Sovtek Mig 100

I got my Mig brand new in 93. My moms friend was a dealer for Sovtek and convinced me I had to get this amp. Boy am I glad I did. I played Helmet inspired hard-core music at the time and this amp was perfect. Very simple amp. The Basics as far as bass,mid,treble,presence,master vol. Low and High gain inputs. No reverb, or effects loop. I ran a floor processor at the time through the Low gain ch. The amp is amazingly loud even in this setting. Over the years and bands I've run dry(no effects) and back again. Very Powerful.

With effects you can achieve every sound from blues to jazz to metal no problem. On its own good clean and very good rock tones. This thing just cranks. I run it with a Randle cab loaded with celestions. Ear plugs required.

I've had this amp for 15 years and all it has needed is new tubes. I never had a backup amp. Our roadies would complain about the weight. Well what do you expect? Its made out of old Russian tank parts!

Never needed to contact Sovtek.

I have been playing for around 20 years. Unfortunetly I haven't been able to use this amp in a while cause its just sooo loud. I have a '64 Fender Vibro Champ and a Vox. I'm not worried about it getting stolen because it's too heavy to carry more than 10 feet. I've heard that it is compareable to a Marshall JCM 800. I love this amp for its simplicity and rarity.

Tube, low and hi channel. presence, low mid and hi eq, master and volume dials. Basic features but thats not why you buy this amp

Amazing. I now have two of these.

use its distortion and you get greeeaaattt sounds out of this. Plug a les paul into this and crank it up (mind you only to about 4 or 5, otherwise the neighbors will call the cops) and you'll be in heaven.

I personally want as much gain as possible so I'll plug in one of my distortion pedals like the zoom tri metal, my electro harmonix metal muff or use my guitar sans amp classic along with some of the amps gain.

I play in a few bands...one is a metallic hardcore band where i want heaps of tightness for the real quick stuff and heaps of power and volume for those real heavy parts. The other band is a punk rock band and it goes just as well after dialling a different sound or adding or swapping a pedal.

Alone...fantastic amp....with the addition of a pedal....the amp excels I think.

THIS is why you buy this amp

I bought both of mine second hand and havent had any problems over the two or so years I have had them.

Second hand

Overall its an awesome amp and I have a lot of people asking me and my friend (who also plays one of these) how we get our sound.

I purchaced a Mig 100 head from Guitar Center bout 10 yrs ago. Paid $149.00 for it.Run it through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet loaded w/ Jensen's from Sear's Twin twelve cab's..Plenty of TONE! Bout a year ago it had slight loss of output.. Wait'n for a good amp guy to check it out. Great clean & great overdrive tones..

"82" Les Paul Costom..stock pick up's.

As mentioned, loss slight of output.Main amp!!!

Haven't had to use

Playing 30 yrs..Would replace if had to.. Own many vintage tube amps...

The Sovtek MIG 100 is 2 things: all tube and ridiculously loud. You've got your basic EQ knobs, pre-gain, and master volume. Nothing fancy, but if you like this amp's sound then you don't need fancy. This thing isn't very versatile, but it's perfect and very affordable for hard rock, metal, etc.

This amp sounds fantastic. I dial it in at full gain with mids boosted through a Marshall 4x12 and my Les Paul roars. At high gain it's really thick and full, but it does lack slightly as far as bite goes. Throw a fuzz, distortion, tubescreamer, etc. on in front of this and you've got a monster. I get sweet, full feedback from this and at high volumes it still sounds clear and gorgeous.

I haven't owned mine for long, but it weighs a ton and feels like it's made out of concrete.

This is my major complaint. I can't find ANY information online about this amp. If you buy one, make sure it's in working order or else you might spend a lot of time and money getting back to perfection.

I use my Sovtek in a stoner rock/metal band and it is perfect. Our other guitarist plays an Orange Rockverb 30 and a Black Matamp (both range from $1500-2000 each) and I can keep up with him, no problem. This amp is very specific to heavy and rock sounds, so if you're looking for clean and pretty, move along. If you want something that will shake the house and roar like a beast, get one of these.

I am a female musician, and 9 out of 10 times that I carry my Mig 100 into a venue, some metal head is instantly drawn to me. I use a Marshall 4x12 cab, and the Sovtek sounds good clean and distorted. My favorite pedal is my Big Muff Pi, and the two sound fantastic together. The features are minimal, but if you can really play, you don't need a bunch of fancy effects.

I play a vintage Washburn. The sound quality is fantastic.

I always bring it inside after gigs. It's heavy as hell. My only complaint is that the standby switch broke. And I had to fix it. But i did it upside down. Oops. I deal.

My Sovtek is used. One time I had to change a tube, and the part was difficult to find. But I have had the thing for 10 years, and that was the only time it needed a company part.

I have been playing for ten years and the Mig 100 is by far my favorite piece of equipment. And I don't play metal.

This amp does not have a million freatures but it has exactly what is needed to get the job done and have great tone. Most of the time the key to good tone is to keep it simple. It is one channel with no effects loop and no BS

Its really hard for me to rate any piece of gear on sound quility because I feel that every piece of equipment does what it does and every piece of gear no matter how good or bad it sounds is useful. So it is hard for me to rank anything on a scale, but I can tell you how the amp sounds. This Amp sounds like a Marshall JCM 900 but with more gain and low frequences. It is a very "heavy" sounding amp but is still clear.

This thing is built like a tank!

There is very little info out there on this amp.

I play mostly Metal, Rock and guitar hero type stuff with my bands but I also work as a studio musician, so I have to be able to make any tone at any time. I own 7 or 8 amps and about 30 guitars. This amp is a great add to my collection of amps. Some of my amps cost up to $3,200 and this one keeps up. If you are looking for a heavy sounding marshall type amp with no extra junk added on this is your amp! If you want to hear it I am always recording with it and you can hear it and contact me at myspace.com/jeremymrussell

I've had my Mig since 97 and it has seen it's share of pain and suffering but has held strong. This amp is as bare bones as can be while still being useful. 1 Channel, no reverb, but at least you can adjust the treble, mids, bass, presence and gain. It had everything I needed for a heavy rock tone. Now that I've toned down my playing I wish it had some reverb. In addition, this thing needs to be cranking loud to sound its best. And this thing gets VERY loud.

I bought this amp to get a heavy ac/dc like rock sound and it delivered. I rarely used my Mig at high gain but it can go there. I preferred to stay around mid gain for a great heavy tone that still lets you hear individual notes. For the heavy, drop D riff driven music I played this amp was perfect. Variety is not this amps strong suit. No channel switching, no reverb, nothing. I would push it with a distortion pedal for leads and that extra special grind. You'll never mistake a Mig for a rectifier but what you will get is a great solid heavy tone that still sounds like a guitar.

I am literally shocked by the reliability of this amp. My amp has been through absolute hell. Ice cold practice spots, filthy NYC clubs, crappy band van, drunken band mates, mold, and oh yeah my apartment burned down too. This amp survived it all with nothing more than tube changes and a replaced output jack (my singer snapped the cheap plastic one off). To suggest that this thing is bullet proof is not an exaggeration. 10 +

yeah right... I don't think you can even buy original parts for these things. I always heard they were built from post Cold War Soviet surplus.

Yeah, its basic but gets the job done with style. I have yet to play through another high powered head that I like as much as my mig. My 4 x 12 cab is tired and shot but I've played this through my 2 X 12 with vintage 30s and it sings. I love the sweet simplicity and tone tone tone. I'm struggling to figure out my next move. If I can find a way to get some good cheap reverb then my mig will rise again. Otherwise, the Sovtek may get shelved. That being said, I can't imagine selling it.

