Soldano Lucky 13 Head

The features of this amp have been presented very well by others, so I won't get too much into it. I got the 50 watt version, 100 watts is too much for any small venues that I might play. This amp has almost everything that a player could need, without all of the extra buttons and switches. I have owned many Mesa's and they were always broken because they had too many options and breakable parts.

I got this amp from a friend for super cheap because it did not have a loop in it. He insists on only having amps with loops. It worked out perfectly for me. I only paid $1400 and it was in MINT condition with new tubes. I sold the cabinet for almost $300, so the amp only cost me $1100!!!!!!!!!!

Serial # is: L50 0029.

There are some things that I think should have been included with the amp though.
1. Status LED
2. Channel Switch on face of amp (incase footswitch is broken or lost)
3. Effects Loop.

When I 1st got the amp, I thought it sounded incredible, but the Distortion was too Vintage for me. At the time I would have given it a rock solid 8. I got this amp with the sole purpose of modifying it into an SLO with a great Clean channel and Reverb. I own an amplifier repair shop, so mods are no sweat for me.

I have changed the Distortion channel's circuit so that the maximum amount of Gain the amp originally had is now at "3" on the dial. I now have the meanest amp on the block. It no longer feels like there is a blanket over the Distortion. I can dial in any amount of Gain without any fuzzyness. Now this amp is almost a 10. I am going to add the Depth Mod, then it will be a 13.

There is some negligible noise from the Reverb tank, but it's a head, what do you expect.

I play mostly original music that ranges in styles from Segovia to ZZ Top, to Jimmie's Chicken Shack with a little Santana and Zappa in the mix somewhere. This amp does everything that I need it to flawlessly.

Try one, you may like it. Keep in mind that the Distortion circuit can be easily un-chained.

Soldano is a great company. This amp is super beefy, I don't think it will ever break.

It comes stock with Mercury Magnetics transformers, and high quality parts.

If it does break, it will be because I dropped it off of the truck, or something simillarly stupid.

I nave a few amps for backup, although I have never needed one. I always take extra tubes to gigs.

I have called them several times to inquire about a replacement cabinet for the head. Mine is Snakeskin, it does not fit me very well. Bill is the man. He is always polite and informative when I call. He gets a solid 10.

I have to give them a 9 though because I emailed them 3 times and never got a response.

Still a great company to deal with though. I will be a customer for many years to come.

This is a great amp from a great company. I would definitely buy another one if it were stolen. Right after I got done beating the thief to death with the stolen one.

It definitely needs a built-in channel switch and LED. I will be adding this next. A loop would be nice, but it is not vital. If I decide I need one, I can always remove the Power Tube circuit board and hand-wire the Power Tubes. This will give me enough room in the chassis to add a loop. I will add the Depth Mod.

Buy one, you will like it.

Email me for the mod info if the distortion is not enough for you.

I think it was manufactured in 2002. Great for all styles of music.2 channels cleeen and drive. No loop but i'm thinking of adding a slave to run effects. Don't want to mess with the straight signal sound but i like to use overdriven delays in some songs. Great for any size gig.

I use Gibsons and strats with active and passive pickups.I play classic rock and blues mainly but it will work for just about any thing except someone posing as a player. if you make a lot of mistakes they will be heard. The clean channel reminds me of an old dual showman and the drive channel reminds me of a 1969 plexi I owned years ago.

I've had this amp 2 years with no problem and I don't use a back-up 3 or 4 nights a week. Anyhow when it comes to carrying a 100 watt back-up tube amp i'm getting a little too old for that.

Soldano customer support is the best.I own another one of their amps and have done a couple of mods with great success.Bill Sundt treats you like you're a rock star on tour.one time even Mike soldano himself called me to follow up on some work.

