Soldano Hot Rod 50+

THIS AMP WAS NOT LOADED WITH FEATURES, IT'S A ONE CHANNEL AMP WITH THE NORMAL FEATURES. WAS MADE IN 2000, SEND AND RETURN. IT COULD USE MORE CHANNELS, AND A TRUE CLEAN CHANNEL.Comparing it to my Diezel and Engl 4 channel amps,3 channel Framus and Peavey Triple xxx amps,this leaves allot to be desired...............

I USE JACKSON'S & IBANEZ'S & WASHBURN'S & ESP'S AND I OWN 40 GUITARS AND A FEW BASSES. I OWN MANY GERMAN AMPS, A FEW PEAVEY'S TRIPLE X & 5150 AND A KRANK HEAD, AND MANY MARSHALL'S AND TO BE HONEST, THIS HEAD DOES NOT DO HIGH GAIN. I CHANGED TUBES ,EVERYTHING, BUT IT'S WAY TOO CLEAN FOR ME.IT HAS NICE LOW END AND THE HEAD LOOKS GREAT BUT FOR MY CHRISTIAN PROGRESSIVE ORIGINAL METAL MUSIC,I FOUND THIS AMP EXTREMELY LIMITED! WHERE IS THE GAIN AS THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE?? THE GAIN THE SLO HAS BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD BY A NUMBER OF PLAYERS THAT THESE SOLDANO'S DON'T GET TOO MUCH GAIN.THEY SEEM EXPENSIVE NOT TO GET ALLOT OF GAIN, BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SWEAR BY THEM.

BUILT IN THE USA AND HANDBUILT!

NEVER DEALT WITH THEM AT ALL.

PLAYING FOR 25+ YEARS, SINCE 1979.I OWN A VHT UL PITTBULL,PEAVEY 5150 AND TRIPLE XXX,KRANK REVOLUTION SERIES ONE, CARVIN X100B, MARSHALL/SPLAWN MODIFIED 50 WATT HEAD,ENGL SAVAGE 120 & POWERBALL AND FRAMUS COBRA & DIEZEL VH-4....THIS AMP DOESN'T COME CLOSE TO MANY OF THOSE AMPS, BUT HAS GREAT LOW END, BUT THE GAIN WAS TO CLEAR AND CLEAN FOR ME.I WAS EXPECTING KILLER SINGING SUSTAIN, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE MARSHALL'S WITH LESS GAIN.I SOLD THIS AMP AFTER TWO MONTHS OF OWNING IT.USING PEDALS WITH IT SOUNDED GOOD,BUT NOT PLUGGED STRAIGHT IN.MAYBE MIKE SOLDANO CAN SEND ME AN AMP TO BORROW THAT WOULD CHANGE MY MIND??? I DOUBT THAT, BECAUSE I'M GOING TO RECORD MY FIRST CD WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR.

This is a mid 90's HR50+ I have here. It's nice to see that this head is as relevant today as it was during the big Soldano rush in the early 90's. These heads could use seperate EQ control for each channel, but it's not been a big problem for me. Strange that you need to use the footswitch to switch channels. No way to switch them from the face of the head. I never use the "slave out", and rarely use the effects loop. I'll run a little reverb/tremolo out front though.

I'm using a Strat with Texas Specials mostly. This guitar works very well with this head. Clean sounds are breaking up nicely. I don't like clean to be "too clean". I love fact that the clarity is all there. I did really have to back off the treble to about 4 and the presence about 5.5 in order to get the strat sounding recordable. The overdrive channel is amazing to me. I feel very at home with the gain around 7. Again, the clarity and tightness can't be compared to anything else on the market. Soldano's have their own sound. I really can't imagine a better sounding crunch. I've had them all too (3 Rectifiers, Engls, Marshalls, 5150, PeaveyXXX, etc).

Built to last. Remember, this is a mid 90's head. It's in good shape, and this head really got around before I bought it. I think that these heads look great too. I love the metal grill in the front and back. Of course it helps cool the tubes, but it also just looks cool to see the tubes glowing.

