Soldano SL-60 Head

I bought this amp around 4 months ago, and have waited to write a review until I fully felt I was able to be accurate. According to the guy at Guitar Center, this amp is from 1991. It has blue handwritten serial numbers and such on the back, which indicates it is a MIK model. Those with red ink are from Japan I believe, and were made later than the Korean ones. From what I've been able to find out, a small number were also made by Mike Soldano himself in the USA. This amp has 2 6L6s in the power stage and 4 12AX7s in the preamp.

This amp has pretty basic features, which is ok. Lo gain and Hi gain input jack, preamp volume, bass middle and treble, Master volume, and presence. One channel, but that's fine with me. If you are seeking versatility this amp is PROBABLY not for you. 60 watts is plenty enough for gigging.

Another thing I should put out is that this amp has an extremely usable Master volume. It seems like with the volume on 2 it is exponentially louder than with volume on 1. I have managed to crank this amp to 4 in my bedroom, but when I get to 5, it seems like it is doubly louder than 4. Try not to take the volume below 8 o'clock, and it limits the dynamic range and sounds bad.

On the back panel, you have some great features. It has a slave out, with level control, fuses, effects loop (one of the downsides to the amp, at least in my opinion, a +4db boost in parallel configuration), two speaker out jacks, and one of my favorite features on this amp, and impedance selector to select between 4, 8, or 16 ohms.

The things I wish this amp had are reverb, and a series effects loop. Other than that, you really don't need anything else. In fairness, you could probably get a reverb pedal and run it through the loop for cheaper than buying an amp that has reverb built in.

Soldanos are the benchmark for rock sound. This amp has all the crunch you could ever want, and then some. This is the amp that the Hot Rod 50 was based on, except with more gain! I use a Gibson Les Paul with 57 Classic pickups, and there is nothing better than a Soldano and Les Paul together. I run this amp through an Egnater 4x12 with Vintage 30s, but have gigged it with a Mesa 2x12, which sounded a little punchier.

I find this amp sounds like a Marshall, except better. I like the sound of the 6L6s, they sound much better than EL34's and EL84's when overdriven, I find that they have more bottom end and glassiness if you want them to, but can really rock if you keep the mids on 5 say. It has more overtones and harmonics than a Marshall.

I run mine around 6 on the preamp, and boost it from there with a Fulldrive to keep it from getting muddy. This trick works very well. Also, I have noticed that there is not much more gain on tap with the preamp on 10 as opposed to the preamp on 8 (all these numbers are approximate, as the front panel is not numbered). Try not to take the preamp above 7 1/2, as I have noticed it gets muddy.

For the amount of gain on tap, this amp is extremely quiet. I always have my Fulldrive on, and sometimes I throw a Boss compressor on to get that "For the Love of God" sound, and even then, there is a tiny bit of noise. By the way, if you put on your neck pickup, it can get a sort of Eric Johnson sound, depending where you have your settings.

If you want a clean sound, plug into the lo jack, and use the preamp to adjust how dirty you want your cleans. It CANNOT get a Fender clean sound at an audible volume. If you want great cleans and footswitchable versatility, get an SLO or a Decatone, or a HR50+. However, when plugged into to lo jack, this amp can give you some nice ACDC crunch.

One thing that others have pointed out, this amp is bright. Very bright. It's not a problem though if you keep the treble low. I have my treble around 10 o'clock, and the presence on 5. The presence is a useful control for adjusting your sound when at a gig with different acoustics, for example.

One more thing about the sound, I have NEVER heard an amp that sounds like this. It has it's own voice that you cannot find anywhere else. A High gain Plexi or HR50 is the closest thing to it, sound wise.

No problems so far. I have gigged this amp without a backup, just keep extra fuses handy, just in case.

I emailed them once to ask about the history of this amp, how many made, etc and have never heard back from them. I'm sure if I called them they would be more than happy to answer any questions I have though.

I doubt the warranty is still effective.

If this amp was stolen, I would hunt down the person who stole it and get my amp back. If I couldn't find him I would buy another one. This amp is not the most versatile amp ever made, but it does what it does extremely well. The overdriven/distorted sound is incredible, one of the best I have ever heard. A lot of people complain about the brightness, but if you take the time to work with it, you will be well rewarded. Before I bought this, I compared it to an early 90's JCM800, Mesa Single Rec, Rivera, and Egnater Rebel. The distortion on this amp blows them all away, and every time I play through this amp it sounds better than what I think it will sound like. This is a great, moderately affordable way to own a real Soldano if you don't want to shell out 4 grand for an SLO. I plan on getting a HR50 or Decatone, or even a Carvin, to switch between clean and dirty, with this being the dirty tone. Probably the greatest priced amp you will ever come across, don't pay any attention to the fact that is was made overseas- it's still a Soldano.

