Sovtek Mig 50

i think this is an early '90 s head, as far as i'm aware these were only made between '92 and '95. it's a small head (i'd say slightly over half the size of a marshall), two channel amp with straightforward eq and presence control. the channels aren't switchable - it's very much "plug in and play". i use the clean channel, with a big muff supplying the fuzz. it's rated at 50 watts and is definately loud enough for any size of a gig short of stadiums! sounds very loud through a 4x12. if you want features then watch out, this is a very basic amp. if you want pure tone - this is the one for you!!! i like it simple, and have no problem getting my dream sound from this amp, therefore a 10. maybe a 1 for features nerds tho!!!

i play a gordon-smith custom sg junior through a big muff into this head. the sg has an emg81 humbucker for high gain. i play heavy rock in the vein of sabbath/ melvins/ stoner/ noise. this amp is the king - i have played through marshall, peavey, carlsbro and laney and nothing has come close to this. it has the warmest, thickest tone i have heard, and absolutely sings. the high gain channel gets a great hard rock overdriven sound (like thin lizzy/ ac/dc), but for me it's the clean channel with a big muff. there's plenty of headroom, so the presence can be used to thicken up the fuzz as required. even at the most extreme eq settings this amp sounds awesome. i have used it both for recording and live, and have been blown away by it's tone in either setting. for stoner rock it's perfect - fat, heavy chugging chords and warm, sweet solos. just incredible!!!

no problems so far. i guess the plastic jacks/ switches could be replaced, but they feel solid enough. in terms of reliably sounding great, then it's a ten no question!

overall is a ten no question. all my tone prayers were answered the moment i plugged in. for heavy rock it just cant be beaten, and sounds incredible paired up with my big muff. all those classic sabbath sounds are right there, but with a bit of fiddling then zztop through to metallica can be found here too. this amp sounds like all those old marshalls should, but don't. also, it's light enough to put on the passenger seat, but loud enough for any setting and less than half the price!! a bit of an undiscovered classic i'd say - get one before the prices go sky high!!

I'm not sure what year this amp was produced, but I purchased it in 2001 as a new old stock piece at a local music shop. It had been sitting there since at least 1998
This amp has been great for everything. I play dance-punk, hardcore, and rock. I play bass and guitar through this amp.
This amp has two independent channels, one for bass and one for guitar. The bass channel is very bassy, while the guitar channel is very brittle. I use a whirlwind a/b/y box two switch between the two channels or both while playing. I like the combination.
I like the features (or lack of) on this amp, it is raw with no frills, very punk rock. If you want real tube overdrive, you have crank this thing up.
I practice with this amp and play medium size venues with it. This amp is plenty loud enough to conquer most rooms.
This is a 45-50 watt tube amp, it has 3 12ax7's and two 6l6 tubes for power. I have heard that the amp is a rip off of the fender bassman, and I can hear that loud and clear when I play, I think it's because of the 6L6 tubes, I have heard that some EL34's will make this amp sound like a marshall. However, I like the warm clean sound of tubes, so I will stick with the 6L6's. THis amp is smooth and warm and can go to ripping in a heartbeat. Just crank that master volume!
I run this little guy through a fender 300 watt 4x12 cabinet. I give it an 8 because it doesn't have reverb or tremelo. I'm okay with it not having a pre amp gain.

I use a mid 90's Epiphone les pual standard with dimarzio super distortion humbuckers, a mid 70's epiphone coronet (humbuckers), and a squire p-bass deluxe (p/j pickups)with this amp.
This amp is so loud with humbuckers. This amp suits my style pretty well. I really have to mess with it to make it sound trashy. I like crappy sounds, and this amp is almost to "pretty" sometimes. I incorporate lots stomp boxes to muck up the sound.
Since I use lots of pedals on a powered board, there is some noise when I'm not playing.
I'm not sure how much of a variety this amp has since I do not play lots of music styles. I know that it has a wonderful clean sound, so tube and warm. The distortion is very smooth as well.
Both vahnnels can distort well, but the guitar channel makes it very shrill due to the lack of bottem end. So ad lots o' bass and roll back on the high's.
Like I said, the distortion is smooth, but it rocks so loud! I am not a fan of the high gain nu-metal mesa boogie sound, and I like this a lot. This amp is great for punk rock because it is so simple and raw. With the aid of a jekyll and hyde pedal, this thing can become a metal monster in a heartbeat. Also a big muff sounds incredible through it.