The guys at Soldano are great. Bill Sundt sent me a few parts immediatly after I called, and was very helpful in explaining a few questions I had regarding mods to the head. (which I'm afraid to do because it sounds so good stock)

Using Strats, I can't get away with sloppy sounds or sloppy picking anymore. This amp has really helped me mature into a more unique,individual player. The gain is more "sustain" than distortion. This makes Soldanos very inspiring to me.Your own hands are where most of your tone is, I'll leave the rest to Soldano though.

Made in 1991 when Soldano was making their claim to fame in LA! Today they are in Washington State (after the fall of the hairband era). This is a 2 channel beast w/ 50 watts of pure tone. Also has FX loop. Most important thing is the line out (if you want wet/dry/wet 80's effect). I use this amp primarily in my house, which is why the 50 watters rule. People get all TRIPLE-RECTIFIER-CRAZY, not realizing that the LESS power tubes, the more audible opportunity you have to turn the beast up and enjoy the saturation of the power section.

Harsher (which is good) than a Marshall, less grit than a Recto. This beast really stands out. I used to own the XL version, which I returned the next day I got it. It sounded FLABBY. Turns out (after inquiring), that Mike Soldano did not create (nor was he too happy with) the XL mod; as it was a function of one of his techies that thought it would be a good idea. BAD IDEA. Mike - you keep designing the amps, and let your techies build them for you. If you go to Emerils steakhouse, do you want a steak I seasoned, or a steak that Emeril seasoned??? (got the point???). Anyway, the 50+ (dual channel, 50Watt) is the BEST SOUNDING AMP I own (and I own plenty). It cuts through anything. Even w/ an SM57 shoved into the cab, amp sounds great. As for the dual channel - it is always nice to have the clean (which we all know isnt used for clean...it is used for a lighter overdrive).

BEST. Bill at Soldano and Mike himself are incredible. They both answer the phone when you call, and the amp (built in 1991) is solid like a rock. So good, I would think that a new one would NOT be as good.

A+++++ Mike ... you are a genius. Thanks for making your contributions to the guitar industry. I have spoken to you MANY, MANY times. Thanks for taking my calls, and helping me learn every bit and piece of my amp, including how to bias it. You are a amp building genius. Thanks!!!

Best amp. Best of all ... I paid 750 used. I wouldn't buy the XL if it was for $500 !!!. Seems like you can't get a HR50+ for less than about 900 or so. I got a deal, and I will be holding onto it for life. Even if I ever get a SLO (which you dont need w/ the HR50+), I would hang on to this. If I ever lost it ... the thieving bastard that stole it would have one fantastic amp. BTW - my last bit of 2cents. SOldano sounds like a Soldano. If you want a boogie, go buy a boogie. If you want a fender go buy a fender. Dont buy 1 brand to sound like another. They all sound different. Save your money and buy the 1 you like (or all if you choose ... like me). I own a Tremoverb, HR50+, JCM800 and Fender HR (As well as the SP77, mesa studio and mesa quad). They are all great amps, but if I was to play out ... the HR50+ would be in 1 hand, and my les paul in the other. Everything else is all fun and games.

The amp has a lot of great features, if you're reading this you probably already know what those features are. One thing this amp is lacking is seperate eq for both channels. I hate when TWO channels have to share ONE eq. What's the point of adding the extra channel?? Either do it right or not at all...

I use a stock Epi LP Standard. I play rock, hard rock, high gain blues. I modded this amp myself to accept EL34 tubes. I really like the bite of EL34 tubes. I felt that this amp sounded better with the EL34s than the 6L6s. It was a simple mod.. just changing the screen resistors to 1k 5Watt and rebiasing the EL34s. I emailed Bill Sundt at Soldano for advice MANY MANY TIMES and he came through with FLYING COLORS EVERY SINGLE TIME! EVERYONE AT SOLDANO IS AWESOME!!!