I has the necessary! Bass Midle treble and presence! Low and Hi gain input! The only lack is the missing of other channel and fx loop :S

I use this amp with his original cabinet with 2 Eminence V12 Speakeres and 2 Celestion seventy 80's.

It's heavy the cab and the amp! and it's loud has hell!

I play metal and Hard Rock.
I use only de Hi-gain input, and I add some drive with a Marshall Gu'v'nor pedal for the solos, It sounds very good!

The sound is very like Mesa crunchy stile.

I play with a Yamaha Pacifica with 2 humbuckers EMG H4 (passive version of the EMG81) and this amp really kick ass live and in a studio!

This thing is contructed to last I had mine at 12 years, but I think it has 15 years. Never had a problem, and never let me down! I use a Line Flextone III in the back up just in a case, but never had to use it in live situation!

Unfourtunely they don't produce anymore this amp, but recently I send complements to electro-harmonix about the amp and can you believe, the president repplyed to me!!! :)

Maybe some day this amp re-apear on the market, I hope so!

If you whant just distortion in a amp and do not whant to spend money in a Mesa or in a Marshall, these amp is a very good choice and sound great.

If you wahnt just a very clean and flat and very linear channel, to play with pedals, for that this is the best amp you can ever had!

I hate when people complain about a lack of features on an amp. If you want a bunch of nonsense features, buy a Line 6 or one of those Marshall Triple Super Lead heads or something like that.
Personally, I prefer amps to have very few options. As long as I can adjust the bass, mid, treble, volume and gain I'm a happy camper. It does exactly what it needs to do, and for anything else I can bring in outside help.

I play a PRS Custom 24 and an 81 Les Paul Standard through it and it seriously roars. I pair it with my 120 watt Matamp GTVtc and I get complimented on my rig EVERY SINGLE SHOW I play. I dont use the "clean channel", but I get a decent clean by decreasing the output on my guitar. One channel is totally fine if you use the volume knob on your guitar.
The distortion is unreal. I find it strange that some people are saying that it's not good, because I play heavy doom and it suits my needs perfectly. Right now I play it through a Marshall 1960a cab and an Orange cab, and it sounds ridiculous.
It used to hum really really loud, but that has since been fixed, and while it's not as quiet as my Matamp, the hum is very minimal and pretty much what you would expect from a high gain amp (if not less).

I do use it at gigs without a backup, but I'm not going to lie...sometimes it scares me. It has had several grounding issues which has caused to start buzzing on several occasions. While these problems are easy to fix (usually a loose grounding screw), I'm still nervous at times.
I bought it used and it had been heavily modified. All of the plastic parts were replaced with metal ones. Metal input and output jacks and metal on/off & standby switches. If you're going to get one of these I suggest doing the same

I compare these things to the reuben sandwich. Its component parts are terrible, but for some reason the end product is a masterpiece.

No idea. Its good to have a reliable amp repair guy though.

I've been playing for 14 years and I've owned several amps and I think this thing is great. It seriously roars. Its unbelievably loud, and disgustingly heavy. Plus it looks cool. The person who owned it before me ripped all the tolex off and stained the wood and its very cool looking. Paired with my Matamp its pretty much my dream rig (finally). If you want to hear the combination of the two, check out my band Ancestors http://www.myspace.com/fleshintostone

Basically if you play heavy music or rock & roll I highly suggest this amp.

I got mine with a 4X12 Sonic cabinet off a friend for $300. Money well spent. Pretty basic, workhorse amp. One channel, low and high inputs, 4/8/16 ohm speaker outs, weighs as much as a Fender Twin and has more than enough power. More than enough power. It's got plastic jacks but metal switches (mod?) hasn't caused me any problems that way. Very basic eq (treb, mid, bass knobs) input volume works well to adjust gain while master volume adjusts overall level. Simplicity=perfection with this thing.

Great mildly dirty, fuzz tones to very clean, depending on what guitar used and where you want the gain to go. I don't use any effects pedals or any of that nonsense, but if I did, I don't think distortion would be one of them. Low input can get a warm, jazzy tone, not bright, but well defined. I prefer the high input & play my '62 melody maker with the vintage lil' black pick up and it gets an awsome, twangy yet dirty, tele-with-an-attitude trebly sound that works out great for what I play. The high end has the potential to rip your ears apart if you play too loud without turning down the treble a bit and I'll raise the mid to get a little more warmth & buzz. Not a "quiet" amp at all. It pretty much goes from "zero" to "rock" without much in between. If you're looking for the clean Fender tone but need the power & (natural) distortion of a Marshall, this is perfect stage gear.
Only issue with this is when I'm standing around in between playing with the guitar volume all the way down I get audible radio signals, but a lot of things cause that to happen. It's really only in my practice space anyway.
I totally love this amp.

This amp is a tank! I've had this thing get slammed around in the back of a van and once dropped it and none of that ever phased it. It's what I use at every show and to record with and it works great under any condition so far. I've had it about 2 1/2 years, maybe a little longer and it's always been trustworthy. Taking the same good care of it like any other tube amp is of course, the way to go, but I think one could be negligent with one of these and not run into too many problems. They seem to be built for the war. The only issue I had with it was with the fuse jacks on the back. One of them got smashed while being transported. They're those spring-loaded finger screw fuse covers and the "russian" variety are big, weird things that look a little unstable. Mostly they just stick too far out of the back. I replaced the smashed one with a cover that screws in with a phillips head and is flat against the housing and problem solved.No problem with tubes or anything else and all the guts are protected with a metal-mesh "cage" in the back.

I dunno.

I've had different combos and half-stacks before and so far this one is my favorite set up. As far as tone, dirty-ness, volume and reliability are concerned, this one rules. I love the simple, power house amps and this one satisfies. I looked at Orange, Sunn, Acoustic, and, yes, Marshall amps, but this is one I could afford easily (and kind of fell into my lap) so I can say it works out nice for what I need to have. It would be better for me to have a smaller, more portable combo and something that didn't weigh as much as a volkswagon, but I don't mind hauling this thing around since it makes a sound I really like.

Good amp.I use it on a Marshall 4x12 cab with a 1968/1959 Marshall super lead 100 on the right channel off a digitech RP20 to another 4x12 Marshall cab.Shakes the house!!!!Sound obviously will vary with effects processors.In the clean mode obviously all guitars and pickups will vary.A stock strat would prob sound like a tin can in clean mode.

My MIG 100 Blew up.

Havnt tried yet.

20+ years Need info on getting repairs for the MIG100

1995
pop rock anf hard rock

les paul and strat
it`s no better rock amp and i play rock
its only noise when the dist is turned on
everthying you want it to done i ing
good

yes
no and i have travelled on the road with it for ten years, and vever let me once.

i have only uesd my guitar road to change the tubes for me.

this is the best amp i ever owned so this the the best amp in the world.

One channel, plug and play. No detours to a great tube sound!

I use fender strats and gibson les paul on this, and it works great! You need a overdrive pedal first to get the real metal-driven-sounds. I use a BOSS OD-3 or a Damage Control WomaniZer for this!

I have had it since 1994 and I have changed tubes twice. No other problems. Its been on many tours!

You have to see a specialist for tube amps. They dont make them anymore.

LOVE IT!

I found the amp had a surprising amount of versatility despite all i had heard, but im a nuts and bolts kind of player and don't need much more except maybe a reverb tank. This one loud amp...i like that.

I kept hearing how this amp is for metal heads and only good for grunge and blah blah blah, but one thing that will affect your tone is your CABINET. I play country/bluegrass/thrashabilly blues and love this mofo. Its got one hell of a clean sound at a high level.

haven't used it enough to find out yet

n/a

I really like this amp. and like everyone else says, for the dough, you can't beat it. I ran into this one not looking to buy anything and bought it just for curiosity (and i knew they weren't being made anymore). I'm totaly sold and looking to buy the other amps they made.

