Soldano Decatone

2008 model, 100 watt three channel all tube amp made to rock. I think this amp could be used for many different music styles, such as jazz or country, but rock based types is where this amp is most happy. Everything from classic rock like Randy Rhoads or Led Zeppelin to higher gain rock such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, or Three Days Grace to all between. If screaming metal is your thing, such as Dragonforce or Slayer, it can do that as well. It has a clean channel, crunch channel, and an overdrive channel. This amp has plenty of power at 100 watts and is footswitchable through all three channels done by a three button footswtich that is built of high gauge steel just like the amp itself. Very sturdy. The attention to detail on this amp is amazing, and quality was not overlooked on this thing. Tube buffered parallel effects loop that has a mix knob when maxed out turns the loop into series, a depth knob that allows you to tailor the bass response, master volume knob, and a shared eq for the three channels. Sovtek 5881 output tubes, impedance selector switch on the back. I do wish this amp had built in reverb, and maybe seperate channel eq's, but it really is not a problem since the channels are voiced together well. Hand built in a small shop in Seattle, very cool.

This amp is hands down one of the best amps I have ever played. At first I was going for a Soldano SLO-100 but wanted the three channel versatility, and the lower price was attractive also. I was afraid that it would not have the same rich distortion as the SLO, but when I played a Decatone and an SLO back to back there was not any difference, THE sound was there! The decision was an easy one, and I should have known better because this is from Mike Soldano, after all. The difference I could tell was between this and other brands, such as Marshall, Mesa, and Peaveys. This mops the floor with a Dual Rectifier and laughs at Marhall's new JVM series, and does what a JCM800 can do with so much more in it's back pocket. And the 5150 I have some experience with is just a failed attempt at ripping off Soldano's sound. I mainly use a Gibson Explorer with 498R and 500T pickups, and a Kustom custom shop 412 cab with Celestion Vintage 30's in it mic'd through a PA with a Sennheiser e609 mic. I play mostly in a band setting (playing with bass and drums is where this amp shines), but it also is jaw dropping when I take it back home and spend some quieter "alone" time with it doing some low volume jamming. I use a MXR smart gate as I would with any amp, but it is very quiet on all channels at all volumes. The clean channel is very useable and starts to break up at higher gains which can be useful, and sounds great especially when paired with a delay pedal and a reverb pedal. The crunch channel is a JCM800 on steroids, and the overdrive channel is pure Soldano, nothing else like it. If you want a Marshall sound, get a Marshall. If you want a Mesa sound get a Mesa. But if you want rich harmonic overdrive that will slam you against the wall, get a Soldano. This amp is speaker sensitive so be careful there. I've found for me the best are Celestion Vintage 30's. They are perfect. Also it is designed to have the master volume maxed at 11 while controlling the actual volume with the channel volume knobs so the output tubes can color the sound like they're supposed to. And it is gain sensitive too, as it has more than you may need. But, I would rather have an amp that has more gain than I need that one that does not have enough obviously *cough* Marshall *cough*. The sweet spot for preamp gain is at 8 on the overdrive channel, and 7 on the crunch channel. I have the clean preamp gain at 9. Bass at 7, mid 5, treble 6. Depth at 6 set up for my 412 cab. Presence seems to break into the sweet spot at just the high side of nine. Just some of my settings I have found that work for me, as nobody else put in their reveiws what they found to work best.

I do not bring a backup with me to gig because I sold my other amp to get this, but I am not afraid of doing this either. I always have back up tubes of course but this amp is not going to break. I have taken the chassis out of the head cab and I cannot believe the quality and sturdiness. Hand built by people who know how to solder, that's for sure. This is one thing that must be stressed with Soldano's. In my experiences I have seen alot of the insides of amps, and I think this amp is the most well built one I have seen.
Now keep in mind I have only had this for about six months but a freind of mine has had his Soldano for alot of years with not one hicccup, and this seems to be the norm for everyone I talk to. So I see no issues in the future for me either.

I have contacted Soldano several times with questions, and every time it was Bill Sundt who answered. He designed this amp with Mike Soldano about ten years ago, he told me, and I found both their names are inside the amp on the main circuit board. Now, I have the guy who designed the amp answering my questions? I have NEVER had that happen with any piece of gear I have ever owned. Or anyTHING I have ever owned, period. That kind of service goes a long way. He is also very nice and of course is very knowledgeable. A+ for this category no doubt about it.

I've been playing off and on for a good number of years but for about the past 2 I have been serious about it. I could not be happier than I am now with this amp and it actually makes me want to play more because it sounds so good. I am having fun, period. The guys in my band love it just as much as I do, and I get comments on my sound all the time from people. It is expensive but in the long run it is not because I will have this amp forever. If it was stolen, God help the SOB. If I were stupid enough to lose it, I would replace it for sure. The only amps that I have played that will compete with this amp is a Soldano SLO, and a Marshall JCM800, and it only competes with the crunch channel of the Decatone. But past 6 on the preamp gain and the Deca cruises ahead easily.

It's a 3-channel 100w all valve beast...
Bright switches on each channel, 3 band shared eq, channel gain and volume for each channel, depth and presence controls, fx loop with level.

Ch1. The clean channel is very use-able, it reacts very well to pedals and the using the bright switch and properly setting up the gain for the channel can yeald a wide variety of clean sounds from warm breaking up tones with guitars with hotter pickups, to super clean spanky strat sounds. I've used this channel many times in conjunction with an MXR GT-OD pedal as an overdriven rhythm sound, and it's very similar to the crunch channel.

Ch2. The Crunch channel is again very useable with a huge variation in gain available to suit everybody. I would compare the sound to a majorly modded marshall 800.. but soo much better. I normally have the gain at around 12'oclock and use the mxr to push it harder if needed. The bright switch is a great addition to this channel and really adds a smooth presence boost to help you cut through the mix. This makes a great lead sound too if you play more blues-based rock, as it's a little warmer and forgiving than channel 3.

Ch3. This channel really is a one trick pony for me. Great for high gain rock/metal leads and that's pretty much it. the voicing is a little unbalanced when compared to channel 2 if you plan to use this channel for rhythm, too much bass and high mid, but it's perfect for leads :) It's an incredibly refined, thick lead sound with plenty of everything. The key is to not have too much gain as you really can over-estimate just how much you need with this channel as it's just so responsive. Some people might prefer to use channels 2 and 3 back to front depending on taste as I have done in the past. Either way you're gonna turn heads at the bar with this thing, it's truly an awesome tone machine, but you do have to play around with it to get the best out of it for you.