I have been using this amp for exactly 2 years, and the tubes are still as brite as when I first plugged this thing up. This amp has never given me problems.

well, its russian, so good luck contacting the parent company. oh and find a translator.

I have been playing for almost 5 years. I used to own a 100 watt marshall solid state combo, but I sold it when I found this beauty. All it needed was 2 fuses and a cord. I added an a/b/y switch and this is my dream amp now.
If I lost this amp, I would try and find another one to replace it asap. I would like to find some older smaller combo's with reverb and tremelo to add some sound.
I love the simplicity of this amp, I do wish that it had reverb.
PICK UP ONE OF THESE BEFORE THEY TURN INTO THE NEXT BIG THING! All I have heard is good things about these amps.

Not sure of the year made, but it's the 001 model w/ the misspelled "presense" knob.Two inputs that can be used seperately or combined w/ a shared EQ.I personally like the limited amount of features w/ this amp.It's power is perfect for most average size clubs as you can really start pumping the power tubes.My rating of 5 in this category is not a knock on this amp, but it's not loaded w/ a bunch of bells & whistles, just pure tube power

Here is where this amp really shines!I was actually a little disappointed when I received this amp after reading all the great reviews on this amp.It sounded,..well like shit compared to where it's at now.Do yourself a favor if you have this amp & put some high quality tubes in the pre & power sections of this little beast& rebias it.I highly recommend some jj6l6's & ecc83s.You will smile like a kid @ christmas.This little amp has a very bassman type sound to it.Glassy clean until those tubes start working hard then just pure power tube saturation.It loves stomp boxes as well. I have a couple of keeley modded ts-9's,keeley rat,marshall drivemaster,etc. point being that it sounds great w/ all of them depending on what tone your going for from bluesy grind to marshall crunch.I use a stock les paul studio & stock american strat into this amp for these types of tones.

I think these are a very dependable amp.That's the beauty of the simplicity in the features department,however I've gotten to the point where I like some sort of back up w/ anything I use if possible.The power & standby switches are plastic which is only a small problem do to the style mostly.This amp was neglected somewhat before I got it,but it never seemed to bog down & w/ some minor upkeep Like fresh tubes,biasing,cleaning,etc. it has only made a good little amp great.

I would say this category has no application for this amp, but any decent tech should be able to service or repair it if needed.

I've been playing for 25yrs.Been down alot of roads w/ gear and have some decent stuff(jcm800 2203 mkII,jcm900(good amp in my opinion w/ some good tubes& good cabs),fender blues deluxe,currently w/ alot of other stuff dumped over the years.This amp will not fall into that category after getting it to the shape it's in now!If it were stolen I'd find another one ,.hopefully before people relize what they are capable of & the prices go thru the roof.If you are looking for a no-nonsense amp without all bells & whistles of todays amps for blues & classic rock this is a great buy.With some high quality tubes ,stomps,& cabs this amp is a steal for the price.GO get one before everyone catches on .

This is an all tube 45 watt amp made in (I believe) 94. I play a lot of different types of style, for versatility, this amp isn't great. It pretty much does one thing, but it does it really well, and for cheap. It has 2 inputs, a low sensitivity and high. You can switch between these two (or combine them for a little more overdrive) with an ABY switch. No effects loop or headphone jack. A lot of people say that this amp is so amazingly loud but I have disagree. It's definitely loud enough for smaller-middle sized venues, but the louder it gets, the more distortion it gets (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). But even at 10, it's not so loud.