NORMAL CHANNEL

They should have called this the crunch channel. Very limited headroom. With the stock Epi treble pickup, the amp starts to get gritty with the preamp gain on 3. They weren't trying to get an ultra-clean channel. They were aiming more for a JCM 800 type deal, and they hit it pretty close. It's close to the sound of a Marshall, but it has it's own distinct sound. It's ok to use as a semi-clean tone. It's definitely not Fender-clean.

OVERDRIVE CHANNEL

Excellent overdrive. Very unique sound. Totally SOLDANO. Nothing I've ever played sounds close. I find the overdrive quite compressed. I had a hard time at first dealing with this. I was so used to playing my Marshalls that the Soldano threw me for a loop. It just doesn't have the same 'cut' as the Marshall. That BITE that made Marshall famous. Because of this, I like the Marshalls for rhythm, and the Soldano for lead stuff. The Soldano's got great sustain, high-gain note definition, and super-thick tone. AWESOME for single note lines. That's not to say you can't use the Overdrive channel for rhythm stuff. It still sounds pretty good. Just depends on what sound you're going for..


You might be thinking... why don't you use the NORMAL channel for Marshall-esque crunch and the OD channel for leads? Well like I said above, the Normal channel is close to the sound of a Marshall, but still doesn't have that BITE, even with the change to EL34s.

The amp is a little noisy on the OD channel, but not too noisy. Any high gain amp is noisy. The eq is good, not great. I found I wanted to cut more mids on the clean channel and at different frequencies. I do this with a seperate eq.

I opted not to do the XL mod since Mike Soldano himself has said that the XL mod can make things too muddy with humbuckers. I just use a closed back cab and it's enough low end for me.

Excellent build quality. I would've liked to see better nuts for securing the chassis to the head cabinet. Mine are all bent and loose. That's about the only complaint I have. I would't gig without a backup, because tube amps, no matter how good you build them, are still tube amps!

As I said earlier.. EXCELLENT!!!

Bill Sundt is the GREATEST GUY!

I've been playing three years. I've owned 12 or 13 amps in that time. Almost all tube amps. Fenders, Marshalls, Roland JC-120, Pod Pro, etc...

I still can't find 'THE ONE'

I am currently contemplating getting rid of this Soldano 'cause I could use the money. Still haven't decided. I'm coming to the realization that there is no ONE AMP. Each amp I've owned has had it's own unique sound. The Pod is a great IDEA, but it lacks the feel of a great cranked tube amp.

soldano hot rod 50 plus.....channel 1 is clean (or crank the gain and get a mild crunch distotion) channel 2 is where it's at, go from thick ac/dc distorton at about 6 or7. Turn the gain to 11 (nigel tuffnel)and get metallica, megadeth. I play everything from ac/dc, nugent, def leppard, ozzy to heart and pat benetar. Has effect sends etc (I don't use em). The amp also has channel switching to go from clean to dirty via footswitch. You must have a footswitch to change channels ,if you don't have a footswitch you will only get channel 2. The clean channel sounds kinda crappy. This is part due to channel 1 and 2 share the same eq.IF you want killer distotion the clean channel will suffer a bit. I gig almost every weekend, we use a soundman and mic everything, this is a 50 watt head and I play on about 6 micd up side washed....We play very very loud. The one thing I wish this amp had is verb, maybe it would help the clean channel a little. I do use chorus on the clean and that helps. We play 80 percent dirty so the clean channel doesn't really bother me. I'm giving this catagory an 8 becouse no verb and the clean channel lacks a little..don't get me wrong the clean sounds ok but not great.

I have 2 strats with duncan hot rails in the bridge and a washburn raven and falcon with humbuckers in them and let me tell you, this amp just screams. Again I play mostly 70's 80's hard rock (dio,dokken,night ranger)and this amp is the ticket for this style. Now if your into blues or more top 40 rock this amp is for you also, just back the gain down. IF you do the death metal thing or punk rock you can probably get away with using this amp but may not be your best option, for this amp has tone. If your into country you better stick with the old fender twin. ( I do like fender clean but their dirty sound is horrible). I have to say this amp is a tone monster, cuts through the mix like nothing you've ever heard, while doing a lead all notes are clear very very punchy no matter where you have the gain set at or playing on the neck, very thick, rich tone. I get compliment after compliment on my tone and sound almost everytime we gig. Ive owned marshall after marshall, peavey, laney amps, and rack gear up the waazzoo, and never have I had as many compliments as I do now. just an amazing amp.Very quiot also.

amp has never broken down, I have owned it about a year now and not problem one. this amp is very dependable. I gig with this amp with no back up and no worries. Good ole fashion american made gear.

bought amp used,no warranty, haven't dealt with soldano but i'm sure their real friendy.