Never had a single problem with this amp, runs smooth and clean every time I turn it on. Just what you need.

I've contacted Soldano a few times and they're extremely helpful as most smaller amplifier companies seem to be.

I don't think I would ever sell this amp, it's not my main amp, but I use it regularly. I found that I played with the eq too much at first but I soon realised it's best sounds were achieved with the controls pretty much central, I guess because that's how it's designed by the people with the best ears in the business! It's built so well and the sounds really are top notch. I would encourage anyone thinking about buying one to A/B it with an SLO-100 or other brands though because if you've got a sound in your head you need to make the right choice. I'm very happy with mine, but remember having the right cab is vital too, it took me a few tries to get one that really sounds right to me.
E-mail me if you have any questions or whatever. ROCK ON!

3 channel,clean,crunch and lead with shared eq,depth,presence,master volume,channel volume,etc.Maybe the shared eq can't make you bring out of the amp different sounds from channel to channel,but you can just use a Boss GE-7.

Clean channel,I hadn't been spending so much time on this one,but i think it's one of the best clean you can found on an high-gain amp-

Crunch,it seem to be like my actual amp,dreamaker dual rectifier,modern channel,with a wonderful sound quality but even with more string to string definition and bright.

Lead,fantastic,IMHO it blows away even the most aggressive amp,it won't sound buzzy or noisy,very good quality here,but you can only appreciate it at a reasonable volume.When I tried the decatone I compared it with a vht pitbull,which I think perhaps it's just a little bit more beastly but I think it doens't have the quality of this one.I compared even with the lead channel of a Lucky 13 and a Slo100 and the sound really seems to be the same.Very very good.

NP

NP

I think this amp it's the best for a rock player in general,and a metal player,as I am,will be happy with this cube,it perfectly suits the style,I could play ultra-fast dragonforce riffs,and you can hear every single note even at an high volume.Fantastic

2002 Soldano Decatone, 100w all tube, 3 channel with bright switches for each channel, shared EQ, individual volume and preamp gain adjustment for each channel, presence and depth control, master volume, adjustable effects loop, adjustable output impedance, 2 speaker outputs. Mine is equipped with Groove Tubes 6L6's and Sovtek 12AX7's which I plan to replace in the near future. This amp is incredibly user friendly and very intuitive, allowing enough adjustment to provide any necessary versatility while still being simple and free of any excess. The shared EQ has not been a problem as the voicing for each channel is well matched to the others. I play modern hard melodic rock with a variety of settings from clean to filthy distortion and I can get exactly what I need with minimal adjustment. It sounds good at low volume for home practice but really shines when you turn it up. Very versatile and very impressive.

I don't ever use a crystal clear clean sound and as such, there is none on this amp, however the clean breaks up incredibly well providing just enough bite to sound the way I want it to. The crunch channel extends from that able to provide a slightly dirty blues tone all the way up to distortion enough to satisfy most rock players. The overdrive channel is clearly a high gain channel and excels at being one.

I need to note here that this amp doesn't sound like a Marshall, it doesn't sound like a Mesa, it doesn't sound like a 5150, etc. This amp sounds like a Soldano. The sound all across the board is thick, and the bass response is amazing (and adjustable with the depth control). The tone is very warm, yet crisp. If you're unfamiliar with what a Soldano sounds like, there are sound clips all over the internet.

I'm currently playing a Les Paul straight into the head, and the head straight into a G-Flex 212 cabinet. Nothing in the effects loop. The guitar is a very very dirty sounding guitar and though somewhat muddy though other amps I've tried, is much more defined through this amp. Harmonics come though with less effort than with the Marshall I recently came off of, and I can hear individual notes even on the overdrive channel with the gain on 11.

I purchased it used from a Guitar Center on the other side of the country (their used gear website is great). And it showed up in well used condition. The front grill was bent, and one of the jacks for the effects loop looked like it has been hit pretty hard with something. Nothing seems to effects the actual function of the amp though. The effects loop jack still worked fine (though I did replace it) and the front grill bent back into place without too much effort once I took it off. This thing ages well, but doesn't seem to deteriorate at all. I feel like a direct hit from a rocket would cause little more than cosmetic damage. If a nuclear bomb accidentally went off near my house, I'm pretty sure this thing would survive. I never keep more than one amp at a time, so I have to gig without a backup, but I don't believe I'll ever have to buy another amp.

I haven't had to contact Soldano for any reason, but I understand the customer support is top notch.

I've been playing guitar since I turned 16 and realized I couldn't fit a piano in my car (about 7 years now), and I've been playing piano for a good 15 years now. I keep one amp, one cab, one electric, and one acoustic.....and one piano. No sense in complicating anything more than is necessary. I'm shopping for a new electric, but I believe I'll just retire the Les Paul from active duty and keep it safe at home.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the Decatone is a wonderful addition to my setup, having replaced a Marshall DSL. I don't know if I'll keep it forever, but I won't replace it with anything less than another Soldano, and this being the only three channel one, I think it's job is secure.

I contemplated going with an H&K Trilogy, a Framus Cobra, or an ENGL Invader, but was won over by the simplicity of the Soldano, the excellent customer service reviews I've read, the fact that the workshop where they're built is here in the US, and the bulletproof reliability that almost everyone seems to love. I'm happy with it the way it is and don't wish that it did more, or had more, or anything else more.

An amp like this can be the investment of a lifetime when it comes to music equipment. I'm very glad I made that investment.

Clean, crunch and lead, shared eq, master presence and resonance, effects loop, bright switch per channel. I thought I'd miss seperate eqs but the channels are so well matched that there's no tweaking necessary - just adjust your overall sound to the room. I don't miss any of the features of my old amps (I've mostly played Marshall Anniversaries so I'm used to a lot of switches). This just sounds right everywhere and doesn't give you anything you don't need.

The clean channel is Fenderish at lower gain settings, but not as compressed and not quite as sparkly. By far the best I've heard in a 100W head, especially with a compressor. With the gain cranked it does an incredible Bassman - ballsy, crisp and wide open. Covers everything from SRV tone to that incredible crunch sound in the intro to Van Halen's Pleasure Dome I've been trying to get right. I set it up this way and then roll back the guitar volume for a proper clean.

