have ever owned or probably well ever own. I would somehow replace it if it was lost are stolen. If stolen a Ass Whippin' of Biblical Proportions would be dealt to the poor sucker if I caught him. Hell my wife would kick his ass.

Wish it would fit in the trunk of my 560SL but you can't have everything.

One last thing...this amp sounds so good i get a little sad everytime I have to turn it off....I could stand there and play on it forever.

3 Channels etc etc. Effects loop mix is excellent.
No reverb but hey cant complain about lack of features.

Guitars I'm using are Ibanez RG550 and Carvin DC127T. With the Carvins single coil-taps this amp has a superb clean funky and country sound.
I play every style (badly) this amp kicks butts big time, not only the world famous lead tone but the clean and crunch channels are so well voiced I cant imagine a style of music not catered for. Like me most people go straight to the overdrive channel and whack up the pre-amp gain to 11..big mistake, it sounds horrible BUT turn down the pre to 7 ish, whack up the overdrive volume and listen to this baby, hello Gary Moore etc...from a long way back, let the air move, dont try it quiet in a 8 foot square room and expect top quality tones, like many people have said you have to hear it at gigging volumes, thats what its designed for.
I made this mistake and nearly sold it. If you play quiet get a Rocktron Voodu-valve and tranny power amp.
At first you think its not loud for a 100W but the dials continue to change the volume all the way till 11. Talking of dials ALL yes ALL the controls actually change the sound...amazing.
Sorry Mr Soldano I cant give a 10, nothings perfect.

Been playing 8 years. Listened/tried most things as per normal, this is the best so far. I've kept my Voodu valve as I teach and the students would nt hear my words of wisdom if I powered up the Soldano.
If you check this amp out try it with the 4x12 cab (thats what I've got in sexy snakeskin) you only live once.
If it got stolen I would say "golly gosh" (I'm English) then find the person and give him a damn good trashing..no I'd kick the sh..e out of him, well my wife would.

This amp rocks it big time! Includes 3 channels, (clean,crunch,overdrive. There is no question as to wether it is versatile enough. Can be played for any musical type, no matter how far out it is. It has all features you should expect from an amp in this price range, and nothing is missing, except if you wanted independent EQ for all 3 channels. NOT AN ISSUE AT ALL!!
This amp for me is personally used for in varoius places.
eg-Entertainment centres, large halls, churches, studios, etc, the works.
Can a tube amp sound any better...... probably not.

I use many guitars with this amp. PRS, Ibanez 7 strings, Tele's, etc.
The clean channel is remarkably warm and "speaks" straight away. When plugging noiseless single coiled pickups through this baby it just sang, more so than most amps I have played with, and I should know as I work in the musical instrument retail business.
U can acheive all variety of tones from the clean, and I have used it for funk, rock, jazz, fusion and ambient sounds.
The crunch is my favourite dirty channel as it throws enourmous bottom end gain frequencies out at you, and you achieve that kick-ass dirty chug tone which is pure FAT. Something that is not comparable to most other amps. It holds all tone aswell as being extremely dirty.
The overdrive is very musical and a much harsher dirty tone when the gain is cranked. It also has a slightly brighter tonal charachteristic to it.
You can acheive sounds to please any from of music that you are trying to play with. Absolute GOLD!

100% dependability. I would use it everytime without a care of possible breakdown.
Pure tone everytime, no hassles. I've even dropped it from 6 feet and not broken valves or interior circuitry. Built like a tank ( however, if u drop it, always get it checked out)

N/A

Been playing for many years, used many different amps- Marshall, Peavey, Laney, Roland, Mesa etc.
It is the most reliable amp I've ever used, and has more than enough tone than you'll ever need.

3 footswitchsable channels (clean,overdrive,lead), one eq, depth and presence knobs, f/x loop. The amp has just the right amount of features, everything you need, nothing you don't. Some amps like Diezel have more features, so only the most MIDI intensive players would feel limited, or those that believe you need separate eq's for each channel. Rated at 100W, but that feels a little generous to me, but PLENTY loud enough for any room.

