Soldano Hot Rod 50

Second Hand and in show room condition I almost wet my pants not that it has hapened in a while;-)
HI & LO gain inputs, Usual aray of dials. preamp gain bass, mid ,trebble, presencs and master volume (Think old Marshall JCM 800 Layout)but it goes up to 11 literally! ;-)
No channel switching.
No Reverb Who Cares!!!!
Will Suit lo tech players down to the ground no need for a lot if any fx to get good sounds.

Absolute space age ray gun like distortion, sounds like the pure crackle of electricity. And TONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! not too saturated but hot and percussive it will not hide sloppy playing. Without a doubt my fave amp. Played through a marshall 2x12 cab i can get some amazing sounds out of it the tonal range and diversity is realy inspiring as a player. I'm comparing this against a peavey 5150 2x12 combo that I own and it is just head and shoulders above most marshalls and boogies that i've played. You can get all of the blues and country tones you will ever need out of the clean channel but the high gain is where its at for me. Strat, LesPaul, SG, PRS etc. keeps the tone of the instrument yet somehow makes it shine, sing twang quack or scream which ever you prefer.

Built like a tank with a sense of style.
Its all valve with quality wiring.
Spare valves always make sence but have had no problems.
Just f**kin' get one if you have any sense.

Bought second hand but never needed to contact but all others seem to say about the best that you could hope for.

If it were stolen I would track the person down and do something rather unpleasant to them then sell their bodily organs on the blackmarket and buy a new one. If lost get really paranoid that somebody up there didn't like me for something that I must have did in a past life. Ha Ha
Just f**kin' get one already especially second hand as these are built to last.

Well lets see... its a pretty straight forward amp. you have your preamp setting, bass, midds, treble, vol, presence. and a low and high imput. an a/b channel switcher will not work to go between the low and high imputs.
my particular hot rod 50 was made in 92 and recently has been recoverd with orange tolex ( looks real sharp ). its a single channel but it has the 2 imputs, it has an effects loop. this amp make the loudest 50 watts i've ever heard, it smashes on mesa/boogie and marshalls. this thing out proformed a 100 watt marshall ...oh yeah, all the knobs go to 11... (thats one louder, hahahaha)

...ITS GOT NUTTZ... this amp cranks. it sounds better than any amp i've ever heard. its highs are a bit harsh at times but u can always turn the treble down, i find myself play with treble on 4. this amp is built to play metal and rock, played through the right speakers and you'll never go back. i play through this kinda strange cab but its just a kicker, if i toast it i'll just toss it. but even on this bootsy cab it rocks. very versitle. heres a rating based on the sound. bass=10 midds=10 highs=7.5
this amp could be call bright, as the highs are real damn loud.

this thing is built like a tank. i dropped it one time and it was fine, a tube fell out but it still worked (never roll a cab on carpet). i would gig this thing with out a back up. also this thing doesn't eat tubes like some amps i've had, tubes can last about a year in this thing with constant playing.

all the guys at soldano are helpful, they reply to e-mails and phone calls. if you wanna talk to them call them, they get like 1,000,000,000 e-mails every day and like 50 calls so if you want some one on one time calling is the way to go.

i play metal, rock, classic rock, blues, classical, and i'd say that this amp is best for metal-rock also moderate blues. this isn't a cheap head but its worth every penny. from the moment you set eyes on your own soldano you know its going to kick ass. on a scale form 1-10 this thing gets an 11. woot

Made in 1992. Single ch. 50w head. High input/low input. Unfortunately you can only use one at a time so you can't A/B it. I'm strictly using the high input through an A/B and another amp for clean.

I play orig. progressive rock/metal & can't use a single ch. amp.
My pedals sounded awful through the loop so i'm connecting them throught the front.

Mostly playing an Epiphone LP. High input jack, preamp on 10 or 11, bass around 6.5, mid around 10, treble 10 or 11, presence 9.5. The presence controls the treble a lot more than the ones i've had on Boogies.

Soldanos make the best crunch tones i've ever heard. Even w/preamp on 11 dissonant chords sound tight. Arpeggiated chords ring thru clearer than any Boogie i've heard.