I use a Mexican Fender Deluxe Super Strat (single coils) and a Gibson LP Standard (humbuckers). It's great for punk or rock. My main problem with it is that it can't get loud without getting too distorted. Although I'm giving it an 8, know that's just for the distortion. The clean isn't great since it's only existant at low volumes. But the distortion is the classic warm overdriven tube amp deal. And also it gets points off because of the bass. This thing has some of the most punchy low end I've ever heard. And that's not a bad thing. But sometimes I'd like to take it down a notch, but it goes from full on punch, to a very thin sound (with the bass at zero). But still, it's a great tone for a great price.

I haven't had this amp for too long. I think a few months. My new band isn't gigging yet, but I'd rather not even use it at a gig since I need some loud clean tones. But that's not reflective of it's reliability. It seems very reliable except for the plastic switches ( though not a huge problem and easily replaceable) and the metal grill on the back doesn't allow for a lot of cooling off, it can get pretty hot. But besides this, it's fine. When I first got this, it would have pretty drastic volume cuts. But I was using the speaker from a combo and it was at low volumes in the first place, so it must have been one of those variables because now that I've got my 4x12 and am turning up a good amount, the problem's gone bye bye.

Long gone.

I've been playing for 8 years. This is a great amp and pretty much my only one that I could use (unless I wanted to hook up my solid state combo to my cab) anywhere with a band. Although I love it, if it were lost or stolen, I'd probably just use it as an excuse to spend outlandish amounts of money on a new amp (something with a good clean maybe...) after the proper mourning period.

No frills.
Just straight 5881 Tubes (just like old marshalls)with some 12X7 tubes on the side. The second volume nob really adds in the high end. 2 inputs and 3 (6, 8, 16 ohm) outputs.
50 watts.... hah it out performs some 100 watt amps I have used with my cabinet.

I use this to play punk music. I use a fernandez H series or a fender strat w/ humbucker in the bridge. I run to a Zoom driver 510 to Mig50 to 4x12 celestion cab.
I get very chunky low end and all the volume I can handle. I have played many small clubs and only mic the cabinet to get better house sound.

In the 6 years I have owned this amp I have only had to fix the Input #1 and the volume #1 pot. The presence pot needs to be fixed also. Other than that I have only gone through 2 sets of 5881's and only one of those times I NEEDED to. I am not easy on my amp and it takes my abuse well.

Never delt with the company but their 5881 tubes are easy to find.
Need help ...see
http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/sovtek/mig-50.pdf

Overall this amp is a great bargain. Way cheaper than an old marshall but close to the same design/sound.
Only more I want out of an amp is distortion. so if you like stopmp box's or are looking for a full clean classic tube sound on a budget.. this is the amp.

Very straight forward amp with great tone -- that's all the "features" I need. If you want chorus and reverb and so on, buy an effects unit you cheap-ass.

I've played through alot of amps and this one out-fenders a Fender, out marshalls a Marshall. With a good gain circuit before it (not a Metal Zone -- I said a GOOD gain circuit), it can keep up with the likes of Mesa -- yes... the low end is THAT punchy! If you're a die hard Mesa user, you might consider getting one of these at least for a back-up.

Plastic componants (switches, jacks) are probably the weakest thing about this amp. The good news is they are cheap to replace with metal and easy to install. These amps do burn through tubes rapidly, so if you get one to use as a main giiging amp, I'd recommend new power tubes at least every six to eight months. I've recently retubes mine with Ruby tubes and the amp has never sounded better.

All in all, you can not beat this amp for the price. It sounds as good as anything out there and you can regularly find these for under $300. Very easy to use -- the Passive eq helps prevent morons from being morons, since it is difficult to get a bad sound out of this amp. Notice, however, that the volume I & II are interactive -- if you're plugged into I, if you move II, your sound will change. At any rate, I'm sure I'll get another of these at some point, but I am really interested in collecting one of each Sovtek amp. The others do not seem to rate as high as these, but I'm sure they still sound cool!

Four band EQ, 50 watts, two channels, standard and bright. Three outputs, 4,8,16 ohms.
This is a very simple amp, no 'verb or effects loop, no channel footswitch, but enough power for most venues. I use it at church anp at home right now, but I'll be using it in band situations soon.
It's simple, but it has the nessicities.