Ive been playing 18 years now, I played pro for 2 years, played 33 of the 50 states, been playing bars for 12 years. Besides a marshall 4x12, I listed all my guitar gear (and a cry baby). If this amp was stolen or lost it would take me only about 5 minutes to go buy another one. I absolutely love this amp and swear by it. If you play your basic rock music, this amp is what you want. A marshall comes close second but doesn't even compare to this one. Of all my instrument/amp purchases I would rate this one in the top 3 of the smartest buys I've ever made. wish I could afford another so I could have a back up. It is well worth the price new or used.

This particular amp used to belong to Martin Barre of Jethro Tull, and according to Soldano was put together in 1994. When I heard about the amp via a Soldano distributor here in the UK, I sent my old Mesa Boogie rectifier down as part payment. It was a bit of a risk, as I had not even heard it, and I still quite liked my old amp. When it arrived, cosmetically it was quite flawed, and was not a patch on my gleaming Mesa, so initially I was a little put off by this. The simple layout however appealed to me far more than the Mesa's overly complex design, later finding the shared eq to be very well matched.

I use Musicman EVH guitars. With this guitar and amp setup I was half expecting a very over the top overdriven, saturated sound. It can acheive that sound, but after re-learning how to use this amps eq, I found it to be very clear and open sounding with plenty of guts, and a nice tight low end. It seems to react to your playing a little differently than say a Mesa or Peavey amp. Very Fender like. Cuts thru a mix without ever sounding harsh or brittle. One of the few amps that actually sound better the louder it goes, without sounding like a buzzing load of horse shit like, say the 5150 which relies more on pre-amp distortion for it's tone instead of using the amps power stage for tone too. Difficult to get a clean sound at higher volume settings, but it still sounds great. Treble and Presence controls are very imposing controls if set too high. I set both around 2, and sometimes still have to trim back a little on the presence. The old tubes were replaced with Harma power tubes, and Electro Harmonix pre amp tubes on reccomendation from Watford valves, and sound great. It's very basic visually, and shares little of the asthetic qualities that some other boutique brands posess, like armour plating or leather handles and corners, etc. But tonally, in my opinion blows them all out of the water.

When I got it, it was clear it had been very used. Now with new tubes + service, new chrome, and a wicked new snakeskin covering, I have no worries on it's reliability.

Bill Sundt at Soldano was very helpfull in identifying the amp, shipping new tolex covering and a couple of other questions he promptly answered.

I use this amp with either a Marshall 4x12 with Greenback speakers, or my Soldano 4x12, or both when I can. Effects are a Hughes&Kettner Replex, MXR Phase 90, MXR Micro amp placed in the loop for boosts and a Danelectro Chorus. My only gripe was with the Soldano 4x12 cab I later purchased, fitted with Eminence Legend speakers, For #900, the build quiality was poor and the speakers sounded awful. A lot of money wasted on something so average. Replaced these speakers with V-30's, and to be fair, does sound very good now, but now weighs twice as much! Not to downplay the Eminence speakers, this is purely my opinion, and other players may like them.

If you're reading this, you didn't get here by chance - you know what features this amp has! 50 watts, (2) Channels (can only switch between channels with the footswitch) - "clean" and knock your socks off throw your back against the wall overdrive! For a 50 watter this beast ROCKS! Turn it up to (10), and the dials go to (11) by the way, and this thing will throw you against the wall like Michael J. Fox in "Back To The Future"! There's also a presence control and I recently added the XL mod. There's an effects loop as well - that's all folks! No fancy built in effects, no stupid dials that you would never use anyways...just straight forward and SIMPLE! The only bummer to the amp is the lack of reverb but that's my personal taste because you can actually get a warm jazz tone out of this monster and reverb would have been the icing on the cake. There's also a presence knob that actually REALLY works (imagine that). It ONLY gets a (9) because of the lack of reverb and that's it!