I've been playing for 36 years and have owned many amps. i'm sure most of you know of or have this disease and soldano is the best by far. The only thing i wish it had was a slave as i mentioned earlier.This is like having that high gain powerhouse and a dead clean fender in one package. If lost or stolden i would search E-Bay and hope to find one used.

the lucky 13 is recent in the last few years , marking the 13th year of production. this amp is versatile enough to cover most serious ground in recording applications of all styles , the eq is responsive , as well as multi options for brightness if you require so. live this amp sings , and requires no extra's , ideal for the player who believes in the concept of plug in and play and deliver with a pair of hands , a guitar , a cord and an amp.this is a 2 channel amp with a bright boost , a presence dial ,master volume for overdrive channel .no fx loops , no trickery ... built with simplicity and attention to maintaining tonal integrity .this amp however accepts fx thru the front jack and certain things like a wah pedal work very well . this amp has a 16 ohm jack in the back , and a pair 0f 8's as well as a footswitch plug . this amp is perhaps not intended to be a bells and whistles clad amp , however in a simplicity mind frame it is completely loaded . 2 channels that really deliver , and a true spring reverb with seperate eq for both channels , and by that i mean a responsive eq. i have always wished an amp like this would come with independant stereo fx loops for both channels so that you could run perhaps a t.c electronic g-force or other stereo intigratable fx's in , with maybe a master volume dial so that you could be tasteful in dialing in things , but i understand that with an amp with this tonal integrity and pure sound quality , that , this amp has a different purpose. but i have to wish again that an amp of this magnitude had a balanced direct out for recording , i think im pushing it by suggesting either.i am currently using this head in a studio application to record guitar parts , and i have used this head as well live in a club setting a few times . in my opinion a lucky 13 50w head is a perfect mate for the club environment , you can crank it up and let the tubes do the talking , where a 100w would be wobbling at 2 or 3 , because in most clubs , it's tough to get everything to compete with a 100 watt amp properly . and because this cat has a master for the od channel , you can play at home , both channels . and make no mistake , this amp head is for people who love tubes , it has 6 preamp , and 2 power tubes , and delivers a real boutique sound .best of a fender clean for the clean ..best of a plexi/hiwatt for the overdrive , but smoother than both .

i am currently running all types of guitars in from tele's to strat's to paul's .this amp is so fat , that it can take the thinnest tele , and you would swear it's a paul , and you can do the reversal ..you can run a les paul in and get it to gliss , by adding presence , bright boost and knocking off the bass . this amp suits me on the level that it delivers what i thought tried by other amp manufacturers but never really delivered , and that is , with this amp you can go onstage with it instead of hauling a 50 w marshall and a fender twin .it also eliminates the search for a boutique studio amp that can give you true tone in a studio setting . because of the reverb tank being so close to components , after all it's in the head , there is noise from the reverb tank amplified , as you play louder , that can be a pro- or a con- depending on your feelings of true 'nostalga" for me , i will eventually remove the reverb tank from the head and put it in a seperate box , to do as much to eliminate the noise , as im in love with the sound not with the noise .the sounds this amp can make are pretty much , everything under the scope of tube sounds , depending on the craftiness of the player . this amp can fool you as you swear you are hearing identical tones off albums , just by your approach , the guitar in your hands and eq'ing awareness. the clean channel is warm , heavenly clean , and the options for bright and treble are plentiful . add in reverb , and the harmonic series becomes almost overwhelming . if you played this head on the clean thru jbl's , it would definetely give you the thud and thump . what i like about the clean is its not twanky-clean , it'll to that , but it's got the goods for voice leading chords , and fluid melodic jazz runs as well. crank up the clean and you got a bassman on your hands , if you can work with the volume , you'll sing like any overdriven clean channel memory . the overdrive section to me is a boutique paradise . if you dont have the cake to own a marshall , a hiwatt , a vox ac30 and a fender twin , this will do . i swear i heard reminiscence of sabbath , zeppelin , floyd and purple boutique amps , to name a small few . and with the reverb tank you can go to wonderland like those nostagic tommy bolin solo's , or the end of solo for "tea for one " zep . and yet , according to soundman iv'e worked with , that are hearing this thing thru a p.a. out front for the first time , this amp is smoother. distortion on this amp is-higain but , with the right speaker and pick-up type it could hit ultra hi-gain . but a les paul or strat straight in gives you gain but really , sustain , and warmth are character as well.

this is a tube amp , built as well as a tube amp could be built , but tubes can go . this amp for me has never let me down , but i am careful not to drop it or even so much as knock it . i would trust this amp in a flight case with the tubes removed anyday . it is built 'military' grade in respects to components , and the transformers are simply "monstrous" so far no problems .

i have emailed soldano once about questions concerning how they recommend i get other uses out of the head , without wrecking anything . they were quick to inform me of options , and even recommended other guitar products not of their company that i could try to help . seemed informative about all out needs out in other parts of the world , no problem.warranty on this amp is one year , parts and labour. excluding transformers and tubes.

