Sovtek Mig 100

standard features with the exception of a torres engineering bass gain boost installed.

i use a telecaster with dual fender humbuckers and run staight to the head and then out to a laney cab. My band plays hardcore stuff like converge, breather resist, scarlet and botch. this is the perfect amp for this kind of music. The distortion is thick and really natural sounding. i installed a bass gain boost pot that i got from torres engineering and now it absolutely rips other amps apart. Despite what some people may say you are not going to get a tube distortion sound from a pedal. As other peple have said this thing is loud our other guitarist uses a peavey 5150II: he plays on seven, i play on three. My only complaint is that with the gain up the amp can be a little noisy when you are not playing. According to sovtek this was an inherrant flaw in this model. But i spoke to my repair tech and he said that rebuilding the input circuit would fix this. i may also have him install an active mid boost. I have to give it a 10 for sound though because i have never heard a better amp and the only ones that can come close are well over a thousand dollars.

The usual complaint about the plastic inputs but thes are easily changed. Other than that these things are bullet proof. If russia built their soviet infrastructure as well as they built these amps, we would all have pictures of lenin on our walls. This is the ak-47 of amps.

I called them once to request a schematic and they sent a copy by mail three days later. Try getting that kind of support from another company that has not made an amp in almost ten years.

If i was given $1000 dollars to buy an amp i would buy several of these over a marshall or mesa anyday. They are getting hard to find now. I asked sovtek if they ever plan on reissuing them, but all they said is that they dont think they ever will. but in the mean time just crank it up and invest in a hearing aid because you may need it one day.

They don't offer much features, but you don't really need many features, it sounds good pretty much where ever you have the settings.

It has two channels but they're not foot switchable, theres just a high input and a low input. High is distortion and Low is clean.

I use this amp with my band with a loud drummer and I can hear myself loud and clear. I also have a Fender Bassman 100 from the early 70s and that wasn't loud enough but the Mig100 has a similar sound and is loud enough by a lot.

It sounds good depending on what kind of pedals you plan on running through it. The distortion that it comes with isn't the greatest. But the clean channel makes up for it cuz its amazing. I first ran a RAT distortion pedal through it, but it got a little too 'beefy' for me, so then I tried my Boss Overdrive/Distortion pedal and that sounds amazing. I have a Gibson SG with stock pick ups and it sounds good with this amp, The RAT might sound better along with a single coil-pick up guitar. My style is hardcore/punk/metal/indie and it fits my style pretty good with the Boss pedal.

The plastic parts scared me at first, because i'm kind of a perfectionist about things, and the last thing i want is my things breaking right before i'm supposed to play a show, but the plastic parts haven't given me any problems at all, they're really sturdy. This whole amp is built like a tank.

Sovtek responds emails within a day or two, i was suprised. Although they couldn't help me with my request, they still were nice about everything, and appolagized that they coudln't help me out. (I bought mine used without the sovtek name plate and I asked if they could find me a replacement but they didn't have any)

A lot of people compare this to Fender bassmans and JCM800s. It does have a similar sound to my fender bassman, but it defiantely has a sound of its own. The bassman distorts really easy which can sound really cool, but I think i like the SOVTEK better cuz it doesn't distort when its cranked. If it was stolen I would probably just keep using my Fender bassman because i'm a college student that doesn't always have hundreds of dollars laying around. But if i had money at the time it was stolen, then yes i would buy another.

like an old jcm800 master volume: low and high gain inputs; volume,master,bass,mid,treble,presence controls... 4, 8, 16 and line outputs...
it's very close to the jcm800, but power tubes are 6L6 instead of el34 and the eq is a bit like mesa (dark).
no channel switching :-( but it's ok...