Weight. On/Off switch. Volume. Balls.

This thing is honest. Lots of feedback (if you don't like feedback, too bad). Mine is clean only so I employ a dirty old Rat Pro Co box to make it filthy. At high volumes with the Guitar off, it sounds like an Ocean. Funny.
This thing is great for deep fuzzy old school sludge metal. Just jam with it man. Feel the vibration and warmth it delivers. You will feed off of each other. Oh yeah, use a humbucker with this thing. Single coil Strats seem to leave the oats at home with this old girl.

Yeah the low input broke off years ago and its been flopping around inside since then. I don't care.
But how's this for reliability: At one show in Aug of 97, I threw my Guitar at my half stack (epiphone 67 V reissue), then pushed the Sovie head over behind the cabinet, and then kicked the cabinet backwards sending it over the now upside down head. At this point I realised I still had one more song to go so I picked up the V, retuned it as best I could in 30 seconds and belted out one last song with my upsidedown head and cabinet facing the drummer. It still worked fine and I have never had a problem with it. People laugh at it cuz the see em advetised for a few hundred bucks and think its a joke. Its a secret weapon in relity.

I have never had to replace a tube, resistor, or fuse. In 8 years.

It has a deep scatch going right down the middle of the "Sovtek" name plate that was due to this insident. I'm very proud of that.

Never messed with this.

This thing is a giant middle finger in the face of guitar snobbs the world over. I love that it weighs 300 lbs. I love that it cost me 200 bucks new. I love that people ask me "what the hells a Sovtek?".

What can I say, it definately doesnt have the most features. But it does what it does, and it does it well. No reverb, 2 chanels, but non switching means you will probably be resorting to pedals to get any sort of effect, but beyond that..

Im using a Earnie Ball volume pedal to deal with the non switching issue. Basically ignoring the fact that this head has two channels, I use the high input with the Volume pedal to switch between cleaner non-overdriven sound to over-driven sound using the amps own natural distortion. I had to setup up the volume pedal so that when I pushed down all the way it wouldnt turn the volume off (i put a longer screw on the stopper with a few extra nuts) to just give it a cleaner sound, then when you push the volume all the way up, there you go, nice natural distortion, not to mention the variaty of distortion levels you can get while playing.

I love the distortion from this amp, it can heavy as hell, or just a little bit dirty, it also handles low ends beutifully. Also the amp is damned loud, and I cant understand why everyone is complaining that its so loud because...... it can be turned lower. I use this amp during band practices and jams with no problems so far.

The cleaner side is nice sounding but not the best ive heard. Also with lacking any sort of reverb, you dont get warm feeling from it.

The damned thing is heavy and solid. I havnt tossed it around to much, but it hasnt given me any problems yet.

I emailed New Sonar (which is who sovtek became) about geting a logo for the front of my head (which it was missing), and though they didnt have any stock, they were nice pointed me in another direction (which also didnt have any) and were prompt, however I never had really use their cust support.

Iv been playing around with it for about 2 months now, and so far ive had the least problems with this amp out of any amp ive had (which have included a constantly broken marshall valvestate, and some other now broken amps).

As for the sound I really love it, and love using the volume pedal to get the clean and distortion, and the variations in between. Also the volume is excellent, if you want loud, go for it, if you want quiet...

Though its not a feature packed amp, its got that old Russian charm, strong, stable and utilitarian.

Not many. I agree that the EQ does absolutely nothing. Not versatile at all. These amps are one trick pony's. You'll soon be wanting another amp to pick up the slack. No channel switching. Master Volume is more of an on/off switch. Either it is very quiet, or brutally loud! Not very versatile for medium to small rooms. I guess if the rest of your band, and your audience, just wants to hear the guitar, then buy it.

These sound like a Marshall with a cold. Raspy, and not very smooth. I have a Bluesbreaker, so I know what smooth is. I have also owned JMP combos, now those are smooth! This amp is for newbies, lets face it...

This thing had me worried the moment I brought it home. I tried using it for a show. I tried to plug my guitar in the (plastic) hi input jack, and the damn thing broke and fell into the chassis (and it was brand new!) I had to use the low jack instead. Needles to say I was pissed. NOT VERY RELIABLE! Sovtek amps are Russian engineered, does anyone remember Chernobyl? You will have to replace several plastic crap parts to get it working, and that will be costly. Who knows if it will be reliable then.

I couldn't reach anyone at Sovtek, at the time it broke down. I had the amp fixed at a local shop but it soon happened again with the input jack. Crappy!

I have been playing since 1990. If it was stolen, I would by a Marshall JCM 800. But I sold it a long time ago, and I never looked back. There are much better amps out there than these. It is a far too limited amp to suite modern players...

Looks like a very old Marshall

Not Sure!

N/a/

on the web

I didn't know about these amps until I saw one in a second hand shop, since the hi gain wasn't working, I got the price knocked down to around 200AUD. I have it working now, but just the low input, so far sounds great, but I know very little about these units, not even sure what it is supposed to sound like!! Anybody have any tips on what to look for for the hi input?? Anybody know who services these in Australia/Sydney? Is it worth replacing the valves , or should i retain the originals if possible, appreciate any tips, thx

I do not know what year my amp was made. someone mentioned look at the serial number and the first two digits are 93. Could be? I don't use the amp much any more because I have taken a liking to a small epiphone tube combo. the tube mig 100 sure worked great when I did use it and it still sounds inredible. I play rock/punk/alt-country and this amp did what I needed it to do. No effects or any of that junk on it. Don't like that stuff anyways. has a low and a high input, always used the high input. power is not a question with this amp. has more than you'll ever need. Why have all the built in effects on an amp when all you need are a few foot pedals?

Many compare the Sovteks to Marshall Heads but I think the Sovtek sounds better. Cleaner all the way through the volume knob positions. All around a better tighter sound than Marshall. I used an SG and a Les Paul Jr. with this amp and both sounded equally great. The SG had more depth, do to the humbuckers instead of the Les Paul Jr's P90. A friend of mine had a Sovtek Mig 100 and played Telecasters. Sounded just as cool. The amp is a little noisy depending on the guitar. If you're worried about noise get a gate, all amps make noise. As far as variety of sounds, again that's what pedals are for. The amp can remain fairly clean at high levels with some dialing in of the knobs. But the amp was made for the nice smooth distortion it can produce. I've used it in all kinds of live clubs and recording situations and basically what you see is what you get...a really powerful rock amp.

Never had the amp just breakdown on me for no reason. Once the fuse blew due to poor wiring in a club. Once someone stepped on the guitar cable right by the input jack and cracked the plastic sleeve on the input. I replaced it with a metal sleeve. Once the amp fell from about 4 feet up and it needed repair but the tech that repaired it said the amp handled it well and he was surprised at the lack of internal damage. I think it cost me about $30 to fix. I've used the amp for years with what I would consider heavy usage (i.e. daily rehersals and gigs).

I've been playing for 14 years, used this amp for about 5 years. Right now I like the smaller combo amps for convenience. Been using an Epiphone Galaxie 10 for guitar and a Fender Bassman 100 for bass. Trying to sell the Sovtek. Don't really need it. If I did want that sound again I would purchase another one. I used a Marshall Head prior to the Sovtek Mig 50 and then traded/paid for a Mig 100 and prefer the Sovteks by far.

The basics...

I used this amp with a Burny Les Paul and a Marshall 1960b cab. Despite what many have said about the clean headroom, I found it to be relatively non-existant. The low gain channel with a Jekyll and Hyde overdrive sounded okay, and the same channel with a Keeley modded Metal Zone sounded pretty thin. The high gain channel sounded like the ocean on a windy day even with the mildly cranked. A noise gate is a must! My main gripes are the fact that the EQ does virtually nothing and that you hear the pick attack waaaay too much.