The crunch channel is actually very similar to that on my old Marshall Anniversary heads, up to around 6 on the gain control. Which is to say it sounds like the best of the Marshall crunch amps. The best way to describe it would be a hot-rodded JCM 800 with some of the dynamics and airyness of a plexi (Soldano's original circuit was very similar to a plexi). The bottom end is thicker than a modern Marshall though and the top end is less sharp, but without sacrificing detail or string seperation. After about 6 on the gain control this channel turns into a proper hod-rodded Marshall, with that complex sizzling Soldano saturation starting to come through. This channel alone would have enough gain for any metal player, although would probably not be compressed or tight enough for some at high gain settings. It's not muddy or messy though, just a hod-rodded classic sound like early Van Halen or maybe Steve Vai on Slip of the Tongue. Great for lead too.

The lead channel has a similar sound to the higher gain end of the crunch channel, but smoother, more compressed and tighter in the bottom end (not less bassy, just tighter). This channel is basically the SLO circuit. It's perfect for any thick modern lead sound, with singing harmonics and ridiculous levels of gain and sustain, yet always controllable, musical and never flabby or buzzy. I use this channel for heavy rhythm parts and metal too - basically anything that would sound good through a Dual Rectifier or a 5150 or any good high gain amp will sound better through this. I had a 5150 for years and this floors it in every respect, except for extreme metal where the aggression of the 5150 gives it an edge. I can't say enough good things about this channel, it's addictive.

The Decatone sounds amazing with every guitar I've tried, but I've mainly settled on Peavey Wolfgangs recently, which compliment it really well. I play it through a Soldano 4x12, but I changed the speakers for Celestion G12-75s which I've always liked.

One thing, keep the master volume on 11 and control your level with the channel volumes - it sounds better this way!

It's ridiculously well-made. Somebody at Soldano needs to get out more. Turning a knob or flicking a switch is like shutting the door on a BMW - everything feels smooth, tight and chunky. I gig without a backup but always take spare tubes. The footswitch is made from proper steel and uses a standard connector, so when it wears out I can just get another one from almost anywhere.

I only dealt with Soldano once - I emailed them when I needed a new logo for my amp, and Michael Soldano and Bill Sundt both got back to me seperately within a couple of days. The price was reasonable too.

I've owned and played a lot of amps, and I will probably never need to change my amp again. I would buy another in a flash - i'd buy it in five different colours if I could! The only amp I reckon would get close would be a Cornford or a Bogner. The only thing it doesn't do is 'small amp' sounds. I'm thinking of getting an open back 2x12 and pulling two tubes for smaller gigs. Or maybe a different Soldano like a Reverb-O-Sonic or an Astroverb.

I sold a Marshall Anniversary, block letter Peavey 5150, USA Strat and a Gibson SG to get this amp and don't miss any of it. A Decatone and a good guitar is all you need. Buy one.

not so many features and a chared eq but it all works togeter so good,i had a decatone last summer but from GAS envy i sold it to get a caa od100se what a mistake that was,,the deca is so much better in every way,,so then i sold the caa to get a bogner xtc classic,,again i was disapointed the bogner is nice but i was always trying to tweak it to get my soldano sound,,lol,,so i sold my bogner and got a decatone again and WOW tonal bliss i just cant say enough about this amp it rules it rocks its the best i tried them all YES I DID for the past 4 years iv been trading and byuing guitar amps,,i spent hundeds of thousands of dollars to learn about tone and now im done thats it there is nothing better then this.......................

clean channel is great for a channel switcher the best depending on your guitar it can do coutry style jazz blues,,funk,,chiken picking,,classic finger pickin,,you name it its great at anny volume...

crunch channel (my fave here) this channel will do everything from old school marshall plex to all out modern metal but for me it does that classic 80,s metal tone perfect full of sweet harmonics and overtones, extremely dinamic to picking attack, it can be dark brite compressed or note it all depends on how you tweak it,,i use a tube sreamer in front of it not that it doent have enough overdrive but i just love the dinamics that the boost gives my but i use an overdrive to boost my signal on all amps except boogies witch dont even start to compare with soldano,s,,

overdrive channel this one i dont use much cause the crunch channel gives me all i ever wanted out of a amp,,but i do use it for melower gain stuff yes thats right this thing is just so versitile, i set the gain to about 5 and i sounds like the blue channel of my old XTC so it does that old marshall sound pretty good as well,,

the effects loop is the best for pedals no noise at all , one of the great thing about this amp is that it souds super great at any volume i can play at 5 in the morning wen my wife and kid or sleeping and it sounds monstress,this is one of the very few tube amp that can sound good at extreemely low volume or high volume with no tweaks at all,,it as the greatest master volume ever,,

to me it sound dark but extremely clear at the same time...the only other amp that came close to this was the bogner but even then the soldano is a much better amp trust me...

soldano last for ever...

great suport from the soldano guy,s email them and you are shure to get a response..

if you are looking for tone like i was STOP NOW! look no futher cause the decatone is here DECA"TONE" it say,s it in the nane this is by far the best tone machinne out there PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!

Three channels: clean, crunch and overdrive. The amp has a good set of basic features: The standard BMT EQ section, presence and a 'depth' control for added low-end. I really like the depth control...it adds extra 'ooomph' and chug to your tone without making it boomy or muddy. There are bright switches are on every channel...which I also like. Paralel effects loop with mix pot... Would've liked the effects loop to be foot-switchable. No reverb...but you won't miss it. Decatrol foot switch is very smooth and built to last.

I bought this amp used. Though it was in cosmetically perfect condition...the tubes were on the outs. It had 60 cycle hum and made various popping and buzzing noises when I got it....but it still sounded GREAT! From the first notes I played when testing it out, I knew I would fall in love with this amp. Good tone was achieved instantly with very little knob tweaking...a huge difference from the Mesa's I've been playing for years. There's a natural sag similar to a plexi that's just an absolute joy to experience....all Soldano's have this character...sonic bliss.

At first I wasn't sure about the common EQ for all three channels. I thought it would be limiting....absolutely not! All three channels are awesome and are voiced differently so they are all useable and sound great once the EQ is dialed to your taste. The bright switches and depth help you to shape the crunch and overdrive sounds to sound different.