1991 single channel 60watt amp. Has high and low inputs and both are very usable.
Looking inside this amp it is obviously built very well.
Also has an great effects loop and slave out.
The amp is a loud 60watts but also sound incredible at low volumes too. Controlling the amp with the guitar volume feels natural and organic but can turn angry instantly.

I have run through various cabinet configuration, 4x12, 2x12, front loaded, rear loaded, Celestions, Eminence - all sound great with V30 front loaded my favorite! The amp is very quiet, no loud hiss or unmusical noises. Clean channel is great when dialed in and again can get pretty clean on high gain setting by turning down guitar volume. All tone controls are very effective too.

Just look inside - simplicity at it's best, flying leads and non-board mounted tube sockets. All the switches feel strong and the jacks don't feel timid when plugging in.

Soldano is great! Always reply to emails and even answer the phone for questions.

Awesome amp for high gain rock that can be versatile enough for other styles too!

1991
60 watt, two inputs but a single channel amp.
I use it for studio, on the road, and as a back up to a slo 100 and a dual rec mesa.
The only problem is this amp is a one trick pony, although it does its tricks better than 90% of the so called heavy amps out there, it isnt for country guys, or clean channel junkies, its for people who want tone, without the massive volume to get it, and serious crunch.
Not that it isnt loud, but its nice to have a amp not have to be on 8 to get the thing to talk.

I am really suprised this amp is so ballsy.
It runs even with my slo 100 ( people can say what they want, but I have a A/B switch and can sit for hours trying to find the differences and really cant )
For the cost, this is a great amp, and a excellent amp for soldano fans.

Never had an issue, and I bought it in 91 new. Changed the tubes, but its one tough heavy SOB that has not had any problems....Yet!

Never had to deal with soldano as their products are top notch.

There were only 150 made, so if you see one in good shape, GRAB IT!
They wont be around for ever and like other soldano gear, they will one day go through the roof to the collector crowd, which I aint.
I buy em to play, not look at.
If it dont glow, it dont go.

1 channel ,Hi and Low input , on my Amp customized to be footswitched.
Very loud 60W.

I used a Gibson 83?s Customshop Flying-V , Gibson Explorer 76?s reissue Limited Edition ,Gibson Les Paul Studio(earlier one).
It sounds great , rocksound at all.
I think it is possible to play all kind of Music but it?s best for Rock-Music.

Didn?t broke down yet , would use it without backup.

No need so far

I?m playing it now for 2years, to be continued...............
Would buy this one again but don?t think it?s easy to become one.
I also use a Engl Savage SE(old version) , more channels but the Soldano have the pure sound in it.I compare to a Naylor SuperDrive60 , the sound quality is nearly same , Soldano sounds more modern.
I wish the SL60 had 2 channels , a real clean channel and for me it would be perfect.

Single channel amp, identical to a Soldano HR50. It has 2 input high and low but you can only use 1 at a time. The difference in levels between the 2 channel keeps you from using a A/B switch but you can roll off the volume on your guitar and it cleans up nicely. has an effects loop but only works well with Rack gear, this is true of all soldano amps. 60 watts but it's tube so it's more than enough. I would have given it a 10 if it had channel switching but if you're looking for a nice relatively flexible amp without that feature, it's more than enough.

This is where it shines, I know people ahve mix opinions about this amp but I think depending on what kind of cab, guitar and tubes you use, you can get an awesome tone out of this amp. I'm currently using a Fender strat with a custom SD in the bridge, with a Marshall 1960 cab or 1936 cab, and a decent set of sovteks for the tubes. The amp is pretty quiet and the gain is awesome. Similar to my SLO, I know this will burn alot of people the wrong way because they paid 6 times for thier SLO but Mike has a unique circuit and tone to his amp that's pretty consistant through the SL, HR and SLO series. If you're looking to save some $$$$ but want the SLO tone and gain, get this amp or any of the earlier Yamaha T series amp. I had a Yamaha T100 and it sounded identical to my SLO as well. Call up Mike and he'll tell you the circuits are pretty much the same with the exception of the components. The SLO uses Military grade parts so it's suppose to last a REALLY long time but when you consider people are paying $$$$ for old fenders and marshalls WITHOUT the military grade parts, makes you think, not having MG parts doesn't really matter.