This amp is an expensive investment, but well worth it. If you're gonna be a cheap bugger look at something else. If tone matters and you have the $, buy this. If you're not sure consider a used one and even look at the single channel Hot Rod instead. It's not as slick as the Hot Rod plus but you still get that great Soldano tone at a more affordable price. I bought mine used WITH the 4 x 12 cab for a real steal of only $1500!! This rig new would easily go for $3,000 new.

Here's the part where all of us guitar players like to bragg about our axe's. I play mostly Fender and Gibson. 'Got a Clapton Strat (the most recent version), '84 Bowling Ball Strat, Les Paul Standard, and a customized Gibson Pat Martino for the jazzy stuff. Not one of these guitars sounds bad through this amp. The strats are just incredible through this thing (and by the way, I'm using a Soldano 4 x 12 straight cab). The Clapton Strat sounds good with just about anything, but particularly good through this amp. With the noiseless pickups and the OD channel cranked, it still doesn't buzz! In fact, my buzz laiden '84 Strat is still noisey, but not as with this amp. I couldn't believe it. Most amps I've played the '84 through spits out that typical single coil hum/buzz. Not the Soldano, it still hums, but not as loud. Says something about the good components they use in these things. With the Les Paul - ooooooooo - baby! With the Paul plugged in the OD channel and the preamp only turned to about 3, look out! This combo produces thick, lush, and CREAMY OD. In fact, it sounds SO good that it makes me want to have a smoke after I'm done playing it, and I'm not a smoker! Plug the Martino in and roll back the presence on the amp and on teh guitar and you have a pretty close sounding Wes Montgomery sound. Pretty amazing for a high gain amp.

The "Clean" channel: and I say "Clean" loosely. If you want to get a loud, clean Fender sound with this thing, forget it! It can get to a respectful volume level of clean, but it starts to break up after a certain point and becomes picking attack sensitive - which is actually quite nice. Dig in and it starts to break up a little, back off on the picking attack and it cleans up again - Jekyl and Hyde in one channel. I don't play at a real high volume setting anyways in live situations so the clean breaking up at high er volumes isn't such a big deal. Put your preamp volume past 4 and turn the post up and it will start to break up. Better to turn the preamp down and bring the post up to almost full, which is what I do. The OD channel has the most outrageous OD ever known to man! Channel (2) - You metal heads out there will LOVE this amp. It's also addictave for rock heads, chicken pickers (you country guys), jazz heads (if you tweak it right), and somewhat blues heads although you may find the gain on this monster to dish out a little more than you prefer. You'll find that the OD on this is tremendous even at 3 (and all the dials go to 11). From 3 - 5 on the preamp you get more than enough violin sustain and crunch. From 5 - 8 you get some tremendous compression and violin sustain, go past 9 and it starts to turn to 'ala mush. The bottom end gets a little sloppy, otherwise it is tight. If you want less OD you need to work the preamp carefully because this thing is is a fire breather.

My guitar buddies that have played my half stack all drool over the tone and they are blown away by the crazy amount of gain this thing spits out. The gain is heavy but it's buttery, creamy smooth - rich, thick. What more do you want? I played the other brands. In fact, the day I bought this, I was literally at 4 previous music stores and played somewhere between 25-30 amps that day, the Hot Rod blew the doors off from every one of them. It made the rest sound like toys. I played my share of Marshalls (used to own 1), Mesa's (almost bought one...*whew*...that was close), Fenders (used to own 2), Line 6 (*cough* what a joke these little toys are), Vox, Randall (p-lllll-ease!), Tech 21 (pretty darn good little amp for a solid state),VHT's, and a few others that I would be embarrassed to say I plugged in to. When the Soldano was fired up it was in a class by itself - I was amazed. The best of the bunch were the Mesa's and the Marshalls and this ate both of them for lunch. Unreal. Big, Full Sound. I bought it on the spot along with the matching cab. Besides the

Never had a problem with the amp. These things are built like tanks anyways so I can't imagine a whole lot going wrong with it. So far so good. Not worried about it going out on me. Owned this amp for only 6 months - the best 6 months of my playing life!