As I said, this amp needed a re-tube....BAD! A tech once told me a very long time ago that any problem with tube amps is almost always tube-related. I've always kept that in mind and have solved 95% of my amp issues by playing with the tubes. So for this Decatone, I bought a set of Groove Tube 5881's and installed them. The sound improved but the hum was still there and the amp sounded way brighter and slightly 'brittle'. The GT's aren't very good IMO. Anyway, to make a very long story short....I eventually replaced all of the preamp tubes and replaced the power tubes...again..with Tung-sol KT66 reissues and rebiased the amp. (I emailed Bill Sundt of Soldano to get the right specs first...very friendly and helpful)

The pre tubes are now : Tung-sol gold pin in V1, Mullard 12ax7 reissue in V2 and JJ ECC803s in the remaining sockets. The amp is now completely quiet on idle...no hum at all. No popping, hissing...nothing! But the sound my friends....OMG!!!! This re-tubing wasn't cheap...but I would gladly pay double what I did for those tubes to achieve this tone! Now I know why they say the Decatone will go head-to-head with the SLO. I had an opportunity a short while back to be sitting directly in front of Warren Haynes's SLO during a Gov.'t Mule show....this Decatone has that awesome tone now...in spades! I can't find adequate words to describe the sonic transformation that experimenting with tubes has given this amp. Night and day. I've owned many high-end boutique amps...this is my favorite tone out of all of them. Warm, ballsy and articulate with the creamiest, most orgasmic gain ever! NO...and I mean NO...graininess. Smooth!!

Soldano's are built for pro's. My head lives in a road case to keep it looking its best....but the thing's built like a tank!! No worries! The Decatrol footswitch is also a solid chunk of steel.

Excellent customer support. Bill will answer your emails within two days. These are factory-warrantied for 1 year...but Soldano wil stand behind their product for a lifetime.

I've been playing 25 years. Other amps I own are a Koch Multitone, a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, a Rozon custom overdrive and a Mesa Mark III. All great amps in their own right....but the Decatone is my favorite...the Koch comes in 2nd. The depth of tone in the Decatone is inspiring to say the least. These are pricey but worth every dime. If it were lost, I'd get another. If it were stolen...I'd track the bastard down and beat him with it. I do wish it had a footswitchable and assignable loop...but no biggie. This is a fantastic rock and roll amp...not for new metal. If you want over-compressed and over-saturated there is Peavey and the Marshall mode 4 out there for you. If you want TONE...there is Soldano.

not the most feature on this head but hey who needs features wen you get this kinda tone,,,3 chanel all shared eq works great seperate gain and volume for all chanels,,,bright switchs on all chanels,,paralel effects loop one of the best loop i ever got in a amp,,,speaker output 8 16 or 4 ohm,,and thats about it oh almost fergot precense and depth control great feature on all amps..very tonefull versitil amp,,100 watt lound enough to rumble my house..

this is why you buy this amp TONE MAN,,,
cleane chanel.....as good are beter then my demeter tga 2
crunch chanel.....you can do crunh or metal on this one,very sensitive to volume or piking nuances..i love it
overdrive chanel.. famus soldano overdrive can do crunch but metal on this chanel is a must,,pure harmonic heaven and bliss a joy to play..
iv had many many amps and i almost gave up my tone quest but i now found the tone i had in my head,,this one is staying with me,,i almost got the SLO but i favored the versitality of the decatone and i aint regreting it..this tone machine is made of pure quality its a beauty ..

soldanos are built to last

email mike he is a wonderful guy full of knolegde..

been playin for 25 years,,i love the tone i hate nothin about it,,
iv had many boogies,,5150, JSX, splawn pro mod,,vht 50cl,,marshall jcm 800,,randall mts series,,demeter,,ENGL,,line 6,,boogie marshall and randall preamps,,the soldano tone ,craftmanship, and ease of use is just unbelevable,pluge and play you just cant get a bad tone outa f it..i shoulda bought this amp many years ago..oh and this amp actualy sounds good at any volumes,, wow,,this is a plus..it will also projest what you play so no slopy playin,,very organic if you wanit to be or compressed if you tweak it that way,,it is a players amp sounds super super good looks cool and will probably never break...

100W, Three Channel Head. Comes with channel select footswitch. Bright switches for each channel allowing a more glassy top end (or not). Depth and Presence controls. Single EQ section, individual volume and gain for each channel and master volume control. Also features an mixable FX loop in the back.
The Decatone is extremely versatile considering its relative simplicity.
I bought mine with the 4X12 slant cab, both is purple. It took 2 months to arrive from order time, as they are built to order.

This is where the review becomes important. After over ten years of playing through many different types of amps, from boutique to so called high gain, to digital modelling, ive never been happy with my sound until now. This amp has so much tone that even an idiot could find a decent sound. It really is the real deal. The clean channel is crisp and clear, the crunch has a lovely Paul Kossoff feel to it, plenty of distortion with ultimate clarity, and the overdrive channel is just sweet singing tone to the full, none of that mesa boogie rectified sag fizz. It has serious balls.
Im currently using it with a PRS CU24, PRS Rosewood McCarty Goldtop, A Custom Built Fender Strat and Various Les Pauls including an original 57' Goldtop. This all goes into a Boss GT8 used only for a little compression, EQ (for solos), reverb and a bit of delay here and there.
Ive been playing for over ren years and play everything from jazz to blues, rock, metal, industrial, classical and swing. I currently gig most nights, and have just finished a tour to promote the release of my first CD. This amp just does watever i want it to and more. Theres massive headroom in all channels, this is one loud amp.

Its built like a brick. Soldano is famous for reliability and build quality, you wont find a better made peice of equipment.

Bill Sundt is legend, the customer service could not be better. They have answered my emails with the day with exactly what ive needed to know.

It really is simple. This is the best amp ever. If you have the money and are in the market for a high gain amp, i cant recommend it highly enough, this is where the pound stops.
Infact stop reading this and go buy one!
Toodle Pip!

I think it's made in 2002 or 2003. I found the amp's tone & my pedals sound better plugged into the input rather than the fx loop. I'm into experimental/exploratory jam stuff, but do the heavy rock & metal shred stuff at times.

If I would ask for more it'd be separate EQ for each ch, perhaps a 4th ch, or dual modes for each ch. Very simple back panel compared to some Mesa/Boogies.

All 3 channels are superb. My main gtr is a US Tele HH w/dual Atomic hb. I have the bright switch on for each ch. Preamp settings I prefer: clean at around 4.5, crunch around 8 & overdrive maxxed at 11. It's quieter than I expected on the overdrive ch. The other day I had the master at 7 which is quite loud - louder than I usually play at w/a drummer, but I wanted to hear what this amp was like really loud. There's a song I play where there are 8th note rests during a chugging staccato section & I didn't need my noise gate on (to nullify squealing feedback) even though I was almost facing the 4x12 cab straight on.