I've had this amp for 5 years and have never had a problem with it. I've had to change the tubes about 3 times but it was well worth it. The amp is built well even though it's the Japanese version of the HR50. Mike wouldn't put his name on it if it wasn't a true Soldano.

Never had a problem

I've been playing for about 20 years, pretty much every style and I've won about 20 guitar contest (not bragging, just expressing my level of playing). I own a ton of gear, mesa, soldano, marshall, fender, Budda, THD, Egnater, etc. Despite the lack of channel switching capabilities, this is an awesome amp. Considering only 150 of these were made, I have a feeling it's going to be a collectors item in the next couple of years, just like the prices of the SP-77 preamps have skyrocketed in the past couple of years.

Fairly basic set of features of an amp, but who really needs more? It seems sometimes you trade tone for features and this amp has great tone.

Amp has two inputs (high and low gain). Use the first input for clean or the second for distorted sounds. Master volume control to adjust playing volume.

The only thing I wish this amp had was reverb (however the effects loop could be used to overcome this if I had a reverb pedal etc). Though the more I think about it, I don't really mind too much as the amp has heaps of tone already (typically people often use a lot of reverb to try and improve the tone of a poor amp).

So although this doesn't have heaps of flashy features, it does what it does well.

I play a Les Paul copy and I can get a nice clear chimey clean tone out of this when I use the bass pickup. Sounds nicer than the JCM800, JCM900 and JCM2000 amps that I also have. Maybe this is because it has 6L6 tubes rather than the EL34s found in the other amps.

I play a variety of types of music from clean, bluesy stuff to heavy chugging metal.

Distortion is good, but sounds even better when the master volume is cranked up (as with all tube amps). Clean tones become even warmer when cranked too.

Has never given me any problems in the two or so years I have had it.

I read below that someone's amp tech informed him that the wiring on these amps in pretty poor and needs to be redone. I've opened mine up and i must say the wiring is very neat and tidy, as are all the amps internals. Perhaps he had a prototype amp? Who knows.

Soldano were really good when I emailed them asking what sort of valves should ideally go into this amp. The emailed me back, although I think it may have taken a week or so to get a reply.

Overall I am very happy with this amp, doesn't have heaps of features but it does have good tone. I'd trade features for tone any day.

These are pretty rare, grab one if you get the chance!

This amp was made between 89-90 period. As you read in other reviews this amp can be very brite, just turn the presence and trebile down and you will be good to go. No channel switching but high and low inputs are both good. This amp would be better if you could channel switch but for $485 bucks I can not complain. I use a DOD Analog delay in the effects loop and that takes the volume down abit in a good way. Highly recommend running a DOD effect threw the loop, it is a good thing.

I am useing a Music Man Axis (just came out after EVH stop endorsing MM) and the guitar is great threw this amp. I have used EMGs but went back to the stock Dimarzios. In my opinon EMGs suck, use passive pick ups like Duncan and you will like it much more, trust me. I play anything threw blues, Ozzy, Slayer, Metallica and it does the job. It is alittle buzzy but nothing like a little tweaking and hand style can't change. It has enough gain for me, and I like allot of it. The trick is to use this amp in a setting where you can turn it up tp 5 at least. I use it for practice and at 1 or 2 I can get the sound I need. I never take the gain past 6, no need for it. Learn to tune in your head properly. The problem isn't the amp in this case it is the player. I hear people compalin about hiss or buzz, Do not use sigle coils then, it is the nature of those to buzz. It gets plenty loud enough. I use a Carvin Legacy cab with 2x25 Greenbacks and they sound great.

I took it to a local amp doctor (Roccaforte Amps) and he broke it to me that this thing was not the best construction. You can gig with it but the wiring should be re-done cleanly. Don't get the wrong idea I love this amp and will not part with it but honestly it was an experiment like other reviewers have told and was made in Japan, then imported. I do not think Soldano are what you would say a "boutiq amp". That would be more like DR.Z, Roccaforte, Mako, or Top Hat. If you want to spen $2000 or $3000 look for a good independent amp designer. Its has never failed, even when I just received it. Of course I do not push it at all.