Worked fine for the month I had it...

Yeah, right!

I think that this head would be great if you're willing to put in some serious cash to get it modded a bit and experiment with some different tubes. The EQ section is my biggest gripe. I had a Mig-50 before the 100 and I would recommend that head before this. They sound completely different!

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.

I bought it just one month ago and the last owner didn't remember when he bought it but, i think it was made about 1993-1994. The tubes are new anyway so the amp is like new. The features, like you know are very simple, just like a Marshall JCM 800, but sounding very different. I don't need anymore. It's very versatile, i admit that it's perfect for grunge or punk with the gain (volume control) at 10. I play blues and classic rock and with the volume at 5-6 you can get perfect classic sounds, not buzzy and sounding clear but a little distorted.
Maybe it would be ok that it has a spring reverb but i don't need it anyway. And i wish that the distortion would be better for classic rock, cleaner i mean. The amp was made for perfect clean sounds but it fails at high gains sounds, you can use a pedal like tubescreamer in it and it'll go perpect.
Treble and presence at ten... will hurt your ears! It's the worst sound ever! But it sounds great with presence 7 and treble about 5-6. Great bass y middle.
It can be used anywhere, it has 100 w!! I think i will never pass the master at 3!

Maybe you must spend 30 minutes on front of the amp looking for your tone! But if you can find it you'll be satisfied. Controls are quite responsive but less than Fender i guess. I can make it sound so bluessy with my American Standard Stratocaster with the bass pickup, perfect for rythms and for soft solos too. High gain solos would be better with a pedal, sure. The volume at ten can be a little noisy, with a treble buzz on your back but i never play like that.
Low gain input is very very clean, with the volume at ten you can almost hear a soft saturation if you play hard on the strings but the high gain input since the volume at 4 it begins to get distorted so you can get a lot of different tons.
Maybe not a jazz amp, but perfect for blues, rythm and blues, grunge and punk, very versatile.

The amp i think has never broken down, is a rock. All controls work perfectly, tubes perfect and everything fine. I will use it in every gig, you can sound as loud as you wish, as bassy as you wish and as treble as you wish.

I have never dealt with the company, but sovtek didn't make this amp anymore.

I've owned it for a month, enough to know what you can do with this amp. I had a marshall but i wanted more bass sure... and my MIG 100 has tons of it. I think i will buy another one if it were stoles or lost, it's very cheap. But i don't think anyone would stole it... it's so heavy!

Standard controls, 3 different impedence outputs for cabs and a balanced 200 ohm output. No channel switching onboard.

I've tried several guitars through it. The clean tone is pretty tight and clean and somewhat "fender-y". Not quite as much top end sparkle or low end as you would get out of a fender bassman though but a good sound anyway. Beats any i've heard Marshall for dead-clean easily. The eq is fairly non-responsive, especially on the lower freqencies but more responsive than a marshall eq. When driven, the distortion is fat sounding, not alot of pick attack. It's a little muddy though. Probably the type of sound you would get out of a modded bassman. Like as bassman, a tubescreamer or similar pedal sounds good in front of it. It sends it a bit of a brighter signal cleaning up some of the mud and adding a little cripsness to the distortion. The tone is very responsive to volume. Sounds sterile at low volumes, sometimes very good at high volumes. I took out two of the power tubes and stuck a 7025 in the preamp section and it helped for the most part. I can keep it cranked and the 7025 took a little mudd out, however, the higher gain characteristic of the 7025 (compared to stock 12ax7's) results in a somewhat buzzy distortion. I may switch back to a 12ax7 eventually. I've also tried regular 6L6's in it but the 5881's (which it come stock with) sound a bit nicer. I'm curious what a Soldano GTO or a Bad Cat two tone would sound like in front of it being the the clean is pretty nice. The 200 ohm out, even with a speaker simulator is kind of sterile, like it sounds at low volumes. It probably bypasses the power section. Sounds are better than satisfactory. However, for the price I paid, it's probably the best amp around.

It broke down a few times. I later found out that I was running it at the wrong impedance. However, it's seen over a hundred shows, most of which were when it was running with an impedance mismatch. The transformer isn't as sturdy as fender's but apparently, not too cheap to run that long. It's been dropped off my 4x12 cab when loading and still ran afterwords. There's a good chance if it wasn't hand-wired, it wouldn't have survived.

I'm not sure but I think sovtek stopped making amps. Never dealt with them though.

It's not a perfect amp by any means, but very cool for the money.

This amp is great for anyone who doesn't care about a lot of bells and whistles. It's a very simple amp to use and I couldn't ask for anything more(except mabey some reverb).By now you already know all the features and dont need me to tell you again.

The amp sounds great for any type of music. I play alot of metal and this thing is loud as hell! I use a boss metal zone petal through the low gain and it kills most name brand amps anyday. It can get a little noisy when using the amps gain but still sounds great. IT sounds alot like a marshall.

Aside from the plastic input jacks and switches, this thing is most reliable and weighs a ton. I have yet to have any trouble with it.

never delt with them.

overall this is a fantastic amp to gig with. I have been playing for 6 years and the only other amp I've used is a fender performer 1000 combo amp. I would definetley buy this amp if it were ever stolen or lost. I just wish the imput jacks wern't plastic.

THIS AMP IS THE BEST I HAVE EVER PLAYED. IT DOESN'T HAVE MANY FEATURES THAT WOULD SUIT ALOT OF PEOPLE BUT TO ME IT'S PERFECT.
I USE MY SINGLE PEDAL EFFECTS THROUGH IT ON THE HIGH GAIN CHANNEL
WITH THE MASTER SET ON 9AND A HALF AND THE VOLUME SET ON ABOUT 2
WHICH IS VERY LOUD. THE TREBLE IS SET TO ABOUT 7 THE MID ABOUT 5 THE BASS ABOUT 9 AND THE PRESCENCE ON ABOUT 7.
THE PEDALS I USE THROUGH IT ARE A MORLEY POWER WAH, A BOSS MT2 METAL ZONE DISTORTION, A BOSS DS1 DISTORTION, AN OLD IBANEZ PHASER, A ARION STEREO FLANGER AND AN OLD TOKAI DELAY PEDAL AND THIS IS MY RIG FOR LIFE. I'M 18 AND HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO FIND MY PERFECT SOUND AND THIS IS IT. I USE IT FOR PRACTICE AND GIGING WITH MY 1970'S ARBITER LES PAUL JUNIOR AND NOTHING ELSE

I USE IT THROUG MY ARBITER LES PAUL JUNIOR THEY WORK TOGETHER SO FINE ITS AS IF THEY WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER.
ITS BY FAR THE LOUDEST AMPLIFIER IVE EVER USED.
I WONT USE ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!

IV'E JUST HAD IT FIXED AS THE INPUT SOCKETS BROKE AS THE LEAD WAS TRIPPED OVER AND BROKE THE SOCKET BY MY DRUMMER.
WHICH WAS TO COST ABOUT #2 BUT TO MY HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHEN PUT INTO THE SHOP TO GET FIXED I ASKED FOR A CHECKUP THEY FOUND A FAULTEY VALVE WHICH HAD MADE 3 RESISTORS BURN UP SO THE AMP HAD TO HAVE A WHOLE NEW SET OF VALVES SO THEY PUT IN A FULL SET OF HIGH GRADE VALVES TOTAL COST OF REPAIR: #164... BUT I SAY MONEY WELL SPENT
BUT OTHER FROM THAT ITS A TERRIFIC AMP FOR RELIABILITY. ITS VERY HEAVY BUT THIS MEANS QUALITY (AND BACK ACHE)

I GOT THIS AMP ABOUT 10TH HAND AS I HAD IT BEFORE IN THE FAMILY BUT IT WASN'T USED SO WE SOLD IT TO A MUSIC SHOP AND ABOUT 4 YEARS LATER I SWAPPED MY PREMIER DRUM KIT FOR IT AND EVEN THEN DID NOT USE IT BUT NOW ITS A DIFFERENT STORY I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT

TOP MARQUES FOR THIS ONE

This is possible the simplest amp to use. Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master and volume controls. It does not have channel switching, but that isn't a big deal. I would have liked reverb on it, but we can't have everything. For the price, it is a great amp. Heavy motherfucker, though....