The clean ch is excellent particularly at a middle p/u selection.

Haven't owned it long enough to give an unbiased opinion, but I'm sure it's dependable. Craftsmanship on Soldanos is excellent.

Bill Sundt sometimes answers your email inquiries.

Probably the only amp I would take over this is a Diezel VH4 or VH4S, but those are twice the price. I would like to see Soldano develop a 4 channel amp or have 2 modes per channel. Sure Soldano had the X-99 preamp, but most players don't want a separate pre & power amp or have to program settings. Nevertheless, this is one of the top high gain heads ever made.

I bought this amp new from a store here about 6 months ago. I mostly play classic/hard rock music as much as my wife hates it. There's like 40 reviews here describing all the features so to keep it short, I'll just explain my rating of "7". Basically this thing cost me approx. 3000 dollars canadian, with no reverb or other options than you could get cheaper on a boogie or such.It has loads of power for me, too much for her.

I use an assortment of Ibanez guitars through this amp, all have had pick-ups changed out to seymour duncan's and DiMarzio's. Honestly I can give a 10 rating here and mean it because like I said, I've tried every other amp tailored to hard rock in hopes that I would like one just as much as this amp and save some cash. Didn't happen. I've never played an amp so sensitive to your touch, feel, and agression like this one- it inspires you to play, and inspires you to be better. The first time I tried it out I imediately took it home with me. Seriously turn it up. The louder you play it, the better the sounds that come out of it are. I enjoy the crunch channel the best, to my ear it is the most versatile. Clean channel is truly that- clean, overdrive gets downright nasty, great for harmonics, tapping, legato and the sort. There are no traits you have to 'settle' with. Everything sounds great.

Only been gigging with it for 6 months, no problems at all yet. Can't imagine anything other than happening other than a certain bandmate smashing it (or my wife).They're both pretty jealous for different reasons.

The store gave me one year warranty, tubes and all. Soldano I've heard is pretty good about everything.

I've been playing guitar for 20 years. Am pretty proficient at it, had lots of gear as well. I consider myself to be lucky every time I plug into this whore. If it were stolen I would cry. I can't afford another one. If I could I would definatley buy one. You're absolutley paying the extra dollars for craftsmanship and tone here, If you honestly play this amp next to any boogie or that godforsaken Krank, you would say the same.

I bought a new head (from the factory, not a floor model) in 2005. I've played for 25 years, including semi-pro and rock oriented church worship bands. I've owned 10+ amps including several Mesa Boogies and this is the best amp by far. The clean, crunch, and gain stations are all wonderful. And all the dials go up to 11. This isn't just to be like Nigel; the power amp is powered (pardon the redundancy) such that you can turn the dials up to 11, wheras most amps start feeding back at 3.(all 3 channels have their own power knob, plus a master power). The depth knob is cool-sort of like a subtle bass feature.

I play classic rock, jazz fusion, modern blues, and Baroque. I use a PRS Singlecut (a Les Paul) and a PRS McCarty Soapbar (like a vintage strat with only 2 singlecoils). I run it through a 4X12 Marshall 1960 with 75 watt British made Celestions. Depending on what channel and pickup/channel combo I am using (3 pickup sounds x 2 guitars x 3 channels = 18 sounds) I can get any sound imaginable, including Henrdrix, SRV, Frisell, Mclaughlin, Page, Slash, McLaughlin, or Al di Meola. However, this is not a rip-off amp, in that Soldano has its own distinct sound, rather than that of a Fender Twin, a Marshall Plexi, or a Mesa Rectifier. You won't get the SLO gain sound, but you get a great crunch AND clean, which the SLO does not have.

I've only have it for a month.

Again, this is worth the premium price. I can't imagine ever getting anything else after this. It goes with me to my grave, if I were not a Christian, I'd worship it.

The one complaint I have, is the way both the front and back grills are attached. In order to access the tubes, you have to remove 2 screws from the plywood siding. It takes several minutes to unscrew them, and its semi-difficult to do so. It seems the screws will start stripping soon, and the holes in the wood may get disfigured. If construction had a rating, I would give a 7, and is why I don't give it a 10 overall.

2003 Soldano Decatone 3-channel 100w head, 3months old, from ebay. This is a VERY versatile head! I play in a classic rock band, and this thing blows away the Peavey XXX head I had before it. An effects loop bypass would be nice, and maybe a line out jack, but it works perfect and has no flaws whatsoever. The construction/wiring inside is so neatly laid out and the wires are perfectly and symetrically bundled, as if it were going to be judged from the inside for some neatness contest. I use this head atop a full Marshall 1960a and 1960b stack when gigging and with one cab at home. The power output is just right for playing clubs pretty loud at that "sweet spot" volume of 8 or so. Comes with Sovtek tubes...

I play Les Paul copies that are all mahagony and Dean USA Hardtail Pro guitars and use a wah pedal. I prefer anything with humbuckers, but this amp sounds great with anything. The distortion, sound, and sustain are all heavenly. The thing is, like any tube amp, you can change the sound a lot by swapping in various preamp tubes (the Mullards sound pretty cool) and the output tubes somewhat. I switched to J/J output and electroharmonix preamp tubes. However you have this thing set up, it always sounds SOLID and unified. Not the saturated mess you get from say, a Peavey xxx. When I had some money, I went and got a couple of Marshall 1960 cabs which sound way better than the Peavey cabs I had been running. Different cabs will change the sound a LOT! I don't know how the Soldano cabs sound now, but I didn't want to get them because they no longer come with Celestion speakers. Marshall may have cheaped out on most of their amp heads somewhat, but their cabs still rule.

Very reliable- I gig every weekend, and the only time I had a problem was when a tube went, but I put a LOT of hours on this thing. That was normal wear and tear. I invested in a flight case for it, since it is a $2500 head. I couldn't believe it when I got the thing on ebay for so cheap. It was BRAND NEW. The previous owner was real nice, and honest. Nice to find people like that. She got a Mesa Boogie instead. Her loss, my gain.

Oh my God! I have never seen anything like the customer service I got from Soldano. I spoke to Mike for like 45 minutes or more on several occasions. I got advice and tech info on how to hook up the head, what tubes, etc. I also told him that it came with a very short cord for the footswitch. He sent me a new one at no charge! I guess that's what you pay for, but in a lot of cases you can spend a fortune and get garbage (My recent Gibson purchases, and returns, come to mind), but with Soldano you get what you pay for and more.