Called Soldano and they took my call right away and gave me all the information I needed. I wouldn't ship this head to Washington to have work done on it, alreay have a great amp tech for that (Roccaforte Amps).

I have been playing on and off for 17 years and had some crappy equipment (old Crate G-60, Ibanez, Gibson SG,) and this is a good cheap, used amp. The only thing I didn't like when I got mine is the idiot I bought it from on e-bay packed it like crap, must of had the original tubes in it and it still played fine. After re-tubing much better. Do not compair Soldano products to boutiq amps, totally diffrent. If you want to spend a lump of cash on something good look at Roccaforte or Dr.Z. I have also owned Mesa Dual Retos but I would actually own this instead. The boogie is too nasaly, this is more like a good Marshall 800 or 900 but with low end and better gain. I got mine in not so good condition then spent $140 on re-tube and total clean up and I am still happy with it.

i got this amp as a test bed for mods and improvments... straight foreward no frills set up. the eq is pretty sensitive and can be quite brite. one channel which is fine for the way that i play. most of the treble is unusable. and the gain is very high

this amp is not beefy at all. if it had a mean low end it would be a very usable amp. im gonna mod it to boost the low end and im gonna slap some el34s in it. it is a really dirty sounding amp and sounds bright tinny any scrachy when loud, and i play a 72 lp standard.

i plan on this thing to break down as it has before. this is an american model but itis built like crap. before i had it, it was in the shop 3 times for arced out tube sockes and lack of grounding. it has the thinnest guage wireing ive ever seen, and 1/4 watt resistors. so pretty much he cut corners to save $5 per amp. the caps are on a board also which scares me. one good thing though is that the pre amp tubes are not on a board. it looks like it has hefty trannies.

never dealt with them.

ive been playing for al long time and have had lots of amps and have learned that if you want a marshall, buy a marshall. this amp is a hot rodded marshall built like crap. buy an early marshall and mod it to the sound you want and you will be a happy camper.

tHIS AMP WAS MADE IN 1989-1990. tHIS IS A SINGLE CHANNEL UNIT, WITH HIGH-LOW GAIN STAGES.The effectloop is standard. It would be a great package if a clean channel was available. This is mostly a live amp. It is very loud. I have a/b it to the Slo-100 AND THIS IS BETTR SOUNDING!! I think the voicing is very well rounded!! The E.Q. is even balanced. I installed the xl-voicing feature and only use this at 20%

I have a Zion R/T Classic with a JEFF bECK S/D Pickup.
This is a well rounded guitar with great strat tones and the rear pick up is very less paulish.. The singles are texas specials (The mex.)Ones because they soun like specials but are hotter in output.
This combination is very well suited for classic stuff , but the great feature about this is the S-R-V grit this head will spill out.
The gain is well rounded , almost like a jcm-800 but with character in the mid. This is the best live head i have used?? The down falls are the single channel , but if you use a J.B. Pickup you can roll down the volume and get real clean , yet not muddy!

This amp is well built. Trust me a evh5150 is a piece of crap compared to this. I am a trube head and also can bias an amp. If you run mesa 5881 tubes yell band values of15-24 you can run the bias alittle low 10% and when you turn the volume up your output will not
break up as bad as you turn this amp up. always use chinese tubes for the preamp. Sovtecks will be to hot, and bitey. i use 1 sovteck
and 3 groove chinese tubes. This will help this amps tone believe me!!!

Its A SOLDANO!! This company backs any thing they make!!
The technitions are the best i have ever worked with. Although they arent big on the construction of the head , they all believe it sound real good.

I use a marshall cabinet with simulated baffeling inside the box. It is the same configuration as a soldano cabinet. What it gives is less cabinet shutter from low frequencys. I hate that. I had a soldano cab , and got rid of it regretfully. So i baffeled my marshall inside with poly foam in a + pattern and it is killer. I will never part with this unit. I have friends beating their heads to get tone like mine??? Sometimes you get lucky and are happy with tone?? It is inexpensive , and consistant?? Live it is second to none? I wish it had a clean channel and may have one installed! If you can find one of these, get it..... only 100 or so were made.
They may be a collectable. Many of my friend have much more$ into their systems and really i am convinced this is crazy?
If you have a good delay , good cabinet , great guitar and you still think it sounds poor, Have your ears checked!!! This amp is simple.
Loud, has great tone , is somewat versitile and to my ear blows the slo-100 , and hr-50+ away?? I wish it had reverb.