I normally only use the low gain channel, which will distort slightly at extreme volumes. It gives a nice clean sound that is more powerful than the Fender Bassman 50 I've used before. The High gain channel can give a pretty crunchy distortion if you don't have the pre-amp volume up all the way, at which point it's just pretty loud messy distortion. Another very nice thing about these amps is that they can be used as bass amps as well (just be sure your cab can handle it). The pots on mine are noisy when you change settings, but that's not really an issue since you norrmally don't start fiddling with the knobs as you are playing.

I use either a Magnatone Typhoon or Vacarro X-Ray through various effects into the amp, which drives an Ampeg 4x12 cab. The only problem with the sound is that sometimes it can be a little too bassy, but I use heavy strings so that may be the problem.

I've had it for 8 months and have never had a problem with it. I'd gig without a backup - I have to since I don't have enough money for a second amp.

Never tried....Sovtek doesn't make many amps any more, so service could be a problem.

I've been playing for a few years now, and have heard a lot of amps....if this one were stolen or lost, I'd probably look around for something else, like an old Bassman 135 or marshall plexi.

for the money though, i couldn't have gotten anything better. it is very powerful and can rattle everything in your house if the bass is turned up too loud.

I bought my Sovtek MiG 100 in 1997 new at a guitar store in Antwerp Belgium. The Store Owner had it priced to go. I was in need of a new amp and I couldn't believe I would get a tube amp for that price.
At the time I bought it I was playing 2nd guitar at a Punk Rock band. This band evolved to a Hardcore band and then it died a silent death. Now I use the amp to play lead guitar in a Surf Band. It does fit every style of music perfectly. So far I only used the High Gain input, but I will defently try the Low Gain.
I got this amp Hooked up on a Marshall 4x12" cabinet and it blows everything else away. Such a power...

I used to play a Ibanez STT 440 with a Mesa V-twin on it. It sounded super. Now I use a Fender JAzzmaster with a Electro Harmonics Holy Grail and a Dinasour Digital Delay on it. So far I only used the High Gain input, but I will defenetely use the Low gain too.
This amp can go from a fat distortion sound to a very clean sound without a problem. I don't really like the High gains distortion since it sounds a bit to flat for me.

This amp is made from concrete. They don't make amps like that anymore, I tell ya!
I only had to have it fixed once in seven years. There was something wrong with one of the tubes and I had it replaced. It costed a fraction on repairs.

Well, since Sovtek is part of the Electro Harmonics corporation it's got a great custumor suport. A straight A!

I play guitar for 11 years now and went thru many different styles of music and the MiG 100 served them all.
I someone should steel it I would hunt him down for ever, even after I got it back. I it should explode or something I would defenetely replace it.
I wish it had a bit more contour to it's overall sound, but I like this amp a great lot.
If yuo are looking for a great amp, this is yours. My friends used to be very jalous about the MiG 100. It blew their Marshalls away like they were tiny kiddie amps. Pack your JCM 800, 900 and 2000 up, because here I am with my Sovtek MiG 100

I believe it was made sometime in the 90's. And its an spectacular amp. It has a clean channel and an awesome distortion high gain channel. I cant switch channels but thats ok, i can work around that. Channel switching is over rated, in real punk rock you dont need channel switching, you just play fast and heavy. It has a line out in the back which ive tried to record out of and its really buzzy. I just mic it up when i record, it sounds great like that. I use it how it is, people are too obsessed with marshall and mesa. Thse amps are overpriced and over rated. I use it for everything since my little peavey practice amp decided to die on me R.I.P. buddy. so i need to invest in a practice amp. I use the amp live, for recording, practice, and heck i could use it as a weapon if i wanted to. And 100 watts of tube power will crush any solid state amp anyday. It sounds round full and steril is a word that never comes to mind. Its got 4-5881's which are soon to be replaced with some Electro Harmonix 6L6 super tubes. And the pre-amp has 2-12ax7wa's and 1-12ax7wb. Very nice set up. Some people say it sounds like a marshall rip off, but lets face it... if you have a tube amp you can make it sound like a marshall, if you want marshall sound buy a marshall and sound like everyone else. I give it an 8 because its not perfect, it is limited to the amount of tones you can get but thats ok if you like the tones it can get.

Im playing a strat that i put an invader pickup in. It has huge gain and its just friggin amazing with this set up. I play punk rock but i like to mess around with hardcore stuff too. Its kinda buzzy but youre bound to have that every now and then. It has a decent amount of tones you can get. You can get warm punchy blues to hardcore crunch. If anyone who reads this is from the Erie Pa region who follows the hardcore scene, you can get shockwave tones and all that good stuff that we drool over. The clean channel which i dont use very much is pretty nice, very smooth, not piercing, if you crank it and hit a chord of course its gunna make your ears ring a bit but you know, it happens.

ive never directly dealt with the company, just new sensor and they are very helpful. As for the amp itself, everytime i ask a question about it they always go.."oh, you have one of those.. sorry cant help you" Its not like its a friggin endangered species, its pretty basic actually. I bought it used so i dont think i am covered under the warranty.

I've been playing 5 years now and thats not an extremely long time but it counts for something since im very into it. I own a few fender guitars, tele, strat, those are nice, but they are just guitars.. nothing to drool over. I have a yamaha hollowbody which is nice but doesnt crunch with this amp cuz the guitar is too warm sounding. I compared it to some Line 6 stuff, a couple crate halfstacks, some peavey stuff, and ive heard marshalls and junk but good luck finding one of those around here and when i started playing i hadnt heard of musicians friend, but im glad cuz if i did i'd be one of those other marshall freaks going hey ive got a marshall, yes they are great amps but they sound like everyone else. I was always told that tone is something you should try to find on your own, try equipment that not everyone else uses and you might be suprised. Its nice to be able to say hey, i sound unique.

my sovtek was made in id like to say 93'. i play punk/hardcore and this suits my style quite nicly. this is just a bare bones no frills head, its got all the features youll ever need(well reverb would nice). 1 channel that gets real dirty if you want it too. at 100 watts its more than enough for your average musician. Ive played alot of the tubed marshall amps and this ones right up there. the only thing i can really complain about is that it comes with plastic toggle switches and inputs (i bought mine used and most were already replaced)oh yeah and this thing is a beast to carry id say at least 50 lbs.