I've been playing guitar for 20 years. If this head were stolen, I would want another one, but I probably would be in jail for killing the bastard who took it! I love the quality, reliability, and TONE of this amp. The other guitar player in my band has a Mashall TSL and when he played my Soldano, he decided he wanted to change brands. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a couple grand right now, so he is upgrading the transformers and modding his TSL to try and make it sound like the Soldano. When you compare the two heads, the quality differences are amazing. The soldano has the best transformers, neater wiring, rugged inputs. The TSL can't even run a full stack without burning itself out. You have to get it modded with an upgraded capacitor or something first(a defect). The soldano is ready to rock one or two cabs right out of the box. The TSL's footswitch jack is a cheesy affair. It's only held in place by the solder joints, which guarantees it will fail, which my buddy's did. All the money he's spent fixing and modding the TSL, he almost could have bought a new Soldano Decatone. When people say "you get what you pay for," they mean Soldano.

I believe this amp was made in 2001. I'm sure you already know the features, but in a nutshell there are three very different channels, a parallel/series effects loop, bright switches on each channel, shared 3-band EQ (read below), presence and depth knobs, and a global volume. Honestly, this amp is so well made and sounds so good that I can't see needing a single thing that it doesn't have. The only thing I do wish it had was a button to hard-bypass the FX loop from the footswitch. But other than that, the features are basically perfect. Not as many little buttons as a VHT, but you seriously don't need them, it's nearly impossible to make this amp sound bad!

I use a 90's Gibson Les Paul. This amp sounds absolutely amazing. The key thing about this amp is that each channel could be a single amp on it's own! I owned a Marshall TSL a long time ago, only for a couple of weeks. What a piece of garbage! The Decatone is 100 watts of pure tube tone, and each channel is a QUALITY channel, not a single mediocre channel to be found! My assessment:

Clean channel - can do anything from a beautiful fender/modern marshall clean, and you crank the gain you can get into Hiwatt territory. Sounds absolutely beautiful.

Crunch channel - the perfect hot-rodded Marshall sound. But it doesn't really stop there... It's got the Soldano sound. It's hard to describe, but it's basically more of... everything. The perfect distortion sound, for me personally.

Overdrive - Very similar to the SLO circuit. Screaming leads, endless sustain. Ultra harmonic. Super hard on... haha

Again, the key thing is that every channel is different, but voiced to work together perfectly with the shared 3-band eq. You won't need any additional EQ, trust me.

I play mostly rock music. My influences come from the early 90's west coast bands, mixed with some progressive rock influences from the last 5 or 6 years. I've always been a Marshall guy, owned a VHT for a little while, but was never completely happy with any of them. Now, I've found my perfect amp.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, the overdrive circuit is very similar to the HR50 and SLO, but not exactly the same (all of their amps are slightly different, of course). But that same basic vibe is there, but with it's own character.

Soldano is known for making great stuff. Mine is new, but I doubt it will be needing any service anytime soon.

I've called Soldano a bunch of times, both before I bought the amp, and afterwards. Beforehand, I called for advice. Afterwards, I've called to order a t-shirt and ask about speakers, etc. Every time, the same guy answers the phone, (Bill Sundt I believe) and he's very nice and helpful every time. Top notch!!!

I've been playing about 10 years. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy another one. I could not live without this amp, it is absolutely unreal.

I did compare the amp to a Bogner Shiva and a HotRod 50. I liked this one better overall, especially from a features standpoint. I purchased mine with the Soldano 2x12" Semi-Open Back Cabinet. It came with Eminence Legend speakers. I am in the process of trying some different speaker configurations. But, let me recommend that if you try any of the Soldano amps, use them with various speakers, because at the store, I also plugged it into a Marshall cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30's. This sounded MUCH better than the Eminence Legends. It is probably largely a matter of taste, but speakers will have a HUGE impact on the sound of an amp!!! Know this and get used to it. I will probably end up running 1 V30 and either one Legend or one G12H30, which is a popular config these days.

Anyway, overall I give the amp a 10. It won't be for everyone, but for me it was the best choice. Let me give one last word of advice. I have owned many amps, and I can say without a doubt that the best way to find the best amp for you is to make the trip to the store (no matter how far away) and spend a LOT of time playing on various amps. Do this as many times as you need to until you are REALLY certain youve found your amp. You can read user reviews until you're blue in the face but they won't help much, I promise. I bought a VHT based on HC user reviews once, and I was sorely disappointed. So, get to the store and start playing! And don't be afraid to crank them up!

3 distinct channels,Single EQ, bright switches for each channel. Series/ parallel effects loop. Presence and depth controls. Etc.

Running a McCarty and numerous Andersons through this amp yields unbelievable tones. The CLEAN channel is VERY Fenderish. It is so sweet it sounds like it has reverb. (In a live situation - you will never miss the reverb.) When maxed, the clean channel can get a great edge/pushed blues tone. The CRUNCH channel took the most getting used to (mainly because we've been brainwashed by the larger amp companies as to what good tone is). This channel can go from Plexi/AC30 land to an incredible custom Marshall sound. Punchy and ballsy on all settings. The bright switch on this channel is like having two different amps. As great as the other channels are - the OVERDRIVE channel is the best channel on the amp. Pure SLO overdrive... The most ballsy, ripping tone soaked overdrive in the world. There is no pedal in the world that can reproduce this sound. The harmonics, the sustain, the cutting drive. I love this channel so much that I couldn't reserve it as a lead channel only. I learned a great trick after about a year of using this amp. I use a BOSS GE7 EQ pedal in the effects loop as a lead boost for all channels. The loop has the mix all the way up (serial loop). Use a true bypass loop pedal to add it to/ remove it from the effects loop because otherwise the pedal colors your tone when it's off. The GE7 is set to boost the med/highs and med/lows when engaged. This amp takes to any Tubescreamer type pedal well. By using the TS and the GE7 I have a 4 channel amp with an EVEN lead boost across all channels. Clean (channel 1 only), Edge (channel 1 w/TS), Overdrive (channel 2 only), Distortion (channel 3 only). Both the Overdrive and distortion settings create unique and incredible lead tones. Simplicity and tone for days... It's like having a Fender Twin, A hott-rodded Marshall, and Mesa on steroids (with tone) all in one box.