I've had to call Soldano a few times regarding some technical questions and the XL mod, Bill Sundt was the man. He knows his stuff and if you e-mail him he will get back to you well within 24 hours, what a concept. These guys are professionals and they love what they do. I'm not sure what the warranty is on the hot Rod but with quality like this, they could give only a 1-year warranty and it wouldn't matter - they're made that good. In fact, they sent me the XL mod on a verbal handshake that I would send them the check (which I did) - how many companies would do that???

Clean channel, well, pretty good, could be better. OD channel, it makes everything else out there look bad. Tone? Please, don't even go there - closest thing to heaven on earth. AND, this amp doesn't even breathe hard at high volumes!

I've been playing for 30 years and been around the block a few times with equipment and guitars. Guys/girls - I'm tellin' you - spend the extra cash on a really GOOD amp - it's worth the money. With a good amp you'll sound better and play better. A $4,000 guitar will sound like the butt end of a cow through a substandard amp (believe me, I was there...not at the cow's butt end of course...). Likewise, a $200 guitar can sound like a million bucks through a really good amp (get the picture). My other amp is a Roland JC-90 and I have a Bogner Shiva head with a 1 x 12 shiva cab on order. The Roland is OUTTA here. The Bog is an amazing amp too but a totally different sound. But we're not here to talk about Bogner. (owned the other stuff in the past - Marshall, a few Fenders, rack systems, Roland, Peavey - all of them, details...)

If this amp were ever stolen, I'd replace it with another Hot Rod 50+, but only after I declare Jihad (and I'm a German/American). Mess with my Soldano and you're messin' with my momma.

Keep this in mind - the person who went amp shopping with me was a session guitarist in Nashville for many years and the Soldano dropped his jaw. That should tell you something about this amp. BUY ONE.

i think he's made in 1999, versatile enough for me. I was looking for a great tone, not for hundreds of channels with separate eq etc...This amp has got a fantastic rock/metal tone (lead channel), and a really dynamic clean/cruch channel. No gadgets here, just a simple very good sounding 2 channel amp. I play prog/thrashmetal with it and it's really the best amp i've had. My previous amp was a Koch Powertone (120watts!), But that amp didn't have any character and gave me a lot of trouble with fuses popping out all the time.
Features:
2 channels; clean/crunch and lead, no reverb
channel switching with 1 button! Between the 2 channels...
effects loop is VERY good, there's a special tube just for the effects loop. The signal can be mixed from 0 to 100%. There's a slave out, for linking an amp to the hotrod.
The 2 speaker outputs can be switched to 4, 8 or 16 ohm.
That's it. just simple!
The amp is very versatile when it comes to creating a lot of different sounds. The only negative point is that you've only got 2 sounds at a time...

I play musicman axis and ibanez petrucci(with ToneZone PU), i play shred/fusion things. Lot of Petrucci and Paul Gilbert stuff. It perfectly suits my style. The tight sound gives you a lot of definition even with higain settings. But you don't need alot of gain. From 1-10; you only need 5 to get a full, rich modern metaltone. When using higher gain settings you get a really saturated death metal tone like cannibal corpse (vile) etc. When using the gain+eq, you can get a lot of different styles out of this amp. This works for both channels. The clean channel is clean when set not further than +-4-5, but i like it because it has that 'just distortion' sound when set at 6-7.