i have been playing for 21 years , in various music gigs and happenings. i also own a vintage hiwatt combo , a rack with some studio grade processors , lexicon and t.c stuff. if this amp was to be a memory some how , i would be inticed to get another. i love how this amp sounds , and because of that , i cant hate it. it's comparable to a shiva or a top hat head , they are all boutique . this one has my ears listening a bit more for my taste . outside a dual independant stereo fx loop with master volume dials and a balanced d.i. out , whatever ... it was designed for tone purpose , not gadgets. id like to share that this amp satisfy's a craving for tube tone , clean and dirty , that's it's sole purpose , and be under no other allusions , illusions or delusions . my rating include's no ten's . but let's put it this way , for tone i would be putting marshalls and fenders at 6 etc. this amp is a star , total ferrari .

This Lucky 13 100 watt head was made in 2000, . I bought it new, new old stock, from Pete's Amps, @Petesamps.com, fabulous customer service, 2 months ago. It sits on top of an equally new THD 2 x 12" extention cabinet with custom made Longhorn 80 watt Celestions in it.

It is a true 2 channel amp with an excellent Fender "Blackface" amp clean channel including wonderful warm tube breakup. A bright/normal switch is included on this clean channel and I've found that using bright with even Gibson Dirty Fingers original pickups in an older Explorer still has a great clean sound to it. Overdrive channel is a duplicate of Warren Haynes' SLO sound. Both channels have independent bass, mid, treble, and reverb. Overdrive has a seperate gain which can be anything from SRV to all the metal you can handle. Both channels share one presence control.

I didn't care about adding an effects loop to it as I'm done with signal processors. Why bury this great Soldano sound with digital add on effects in the first place? They will do it for $350.00 if interested. Only thing I could have used would be the installed loop which will require REALLY good cables to your guitar etc. that would allow a passive style Volume pedal, i.e. Ernie Ball mono, to control amp volume versus just the guitar volume as I have now.

I use this amp at home jamming with cd's off a nice PA system. I will use this live in next year or so for sure, and have no intentions of acquiring a backup amp, this one does it all. The 100 watts it has is more power than I'll ever need, but for $100.00 more over a 50 watt, it was money WELL spent

Installed 5881 poweramp tubes and 12AX7 preamp tubes are perfect for the Southern rocking sound I play. I don't shred ever, and even though this amp will easily, I'm a Gary Rossington (Skynyrd founder) clone, also playing Allmans, Gov't Mule, Molly Hatchett, etc..

My guitars are 77' Fender Strat, Ash body, maple neck, SRV Texas Special pickups, Gibson Custom shop "Gary Rossington" Signature series, Tom Murphy aged, 59' Les Paul with Burstbucker #2 and #3 pickups, and an 83' Gibson Custom shop E2 Explorer, original Dirty Fingers pickups, and ebony fretboard. I've even tried this amp with my "junker" travel guitar, a Fender squire strat, bone stock, and it sound great with this crummy thing.

Amp is most versatile amp I have ever played. I've owned a number of amps in last 28 years from Acoustics, Peavey, original vintage Marshalls, etc. and this amp doesn't require wide open on the volume to sound good. It sounds great even at low volumes.

Noise from amp is minimal at best.

Sounds from this amp are whatever you wish. First thing you'll do is sell your effects. With this amp they are ridiculous. I only run a Liquid Chorus analog chorus/delay/echo, a Boss TU-2 tuner, and a volume pedal. That's it.

Clean channel with a Strat can peel paint. Bright, bold, clean, and warm all at the same time. Overdrive channel can provide all you need as well, or as little as you want. Unlike most tube amps, this amp allows for very subtle differences from clean to overdrive if you like. It accents your great playing and also accents your mistakes. You'll hear how you really sound when you play with this amp, it may be surprising to you, it was to me.. whew. Already making me a better player.

You couldn't tear this amp up it if you let Kindergarten kids work on it, and I've had young kids of my own. Everything, I mean everything on here is first class, hardcore, super strong from tolex, to tone knobs. Almost looks like what you saw in the 50's. No cheap looking plastic junk at all.

Wood used, tube parts, transformers, etc.. are all high end parts, best you can get are in this amp.