This thing is built like a tank. HAven't had a problem yet.

Called/ emailed with questions. They always resonded quickly and courteously with valuable information.

I've been playing about 30 years semi professionally. I thinked I've owned almost everyting. Do you remember the day you figured out that your dad really did know more than you? That's what happens with this amp. It's so simple, you second guess everything. Then one day you realize, that Michael probably does know more about amps than anyone else on the planet. He's dedicated his life to the endless pursuit of tone and quality. It took a little while for me to figure out that my perception of tone was wrong. I now realize I have the best tone I've ever heard and it's not generic. This amp is in a class by itself. It is both transparent at times and can beautifully color at others. You can distinctly hear the changes in guitars and playing nuances. This is not a bedroom amp - this thing was designed for live performance. People like different tones, but if there were no endorsement deals, 80% of the rock guitarists in the world would be playing SOLDANOs. If Soldano ever wanted to sell out and sacrife the quality of their products - I think they would be the best selling rock amp in the world. I glad they haven't sold out. I have searched for years for this kind of tone. If you're looking for one amp to do it all - this is the best I've seen. LOVE IT!! Wouldn't trade it for gold... God Bless !

Three channels all tube head plus Soldano 4x12 slant cab. I only feel the need of a good tube reverb, especially for the clean channel which is extremely good but a reverb could add a little more deepness to it just for those dreamy jazzy chords. Crunch and gain channles are perfect at a point that you don't need it !!!Incredible!!

I already wrote a review for this amp. That happened few days after I got it. I was already happy with it, but now that I know it better, I feel the urge to add something more. This amp, for me, gets 10 in every sense. Mike is THE amp guru. I don't really need nothing more from an amp. Maybe just a good tube reverb (as I said before) for the three channels. Nothing more. Talking about the sounds this amp can produce they are UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE !!! They're just perfect for my style. I play Jazz and shred fusion. This amp gives you an incredible hi gain sound which is a sort of liquid distortion, simply fantastic. It has sustain for days, harmonics to die for, and it allowed me to play every legato run I can imagine. It is one of the best purchase I did in my life. Crunch is ... how do you spell MAGIC??? And the big surprise is the clean sound. No high gain head on the market gives you a better clean sound. In the clean department only some Fenders could have a better clean sound. When I turn on my Decatone I simply can't put the guitar down. It is amazing. I play different guitars, some high end Ibanez, some vintage stuff from Gibson. I couldn't be more happy with an amp. Probably it has been the best choice for me still in the Soldano catalog ... Slo for example is a one trick pony (pony ..????), Lucky 13 does not have all the features of the Decatone, .. I've been lucky. Sometimes I try some other guys's amps, Marshall, Mesas,.... each time something disappoint me in those brands products. This does not happen with Soldano. In my opinion they cannot even be compared. My Decatone is like a Ferrari. That's it.

It is built like a tank, like all Soldano's products, and I expect it to last forever.

All the guys says the best of the Soldano's customer service. I wrote them two emails from Italy in the past and I never had a reply. Can't understand why.

I started playing in 1987 and since then I owned every imaginable amp vailable in Italy (maybe with the only exception of Bogner). To me Soldano is the best. Anyway surely there are some good amps out there (some Mesas, Bogner, some Peaveys) but noone come close this marvel. I love it.

I recently picked up a used Decatone on Ebay. I've looked for these in the past and once i had a chance to grab one for around $1,500 I decided to go for it. It is in great shape and came with a soft cover.
I highly prefer a three channel amp that is controlled by my MIDI effects. Another big plus is the effects loop with dry/wet control.

I primarly use a Jaros custom guitar with Seymour Duncan humbuckers. My backup is a Hamer Archtop Studio again with SD hums.
As has been said, this amp delivers the good on all channels. I am used to having more EQ control per channel, but I really don't miss it with this amp. It is just designed that well!
The clean channel has a great ring and can just start to break up if you max the gain (but I don't), Crunch channel is exactly that with rhe right amount of chunk to is. The lead channel is pure Soldano heaven.

Too new to tell, used it on two gigs so far and practiced quite a bit with it. Seem to be overbuilt like most Soldano gear.

I've taled with Bill (?) at Soldano in the past. I had a n early Atomic combo for practice a few years back and also used a Yamaha T50 combo. I was impressed the the Soldano factory would do work on the Yamaha product that Mike designed.
From all indications Soldano is a top notch outfit!

I've got 25 years under my belt and played in bands more often than not. I wish I had bought this amp earlier when I first considered them. The Decatone is a perfect fit for me. I miss taht third channel anytime I use a two channel amp.
I plan on using an axess-elextronics CFX-4 to control the channel swtiching on this monster.

ALL TUBE three channel 100 watt, factory foot switch for changing channels (uses standard midi cable, cheap to replace if needed), shared EQ (Mike Soldano did a great job of balancing the channels so they work perfectly together. Believe it or not, you won't miss having separate EQ's for each channel), parallel effects loop (adjustable), bright switch on each channel, adjustable speaker load, presence and resonance controls.
Generally speaking, extra "features" (more channels, more EQ's, more effects loops etc., may give greater versatility, but they degrade tone. This amp offers the most versatility without robbing your tone.

I mainly play a Wolfgang through this amp and it's the best combination I've ever heard. I finally found MY sound! This amp really shows the character of each guitar you play through it. The clean channel stays clean even at high volume. The crunch channel is unbelievable (with bright switch on, think Marshall 800 with more gain available and MORE tone). The Overdrive channel has that harmonically rich screaming gain of the SLO.
You can get a good scooped sound if that's what you want, but this amp's midrange is what other's just dream about. Don't be afraid to turn that mid knob. On this amp, it's your friend.
Hey......it goes to 11.

The gorillas from that brown shipping company did their best to destroy this amp before it hit my front porch (the box was all but destroyed). I took the amp to my amp tech and other than some bent transformer brackets, the amp checked out perfect. I've been playing this thing hard for over two years now without a glitch. You'll see people selling other amps saying how the amp was never played at high volume. That's because a lot of other amps use cheap components and crap out when you push them hard. This amp is made to run wide open for as long as you want. Open up a Decatone and look inside. It's all top grade components......... built to last.

I've never had to have any factory service, but they are great about answering emails. Everybody raves about Soldano's customer support.