I play a gibson les paul studio with the sovtek running though a marshall 4x12 (one of the cheaper ones). For punk its a great head the distortion is very "clean" as in every note can be heard even with the gain at 10. the head has alot of sustain as well. Its pretty quite but as with all tube amplifiers if turned up very loudly can become a bit noisy but thats if you turn the knob past 7... playing live i have the volume at the 3-4 this amp is very loud. another thing is that this head sounds almost exactly like a marshall jcm800... i borrowed an 800 from a friend for about a month and this thing nails it. the 800's got a bit more bite but that could be because of the tubes (marshalls use el34's while the mig uses 6l6's) but if you hadnt seen the amp and just heard it you would have thought classic marshall tone all the way

its a beast and as with all beasts its tough to kill. Great workman ship and is very sturdy i have SEEN one fall off of a half stack and be perfectly fine (only a bit of the tolex was scratched). The only problem i would have with the reliability is the plastic inputs and toggle switches. buying the head used and having all the plastic parts except 1 toggle switch shows that the plastic isnt very reliable but as long as your carful with your inputs and your switches i dont see anyother problems. all though this could change because ive only had the head for a very short time... but i was so amazed with it i had to post a review now

i have no idea... i mean sovtek doesnt even make these things anymore and i dont even think sovtek is owned by the same company... not to mention this thing is made in russia. customer support sounds pretty iffy to me

over all for the money this amp is well worth it. if it were lost or stolen i would probably try to go find who stole it, if i couldnt find that person i would then begin to cry, and lastly i would find one as fast as possible and buy a new one. if your a simple guy who likes simple amps but also is a poor man who likes that marshall tone and cant afford it the sovtek is for you. you can go buy a brand new jcm 2000 ill keep my sovtek thank you very much and with a grin my tone will blast you out of the water. i mean in a perfect world this amp would have reverb but also in a perfect world it wouldnt need to be carried because it could float and it would be free so im not complaining. GO BUY SOVTEK RIGHT NOW. for the money its the best (not to mention its all tubes)

ill try to make this short and simple.
this amp is basically a marshall jcm 800. its a 100 watts, has low and hi imputs and standard controls (no reverb.
this is a one trick pony. you can coax some decent clean sounds out of it (compared to a marshall, which doesnt say much), but its a bare bones rock and roll amp. im a simple guy, i like my amps simple, so i cant ask for much more. maybe footswitchable reverb? i used this amp at practice a few times, loud levels, has plenty enough power.

im using a les paul standard with this. i play alot of indie rock/punk rock. my main amp is a marshall jcm 800 50 watt, but i had this sitting around and figured id tried it at practice level before i sold it. i was AMAZED at how it sounded. ive always read that the amp came really close to a marshall, but it sounded JUST AS GOOD. i put both of them next to each to really see how they sounded.
i put eqs on both amps at 12 o clock, volume at about 4 and master volume at about 8 or 9.
the sovtek had more pronounced highs and mids, and a really strong midrange. it seemed to cut a bit more than the marshall, and sounded a bit "grindier." what was definately noticeable was that the sovtek when i backed off the guitar volume knob had more headroom. it was a really strong sound, but still clean. the 100 watts probably accounts for this. the sovtek also seemed to have a tad bit more gain/sustain than the marshall.
i plugged in the marshall and i was right. the marshall had a bit more "balls" and didnt have the strong midrange and highs that the sovtek did. when playing with another guitarist, bassist and drummer, the marshall didnt cut QUITE as well, but with a tweek of the mids and highs, sounded a bit better. the marshall seemed to have a bit less gain. also, i have to admit, the marshall has older, unmatched power tubes which can easily change the tone a bit. the sovtek, rated at 100 watts, had a bit more volume and the marshall when the master was turned past 5 didnt get too much louder, but got more saturated. when i knocked off the volume on my guitar, the clean sound wasnt as strong as the sovtek. the sovtek has been used very little and marshall is another 10 years older, and hasnt been serviced much. still i was floored by the small difference in sounds. i would be quite happy with the sovtek over the marshall, especially considering it generally costs 150-200 dollars less.

sovtek is built TOUGH.

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ive been playing for a good 4 years or so, and have gone through many an amp. i definately reccomend this amp to anyone who wants the classic marshall sound. i might buy another one as a backup to my marshall or even replace the marshall and keep the cash! too bad they dont make them anymore.

Hi my name is ROn Dettwiler and I've been using a Sovetek Mig 100 for about 9 years and I also have a mig 50. I believe my mig 100 was made in the early 90's. I got in the used section of a music store for $125.00. Instantly I fell in love with this amp. A first I used the clean sound and ran my Rocktron rack gear through it. I never used the the Hi gain input tube distortion because it doesn't have channel switching and I didn't realize how good it sounded. It has; volume and master volume for overdriving the tubes, bass, mid, treble and presance for the EQ section. But best of all it has a pre amp out. Now I am a recording instructor/engineer at madison media institute technical collage and I use my mig 100 for everything.
I'll run bass, keys, guitar and even prevously recorded track through
my mig 100 using the pre amp out into a red box DI and rerecord it on a different track. It will worm up the sound of anything. I basicly use it as a tube pre amp. If you haven't tried this you've got to. If they put channel switching in this amp it would be a 10.

I used 100s of guitars through it but my 93 les paul studio light sounds the best. If it doesn't have enough distortion for you you can change the tubes. The tubes are rated with a number 1-9. the lower the number the quicker they start to distort and the higher the number the less distortion they will have. But be careful to much distortion will make a good recording sound like crap! So if you are looking for more distortion buy different tubes. As far as self noise it is one of the cleanest sounding amps I've ever heard. Even on the High gain input volume cranked there was almost no noise. I've never had to gate this amp. The low gain input doesn't distort at high volumes and has an incrediblely warm sounding clean sound. After using rack gear for years I switched to just a metal zone and the Mig 100. Then after I retubed my head and started overdriving the tubes using the hi gain input I never used the metal zone again. Since the low gain is so clean and the hi gain sound so good you could use an
A/B switcher to switch Between the low and Hi gain. All in all this is the best sounding amp you can buy for the price.

I did have one problem with the amp. One of the tubes was glowing brighter then the rest and it smelled like it was burnning up. so iI took it to the local shop and they replaced the tubes and he said he changed three resistors and said it will never happen again. so the amp has been modified. The clean sounds the same but the distortion sounded much better. I contributed this to the new tubes but maybe it was the resistors he added. I've never had a problem sence.

I've been playing guitar for 17 years and owned a recording studio for about 4 year. Most of the bands I get in my studio end up using my mig 100 instead of their own amp after the hear it. I love this amp so much that I will have it tell the day I die and maybe I'll have it barried with me along with my less paul!

very power 100 watts... w/ hi/lo inputs; presence, bass, mid, treble controls; master volume and regular volume and finally a standby and power switch. All tubes by the way! missing a switchable distortion...

crystel clear!I play thru a fender w/ dimarzio super distorion P/U's....I love playing the clean channel on this guy! the distortion on the other hand doesnt really fit my style of music. I like to play with a higher gain distortion so i use a ibanez smashbox distortion pedal. I get great tube warmth when i run the pedal thru it. Very loud by the way... I dont think ill ever need to turn the volume past half way.

works so far....

havent dealt with them......

This is a great/inexpensive amp head. Compares to alot of more expensive heads such as marshalls. If it got stolen,I would definitly buy another one if I could even find one. So, if any of you get lucky enough to find one used...i highly recommend buying it.

Limited features, but adequate for single channel.For something so robust in manufacture, i can't believe the plastic knobs & jacks....haven't broken any yet...but the inevitable awaits.

Sounds awesome......have jammed with 100w Marhsall's that are just kidding themselves.....this thing eats Marshall's, Mesa's & all comers! I haven't had the "noisy" high-gain input that other reviewers have commented on....if anythin mines too clean. I play with 70's Ibanez's (Jap), a Destroyer II with DiMarzio's & an Iceman with Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck @ the Bridge & Jazz pick up @ the neck.
The Destroyer played through low gain channel is pure magic.

No Drama's to date but only had the thing for a year (touch wood). Only blown a couple of fuses through selecting wrong output jack (16 ohm). As is said by all other reviewers....this thing is a tank.

N/A

Been playing for about 8 years.....& wouldn't swap for all the Marshall's in Spandexland.......Would have paid double or even triple for this amp. In the shop I was comparing to vintage 60's Marsh with $7000 price tag....which just sounded tired by comparison. I love that it is always a talking point with every new person to see it....get a bit of a snigger at first glance....then plug it in...and wipe those smiles away! Viva St Petersberg!