I'm using this with a tele at the moment. Very nice jazz/blues/rock/U2/worship sounds. EQ seems a bit noisy, but is nicely voiced. To distort this thing needs to be very loud, as it has no gain control, which isn't ideal. Very nice tube sound, it sounds compressed and full. Every note you pick comes out clear and smooth. Lovely with a touch of overdrive.

It seems like a pretty chunky piece of work, good solid case.
I think any decent amp tech could fix this beast anyway.

No idea, for one thing, I don't speak russian . . .
I brought this second hand, so only a 3 month warranty from the store.

I love this thing. I wish it had a effects loop, but I might have one added. I've never had a tube amp, and even though I might replace this in a few years, I'll never go back to solid state. I've been playing gat for four year and have just finshed a one year guitar course, and this is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard.
So happy I could get one at this price, undoutably the best deal I've ever scored. Go and buy one before they are all gone.

I have one of the black and white Sovtek Mig 50's. There are 2 clean channels that cannot be switched between without the use of an A/B. You can plug into both channels at the same time with a Y cable and get some really cool tones too. I have 2 Mig 50's. One with high headroom preamp tubes, so that I can get really clear tones straight from my distortion box, and one with low headroom tones, so that I can get really sweet OD tones from this amp. Other features would just be useless shit

NOTE: I HAVE INSTALLED A 5U4G THD REACTIVE RECTIFIER. THIS ADDS ALOT OF SAG TO THE TONE, CHANGES THE FEEL, CHANGES THE SOUND, AND GETS MORE POWERAMP DISTORTION.

I have 2 setups that I will describe in detail.

Setup 1-
Warmoth hollowed body stratocaster with 2 Adder Plus Corporation Persuaders>MXR Distortion II>Boss Digital Delay>Sovtek Mig 50 w/reactive rectifier and HIGH HEADROOM PREAMP TUBES>Avatar 2x12 w/Vintage 30's.

This is my "distortion" setup. It sounds sooooooo good both distorted and clean. I run my Guitar and boxes into the clean bright channel, or into the bright and just the tinyest bit of the darker channel. Clean, (because of the rectifier) I would liken my tone to Jimi Hendrix in "Little Wing". The cleans sparkly and chime and are beautifully harmonic with the right pickups. DO NOT USE EMG PICKUPS WITH THIS AMP FOR CLEANS DISTORTIONS OR OVERDRIVES. THEY WILL OVERDRIVE THE PREAMP TOO EARLY IN A WAY THAT SOUNDS MUDDY, BLOCK-LIKE, HARSH, AND NOT MUSICAL, AND WILL OVERPOWER ANY TONES COMING FROM AN EXTERNAL DISTORTION PEDAL. Distorted tones with my MXR distortion II are very clear and articulate (probably because of the pickups and distortion) and the amp imparts it's chime and beauty and dynamics to every note played. I can get sounds anywhere from Randy Rhodes to The Refused, to Fugazi, to Hendrix, to Page, to Santana, to Steve Jones, to.........

Setup 2
Gibson Les Paul Standard with Adder Plus Corp Persuaders>Boss Digital Delay Pedal>Sovtek w/LOW HEADROOM PREAMP TUBES and reactive rectifier>Avatar 2x12 Cab w/ vintage 30's

I plug into the Dark and Bright channels of the Sovtek, and use my volume knob for cleans. Cleans in this setup are really beautiful. Again like "Little Wing". When you turn up the guitar it gets really really loud, and it gets a really really cool and clear and nice OD. I would compare the OD to the Solo in Jimmy Eat World's, "The Middle", but again that is the rectifier. It just sings and is so dynamic and it almost makes you want to cry. You get lost in the music.

I tried it out before I put the rectifier in, and the OD was very reminiscent of AC/DC, Led Zepplin, or The Living End, while the clean was very reminiscent of (enter desired tone here).