I'm using it thru a Boogie cab w/25w greenbacks. Low wattage rated speakers always sound better for distortion tones.

Have only had it a short while but Soldanos have a great rep from what others have said. Plus mine is 12 yrs old & is flawless.

Been playing for 22+ yrs. If I ever tour I'd get a Decatone for its versatility & not having to haul around as much equip.
It looks cool & sounds great. Wish it had a better fx loop & perhaps a spring reverb.

Pretty basic single channel 50watt head with low and high inputs. I have heard that the HR50+ does have problems with volume differentials etween the two channels.

I'm using this head with a Soldano 4X12 cab with vintage 30's and I get some great rock and blues tones. The presence and treble knobs are tricky (very responsive). Using a strat can sound really thin unless you crank the mids and back the treble and presence to about 5. The sounds can be awesome with a strat or very 80's metal with a humbucker. Practice your technique, this kind of gain sounds great but doesn't hide much. Nu metal heads might as well forget it. No dark Recto tones here.

Tank like.

Customer support couldn't be better. Bill or Mike himself can help you if you have any questions or issues.

I use this head with either a Strat with Texas Specials, or an ESP prototype with Duncan Humbuckers. This is a great amp for recording or the kind of player that doesn't need many sounds. The tone is special though. It's creamy and classy. The best compliment I've gotten regarding this head sums up my review. The guy said "Man, your sound is so clear and defined!"

This is adn addition to my report directly below. I failed to mention two critical facts. One is that the tubes, both power and pre have been changed to JJ electronics which are so much more musical than the stock tubes soldano put in the head. It's hard to imajine why the head wouldn't come with the JJ's. Second is the cab i'm using is a soldano 4x12 with 2 celection vintage 30's and 2 greenbacks. The jj tubes and this cabinet are a key to the tone i'm getting, which is not to take away from the soldano head, it's still the main tone machine. rock on ...........

see other reviews

Using a prs mccarty with stock pickups, only effect is a boss sd-1 overdrive pedal with level cranked and gain low. My ideal sound is vivian campbell's as heard on the first Dio record. I've had this head for over a year and have been happy, buying it after selling a marshall slash jubilee which i also liked but it sounded like everyone else out there. Anyway, I was playing the soldano through the high sensitivity input and was happy with the tones, but only needed gain settings past six for leads (yes i still play lead!). But WOOOWW after a year i finally decided to mess with the low input and it is the tone i was looking for when used with the pedal in front. I highly recommend using the low input with pedal combo. I found that i needed to crank the mid and treble controls. My fav settings are bass 6, mid 11, treb 11, pres 6 and pre 11. Master as high as possible of course. The low inpup seems to give a more organic, complex and airy tone than the high input channel and to me just sounds more 'vintage marshall' with a twist. Why take a chance on finding and maintaining a marshall jcm or plexi (a good one - they are hit and miss in my experience)? What a great amp. Makes me want to play like no other amp has. Totally inspiring. Thanks mike.

i've been at it for 15 yrs. and my favorite tones are michael schenker, angus, dave meniketti (y&t), vivian campbell, jimmy page.

I was told when I called Soldano that the amp was made in '93 so it does not have the XL mod. This amp replaced a Marshall 6100 LM that was a pain in my ass (intermittent <sp?> problem). I play hard, fast rock and this amp works very well in my band. It's 2 channels - high gain/low gain input. No switching. I don't bother with the low channel in the band but the low input has a nice sound. I am amazed at the level of variety you can get between the pre-amp, eq, and presence knobs. Much more variation than the Marshall had. I haven't used the effects loop yet. It is plenty loud, and I've never turned it past 6 (it goes to 11) at a live show. This sucker is smaller and lighter than a Marshall. It's a 50 watt amp so there are half as many tubes to replace when they go bad. This amp is about as simple and straight forward as it gets. It's the most versatile single channel amp I know of. The eq actually works!!