A big 10 here easily.

I've talked to Soldano on several occassions. They aren't the fastest to get back to you, however, they will, and your questions will be completely answered. They expect that if you are gonna shell out this kind of money for a great amp, you probably can already answer most questions on your own.

Bottom line with me is a perfectly made awesome amp, not the best receptionist or secretary answering the telephone or email, is obviously where it is at.

I've played for 28 years. I also own a nice recording studio at home, Mac high end computers, digital Performer 4.11 software, Rode handmade mics, M-Audio Omni USB interface, etc..

My band that never shows up drunk, drugged out, or late, is a Peavey KB 300 watt Keyboard/PA that I use to jam with using various cd's. Works great.

I guarantee in a heartbeat if stolen, and after my insurance paid off on it, I'd buy another Lucky 13 100 watt head.

I tried some new Mesa-Boogie amps, but way too involved with the bells and whistles which is just something else to break or go wrong, plus sound just wasn't anywhere close to this amp. Sure Rectifiers are nice and new Stiletto looks good, but they still can't compare to Mike Soldano's amps.

Yes, it is expensive, but you get what you pay for in most anything. Save your money on effects, and apply it to buying the best amp you can buy.

Money was no object for me with this amp, as this purchase was gonna be my last one, no more chasing tone. I'm fortunate to have a great job, Major US Airline Captain, and this was my only choice after all my research was complete. I did look at SLO 100 but it doesn't have the crystal clean channel like the Lucky 13 does.

After Reading the reviews I felt like adding mine to the data base. I have owned my L13 for three years. My Serial number is 0036. I purchased my head from a very knowledgable person with vast experience selling amps who helped me to tweak my head and this is why I'm writing this. I noticed that no one seemed to talk about their preamp tubes; these are not all created equal and there is a difference in what type of tone they will produce. I switched around the 12AX7 until I liked the sound for my particular taste. If anyone is interested in more infor please contact Solidbodyguitar.com and ask for Kenny, he is the person who assisted me with this endeavor. Some of you may thnk this is hogwash but trust me, my head went form a great mellow blues rock sound to having more of a Schenker/Lynch possibilty with the switching in of the right 12AX7. Also as far as effects, I feel that the gain is perfect with some of my guitars and needs a little help with others. I happen to be quite happy with the new ts7 from Ibanez with the settings all on 12 o clock. I have used numerous other pedals with this amp and found that they all bring something different to the table. This amp has more than enough power for me. I over power my half stack around 7. I have a SOldano Cabinet with 75 wattt Celestions.

BC Rich Gunslinger Ibanez Destroyer II (Neck thru) all Duncan equiped Custom Custom- Distortion Sounds great with the Destroyer sans pedal Rich works well with Ts7 all knobs 12 o clock
Not noisy to my ears no buzzings unwanted feedback My gain channel sounds great but I have a sweet 12 AX7 in specific place see above

Will take a spill off a pickup and work well...

HAvent had to use it

Been playing 13 years have owned Marshalls Fender Peavy heads
WOuld get a SLO head Love everything about it wish it had an effects loop but that degrades tone minor inconvenience
Great head for Rock or jazz( 50 Watt Combo) can be Metal Head with right preamp tube and effect pedal

I bought it brand new paid about 2800 euro for it (netherlands )
It's a fairly simple amp ,no xtra fx loop ,but dual tone controls and thats already a lot for a soldano (the decatone shares threechannels through onbe tonecontrol!) not missing the fx loop
you can use the reverb send return as a perfect fx loop for any other fx processor ( i use a yamaha PRO R3 studio reverb which sounds incredible in this combination) just buy two rca to jack cables and there you have your loop!(tip from the guy below)
I missed an extra drive switch on channel one but that was solved by one of the best tube guru's in the world ,more of that later on!
Wattage is excellent no further comments on this
I give an 8 because it simply isn't the most versatile amp but what's on it is usefull enough for me