I think the year it was made in was in the 70's or early eighties. I bought it used not really expecting somthing so nice. I play in a Punk group and this thing has power. With my RAT pedal its a little bassy but I cleaned it up so instead it has that awesome crunch to it. It has everything i need treble, bass, mid, presence, and high-Low channels. I don't need anything else. I used it for a show and it sounded great. I've heard marshalls and Fenders, i don't like them compared to this.

I use a Squier Strat and Tele, with single coils in them, they sound great with it. Musically it has everything i wanted, i've only had it up a quarter (if that) towards its maximum volume. IT HAS POWER!! It only has a clean channel, but like i said, that's all i need. And anyways built in distortions usually suck. If you play classical and want that rich guitar sound this is a good amp for you.

I've only had one problem with it, that was when a fuse blew out and i lost the cap. I ended up spending 40 bucks getting a new fuse port put in. But that was it. I would use it for a stadium tour without backups. I have the fuse caps duct taped down so all i'd have to do is place new fuses in. But i'd doubt i'd even need to replace those. I just had some idiot handling it who didn't know how to operate. Take care of it, it won't break.

I couldn't find the company but i don't think anyone else has. It makes you wonder how these amps apeared on earth, Aliens? probably not. I bought it used and i didn't get a warranty on it. I didn't know of any place to get it repaired so i took it to a car stereo repair place (nice job on it too).

I've had it for a year and i've played numerous places. I own a small peavy which is solid state and has more crunch to it but i play my sovtek pretty much all the time. Trade it in? NEVER!!! I've heard marshalls peavy's fender's, they sound nice but would'nt trade my sovvie for it. As for Crates ewwwwwwww. Crawl back into the deep hole you came from. YOU SUCK CRATE.

I bought it new in 1994. It seems to be quite versatile in the clean to tube cruch range. It doesn't have very high gain however, and is not good for death metal playing. But can sound very good mixed with other instruments like bass and second guitar. It is loud enough even to play with a hard hitting drummer. It makes an exellent bass head for some reason, but can't quite push the bass hard enough to keep up with a full band. And as you know by now it is basic when it comes to features. It makes a good lesson in tone control usage and makes rows of distorion pedals and FX seem complicated and usless. I stopped using pedals all together because even the most expensive ones could not touch the stock sound.

I play a Gibson exlorer with stock humbuckers straight in to the amp. I play metal and hated the amp at first for this style, but soon learned that the super high gain "swarm of bees" sound that I love when I played alone simply got lost when put it in to a band setting. Now the crunchy sound actualy sounds heavier to me. It has some buzz that varies drasticly depending on where it is plugged in. Some outlets are less noisy for some reason. The clean channel resists breaking up for a while but does begin to dirty eventually. The distortion is thick but has a strange lack of sustain. It maintains the characteristics of a clean guitar at even full gain and high volume.. It does sound exellent though.

It went for years of regular use at high volumes with zero problems. But due to my own lack of upkeep has recently died. I think it may need a re-tubing. I had not ever let it go this long without re-tubing it and don't know what the effects of a fried tube are on an amp. All it does is blow all of it's fuses the second you turn off the standby. I rate it at ten because it will work for ever if regularly "tuned up" but it is not maitenence free like a solid state amp and needs the typical tube amp TLC.

No information.. I can't even find a website that sells the amp anymore. All of the links etc. are just for Sovtek tubes. If anyone knows anything I would love an email.

I have been playing for a while but am actually a drummer. If it were stolen I would try and seek out another one. I love that you don't see them all over and it stands out. It is built like a tank and hand wired. I shoped around a bit, but I knew that there was nothing at even double the price that could touch the volume and tone. Other 100 watt tube heads were a lot more expensive and they didn't all sound as good. I thought about a used Marshall but everyone and their dog has a marshall and all of the modern ones sound about the same with that telltale midrange grind. I am satisfied with the features that it has. Down to earth in every way. If you are in the tube head market it is worth a test drive.

This amp sure doesn't have very many features but for me i don't really need them. I play punk music and i think that is what it is made for. As far as the loudness of it, it is way loud its 100w tube which makes it a grip louder.

To me this beast sounds really good, i play a fender mexican strat with a hot rails and a lace sensor on it. It sounds awesome to me and everybody who has heard it. There is so much distortion on it and it is just right

The reliability isn't too good on it. The 2 fuses on the back have problems for instance one of them was sort of cracked and it fell out a couple days ago and it is so hard to just find a fuse cap for it, that is all i need and no has anything on it. Also the power switch broke but luckily it broke on, on! They really need to be replaced with metal ones but i can't find any parts for it from anyone not even from them

I haven't been able to get in contact with them, i went to there webpage but they don't have any parts for sovtek just for everything else. If i could get in contact with them it would help but its so hard. if anyone has their # could you email me thanks a lot

overall its a really sweet sounding amp, as soon as i get everything fixed on it i will be good to go

Don't know what year it is, probably mid 80's to 90. I play alternative country, whatever that is. It definately is built to suit my styles of play but it's not for everyone. I don't mind that it has only one channel. I read how everyone wishes it had 2 channels or reverb but if you play lighter it will play clean. This amp is extremely responsive to your attack on the strings. Also try rolling off the volume knob on your guitar. All these musicians want to just hit a button or stomp on a box and change the sound. Try learning control of your instrument. I have found the controls on the amp can dramatically change the sound to suit most all of my needs. I use this amp in the studio, on stage and at rehearsals. I for one like to keep things simple and that is what this amp affords me while still giving me quite a variety of sound. Sure if I want a real vintage country sound I'm gonna plug in a Twin Reverb but for all around warm, saturated tube sound the mig 100 is it. I won't even answer the question about power. I don't think I've turned it past 5.

I mostly use a Gibson Les Paul Jr with one p90 pickup and an SG Standard. Occasionally I've even put a Guild Acoustic with a Fishmann thru it. Doesn't sound so bad. The amp sound seems to ajust itself like a cameleon. It really does almost anything I want it to do as long as I put the right guitar on the other end. As far as Distortion goes the farther you seem to go with volume the better it gets. It never falls short.

It is extremely reliable. It may have broken down once in 5 yrs. All I had to do then was put a fuse in the back of it. Also just some minor maintenance is required like everything else.

Doesn't seem like anyone really knows anything about these amps. From California to New York I have always had amp techs say "OH You have one of those". Never contacted Sovtek.

Read the other reviews: huge,loud,nice,heavy,master/vol all tube lead head. Wish it had channel switching.
Actually, one wierd thing is there's 3 output jacks, in between 2 of them it says 4 OHMS, and for the last it's 8 OHMS. I think it must be an older model with only 4 and 8 ohm outputs. If anyone knows give me a bell(no bells will be accepted). My cab's 8 OHM's so it's fine.
I like lots of different sounds, and I only like it because I run a good Multi-effects into it.

The Eq and Volume are all really interractive, reasonably large variation of sounds - takes some fiddling. You can get ALMOST glassy, bottom-end crunch, vintage overdrive, not high-gain...... Straight-in and it's over-driven heaven if that's what you're after(to MY ears). I just want to keep turning it up because it keeps getting better, except stuff starts shaking when it's in my room. I run an RG Ibanez through it into a TE quad and the bottom end is huge: It's the combination of the guitar and the amp. Quiet as heck. Great with multieffects.

Jacks stuffed up, I repaired them myself and now it's fine. If Russia bombs us they can come and get it because I think it will still be fine, sitting in the smoldering ashes. I was going to get a Marshall DSL, but I saw a few blow at gigs and went for Reliability. Hand wired, really good work - TANK.

