Soldano Lucky 13 Head

My 50-watt, bright red, all-tube Soldano Lucky 13 head was built and purchased in 2008. I play in two rock/dance bands; one is a classic rock band (can't get the guys to play anything newer than 25 years old) and the other has a more diverse set list running from the '60s to the current day. The amp is great in both settings. It has two channels. I expected the Soldano overdrive channel to be fantastic and it is. The clean channel was the big surprise; the classic rock band loves my 12-string and it sounds great through the amp. It is more than powerful enough for every venue in which we play (clubs, outdoors, private parties). The settings are diverse and powerful enough to alter the tone to my liking (in fact, Mike Soldano himself helped me out with my initial settings).

I run a G&L thinline ASAT Special (with two humbuckers), a Fender Custom Telecaster (neck humbucker and a bridge single coil) for slide, a 330 Rickenbacker 12-string, and another G&L ASAT Classic (open tuned). They all sound great. Initially, there was a bit of hum in the amp, but the guys at Soldano fixed that instantly. I can get the sound I want out of the two channels and there is plenty of power. The amp sounds best with my guitars plugged in directly. At the moment, I am using no pedals at all--because is sounds great that way.

All Soldanos are hand built in the US and the company in completely uncompromising on quality. I suspect that it could fall out of a two story building and still work.

Soldano has been unbelieveably accessible and helpful. They have helped me whenever I have needed it and have been happy to answer my questions.

I have been playing in bands for almost ten years (non-professionally). If the Lucky 13 were lost or stolen, I would certainly buy another Soldano--and I might upgrade to a SLO-100.

my 50 watt head was made in 2008 . I visited the Soldano shop and was able to pick custom purple tolex and the front grill cloth is black with silver sparkly stripes, this certainly improves tone ! 50 watts is plenty for me ,I usually wear earplugs in live situations anyways. I know thats gay but I can still hear. I jam a lot at home and play out with various groups. mostly psychadellic blues funk rock shtuff . A little Sabbath but not much modern metal.

I bought this amp for the clean channel. The tone is the best I have ever ever heard for my taste. I was playing a jcm 800 for years and never quite felt satisfied. the lucky's clean channel makes it hard for me to stop playing. The overdrive channel , honestly, is to much for me. I just dont like that much gain. If you want mega gain, great ,but thats just not my thing. I really like the clean. I want to check out the "Crunch" mod for the overdrive channel to try and tame the beast.

As far as I can tell the amp seams well built. My only concern , is that the tube sockets are soldered to the pc board even my jcm 800 has chassis mounted tube sockets.

Soldano's customer service is tops .MIke or Bill always answer the phone and are soooo friendly and helpful .

I have played a lot of stuff over the years and the lucky 13 clean channel is my favorite. The overdrive is toooo much for me, but I plan to try the crunch mod. Im not saying this is the best amp in the universe, but it is what I play now and I have tried a lot of amps before it.

This is for a Soldano "Lucky 13" 50 watt head, twin channel, one clean and one overdrive. No effects loop but I am alright with that. It does have a foot switch for changing channels.
I use this amp for recording as well as live performances. The 50 watts is more then enough power to play any venue I am at especially since it has two cabinet outputs at 8ohm's and 1 at 16ohm's. The higher you crank the volume the better it sounds and I push two Marshall 4x12 cabs with it. I went to a Soldano dealer and tried almost all of their products to settle for this one.

I play Les Paul's mainly with stock pickups as well as a Gibson Firebird and an American made Strat. Like I said in previous I push two Marshall 4x12 cabinets and run just a cry baby pedal, Boss Delay and Boss Stereo Chorus as well as a rack mounted Harmonizer. I can go from classic blues rock such as Allman Brothers and Government Mule to Ozzy and Rush with no problems at all. The clean is so super clean that if you aren't practiced up then everyone will know when you plug into this head. The stock tubes aren't bad but I put in some hot overdrive tubes to get that extra little punch out of it and saved the stock ones for back ups if needed.
I play in two bands one is a blues type southern rock format and the other is a classic 80's metal type sound. We play some Ozzy as well as Anthrax and Lynch Mob and this amp can handle all those sounds as well as going back to the basics with 60's and 70's classic rock and I can even get some dangerously close Pink Floyd Gilmor sounds out of it but I think to many effects degrades the purity of this amp.
I rate it a 9 as I know of nothing that is perfect.

I have had this head for about 9 to 10 months now and I have had no issues with it at all but I pamper and baby it everywhere I take it. I keep it in a road box even when at home just because the investment is significant and I don't want to beat it up. It does weigh about 40lbs and is as solid as you can buy anywhere. I bet it could fall off a touring truck and still be playable. I will repost if any issues should happen to arise.

I have called Soldano to get some info on tubes and what they suggested for selection and they were absolutely wonderful to deal with. This still has a full warranty and changing tubes did not affect anything with the warrenty.
Again a 9 because nothing is perfect.