I love the overdrive and clean sound they're absolutely perfect
but missed the crank on channel 1 so an amp guru named bart from BAMP
dived in my amp and came out with the most brilliant and open sounding amp I ever heard THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE
I used an old seymour duncan Trembucker loaded gibson explorer
and a stock jap strat and now I only use the strat
and in one word this will never be better really unbelievable everything you do you hear,the dynamic response is better then the best amp you ever heard brrr scary
If you want this mod which was fairly cheap ( 400 euro's ) mail him his email adres is bart@bamp.nl and he is running a company in the netherlands who are reselling soldano there
The mod uses the bright switch to boost channel one and oh boy it you could ever hear it
enough enough
plain ...with mod it receives the golden medal of honour and way, way more than a 10

stock I 'd give it and 10 because the overdrive and the clean sound are even in stock great sounding

I bought it because of music friends of me play soldano and they never had any problems with it. didn't have any problems so far either

very nice just asked for a solution on the clean amp crank up and I got one ,simply excellent

I play guitar now for over 25 years starting out at the age of 10
and had several amps before ranging from a philips soundmixer (hahaha yes you're in hell when plugin in the mic input)
through a london city and a ship load of stompboxes and pedals
dumped them all since I don't use them anymore accept for the old od's and compressors which I'll never sell

would buy one the next day if it was stolen ,this thing has becomne my main inspiration,so would buy it with the mod already in it!

SO EVERYONE STOP SEARCHING buy this amp get the mod and laugh at all the searchers!
Good luck and thank you Mike and Bart

This is the first 100 watt head I've ever bought. The lucky 13 had all the features I was looking for: 2 channels, 100 watts, separate volume and Eq for each channel, and reverb for each channel. It does not have an effects loop, but I don't need one as I only use foot pedals. I think a half-power switch would've been a nice addition, but you can always take away two power tubes or just buy the 50 watt version I suppose. I gave this an 8 b/c it had everything I was looking for without any of the usual gimmicks other amps in its class offer.

I play a USA Strat with a humbucker in the bridge position, an Ephiphone Les Paul with EMG's, and a Deluxe Telecaster. When I first bought the amp the highs seemed too piercing with my single coils so I put a humbucker in my strat. That helped some, but I still struggled with the Eq's constantly to get a decent tone that fit my playing. The amp just seemed to lack depth to me, but i was determined to work with it. After about a year, I finally got it right when I replaced the stock Sovtek 5881's with JJ 6l6's. All of sudden the amp just came alive in a new way. The tones were much more complex and the highs became much more smooth. This amp responds really well to different tubes and I would recommend to anyone to replace the stock tubes in it right away.
I play rock music in the vein of Zeppelin, Hendrix, and Jeff Buckley..this amp does all of those well. Since I replaced my tubes, the distortion channel has a nice sonic crunch to it that's doesn't get muddy and a nice thickness to it when doing bar chords. However, it also retains clarity when playing dissonant chords as well. The clean channel on this amp is bright and bouncy without being annoying. At first I had a hard time getting used to it..it wasn't dark and muddy like my Fender was..but now i love it. I use a Clark gainster on it to distort it a bit as kind of a halfway point between the clean and the high gain section. This is a very articulate amp and cuts through the mix like a sharp knife. I'm a very busy player, so when I'm on stage I'm gald people can hear all the little things I'm doing now.

This amp is built extremely well. I sometimes hear people gripe about how expensive Soldanos are, but you get what you pay for. This amp has survived numerous trips in the back of my band's trailer without a road case (although I'm saving up for one!) and without a problem. The only problem I've had with it was when the reverb tube starting acting funny and was easily fixed with a replacement. Also, once at an outdoor show I starting getting a really bad buzz from it during the last part of our set. I believe it to have been a grounding problem b/c when I touched the amp, the buzz stopped. Other than that, no problems.

I've e-mailed Soldano a number of times with general questions and for problem shooting. Each time my questions were answered promptly and courtesly. These guys value their customers and it shows.

I've been playing for about 10 years and own several other amps including a Fender Prosonic, Fender Bassman bass amp, and a Marshall JTM 45 RI. The Soldano is by far the best amp I own for gigging and band practice. It also handles pretty well in the studio. If it were lost or stolen I'd probably get another one...if not the same amp, another Soldano. Finding a small company who makes well crafted hand made amps in the USA and who puts as much into their customer service as their amps is hard to find. Soldano is truly a great company. I am currently considering selling my Fender Prosonic for a Soldano Astroverb 16 to us as a good home practice amp.
I'd recommend this amp to anyone looking for a well built great sounding rock amp.