Haven't had any problems with it. I contacted soldano for an update to XL and i got an answer very fast! They were very helpfull.

see above, 1 year waranty

i've been playing guitar for 14 years, have had a few valve amps. My other gear: TC Gforce, morley wah, marshall vintage 1960 cabinet.
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? YES!
I've tested dozens of amps, including separate preampse and poweramps. For my budget, this was the best amp i heard. It's much beter than the 5150's or marshall jcm 2000. This amps is so basic, it's just great TONE! I found out that in the end that's what it is a;ll about. And i didn't have money for triaxis etc.
When you're not a pro and when you're not an endorser (ehm, that's 99% of all players!) you'd better spend your money on one good amp, cabinet and guitar than buying something that's 'nice'and very versatile and doesn't sound really good. In the end you're only fooling yourself....

I think it was made in 99. Its two channels. Ive heard complaints that it doesnt clean up that well, but Ive found that running a Marshall compressor in front and using a either a single coil or a humbucker with the volume rolled off a bit it is very fenderish.The dirty channel is amazing.Effects loop is usable.

I play a Prs custom 24, a Jackson Dinky reverse with a duncan trembucker, and a custom built guitar with Prs Pickups. I play everything from classic 70's rock to 80's shred and this does it all well. I run everything on the amp between 5 and 7. It will cop a very close Van Halen 1 guitar sound. The gain is unreal. My only complaint is that the low end gets a bit muddy when its pushed, but Im working on that with different tube combinations. Currently Im running Sovtek 6L6. Ive tried 5881's, but it seems to lose a ton of headroom with those.Any tips would be appreciated. Ive heard of the Kt66 possibly fixing this.

Just got it a week ago, but Ive researched Soldano extensivley and their reputation is unmatched.

I called them for some questions on Slaving. Seemed very helpful.

Im 28 and have played since I was 5. Ive owned Marshalls,Boogies and a ton of rack gear. Nothing touches a Soldano. Boogies to my ears sound very harsh when pushed. Not this thing. It gets sweeter as it gets louder.Being that it has a solid state rectifier, it doesnt turn to mud when a lightning fast run is played.If it were stolen, a can of whoopass the size of a small country would be unleashed on the person who stole it. Buy one of these. Dont waste your money on a new Marshall. Keep in mind that midrange is essential to getting a good live guitar tone. If you suck the mids out of this amp it will sound buzzy. Bring in some mids and enjoy. It will highlight any poor technique.

purchased in 94 new for 1300. u.s.d from parker music in houston.black tolex,powder white chassis with alot of grill front and back so tubes can be seen and cooled easily.the look is very clean and uncluttered .it looks high-end to me ,attractive and functional looking. i have owned around 20 amps in 25 years,though only 2 others in the over 1000. d. price range. both of these we're same model rivera r55 combos. apparently i liked and then became disenchanted with same model twice, but have retained the soldano throughout.by comparison these riveras had more features,and a useful footswitch that engaged 2 channels that each had its own boost.the riveras had spring reverb,input/output levels for the effects loop, a useful impedance selector for use w/ different cabinet combinations,as well as other features that the soldano does not come with.the mesa tremoverb is another that reminds me of the cockpit of a fighter jet , with even more options than the riveras.ultimately the hot rod 50 plus does provide me with the versatility i need ,and i personally haven't had any problems with the effects loop.both channels sound wonderful to me,they do different things. for reference copy material, i have gigged out playing roy orbison and johnny rivers tunes with one band( russel and the muscle) and also play stuff like ufo and joe satriani with other past bands.

main guitars presently: older bill lawrence strat ,2 duncan single coils and a rio grande barbecuebucker that is probably medium output. dunlop 6105 medium jumbo frets. fender 2-point modern bridge and fender rollernut .plays great and stays in tune with moderate wang-bar abuse,this guitar probably has an alder body and is not to trebly.if i was opening for the stones i'd grab this one.also love my esp strat with kinman pickups.