Killer. Unlike most 3-4 channel amps, every channel on this amp is useable. Many 3-4 ch amps have only one or two good channel that are actually good, this amp has 3 exceptional channels. The low end of this amp can be a bit loose on gain channel settings but not in a bad way. The lead channel at the highest gain settings can be a bit buzzy as well. By varying the level of gain you can control this amp well and the somewhat loose low end is not annoying as would be expected. Live the amp rules and any concerns will be gone when you hit that first chord. The amp sounds unique and musical at all settings. Many compliments from people and sound engineers from the clubs I play in NYC. The clean channel is good, but it is very usable. If your band is doing strictly or mostly clean sounds then you might be better looking at a Soldano Lucky 13. If you want a excellent rock amp this is a sure ticket. even at loud volumes the sound is never fatiquing.

So far so good, looks tough.

The best.

Been playing 25 years, play Les Pauls, PRS. these guitars sound good through most amps in this price range, but the Soldano spanks everything else I've tried. I owned bogner shiva and xtc, Diezel VH4, marshall silver jubilee, mesa dual rectifier, and I'm telling you this amp kicks their as?es in sound to dollar value.

This is a follow up to a review I posted 2 yrs ago. All the features have been covered already in the other reviews. Still don't miss the seperate eqs for each channel and still don't think this head is missing anything either.

Still delivering the goods in the tone department and doing it better than ever. Have been running 6L6's as opposed to the stock 5881 and it yielded a bit more headroom on the distortion channels. Great tone across the three channels. Took me a while to get used to the tone control's frequency centers as they are different than most amps. The mid is a low midrange control, but the treble control is a high mid frequency, alot lower than on say a marshall or boogie. Playing around with these controls in conjunction with the presence control is the best bet to dialing in the best sounds ( at least for me). This is probably why this is a very warm sounding amp. No shrill treble frequecies come out of this head. Still amazed with this heads sounds!

AS SOLID AS THEY COME! HANDS DOWN THE BEST BUILT MOST RELIABLE AMP I HAVE EVER OWNED. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT I WOULD EVER HAVE ANY MAJOR PROBS WITH THIS AMP, SAVE FOR THE TUBES.

I said it before, I'll say it again. This company's customer service is LEGENDARY. They take care of you and do it well. No question is stupid and every answer is direct. They have gone well beyond what most company's would do. Hmmm maybe they are just doing it right!!?? Anyway, the best in this catagory.

I've now owned this head for 2 yrs and have played it a ton. Never had a problem and never expect one. The Decatone is a players amp with great sounds and no-frills operation(it aint no rectumfriar). Turn it on, plug in, enjoy and entertain. Can't say I have enjoyed owning a piece of gear as much as this. They aren't cheap, but what good is? Anyway, You can't put a price on tone.......

This is an update of a review I submitted earlier in the year, and will have to pass for a SLO - Decatone comparative review, which I hope might help others that are comparing the two. <p>I had a brief infatuation with the SLO 100 and decided to trade in my trusty Decatone for one (plus a whole lotta cash). This turned out to be a big mistake. For my style of music (BIG QUALIFIER) which is indie punk (Husker Du, Built 2 Spill, Television Luna, etc), the SLO was not a great fit. It didn't nearly have the melting, glassy, slightly edgy "clean" channel that the Decatone has. It's true that the SLO has amazing crunch and grind to it, but way too overpowering for the small clubs I play in NYC with my band (http://www.esthertheband.com), and the clean channel was disappointing. <p>The footswitching flexibility on the Decatone is terrific for my style, as I can easily go from the orange channel crunch to howling feedback on the red channel. The SLO, I'm told, is not really an amp for footswitchers, so it might not be fair to compare the two on that feature. Bottom line, the SLO yields perfect 70's hard rock crunch (Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Maiden, Sabbath, etc), as well as punishing distortion... but the Decatone has a sparkling clean tone, and extreme versatility when I need to get crunch or howl out of it. Basically, I can make it sound like ME, rather than like Warren Haynes or Joe Perry. I think that's the best you can say about any amp. <p>Like any instrument, it's only as good as what you use it for: SLO wasn't a good fit for me, but the Decatone continues (I bought another when I sold the SLO) to be my workhorse amp.