Pretty straight forward amp. 2 channel all tube non-master volume. It could have used a few more features in my opinion (an fx loop). Even though it's a great sounding amp, I'm rating it a 1 because I don't want other potential buyers to do what I did - buy it and realize that what you get is all you get.

I hate it when guys list all their shit like they're trying to make everyone jealous. All I'll say is that I love effects and this was ultimately the reason I got rid of this amp.

First, in my opinion, this is the best sounding clean channel I've ever heard from a 'high-gain' amp. I found it almost impossible to dial in a bad tone. Very glassy with tons of headroom. I found that the reverb wasn't really audible until about '2' on the dial and very noisy. But it's plenty deep and you can get sounds to die for.

The overdrive channel is a different story. Granted, it does sound very good. Retains clarity and definition at high volumes. But it just didn't have enough gain to really make leads sing. The more I played it, the more It reminded me of a Marshall. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge Marshall fan. I was looking for something with a little more grind to it. If hard rock/metal is your thing, look elsewhere. This thing is geared more toward CLASSIC hard rock than modern hard rock. Overall, great sound, just not enough balls for what I play.

I only had the amp for about 3 1/2 months so I can't really say. I did open it up so I could have a look at the chassis. WOW! That thing was immaculate!

I contacted Soldano by email and received an answer the next day. Can't say that about most other places.

Once again, a great sounding amp - just not my cup-o-tea. I wound up trading it in for a Bogner Uberschall (think less expendsive Diezel).

I would totally recommend this amp to guitarist that are more into a straight ahead tone and don't like a lot of bells an whistles.

I purchased the Soldano Lucky 13 approx. 60 days ago . I've played it quite a bit during those 60 days and feel ready to review. 100 watts of vintage tone on the clean side augmented by a silky smooth reverb. The high gain channel takes you from a modest crunch to molten lead. I will not rate the features as this is a straight forward clean channel / high gain channel head. Someone who likes a lot of bells and whistles may not care for the simplicity of this tone machine but I love it. For that reason I find it tough to rate "features".

I play a 75 Les Paul, G&L Legacy and a G&L ASAT Deluxe through the Lucky 13. The head conveys a totally unique tone from each instrument. The tone is great either single coil or humbucker, but to my liking I prefer the single coils clean and the humbuckers on the gain side. The reverb is exceptional, at setting 4 it delivers just the right warmth. The dials go to 13 so you've got enough room to drown if that's your preference. The headroom on the clean side is vast. This head is loud and crisp, it responds to whatever eq you,ve dailed in. I'm playing through a Marshall 1936 2 x 12 cab and in my opionion, it delivers a crisp smooth tone even at lower volumes. I would give the Lucky 13 the highest recommendation to anyone who is truly into straight ahead tone. No gimmicks in this box. This head has a slight hum when the amp is pegged at zero volume which is due to the reverb circuit. Once the volume is advanced to a playing position, the hum is non-existent.

I've only had it 60 days, it looks to be built like a safe. I've owned a Soldano Astroverb 16 for two years and that amp has been 100% reliable. I expect the same from the Lucky 13.

The company responds immediately to my emails, responding to any question I present. On one occasion the owner, Mike Soldano, himself wrote to me explaining the answer to a question. Without question, customer support is a 10.

Been playing for 28 years, I've only owned a few amps through all those years. Fender twin, Deluxe reverb, Crate G60, Marshall 401, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe,Johnson JT50, Soldano Astroverb 16 2x12( If you can find a Soldano Atroverb (no longer mfg) check it out, I give it the highest recommendation). I've only rated one amp in the past and I gave it a 4, to rate a 10 it's got to be awesome. I searched for 6 months prior to deciding on the Lucky 13. There are so many nice heads on the market, it's just that the Soldano Lucky 13 had the sparkling vintage clean side and a wide array of gain capabilitities from subtle to raw, coupled with a warm reverb. If you get a chance to check one out I think it will be well worth your while.

Simplicity is closest to perfection. Two channels-three sounds.

Channel 1 is clean and sweet like a virgin. channel 2 with the guitar volume rolled back brings blues tones that make you feel the pain. channel 2 with the guitar volume knob all the way up brings the pain.

Just bought it so don't know but damn I hope so.

Brand new so don't know.

I have played for 25 years. For ten of those I have searched for an amp like this. Simply put, get to know- a Soldano.