I have been playing guitar for 31 years and have been teaching for 20 something now. I have had Marshall's and Mesa's as well as almost everything in between. If I didn't own it then chances are one of my students did so I have heard and been around allot of guitar equipment. This small 50 watt head is by far the best amplifier I have ever and I mean Ever owned. If this got stolen besides going to jail over beating the hell out of the thief I would break down and buy another one the day I got my freedom back. This amp truly is so versatile and is capable of being a sound chameleon for even the most prejudice tone junkies out there. Like I said if you are someone running allot of effects then save your money and get a Marshall or something cheaper as this amps clarity would just be beaten down by all those signal processors. This amp in my opinion is the absolute best on the market today and Mike Soldano has allot to be proud of, it is worth every penny paid for it if you appreciate quality and durability. Plus it's "MADE IN AMERICA"

DOES THE FENDER AND MARSHALL THING.

CLEAN CHANNEL CLEEEEN STARTS TO BREAK UP PAST 8 OR 9
LEAD CHANNEL HAS PLENTY OF BITE.VERY QUIT

NO BACKUP

MIKE AND BILL ARE GREAT

I MAY ADD A LOOP & A SLAVE OUT

MADE IN THE SPRING OF 2004, TWO CHANNELS, 100 WATTS, REVERB.

I was very disapointed in the lucky 13 head. Ive owned both the slo 100 and a SL60 and found this soldano to be the weakest of the three.
I play rock, some heavy riffing and alot of tight stops.
I found this amp to be loud, but NOT crunchy at all.
I can see this as a R/B or country amp, not a rock, metal or heavy amp.

Dont know, I tryed it in the studio, and in my rehearsal space for a few months trying to get it to scream and it never did. I even had my guitar tech mod it to sound more like my slo and it still didnt have a bite.
So I never took it on the road and sold it before I used it in any shows.

Soldano are always top notch at helping out, funny thing was during the mod, they faxed the proper changes to my tech, and even TOLD him the lucky 13 was far from a chunky amp!

Dont buy it unless you play country or use alot of distortion pedals. But then again, if you are the guitarist who uses pedals to get your sound, then dont buy a $1000 + tube amp in the first place.

This amp does it all. Mine has a factory installed effects loop, making it even more versatile than the standard Lucky 13.

When I first received this amp, I though it sounded great, but was put off by a lot whispy white noise on both channels. I spoke with Michael Soldano himself (very cool guy, incredibley knowledgeable) thinking it might need service, also considering having a mod gain done to it, but was told the noise I was experiencing was a symptom of bad preamp tubes. At the suggestion of another cool guy at Soldano, I swapped the first two preamp tubes for a couple of JJs, and PRESTO, this thing sounds awesome, and still better yet -- no more noise.

As far as the tone, I'll put it to you this way: I have this amp in my buddy's studio, alongside a Fuchs Tripledrive Supreme, a nice Marshall combo, a Carvin legacy head, and a Victoria Victorilux, and I'd take the clean and dirty sounds on the Lucky 13 over all of them. The clean sounds -- well everyone knows they're awesome on this amp -- and the gain -- it's all Soldano, and there's TONS of it on this amp after putting in those JJs. I don't know why anyone would say you can't do metal on this amp. This thing has gobs of gain and crunch, balls galore. In practice last night, my buddy complained that he couldn't anything near as good a rhythm sound out of his Fuchs TDS as I'm getting out of the Lucky 13. And this amp sings: the solo sounds are inspiring, out of this world. Badass amp. Many thanks again to Michael Soldano.

These guys are SOOOOO cool. Thanks again to Mr. Soldano and Bill (?), the guys who helped me so much when I last called. You guys deserve every penny you make, and more, I'm sure.

2005 Lucky 13 100 watt head. I play a lot of heavy stoner riffs mixed with southern rock. Mostly tuned to D or drop C. 2 channels with independant reverb control, no effects loop, no BS. Channels are an ultra clean and an overdrive. An impedance selector instead of the 2x8 and 1x16 outputs would be better. More than enough power/volume here for any situation. More than enough gain, as well. This has been characterized as a classic rock amp it seems, but we're still talking about a Soldano preamp section here. I could play melt-your-face doom metal through it with no problems whatsoever without ever diming the gain.

I'm playing through this amp with an SG standard, on the stock 490 series bridge HB most of the time. Also using a Schecter Ultra with a Gibson P-94 neck and a Dirty Fingers reissue bridge HB. Works well with both. This is not an extremely noisy amp by any stretch of the imagination. The clean is perfect and the OD has a slight hum (only what you'd expect with a hi-gain amp cranked to 8). The OD channel is extremely versatile, seemingly having a slightly later compression on the dial than my other Soldanos. You can get whatever kind of sounds you want from this, from bluesy crunch to crushing overdrive. It has it's sweet spots but it's pretty good much all good until the gain begins to fizz at 10 or so (out of a possible 13, you understand).

Seems solid as a brick, and Bill answers the phone any time you call Soldano so you can always talk to someone who knows the amps. I've owned three and none have ever broken. I'd gig it without a backup.

A+, like I said, you can always reach Bill.

I've been playing for about 10 years, I've got a couple of nice guitars and amps. This is my current favorite. If it were lost or stolen I'd get it again, provided I found that kind of deal that I could afford again. I do wish it had an impedance selector instead of the hardwired speaker outputs, but what are you gonna do? Absolutely great sounding amp.