Play a 56 reissue LP Gold Top, a Gibson SG and a Fender Jazzmaster. Amp is perfect for the garagey, beatles-influenced punk I play.

Had one Decatone for 2 years, and NEVER had to replace the tubes. Astounding! Have owned Marshalls in previous years, and seemed like I was replacing tubes 2-4 times per year. No need for a backup with an amp this well built.

I wish every company in America were as committed to delivering and supporting quality product as Michael Soldano's people are. Maybe the economy wouldn't be in such dire straights if... but I digress. I have had numerous occasions to talk shop with the engineers in Seattle, not because the amp had any problems whatsoever, but simply because I enjoy talking to such intelligent people that are so clearly proud of the product of their labor. I remember when Boogie used to be like this, and they should aspire to it.

Owned one for two years, sold it as the result of poor judgment, and bought another on to use for the indefinite future. I have seen some people slag this amp, and even say the Michael himself was personally disappointed with it. Maybe you all of seen similar comments. I find this absolutely puzzling, as I can't really find a flaw in it.

Made in '96 or '97, this amp has a few modifications to it. Besides the Warren Haynes mod (low volume crispness boost which is basically a built in powerbrake) it has SLO-100 transformers in it as well. Not the choke, just the big power transformers.
I play everything from Van Halen to Pink Floyd to Stevie Ray Vaughn to the Allman Brothers, so sonically I think I cover it all. This amp really shines in all areas. Three channels, foot-switching, tube-buffered parallel effects loop, but only one EQ for all three channels. It really isn't that big of a deal though. What ever guitar you put through this amp, it comes out distinctly on all channels. Only if you want to switch from that scooped mids metal tone to something else will you really miss the extra EQs. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to insert other power tubes into it. I'd love to hear this thing with some EL-84's in it. Unfortunately, pulg and play adapters like tone bones and yellow jackets don't jive to well with Soldanos. Too much plate voltage I've been told. Reverb would have been nice too. For what these things cost, you would think they could afford to put in a reverb tank. Especially since the tank unit cost $20. Yes, the metal box with the springs that makes all fenders sound soooo goooood..... But, I digress.
As for applications, I record, play out, and generally do everything in my power to experiment with this amp. It's dead quiet in the studio and on the stage. It will still give you noise from the obvious sources, single coils, "60 cycle hum", and radio stations. It is an amp afterall.
I give it an 8 because when you boil it down, it gives you three extremely good channels with dead quiet foot-switching and a phenominal loop, but that's it. nothing fancy. Supply your own reverb, eq's, and effects.

