Soldano X88R Preamp

Mike Soldano is one of the best people in the industry, and given the X88R was desigend in the 80's it is a great unit. It lacks MIDI which I solved using a Axess MIDI switcher unit.

My style is very heavy overdrive with little effects. The X88R is very brittle sounding with not a lot of sustain. The unit I owned was was mint late 80s unit I bought on Ebay. After reading all the posts I was very dissapointed and the posts did not accurantly reflect the sounds I was able to get from the unit. This is just my opinion.

All Soldanos ceom with a lifetime warranty

Mike Soldano always answers the phone and is just great. All units come with a lifetime warranty.

The X88r is not what I was looking for.........sorry. Currently run a Line 6 pro xt through an old Marshall JMP-1 100 watt with head loaded with GE 6550s. Cab in 4x12 Celestion greenbacks wired to 4 ohms. Guitar is either 1990 Fender strat Mexican built, or 1992 Les Paul std with JBs.

Listen to TSO for an idea of what this sounds like.

it's the standart x88r i don't know when i was made.
i'm giving it a 9 in features because there is no reverb. i actually do not use reverb or any effects when i play but i think that a modern amp should have reverb. some people say that reverb makes the amp sound worse so maybe thats a good thing.

I play this preamp with a vht two-ninety-two and a marshall 1960 tv cab. with this rig i almost have the sound i want (you never get the sound you really want) so i am really happy with it.
my guitars are a gibson les paul custom and a washburn n4. I play mostly hard rock from the early 90 (extreme, mr big...)
the sound is to die for!!

never been anything wrong with this pramp.

there i a lifetime warranty for all handmade soldano amps ( x88, slo, x99 etc) but only for people in the Us and since i live in denmark....

i think the purple lokks absolutely stunning!
i will never play anything but my x88r

I believe this particular X88R was made in 1989, 3 channels (clean, crunch, overdrive) of some of the BEST tube preamp tone you will ever hear! It can handle ALL styles of music, regardless of what others may say... I can play laid back jazz, jazz/rock fusion, or all out technical death metal and it delivers! Simple easy to use and rugged, plus it looks good (I happen to like that silly purple that Soldano is so fond of).

I'm using a custom GMW 7-string neck thru guitar with DiMarzio Evolution 7 (bridge) and Tone Zone 7 (middle) pickups going into the X88R, through a CAE 4x4 controller with a CAE RS-10MkII MIDI Footswitch, Eventide GTR4000 Ultra-Harmonizer and VHT 2/50/2 EL34 based 2 channel poweramp, also a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor looped via the 4x4 controller all fed in stereo to a Marshall 1960BV 4x12 Cabinet w/Celestron Vintage 30 speakers... there is no noticable noise and it sounds absolutely AMAZING!! Clean channel is so clean and smooth, I was impressed. Crunch channel has a nice classic rock tone to it, but the Overdrive channel is to die for! I must have sat in front of my setup for hours the first time I hooked up the X88R, just strumming open chords on the Overdrive channel and being blown away that I could hear EVERY NOTE! It was mesmorizing... everyone should really hear this preamp for themselves because words cannot do it justice. Like the other reviewer described: "Molten Honey" best sums it up... hot, smooth and sweet!

The craftsmanship of this preamp is top-notch, it is so well built that I can open it up and just stare at the internals as if I were in an art museum looking at a masterpiece. The knobs are smooth and solid, same with the switches and jacks, aside from normal tube wear I don't think it CAN fail! But if it does, lifetime warranty! Can't beat that.

Every one over at Soldano I've spoken to (Bill Sundt, Mike Soldano) are incredibly friendly and interested in your concerns and questions. My X88R was used off of EBay, so when I finally got it I realized that it had been modified (2 seperate mods) that were not mentioned in the ad (typical EBay scenario) but with a call to Soldano, and a quick turn-around time to boot once I shipped it out, they were able to restore and retube it back to factory specs. Not very many CEO's answer the phone at other companies, but I was impressed to find out one time when I called for service that I was talking to Mike Soldano himself about my problem, he was enthusiastic and genuinely interested in talking with his customers. Impressive. Did I mention lifetime warranty??

I have been playing on and off for about 20 years, I've had alot of various setups and preamps (ADA MP-1, Marshall JMP-1, Mesa Boogie Triaxis, Soldano SP77, etc.) and NONE come close to the X88R! The Triaxis was nice, but I didn't like the complexity of the front panel, I like the fact that the X88R has knobs that I can turn as I'm tweaking my sound. If it was stolen I'd have to buy another of course.