I use a Gibson Les Paul Junior with a P-90. It's very quite and feeds back only when you want it to. The distortion is a clean distortion. You can still hear each string ring out when the distortion is turned up. It's got a "chimey" sound to it. If you are a sloppy player this amp will not hide your inability. Don't but this amp if you want a good clean channel. Just forget about it. If you want a reliable, light, low maintenance, distortion loving workhouse, this is it.

I do not use a back but I bring 2 extra power tubes wherever I go. No problems thus far, and no indication I will have any.

Not worried about support. This amp is built so well and has such simple schematics that a good tech could find a problem quickly.

I've been playing for 15 years. I've owned a valvestate Marshall combo, a 6100 LM Marshall, and not the Soldano. A big jump in tone quality each time. If it was lost I'd buy another one on ebay. I love that it's light and small. If I had the money I would own 10 of them. I am done with the channel switching dance.

I believe this amp is a early model serial number 00229. It is a single channel amp with tube buffered effects loop. Very simple to use. Nothing crazy preamp,bass,mid,treble,master, and presence controls. Although only having a few features it packs alot of sound. The fact that it only has one channel doesn't bother me because I turn my volume down and the amp is cranked all the time.

The sound is like god. I have tried alot of amps and nothing beats this amp. I play in a alternative rock in an original band. I use a varity of guitars including a Hamer Califorian, Ibanez Reb Beach model, Peavey Wolfgang, Jackson Soloist and it makes all of them sound amazing. I also run a TC G-major and they work great together. If you are looking for that old loud Marshall sound look no further. It sounds way better than any of the new Marshalls.

I recently took it to the shop to have it checked over and found out almost every soldering connection was broke. But it still worked anyway. The repair guy said it was from years of vibration. Other than that new tubes. Thats it.

Never had to call it always works.

I have had a fender,boogie(which broke in a month),Ampeg,marshall,crate and many others. This is the first amp I have owned that I am completely satisfied. Don't waste your money on other amps buy soldano.

a great sound ist the best feature ...

It rocks - I'm playing in a AC/DC Coverband. I'm using the amp/cabinet - Comination HR50/Marshall 1960 A with a low gain setting (4-5) in the High-Input, the EQ Setting is
Gain 4 - Bass 10 - Middle 4 - Treble 4 - Volume between 4 an 6 - Presence 5. My nr1 guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Jr. with a single P90, also some other Les Pauls sounds great with the amp.

No gig without this amp. Never.
No problems ever ..

i don't know, never needed.

anyway, there is no way for me to playing electric guitar without this amp. thank you MIKE SOLDANO for this amp !

There aren't that many features. a 3 band EQ, low and high gain input jacks, single channel with master volume. no frills.

The high gain side is a mean nasty grind that anyone will love. The low gain side is a nice thick tone that is very pleasing to the ears also. My problem arises because this amp is a single channel and i like to have a clean tone as well as a distorted tone. I use it live many different ways...it is my main amp, and depending on the gig i'll sometimes leave it on the low gain said and use a FullTone Distortion PRO for distortion...other times i'll leave it on the high gain side and try to roll the gain off with my volume knob. This method doesn't work well with my Les Paul, but seems to work better with a Carvin guitar i sometimes use. I am about ready to trade this amp in on the 2 channel version, and I think i'm going to pick up a 100 watt version instead. When i run effects through the loop, i lose too much volume. In small clubs with a large audience, i've had this amp on a 4x12 cabinet, with the master volume at 7 or 8, and the preamp at 5, and if i turned up anymore i would start losing my tone...and this is only when i'm using the effects loop. i find the power to be adaquate otherwise. If this amp had two channels, and a reverb option, i would be 100% happy with the amp. the tone is wonderful. It sounds different from the current modern rock trend of using Mesa Boogies. Boogies are wonderful amps, but i'm burned out on that sound since so many new bands are using them. I am going to be a Soldano user for a long time...i've just gotta go get a nicer model.

Rock solid. Never needed anything but new tubes.
I've also noticed that it runs MUCH cooler than my Marshall. Maybe because its open for ventilation in the front and back. This makes it nice to look at a glance and see both power tubes glowing.

never needed it.

I'd recomend this amp to anyone looking for serious profession tone for an affordable price, if they don't mind having only one channel.