I use a lot of equipment, but for rehearsal and gig my rig is fernandez guitar tuned in B E A D F# B, and an old aria pro 2 cardinal series of 1982 tuned in D G C F A D or C G C F A D(drop C)...
Mig 100 is connected to a 100w marshall 4*12" cab of late 70's or early 80'S with celestion greenbacks inside... (very nice cab!!!)
I use a boss GT3 multifx...
This head give a very clean sound, and a good compressed low end... I like it very much. But I find this amp a litle dark. Maybe I need to change some caps and resistors to get the true jcm800 sound...
I play mostly hardcore/punk/metal/grind and it works fine for that...
Sometimes I prefer the mig60, because it's closer with the jcm800, but it's far to be as louder as the 100w...
I play with master volume at 5 and whowww!!! It cut though the mix of the band easily...
I think it's a good value for punk or rock too...

my mig100 was ok in the store, but when I plug it at home, power tubes were very hot: plates were very hot (red)...
it was a diode which has broken (only god knows why...); I just replace it with an 1N4007 and works very well.
These device are very reliable, and they're build to last a lot of time...
Very simple to repair!!!

don't need to deal with them because of the quality of sovtek amps...
I've just ask for technical information, and the guys were very nice!

You can't get a better amp for that price, everything inside is build to last... so many years
If you can try, or buy one... you're not wrong at all!!!

I ABSOLUTELY hate complicated amps, theyre no good for live playing on. This however is the beast to end all, i got this thing in 91 when i started playing, had it 13 years, not a single problem!

a 10! a fucking 10! more headroom than my other guitar players 1300 dollar marshal, if yours is noisy, turn down the presence, play thru low input and use pedals, i run a strat(american standard) thru it and i dont get any hum , or feedback.....if you run digital pedals thru it, or amp sim's it acts identical to whatever you input.

i have NEVER replaced a single part on this amp, not even the tubes sound worn yet......i simply dont get it.people say they replace the tubes every year? theres no real need, mine are still glowin and goin!

never had to usse it, maybe its the one thing bad about this amp?

i bought this new from my friends shop, house of guitars in houston texas near 13 years ago. i had a 1970 gallien kreuger 200 watt (2x12) combo another great amp, i had a fender bassmaster with the 4x10 cab.....the only problem i see with amp ismy tendancy to break other things with it......i dropped it and cracked some of the tiles in my kitchen...ZERO damage to the amp...if this thing was ever stolen, i would call the f.b.i!!!!!in comparrison to my other very expensive amps, i wish i had known about these sooner.....the one thing that could have made this amp better?i really dont know......its my favorite out of an overweighted comparrison.i'd give my left nut for another.

Bought this secondhand , made in 1994 ,Saint Petersburg Russia. Very basic well built powerhouse. Some cheap parts such as plastic switches ,but easy to fix if they break (replace with metal ones) 2 volumes,2 inputs(high -low) ,bass,mid,treble,presence.4-8-16 ohm jacks for speakercab. Very well made and laid out inside too...high quality caps etc.(well it's Russian so it's made to last!!) Mine's had one fuse holder replaced.If it had channel switching and reverb, it would get a 10! This is the gutsiest valve guitar amp I've ever heard.I have a 70's 100 watt eminar valve head and a Fender bassman 135 and this rusky rules.I have yet to try it for bass but have heard they work well.I compared this to one of those toy line 6 heads and the Sov shat all over it.With 2 vols and 2 inputs,U can get clear loud sound and varying levels of distortion from mild to intense.Next i'll get an EH holy grail reverb pedal.

This is a basic amp but really it has all you need.I use a maton mastersound with ibanez tube screamer,ibanez flanger,boss phaser,marshall guvnor2 and Dunlop wah pedal.All i need now is reverb and analouge delay...that's enough for me.I like reggae,ska,Jimi Hendrix,Asian Dub Foundation...raga, rock etc.I run this amp thru a 2/12 celestion box it's plenty loud enough and portable.The Sovtek has it's own sound...it's not the Marshall sound which is refreshing cos so many players have Marshalls.The guvnor makes it sound very close if i want it.