I have two reports on the age of this amp-- one "89-90" and one "circa 93", both from soldano. go figure. the amp's full proper title is "series II super lead 60." this was part of a short-lived experiment by soldano with overseas manufacturing. in other words, it's an import, but don't start thinking "epiphone" or "marshall valvestate," this is of higher caliber.
the amp is driven by two 6L6s, purty unusual for a box based on a Marshall. it's got (duh) 60 watts, and is a single-channel. front panel has low and high gain inputs; my understanding is you cannot use an A/B box to go between the two (so i didn't even try). there's preamp gain, 3-band EQ, master volume and presence. on the back, an FX loop and a slave out. pretty standard stuff. this amp is damn near identical to the new HR50s both in terms of looks and setup.

i have two hamers, a T-51 tele copy and a special FM (kinda-LP-jr thing), both with the appropos duncans. this is an exceedingly bright amp. personally, i like bright, and i rarely had the presence or treble turned beyond 1 o'clock. the tele was just about unusable through this amp; it physically hurt. the special, meanwhile, sounded pretty tasty and full.
sidenote before i begin: i will make no reference to stevie ray vaughan, zz top, bush or dEtH mEtL. i don't play in any of those musicians' styles and i never will. it drives me batty when i'm trying to find out how an amp sounds and the only HC reviewers are classic rock stoners who can only tell me how it sounds when they play a blues scale for the zillionth time in their bedroom. given that my primary tone influences are a bit obscure, and that every amp is going to sound different in the hands of two different players, i'll just attempt to describe this amp in the most objective terms possible without referencing other musicians. thank you for your time.:
one should mention the difference between the low and high gain inputs. in theory, it is possible to get an entirely clean tone on this amp. with the hot duncans on my FM, i could not get squeaky clean out of it at acceptable settings on the *amp*. most preamp settings produced a nice sparkling gritty sound, on up to a not-so-usable mushy crunch. the amp stays clean with the pre on about 1 or 2, but the tone is weak and you have to pin the master for a usable volume in a band context. your best bet here is to put the gain back up and turn down the guitar volume a bit. even then, i had a hard time balancing the amp's formidable low-end punch with an absence of distortion. additionally, the sound was dark and grindy as opposed to the the wide open spaces of a fender or the austere, matter-of-fact jab-in-the-face of a hiwatt. it's a cool tone but i would not want it as my lone clean sound and i can't imagine it being useful for a lot of people.
the high-gain side, as you might imagine if you know anything about soldano, is pretty good. some people (including me) might do well with a bit more gain, but for me, treble is a far more intense audience motivator than crunch, and this amp has the top-end bite that marshall owners don't know they're missing. the amp is semi-classic-rocky sounding in the lower half and begins to get a little meaner in the top half. there isn't a great deal of tonal difference between a 7 and a 10 on the gain knob here-- with the exception of increased noise level. the amp is not horribly noisy but it could have been better.
since it's obvious that many players looking at this and the comparable HR50 are going to be after "that soldano crunch," i'll focus on that. i'd put this somewhere between a good JCM 800 and a VHT. if you're a moron, you can do a convincing AC/DC with this, i'm sure, but for me the appealing quality was the sheer growl and presence of the tone. in the end it didn't have quite enough clarity for the kind of ridiculous dissonances i play (if you like the flat 9 and sharp 11 as much as I do, a little dab'a'VHT'll do ya). but it is certainly a clearer, more scalding/articulate, and ANGRIER tone than a marshall. this is not to say this is the perfect death metal amp-- it's not even close-- but the tone is in-your-face in a very *different* way.
this amp REQUIRES the appropriate cab. i demoed it through a mesa rec 4x12 and it sounded astonishing. brought it home to my (don't laugh) peavey w/sheffields and it became more mild-mannered and less eye-opening. this amp also *begs* to be opened up, like other soldanos i've played with. it's not truly happy until it's out of the bedroom.

i didn't own the amp for long. it was cared for well before i had it. i have no reason to believe it will break down with so much as a mismatched load, nor do i think it's an indestructible drop-it-from-a-3rd-story-window setup.

soldano was relatively friendly when they broke the bad news to me that it was a japanese model. they're iffy about responding to emails. i had to call when i had a question about power consumption after two emails produced nothing, but my initial email asking about the amp's vital specs was replied to in three days.