I use lots of stuff. I have a '62 Fender RI strat from 1986, A Charvel model 650XL, a Nashville Deluxe tele with the Fishman power bridge, and a DeArmmond M-77. I think I can say that I have covered all of the pickup bases. I have fralins in the '62 RI, Jackson actives in the Charvel, the standard tex-mex pickups and the powerbridge in the tele, and the DeArmonnds ROCK. All sound excellent and do exactly what they are expected to through this amp. I can get the M-77 to do AC/DC just as easily as a Brian Setzer/ Jazz thing. The actives in my Charvel sound sterile with the clean stuff and are better suited to processors, but with the two gain channels, they WILL tear the house down. All three channels are extremely different and you must use each accordingly. The single coils suck with the high gain stuff, but that is the way it has always been- not the amp's problem. The clean channel is wonderful. Turn the pre-amp all the way up and it will break up nicely. Turn it down and the channel volume up and you're loud and clear. I can even make this amp sound like a fender twin, I mean EXACTLY. People often describe this channel as "Fender-Like". No, I mean DEAD ON. I use a Rockman Compressor (not a comp/sus, straight up compressor). Set the input gain (on the compressor) to the second or third setting, use the second top boost setting, and turn the compression off (level of 0). I don't even use this unit for it's compression, the top boost and input gain features are ACE!!. Put some reverb on (I use a H&K Replex) and it is AMAZING. At louder levels, maybe back off on the input gain and top boost. The clean channel takes tube screamers very well also. I have yet to put a good fuzz in front of it or a tube driver(chandler not tube works). With a phaser, a compressor, some delay, my ultravibe, and an electric mistress, all of the clean floyd stuff is within my grasp. Breathe, Pigs, Welcome to the Machine, Run Like Hell- no problem. What I can't do is Time, Comfortably Numb, Young Lust, and that stuff. That's why I wish this amp had a Class A option. Gilmore is using a Class A Hiwatt with a fuzz. The third high gain-channel is kind of fuzz-like in my opinion. This is that famous Soldano overdrive. Think "Heavy Fuel" by Dire Straits. That's Mark Knopfler using a SLO-100. It has many qualities and I really haven't messed with fuzzes, so you may not think so. The second channel is marshall all the way. Angus, Eddie, metal, the sky's the limit. It seems like the eq has the most effect on this channel. Scooping the mids and turning up the bass and depth will hurt people. Seriously. Stomp boxes or anything you don't put in the loop do not work well with the second or third channels. They just get lost and make noise and take away from the clarity of the gain. I really have to turn down the volume on my replex or the reverb and delays get tempermental. The tube is really sensitive. I had a H20 as well and the delays weren't nearly as sensitive to the gain changes. Still noisy though. Processors are the way to go with the gain channels.
Also I have experimented with different cabinets. I bought the Soldano cabinet with the X-12000 speakers when I got the head. I have since started making custom cabinets and have run this head through many different sizes, styles, and wattages of cabinets. The Soldano cabinet does the best job of taking advantage of all of the things this amp does. It cleans up well, sounds great distorted, and is closed-backed to give projection. A marshall JCM-800 with 4 12-inch vintage-75's sounded the best with the gain channels, but was nothing special at all with the clean channel. The clean channel with a custom made 4x10 open back with 35-watt jensens was the real winner though. UNBELIEVEABLE. I don't need to do the compressor trick I mentioned earlier, the smaller speakers give that high end that the compressor would have to put into the larger sp

You don't want to know what all this amp went through. Never a problem. Blew a fuse and a power tube (at the same time), replaced them both and not a whimper before or after. Superman himself would be hard pressed to damage this thing.

I bug Soldano all the time and Bill Sundt has contacted me within 24 hours EVERY TIME. When I blew my fuse and tube, about the plug and play tube adapters (Yellow Jackets and tone Bones), tube recommendations, whatever. Unheard of in today's age of the "Fast Buck". A 10 is unfair to these guys, but this thing doesn't go any higher. Never had to get it fixed, but if it is anything major like a blown transformer, you have to send it in to them (Boo-Hoo!). Once again, I hear they are REALLY fast.

I have been playing 13 years and have owned all sorts of amps, SLX's, Plexi's, midi preamps, a ProSonic head (wonderful piece of gear and the only other amp I now own), and if this amp had a class A option, I would marry it. It will NEVER be stolen or lost, so buying it again isn't even an option. I did almost sell this thing though. Shortly after I got it, I really wasn't happy with it and posted it here in the classifieds. NOBODY WANTED IT!!! People bitched because there was a cigarette burn on the top of the tweed finish, and that was it. I took it into the shop and our local amp guru rebiased it and put in EH tubes for everything. OH MY GOD!!! That's all it needed. I almost made the worst mistake of my life because the amp need biasing and better tubes. So learn, listen, and experiment.

This particular amp was made in the year 2000, January, somebody's dog somewhere crapped in the neighbors yard and my amp was made.
Well let me thinks, it amplifies sound, Now if you ain't worth a turd, it amplifies that too. 3 channel, blah, blah, blah...it seems like it is just squeeking in at 60 watts compared to all the other stuff out there but it's all a calculated risk isn't it?
I'm not playing this in my home, through a headphone, or some other wierd thing, I could give a care if it was butter on the toast of music either, I would say that it's really more important if you load up and spend some time in a warm cow dung so you knows life can be cruel and unforgiving.
This amp will make your mistakes stand out. That's why I like it, it's makes my sound more accident prone.

I use it with my guitar, no one else's because it's a real personal thing like wiping your nose or peeing. You just can't let someone pee for you, can you?
If it's important, you must know that an 847 wah will sound shrill with this amp. But it's just another way of doing business isn't it?
It can get noisy, and my B.O. is smelly like a man. I'm an animal so I like to raise the volume and make it sing.