I've been playing for 25 years and I've owned gear from all the major brands and several "boutique" manufacturers. Nothing else sounds like a Soldano. If it were stolen?.........That aint gonna happen. Well, I'll put it this way. I live in Utah.......... we love the 2nd Ammendment.
I think the best compliment I can give is "I'll NEVER sell this amp!".

Three channels head with a single equalizer, three bright switches, one for channel (usuful) and without the reverb. A little less than what every guitar player may need. It's a little compromise. One single eq for three channels is not that much onestly. Sure if you tweak a littlle bit you can find good sounds anyway due to the extremely overall high quality of this instruments, but it is still a compromise. Moreover I can't understand why Soldano didn't put here a spring reverb. It is a good kind of vibrato that doesn't cost too much and give a sort of completeness to the amp. I think it is a sort of snob attitude. Anyway, features is not what this amp is about. You don't buy a Soldano for the features at this point, but for the quality of the sounds it can produce. These are truly amazing.

Sounds are great, no doubt about it. You can tweak forever on this amp and never meet a bad sound. Each setting seems to be able to show a different side of your playing that you didn't discover before. It is so good it's ridicolous. This head contains a zillion sounds: all you have to do is move a little bit the controls and zap, you find a new amazing guitar sound, bright, dark, closed, opened, brilliant, sad, clean, crunch, hi gain. I try this head with a Fender reverb, the one shaped like an amp head. And obviously with the head's dedicated cabinet, 4x12. That was it. The guitar was a Yamaha Mike Stern Pacifica. Lovely Seymour Duncan pick ups, bad woods. But it worked fine for this test. The amp is so good it defeated the bad woods in the guitar.
Clean channel: absolutly faantastic. One of the very best clean sounds I ever had the pleasure to play through. Extremely consistent as a jazz sound, closed or opened. Perfect articulation and dynamics, astonishing bass response, strings different sounds, all the notes and nuances of the chords are extremely udible, even with a bad wood guitar. The dark jazz sound you can obtain here is so good you seem to play legato even if you play only with your pick. With the bright switch on you have more attack, a more aggressive jazz sound, less meditative, more staccato. Still brilliant sound with great body! If you play clean comping pop arpeggios the sound is clean and bright as crystal. Clean vote 10
Crunch: Really really serious crunch. Extremely mellow, creamy, perfect for rhythmn parts or Jimi Hendrix solo kinda thing. Like Stevie Ray Vaughan on Little wing. These type of things are not my cup of tea, but soon they will become. This crunch sound is too inspiring.
Hi gain lead: here is something marvellous. If you pump up the gain you obtain a lead sound to die for. A kind of modified pumped Marshall with impressive attack and power. High, mids, and lows come out like jewels from this amp. Stopped rhythmn parts, solo phrasing, bends, all come out perfect. The dynamics are magical. If you pump up the mids and take away a little bit of highs and lows you will discover a nice emulation of the Mesa Rectifier. It's one of the limitless possibilities of this amp. You can't stop playing this thing. I definitly love it.
Overall vote is nine and not ten only because I'd like a little more compression on the hi gain sound. I know that you can resolve this problem with a little compressor, but it is simply than TEN would means that I found this amp perfect for my taste. It is but I feel a little less of compression in the hi gain sound. Anyway it really is near perfection for my taste. 9.5

I think it will lasts centuries. It is built extremely well. I love every part of it. The tone knobs are wonderful: it is a joy to operate them. They are very precise, smooth, and silent. They affect the sound deeply. All is perfectly constructed and the parts chosen are the best.

Never dealt with them.

9.5. Almost a perfect amp. It's not very powerful in my opinion. I was expecting more output power from this kind of head, a completly hand made hi gain moster. Instead it is medium power (for what I am concerned). I didn't had the chance to crank it up the volume at five in front of it, five with master volume, with full gain i could play comfortable in front of it. Probably the more you pump the volume, twice the projection grows. It is very quiet, which is a great thing, almost no hiss and fuss, even at hi gain settings. The best thing was finding the unbeatable clean sound of this amp that came completely unexpected to me. So it's almost perfect. A fantastic clean, a lovely creamy crunch, and a moster very personal hi gain sound. I can't ask more to an amp. Just a little bit of gain compression....and probably a reverb. In the end another plus: this head is light, light, light. Easy to move around. A nice surprise. Uh, unfortunatly the price is extremely high, expecially here in Italy. Sure the best always costs a lot. 9.5

Not sure when this amp was made, but I just got it brand new today; the salesman said he had it a couple of months. I just traded a Mesa Boogie Roadking for this beast; and I have to say in all of the years I've been buying, trading,and getting my ass reamed looking for the amp that works the simplest and has the sound, versatility and feel I'm looking for, has finally become a reality and dream come true! This Head has three distinct channels which share the same EQ, (which I have never liked until this Baby came into my life),each channel,(clean, crunch, and overdrive) has it's own bright switches,Pre amp control and channel volume, and there is a master volume,presence, and a very handy depth control which are a global function controls. On the back is an effects loop with a mix control, two speaker outs with an impeadence rotary knob control. This amp is 100 watts, featuring six JJ 6L6GC power amp tubes along with I guess five chinese 12Ax pre-amp tubes. Mine is an Orange color which is reminisent of the British Orange Amp colors.

I play everthing from country to heavy metal and I currently play in a Classic Rock, cover Band and this amp is going to be everything I want it to be for me. Sure there is some noise but nothing you would'nt expect from any amp in the high gain arena, and this amp is'nt only capable of delivering high gain sounds, it has a beautiful clean channel along with a gorgeous crunch channel. This is not a rectifier type of amp, sure you can scoop it if you want but it's more like the modified marshall sound (which I love) with it's own distinct tone.

Don't know yet, I just got it, it appears to be built pretty durable.

I also have no experience with this company yet, but from what I've read, they treat their customers pretty professionally and they sound competent.

I have been playing for 30+ years and I have finally found an amp I really like that is all tube, the Marshall TSL100, which is one I have, has been pretty good but this one is more magical. I also own a LINE 6 Flextone 3 XL which is the coolist one they have produced yet(see my review of that one)As far as the funny, but not funny, question of what I would do if it were lost or stolen( I laugh my ass off at the responses)all I've got to say is, I watch my equipment like a HAWK! and if some uncontrollable situation occurred, oh well, I won't dwell to long on it and just be glad that I have a knowledgable starting point to replace my gear. This amp does'nt need anything more for me, I am REALLY HAPPY with this one!

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.