i would advise anyone looking at boutique or semi-boutique stuff *not* to be hypnotized by a name and *not* to assume that you can sell it back because it's in hot demand. i bought this amp on a whim, knowing nothing about it or the company's current lineup. it sounded good and seemed like a pretty good deal. but when i spent a couple weeks with it and decided that a channel-switching amp would be a brighter idea than lugging this around with an extra fender for clean and two cabs, i put it on the market. i naively figured that a soldano for $600 would sell in a split second. it took me two months to sell it going through every conceivable local and online venue and i really lost my shirt. the very nice gent below me here purchased it from me for $450, which is a pretty good deal. if i saw one again, personally, i wouldn't be willing to pay much more than $400 for it. i like the high-gain sound but the clean is too iffy and the lack of channel switching is also a big turnoff both for me and for other gearaholics.
i've just ordered a new VHT 50/ST head, which has the aforementioned missing features and tones, and the high gain channel is a good bit more articulate, touch-sensitive and clear. it cost a bit more money but i think it's going to be worth it. i've been after the VHT tone for years, been through TONS of other amps, rack setups and pedals trying to get it, and i decided it was just time to break down and buy one. the soldano came the closest of any head i've tried to the VHT tone, but it didn't quite nail it-- mike and stevie fryette have quite different approaches to tone. and in many ways, it is a one-or-two-trick pony. it does, however, look EXTREMELY boss on stage. :)
i will say that if you're looking for the soldano crunch and on a budget, this is the way to get it. the HR-50 is too pricey new (or used) for what it does, the astroverbs and atomics sound like utter tin-can shit, and the yamaha t-series are way too buzzy and overcolored. according to soldano, there are 750 other SL-60s out there. be a smart buyer and you'll come away with a neat little package for a reasonable price.
i have a sound file from this amp if anyone wants to hear it.

This is a Soldano "Super Lead" Series 2 SL-60 head. It is almost identical to the HR-50. It has the same features, same look, and uses two 5881 power tubes. Mine is a grey/white color a black grill on the front and on the back. When I emailed the guys at Soldano I was told that these amps where the precursors to the HR-50 amps and were made in about 1990 or so. It is a single channel amp, with high and low gain jacks on the front. It is versatile enough for what I use it for. I play (or try to) early VH, some R.E.M. and U2 stuff as well as a tad of the blues now and again. I think the amp is just perfect as it is now. Maybe a parallel effects loop or foot switchable channels would be nice, but its not needed with the amps sensativity to the volume knob and your picking style. I use this amp at home and out. It could have more features, but then again this is all I need or want.

I use a strat with single coils. I think of all the guitars I have tried with the amp, the strat gives the widest range of tones. The LesPauls I tried sounded too muddy without turning the highs up. The Wolfgang was okay, but nothing great. I tried some Charlotte or something by Hammer made in the 80's. That just didn't cut it either. This amp has some hum, especially on high gain settings. Using a good cable usually fixes that problem. What is neat about this amp is that you can set the EQ for the guitar you are using, plug in to the low or high depending on your general mood, and simply twist the preamp and volume knobs to a range for the song you're playing. Then just fiddle with the volume on your guitar. Using the guitar's volume knob on low settings makes the amp clean. Turning it up high makes it distorted. The clean channel can be distorted at high volumes when you crank the pre-amp. It sounded fairly clean to me. I wouldn't call the distortion brutal. It is not at all harsh even with the pre-amp on 10 and the guitar volume maxed. I think that it's rather warm. I wouldn't play Metallica or anything extreamly heavy on this. It probably would get there with a stomp box, or on 10. I think its strong point is the semi-distorted sound. I use this head with a Marshall cab from a 1969 Plexi, with Greenbacks. I tried it with a few other cabs. The VHT was a little too muffled and dark for it. It did get a nice crunch to it. The new Marshall had a nice lead tone to it, but not as good as the old one.

Has never broken down. I expect the tubes will go at some point. It is solid, just gotta make sure the grills are on good. Based on other reports Soldano gear is reliable.

I mailed them once. The were brief but helpful. The never did send the catalog I requested. I am pretty sure the warranty is up. I know that they will fix or mod it if I mail it back to them.

I love the look of it. It looks and sounds absolutely fabulous. If it were stolen or lost I would probably get a different Soldano. I doubt I will ever find this one again, but an HR50 is the closest thing to it. I hate how heavy it is.