2005 Lucky 13, I bought it after using the slo 100 and loving that amp so much. Great great great great great clean chanel. By far one of the best sounding clean channels and the lead channel is great too. Almost as good as my slo but the amp is even more versitile. Pletny of pwer and I have recently used this amp for recroding as well as giggin and lessons.

I always play an amp that I am considering buying with an old strat that I have. If I can get a good tone out of the amp with this particul this amp. If this guitar sounds good thru the amp then I know everything else I own will sound great. I played a bunch of coutry riffs and then jazz and the amp sounded great. Then I started playing with the lead chanel at first with the gain down and got a very clear, ballsy blues tone, then the ACDC tone, then I couldn't resist and turned up the gain and started to wail. I was blown away by the amps tone and versitality. This is the only amp that would make me consider selling my slo 100

Built like a tank and if it is like my slo it is undestructible.

They are great. I have even talked to mike personally. need I say more!!!!!

Best amp next to the slo that I have ever owned. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I fact, I am starting to feel that between this amp and a recent dsl 100 I acquired, my slo 100, and believe it or not the lone star special, i can finally sell all of my old vintage stuff and my new stuff without any remorse.

MADE IN THE SPRING OF 2005, TWO CHANNELS, 100 WATTS, PHENOMINAL CLEAN SOUND AND EXCELLENT OVERDRIVE TONE. REVERB WORKS GREAT AS WELL

I PLAY EVERYTHING SINCE I AM BASICALLY A GUN FOR HIRE. EXTREMELY QUIET. EXTREMELY VERSITILE. AS I SAID IT HAS ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE BEST CLEAN SOUNDS I HAVE EVER HEARD. IT IS CLEAN ALL THE WAY UP TO FULL VOLUME. THE GAIN CHANNEL IS CHEST THUMPING BUT ALSO VERY ARTICULATE AND NOT AS BUZZY OR GRAINY AS A MESA, PEAVY OR MARSHALL TSL

I HAVE ONLY HAD IT ABOUT SIX MONTHS AND NO ISSUES. SOLDANO IS GREAT TO DEAL WITH ANYWAYS. I OWN SEVERAL OTHER OF HIS AMPS WHICH IS WHAT PROMPTED ME TO BUY THIS OWN AND IT HAS TO BE HIS BEST NEXT TO THE SLO 100, THOUGH THE SLO IS NOT AS VERSITILE.

AS I SAID, THEY ARE GREAT TO DEAL WITH, MIKE WILL EVEN TALK TO YOUU ON THE PHONE

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR OVER 35 YEARS AND HAVE MADE A LIVING WITH MUSIC SO I OWN A LOT OF GEAR. IF I SOLD ALL MY STUFF ON EBAY I COULD PROBABLY RETIRE AND LIVE OFF THE INTEREST FROM THE SALE OF MY EQUIPMENT. GIVEN WHAT I HAVE, I AM VERY SINCERE WHEN I SAY SOLDANO IS MAKING PROBABLY THE BEST AMPS OUT THERE, BOTH IN TONE AND DEPENDABILITY. ALSO THEY ARE CONSISTENT. I USED TO PLAY A MK IV SEVERAL YEARS AGO FOR ITS RELIABILITY REPUTATION. IT NEVER BROKE OWN ON ME BUT NEVER SOUNDED THE SAME FROM NIGHT TO NIGHT, SESSION TO SESSION, OR GIG. I HAVE HAD 3 OF THEM AND I USED TO TRY AND LIKE THEM, I OWNED A ROAD KING AND SAME THING. I STILL HAVE MY FIRST SLO 100, AND EVERY OTHER SOLDANO AMP THAT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT. THAT SAYS IT ALL TO ME. THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BUT TO ME OWNING THIS AMP FOREVER IS A BETTER DEAL THAN CONSTANTLY BUYING, TRADING, AND SELLING.

Made around 2001-2003. Clean and dirty channels, footswitchable. Reverb on both channels. Channels sound very different from each other, which makes the amp very versatile. VERY LOUD, especially the clean channel. Effects pedals sound great thru the clean channel.

I have a friend who loaned me this amp for about 2 months. He has 2 other high-end amps and he went out on tour with them and let me amp-sit this one for a while. I use it with a variety of guitars and you can get a good sound out of every one of them. It buzzes a bit, but most tube amps do, especially high gain amps like this one. Once you start playing it's not noticeable. You can get great clean sounds out of channel 1 and channel 2 can give you as much distortion as you could want. This is the loudest amp I have ever heard. The tone is great as well, as you should expect with a hand built high dollar amp. If you have the money to buy one you would not be dissatisfied with what you get.

My friend had to send it back to the factory because it was blowing power tubes. They fixed it free and quickly. I'm not sure what was wrong but it has been played a lot. Since he got it back it has been used a lot more and is still going strong. The factory stood behind the product and that's all you can ask from any company.

See above. Soldano is still a small enough company that they can give some personal service.

If I could afford 2 grand for an amp I would probably get one in a minute. You could not get a gig that this amp can't handle. It's not cheap but you really do get what you pay for.