Has been very reliable.Only thing i have done is replace the 12 ax7's
New sensor will send you a complete circuit diagram which is handy.
My only complaint is it's weight...it's heeeeaaaavvvyyyy maaaaaaan.
I got this amp a year ago so time will tell.

It's 10 yrs. old now...pots are not scratchy yet.I have a circuit diagram of the web and can solder etc so should be ok to fix minor things like mains switch etc.

I think a good valve amp and pedals on the floor are hard to beat. I don't like a' one product does it all' concept like digital amp modelling Line6 stuff. All these sound options but very few if any sound any good. There sales pitch suggests that valve amps are unreliable which is untrue. The power supply costs more to produce than solid state designs so they can make more profit with solid state stuff. From what I heard many digital modelling solid state amps have software design faults so the KISS rule comes in here (keep it simple stupid)The SOVTEK is a good honest product, simple, high quality and robust.

This amp really doens't have a lot of features, but for me... it has all the features I need :)

I play mainly death metal and the like. But I also do a lot of rock gigs and I have used this amp for everything from country to blues to rock to folk to metal. I just use the clean channel and use pedals.

As mentioned before, this has a High INput (Dist) and Low Input (Clean). No headphone jack, no FX loop, just EQ volume and Master.

I use several guitars with it all with humbuckers 6 and 7 strings. For all the styles I do it works out well. Like I stated, I just mainly use the clean and run pedals. So it has all the versatility you could want.

The clean channel distorts some at high volumes but it is very smooth. It sounds as good as the pedals do. So if you like the tone of those, you are set. Straight clean it is a nice smooth clean. Fender like with a Marshall edge, but warm with 6L6's.

Distorted (High Input), it doesn't have that much gain. Great for rock or Punk. The tone is nice though, good ol distorted tube tone. It is cool, but when I am doing covers or something, it is easier for me to dial it in on a stomp box or use a different one. So I hardly use this one.

This thing is a tank and really easy to work on. I have had mine for three years and I gig with it with no problems.

I replaced the plastic switches with metal ones (not that it needed it, but I liked the security). I had the fuse caps break from slipping and hitting the truck. I replaced them with Radio Shack ones.

I keep it maintained with tubes once a year and clean everything out. Never had a problem. Inside it is well laid out, well built and very easy to work on.

I have E-mailed them a few times and they have gotten back to me within 2 days max. They have been very helpful. When my fuse caps broke, they sent me some for free, but they were too small. Since the amp was long out of production, they didn't have many spares left. So they did the research and found that Radio Shack ones will work. They gave me the part number and all to order from them. But didn't charge me a dime.

Overall, I have had this amp for 5 years now. No problems at all and it has been my workhorse amp. I use it all the time at live volumes and it has travelled all over. No problems at all. If it were stolen, I would kill the person with it, wipe off the blood and put it back to use. If I could find one, I would buy another one.

My only complaint, it is heavy. Very heavy. And unbalanced heavy.

For a straight up loud head for FX and clean. You can't go wrong.

Not for those who like a lot of fiddly bits but it does what i need it to do.

i play both an American standard Strat and and an Explorer 76 reissue through the amp and both sound great to me. Crunchy, great sound for practically anything heavy. Lo fi sound that seems to work well for modern and vintage sounds depending how you play.Very responsive to pick dynamics and palm muting plus a lot of bass.

the build quality of the head is excellent and it has weathered much better than the Cab.I have replaced most of the inputs/outputs because the plastic ones are shitty but since then it hasn't needed anything done.I bought it second hand in 96 and i am only now needing to re tube it, but it goes really sweet

well you can get new tubes easily enough and thats all you are going to need really.

been playing it eight years and it still gives me chills when i crank it. I would definitly try to get another if my Mig was stolen or lost. My buddy has a Mesa single rectifier and i have played thru that but i still prefer the Sovtek, its just more original sounding to me.They sound even better through a 1960A Cab with Greenbacks and in terms of power they shit on all other 100Watt heads i have played through.