owned it since 94 and have retubed 3 or 4 times.i have never had a problem,i take care of it and it has never let me down.it isn't all that often that i get to turn up the masters past 7 with a full band around me.unlike some other amps it isnt that loud at half volume ( preamp on 5 , master on 5) it sounds good there. this amp really shines when you bring the master up past seven. not only is it plenty loud ,the tone is very good and gets better . all volumes go to eleven,on the high gain channel i usually keep the preamp at half and the master at 7 to 8. i personally don't use the volume or tone knob on my guitars very much when i'm playing with full istrumentation around me. i rely more on the two channels and 3 or 4 effects for my tonal shadings and lead solo boosts,depending on what a particular tune may call for. i presently use a boss rev/delay pedal in the loop and boss ce-2 chorus +boss od-1 and or maxon 808 up front i find that mild to medium overdrive works well on either channel , but i use these more for volume and grit variation within the context of the material being played. if i was playing on a large stage and had a sound man that knew my every move . i would probably dispense with the overdrive pedals. i wouldn't recommend putting any distortion devices in the effects loop. as far as reliable, this is probably the most reliable,finest piece of gear i have ever owned.

have talked to the company a couple of times over the years and found them to be polite and helpful . i once bought a soldano slant cab w/ soldano speakers because they advised that their speakers were less bright than celestion vintage 30's offered in some of their cabs. i ultimately was dissatisfied with this cab and sold it to a friend who later told me that the speakers were improperly wired to less than the purported 16 ohms . he fixed this and likes the cabinet,and i really don't know if this is true or if this is why i didn't like this particular cab...but... i don't hold it against them. i use this head most often with a smaller marshall 2-12 cabinet with celestion vintage 30's.i also replaced the wiring of this cab with heavier gauge wire and a single mono metal plate for the speaker cable input. i believe this makes a difference in transfering low end thru the speakers.some have commented that these amps are high-endy and i do perceive it to have alot of brightness.however,i find that thru the use of good accessories such as good cables and the right guitar and pickups,this amp works really well for me.ocassionaly, i get to break out my 68 marshall slant cab with original greenbacks and it sounds even bigger and better. if i was trying to play heavier music i might check out their mod that adds low end. for the frequencies that i'm trying to occupy i am getting the sound that works for me.i'm probably fortunate to know good repair people that have retubed and biased my head every couple of years and have never had to resort to trying to fix any kind of problem with this head.

i've been a student of the electric guitar since 74.have played in a dozen gigging bands and recorded a cd of original rock about a year ago.it was a band effort where the older wiser bass player wrote and arranged most of the tunes. i used a rivera r55 combo, a peavey classic 30, and the soldano to record with,and almost always use the soldano live with the original music band ("the fanatics") at home i play thru either a late 50's silvertone or a early sixties montgomery wards amp,both are 3 to 4 watts and sound great with a few pedals plugged into the front of them.i'm mainly a strat guy these days but have recently purchased an older ibanez 335 style instrument. i also have a wonderful dell arte acoustic which is a macaferri style instrument. i have been jones'n for the right tele for a while and will probably get one soon. i would definetly buy another one. other amps i like are peavey classics,and i like the clean channel of a mesa tremoverb alot, mainly with the boost engaged,but don't like the high gain channel on this one as much. i have tried and liked a dr. z amp and at a recent guitar show was impressed with a carr amplifier that i tried.these last 2 are fairly expensive combos that are not as versatile as the hr50+ but had a very good sound for what they did. i personally require channel switching for live playing.and if an amp does't have a good reverb built in' i prefer it to have a good effects loop mainly for adding ambience,wether it be straight delay or a digital reverb.tape echoes sound great but are generally fussier than i want to put up with. one thing i dislike is not being in situations very often where i can crank my masters up to 8 or louder , again the territory where this amp goes from good tone to great tone. i'd consider owning an astroverb. i was impressed with the newer marshall jcm 2000,soundwise, but it is probably not as well built as a soldano. i have probably not sounded real excited about this amp during this review; the first time i plugged into this make and model i knew i was hearing something special. at that point i had already owned fenders ,a marshall artist head, peaveys, musicman,the rivera combo, and a number of mainly marshall 2-12 and 4-12 cabinets.have also owned a dean markley cd-60 tube amp which sounded good and had some very interesting features. i have tried to improve my technique,my gear , and my musical muse over the years. my soldano hr50+ is a big reason why i'm sounding better than ever. my buddy has an SLO that is twice as expensive and sounds righteous.... but i personally don't think it sounds any better than the hr50+