Mine stopped working but the good guys in see-at-tell made sure that it was no fault of theirs and fixed my broken amp in just a few short months. Hats off to them, they are great humans, they have a definate place among the living. Just thinking of that makes me want to go crank up the thing and blow out some cones. I think mine had the problem of non-use, but I'll fix that. I still would not depend on it so I bring a backup, a bigger, louder, scream and throw pillows amp.

Blah, blah, blah...send it to see-at-tell ifin it don't work and when it comes back it will be good as when it went out the door. I think these are good for a year under warranty. You have to pay big bucks to get the SLO, which has a warranty for life.

I've been playing music since 300 B.C. I used to beat on the side of a tree with a bone then go home, eat some dino meat and kiss my girl all over her body. Then I was reborn 15 times and presently, happened to land right smack dab in the middle of the present day. Now I go home and beat on the side of my tree with a bone, eat fast food, and kiss on my girl. That covers how long I've been playing. It's really clean on the board, there ain't no corn-puke-der stuff, just some resistors and caps, wire and knobs, 5881 and 12ax7 tubes, lower plate voltages, monkeys swinging through trees, fish flippin and flappin. Anyway, it's between here and there on account of the cost, but as far as I can tell, it's really what you want. You can buy a 15 watt bow-wow or look high and low and get one without selling your chillin.

Everything is been said elsewhere about that.

I have to admit, that I bought it because of the Amp Farm,
which I use In my Pro Tools Setup.
At that Time I was playing over a Marshall-Amp with my Band,and I was always disappointed with my Sound.When I played alone, I was way too loud to describe, but when the Band
started, I wasn't there at all,just a big mess. And everything else was sounding messy.
At home, for practice, I was fiddling around with all the possible configurations that are possible inside the virtual world,
but I alway got back to this dawmed Soldano SLO100 -Amp Farm-Plug-in,and I said to myself:How can it be,that this ****ing Plug-In is so different to the other ones.I know that the guys at Soldano hate Line-6,because they use the Brand-name without permission,but I have to say,that the Amp Farm somehow urged me to look for a real Soldano, and then I
luckily seen one on ebay in the U.S and got it fortunatly.(The guy I bought It from was very helpful to lead me through the money transfer-journey.At least we found out how to nail it.)
Now the sound itself:
IT IS HEAVEN.
The Clean is really useful.Its warm and present,just there.
I've got the feeling that it really got the right frequencies to be heard.
The Crunch puts tears in my eyes.Why didn't I know before,that It could be so easy to have a good rythm-sound.It is fantastic.
But :
I use the red-channel for rythm too(meaning power-chords), because I am the singer of the the band and so I don't have to play the solos.
You think that's a waste?
If you ever thought, that any of your stomp-boxes can give you a
satisfying BIG DISTORTION SOUND,(that really fills the room),
try to get near to a Soldano Decatone and see.
I don't wanna leave out the obvious Rectifier-Point.
If I could choose I would have both in my setup, but from
my personal taste I think that the Decatone is a bit
warmer.Its just perfectly right.
I read about people,saying that it doesn't work with their Telecasters, or whatever...
It doesn't work with mine either...(Tele-Thinline,Strat)
This thing is made to work with a ROCK- GUITAR.
LES PAUL.!!!!!!
Of course it does a good job on some single-coils...
But that's even more amazin'.....




The Decatone changed it all.

I think that the only thing that can be
broken with this thing are the tubes......

I mailed them about my second hand decatone, about the
required tubes,and got an instant reply from the tech-guy.
Not bad,

I play music since I am 4.
I am very experienced in recording
and producing music.
I play in bands since I am 10 Years old.
Of course there have been times where I was not into
Rock-Music.But....
I love this amp,and I think that it is a classic already,
but I wish everybody could afford it.
If it were stolen I would punish myself with a Marshall till
I find another Decatone......
But:
Why does the overall-rating field correspond with ''value''?
Should I call it expensiv?,or cheap?How many people are related to this product??What do you want to hear.?
I give it a ten from the HEART.