I need the circuit diagram. Can you give me a bell if you can get it to me(no bells will be accepted). Importer in Australia is Electric Factory (VIC) I think.

I've been playing 6 years. Own a strat-copy, an acoustic I brought from a Scottish backpacker,RG Ibanez, Boss ME-30..... I run it through a Trace-Elliot Quad, the combo is awesome! I swear I can get almost every sound known to man.
Lost or stolen: You couldn't loose it, look for the nearest hole in the ground, it's probably sunk. Stolen, I might buy a Marshall DSL except they seem to be unreliable, seen a few go at gigs, that's why I got this.
It needs channel switching, then they'd sell like hotcakes.

real stright-foreward type of amp. bass middle treble and presence for tone controls and a master and volume. it has a high and low input.

I use it in a rock setting...nails the early aerosmith kinda thing no problem. I use it with a bunch of different guitars and each ones character can be heard. it is a fairly quiet amp as far as noise goes. but it can keep up with an svt as far as volume goes. The distorton is more for classic rock but if you want more gain put a sans amp gt2 into the low input and use the boogie extreme settings then you can out metallica metallica.

I've used the amp on gigs and the amp has been stone reliabale. The on/off switch and standby switch are a little dodgy but I had'em replaced before playing out and had no problems. Tubes are still original from 94....I really need to replace them!!

Support was great...asked them a few questions about the switches and about upgrading it to a mig 100h....the answered me promptly and sent me a mig 100h scematic with the upgrede circled for free...can't beat that

Been playing for most of my life and have a ton of gear...this piece just keeps itself around. I love the amp and it has been totally reliable. Beats the hell out of most marshalls...this has low end. Awesome for rock(not metal unless you use the gt2)

I bought this head new in '94, I think. The controls are quite simple; bass, treble, middle, presence, volume and master volume. Low and high inputs. This amp is really loud, but like most other 100 watt amps, the actual increase in volume sort of stops when you reach 5 on the master, after that only the distortion increases. Anyway, that's how I feel. Maybe I'm just losing my hearing...

But don't get me wrong here, the volume is more than enough. Period. It would actually do with a 50 watt amp, because with a 100 watt amp, you rarely push it to its' limits.

I have a Strat replica with 2 EMG's and one DiMarzio YJM (I reviewed the YJM under Pickups), but I mainly use my Gibson Nighthawk when playing through the Sovtek. This combination is truly great. It's an extremely fat sounding distortion (with the volume set at around 7-10, and the master at 3; the bass, treble and presence around 7, and the middle full up), not a sound you would wanna solo with, but for riffing it's outstanding. It's difficult to make what you play sound good with this kind of sound; every mistake really stands out, but if you have decent control of what you do with your guitar you cannot go wrong.

Oh yeah, a remark regarding the distortion in this amp. It's a really strange kind of overdrive. If you bash out open chords/power chords, it sounds like there's enough distortion to make Dino Cazares weep out of joy, but when you start palm muting and playing fast riffs, there's just not enough gain to make it sound fluent. The chords seem to stumble over each other, and it's really hard to make it sound good. So if you're planning to play Lagwagon-type riffs with the Sovtek, I suggest you use a parametric EQ or a preamp or something for a proper gain boost.

The input jacks break real easily, so I've replaced them with Marshall ditos. I've had this amp for five years, and so far only two tubes have broken. Another thing, if I were going to kill someone, this would be the weapon of choice. It's a real back-breaker dragging this thing from and to rehearsal. I wish they would fill the tubes with helium or something, then I'd be much happier.

Haven't got a clue. I bought this in Sweden, and due to the wonderful European Community and it's damn rules and regulations, they are not even allowed to import this amp anymore.

I've played for maybe seven years, and previosly I've owned two Marshall Valvestates, one funny little Yamaha practice amp, one Peavey 5150 half stack (quick, where's the barf bag!??), plus the two other amps I own right now; one old modified Marshall head and one Mesa/Boogie Caliber 50+ combo. And like I said, this sounds damn good for rhythm guitar, while I might prefer the Marshall or the Mesa for lead sounds. But considering the low price for this back-breaker, it was an excellent buy. I actually tried to sell this a couple of years back, thank God I didn't succeed!!

Right, time to go "poop" in the toilet, but I think I've covered everything I wanted to share with the guitarist community.

This is a very basic 100watt guitar head. Controls include presence, bass, mid, treble, master, and volume. It also has 4,8,16ohm outputs, and a direct out. I give it a six because no real attempt was made to make this amp convenient with respect to switchable high/low inputs or anything. It also has the plastic ins/outs and power/standby switches which take away from the rating. Very loud and you have to keep a speaker load on the tubes so the direct out isn't for silent recording, which would be nice, but is useful nonetheless.

I haven't heard everything out there so I can't say this is the best, but it is the best I have ever played through. I use a much older Epiphone SG (Japanese not Korean) and have played an Epi hollowbody and an original Fender Jaguar through the MIG. I find it very versatile and useable with humbuckers or single coils. The difference is the loss of only minor gain with the single coils, but increased clarity. I have mostly used it for recording and it has been excellently suited for that because it is very quiet when you aren't playing and very loud and musical when you are. I can get any sound I would want out of it with the use of no pedals. However I would recommend to those who wish to get excessive distortion to use a pedal. I have tried the Big Muff Pi(green reissue) with it and it sounded great.I play just about anything I can manage, I am primarily a drummer, but since i bought this I may change my mind. If you want blues you can get it easy. Same with hard rock, vintage crunchy sounds, great punk rock, ska, old school hardcore (think Minor Threat), or something different. The sound matches all of the great amps I have heard others use and I was shocked at what others are willing to pay for an amp of this caliber.I leave the master set at a bearable decibel level and fool with the volume to send the signal through the (3)12AX7s in the preamp. The power tubes are 5881s (aka 6l6s)which give a nice, rich, glassy, warmth to the clean tones which are achieved by setting the master volume up with the volume set back down around 2. Again this will vary because the amp gets loud fast when you play with the knobs, so you'll want to pay attention to what time of day you're cranking this in your bedroom! But low volumes are possible without sacrificing tone thanks to the design of the master/volume controls. Some of the shimmer of the power tubes is missing from this amp, meaning fender tones aren't nailed by any means. But that doesn't mean that good bluesy breakup isn't there. It is just more muddy than a fender. This is far better competition for Marshall buyers than Fender lovers.

I really cannot comment on its reliability because I haven't had it long (few months), but the previous owner never had to change the tubes and he bought it new in 1994. There have been no mods on the amp, and no emergency servicing. From what others say about their tube amps, that seems like a pretty good track record. I have noticed a blue glow from the output tubes which I researched. Apparently this is a good sign that the tubes are well made and have a strong vaccum. Kudos Sovtek.

Couldn't say.

In the seven years I have been playing guitar off and on,I tampered with solid state gear as well as the tube amps of my friends and I was ready to take the plunge into tubedom when my last Solid State started smoking on me. I really loved that amp (Acoustic 260) but I know that new S.S. amps aren't made like that, and certainly won't sound as warm. I bought this because it was cheap. Now that I have played it, I don't want to repair my other amp because this sounds so good I don;t need to. If you are reading this because you are in the market for a new amp for little money, don't bother with all of the overpriced junk out there. Valvestates and Crates and beat-up Marshalls and everything else being crammed down your throat are supposedly great, but they suck! If their owners weren't so proud they'd tell you that they paid too much. Footswitching would be nice, metal jacks and plugs would be too, but the important things are there- tone and volume, not to mention meager pricetags.The jacks and switches are an easy fix for you or your tech. Bottom line- Big amp for a Little price! If you are loaded, buy a Soldano, Rivera, or Mesa, but people like me are still going to ask why. Otherwise, if you aren't loaded, or at least care more about music than image, buy this amp!