I believe this amp is made in `94, since it is part of the printing in the serial number. Purple in colour, 2 u preamp.
It`s a fairly basic consept..three channels with each having seperate gain, bass, middle, treble and volume settings. Clean and crunch also have seperate bright switches.
No effectsloop, and no midiswitching. Just three jack-inputs for standard footswitches.
I don`t miss anything..all the rest of my equipment fits like a glove with this pre..
This preamp delivers..I play anything from classic pop/rock to country-rock and progrock. It has TONE, an utter magic TONE.
My main setup is like this:
a Custom Carvin Bolt-T with AP11 single coils, and a DiMarzio FRED humbucker in bridge pos with a wilkinson trem, strung with 0,010-0,046. This goes into a Marshall compressorpedal, into a Dunlop Crybaby Wha, into an Ernie ball volumepedal and into my Soldano X88R pre.
From there the output goes into a TC-electronic G-Major and runs in stereo into a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 EL84 poweramp. The cabinet is a stereo Marshall 1936, loaded with greenback celestions.
I also own otehr stuff, but this is now my main setup.

Sounds..whoa..how shall I explain this..?
My guitars sounds very sensitive thru this preamp, it reacts very much to different pickups and volume settings on the pedal and guitar.
Clean: Very fenderish with the bright switch engaged, "glassy" highs and lots of Gilmour-tones. With the bright switch disengaged, I can easily dial in more "jazzy" tones. This channel stays clean, but can get a very nice country-edge when wanted.
Crunch: Instant Marshall Plexi, "spongy" in the low notes. Classic blues tones, very warm and the lows can be "thundery" when the bright switch is disengaged. With the bright switch engaged, AC/DC-tones are easily obtained, and the volumecontrol on the guitar or pedal cleans everything up nicely without loosing its original tone. Fantastic. I also like this channels lead-sound, never thin or harsh.
Lead: Well..this is a Soldano! Newer tried one before? Hmm.. In yer face higain, never muddy. I can play chords thru this channel, the notes stay separated..so harmonic and full rich tones, with a fast responsive bottom. Pinch, artificial harmonics..oooh ahh Excellent!!
All of this in a 2u rackspace...!!!
I have used lots of stuff, and my JMP-1 pre is now collecting dust.. I`ve liked the JMP-1`s versatility, programmable operation etc, but I`ve really missed a classy clean tone, better to have ONE great tone, than 100 ok ones`s..My Soldano a have THREE great ones!!
Oh..I almost forgot, I use the G-Major to switch between two channels, and the relay-function of my Behringer FCB1010 to switch the third channel. Just as versatile as my JMP-1.
The sounds through the G-Major is fantastic, and all sounds with or without effects, sounds full and rich.
All connections is wired up with George L`s. Except before the pre, where I use Monster-cables.

Bought second hand, never any problem, except for a power-transformer that should have been exchanged for the 230V option a long time ago.. The 110V transformer wired in series for the 240V option made too much 100 cycle noise.. But that was easy to fix..read on...

Well, here Soldano really scores..
Because of this "humming" power trans. I e-mailed Soldano, and one day later I got the answers I wanted. We (me and Bill Sund) found out that the partnumber of the tranny was one of the earlier trannys that should have been excanged to a newer type, to be used on the 230V system here in Europe. No problem, 14 days later I`ve got my new tranny, and absolutely NO hum.. I mean, my setup can get really loud, and the hum and noise when not playing is just better than my JMP-1. Amazing...As the original hum drove me nuts..:)
Almost forgot again...the warranty: For lifime, and transferrable to next owner.. I really can recommend Soldano products. Fantastic!!

I`ve been playing actively for 20 years, and have been seeking the tones I hear in my head..:) I think this is it..Organic, alive, sensitive and monsterous!!
Again, Thanx Bill Sundt, a fantastic guy!!

3-Channel rackmount preamp. Clean, crunch, and blow-your-f&@#@*&-mind. Input, mid, lo, hi, Output for each channel.

The amp to end all amps. I was told that the one I bought had some mods made by Mike himself. Remember that scene in the Raiders of the Lost Ark where they open the Ark and this force comes out that is the most beautiful thing before it blows the crap out of everybody present? What they didn't show was this amplifier sitting in the Ark!! I swear, this thing plays like a wet dream. Imagine molten honey. The clean channel is beautiful. So good!! Channel 2 is a pretty good crunch. But it's Channel 3 that makes this thing an act of God. From Van Halen I to infinite sustain. EVH wishes he had this amp! It is perfect for my style of music, which is Pink Floyd/U2 ish. Strummed clean chords sound absolutely gorgeous. I can switch from that to super sustained solo lines. But honestly, it just makes me want to sit down and play "Panama" all day long, just because I can! I simply can not dream up in my head a better sounding amplifier. Not just close. Not almost. Exactly the tone I want. The search is over.

Built like a tank. Rackmount.

N.A.

I started writing songs in the store when I first played it. I played it through several guitars and they all sounded incredible. The Les Paul really works well.