Bought it from a guy who used to work at the Sovtek factory. A simple killer rock'n'roll machine.

With my custom-built Les Paul it gives a hell of a guitar wall(Ideal for everything between jazz and death metal). Great response to guitars volume level(easy to control the amount of distortion by turning volume up or down from the guitar) . I use BOSS SD-1 to boost my solos and leads and Cry Baby for most of my solos as a wah or a treble boost.

You can't break it! Very good parts. I've had it for four years now, never had a problem. Still as new!

No idea about this. But as I told, haven't got any problems yet. I don't think they have any support for these amps, but I'm not sure.

It's not easy to find these amps, but if I had to, I'd find one somewhere. They are cheap but very good value for your money!
Cool amp!

OK. I am pretty sure that my amp was made around 1994 because the serial number starts with the number 94. Essentially the amp is a clone of a Marshall 2203. Just like the Marshall, it has no effects loop, channel switching, or reverb - just classic rock'n'roll all tube tone. It is 100watts and uses sovtek 5881 power tubes rather than EL34s. I have a guitar tech looking at it at the moment, and it is apperently easy to mod to exact 2203 specs, including changing over to EL34 tubes.

I bought the amp second hand, and the low input jack was not working. As it is currently being repaired, I can not give a rating for the clean channel. However i bought the amp primarily to be used for it's overdrive. I think the stock overdrive is ok, but not brilliant. It would be ok for low to moderate gain applications, but would at least need a booster pedal to be used for higain stuff. The actual tone of the overdrive tends to be on the slightly grainy side. I believe this is due to the tone pots. The bass and mid controls dont seem to alter the tone much, while the treble pot drastically changes the tone between muffled flab to raspy and grating noise!

Consequently I am having the amp modded for more gain (based on the mig-100h schematic) and having the tone controls changed so I can have more control over the tone. I will post again as to how the mods turn out. As I can't say exactly what the lowinput jack sounds like (and I have heard that it works well with pedals) so i wont give this criteria a rating. However I would say i'd give the stock overdrive about a 7/10 - alright once you fiddle with

I have heard that reliabilty is not one of Sovtek's strong points, but the guitar tech i took it to told me how well made and constructed it was. He said that it was set out really well, and looked much more reliable than a marshall. the only negative thing to mention is the plastic switches and guitar jacks are not that reliable (apparently the plastic switches are prone to snapping after a while). the simple solution to that is buy some metal switches and jacks and replace them (or have someone else replace them).

I needed the guitar schematic for the amp for it to be modded, but all i could find on the net was the schematic for the mig-100h. I sent an email to new-sensor (ie. sovtek) and they kindly sent me a copy of the schematic to Australia for free! That's pretty damn cool considering it was a second-hand amp that has been out of production for about 7 years!

I play in a covers band, but i don't know if i could be bothered dragging this amp to gigs. my main gigging amp is the smaller sovtek mig-50 and that seems to be well suited to small pubs and clubs. however, if the mods turn out really well i might end up using it as a dirty channel with an amp switcher or something (i can split my 4x12 cab into stereo mode). i am glad i purchased this amp rather than an eighties marshall jcm 800 (2203) because of the better construction and customer support (not too mention better price!). i would recomend any of the sovtek amps if you can find one for the right price. even if you dont like the tone that much, it will probably only take a couple of mods or a decent stompbox to get the sound that you are after.

No extra's like many other amps.
I don't need extra's, only my boss HM 2 or DS 1 pedal.

This amp is the best!
I used ENGL, Peavey and try Mesa, Marshall and other expensive shit.
But noting beats a sovtek!
It sounds very good with tons of dynamics.
Use it with boss HM 2, and you have the awesome swedisch deathmetalsound like Dismember and Entombed.
Be free to listen the MP3's on http://www.massiveassault.net
A sovtek mig100 and sovtek blues boy are used in these recordings.
Check it out!

This amp is build like a tank.

Never had a deal with the company.

If it were stolen or lost, than i buy it again.