This amp is so sweet sounding. If you roll back on the treble knob on the guitar and plug into the dark imput using the rhythm pickup, you have the finest jazz tone I have ever heard. I was playing at church and my electric guitars were at my Drummer's house, so I had to borrow a guitar with EMG 81's in both positions. EMG's have terrible clean sounds, especially the 81, so I was very suprised at the number of people who came up to me after the performance and told me that my it sounded great. Even a guitar teacher was commenting on how we was going to buy the same amp off of ebay because of how good it sounded. I would not, however, suggest using EMG's with this amp. They are mismatched pieces of gear. I used to have an EMG equipped axe, so I know what I am talking about.

Basses are really incredible through this. It imparts it's warmth to them as I never thought it could. I would not rectify it for use with a bass, because it drives too early. It is not for really modern rap or slap, or metal bass, but for really warm smooth, not too articulate bass sounds it is good. It will truly rattle the floor.

DO NOT PLUG A BASS IN WHILE USING GUITAR SPEAKERS!

I was EXTREMELY stupid once, (i mean, so stupid I can't believe it) but that's it. I took it apart, and the construction seemed really solid. There are springs and sleeves, and everthing holding the tubes on, and the PC board is very clean, sturdy, and good. I gaurantee you, GUARANTEE, (is that spelled right?) that nobody could tell the difference between this and an amp with point to point wiring. It is a heavy duty amp that kicks ass on the road for reliability. I changed the plastic swithches for metal ones, but this is unecessary, and very cheap if you just go to Home Depot. I am touring europe this summer (Wahoo! Swedish Chicks!), and I have no reservations about the reliability of these amps.

There are only a couple of bottles in it, so getting it retubed is cheap. Think about this. Its like buying a cheap car with good gas mileage that drives and looks like a Mercedes.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

I have been playing for 6 years and I am currently in a band that plays a very melodic and smooth mixture of punk, new wave, emo, folk (think nick drake), noise, jazz, reggae, and classic rock. (OK, we're a punk band...shut up). I am looking for a great cleans, OD's, and distortions that will cut through, sing, and be VERY articulate. This gives me just that. I would reccomend the THD REACTIVE RECTIFIER to anyone interested in truly making this sound like a JTM45 or a Fender Bassman. The Reactive Rectifier can also have an option to be switched on or off.

I prefer this rig over my old rig that got ebayed.

Old Rig
Strat and Gibson w/ EMG's>Mesa Boogie Triaxis>VHT 2/90/2 Poweramp>Sonic Maximizer>Avatar 2x12.

It costs thousands less, and because of its simplicity, it sounds SO DAMNED GOOD! It dosen't have that squashed, muddy, no-dynamics, feel and tone of my old rig. It's just incredible.

I have two. That proves my loyalty. My name on Harmony Central is SovtekAmpsRule. uh huh.

Straight up 2 channel Vol / Vol / Treble / Mid / Bass / Presence.
All tube '59 Bassman / JTM 45 Russian made clone.
Nice feature is the multiple impedance taps on the output trannie, it has outputs for 4, 8, and 16 ohm cabs.
50 Watts output from 2 5881 output tubes.
3 12AX7A preamp tubes.
I give it a 7. It's got what you need for great tone, no extras.

Mine's driving a Marshall 1960A 4x10 cab. It likes my Gibson Flying V with Seymour Duncan JB and '59 pickups. I've got a Vintage Rat distorto pedal that I plug a 'Y' cord into, running into inputs 1 and 2 of the Mig 50. Then you can set the volumes for each input separately. Since one is a normal input and one is bright, you can get a wide variety of sounds.
Sounds great. It's quiet when you're not playing. It's pretty clean up until about 12:00 on the volumes then it starts to thicken up and get ballsy. 1:30 on the volumes and you are rocking the house. Add the Rat and now I'm in Rock 'n Roll heaven. This combination is magical. It's the best rock sound I've had in 33 years of playing. Like I said, Sovtek pretty much cloned the Marshall (who pretty much cloned Fender, who used Western Electric's original circuits for the Bassman) soooo, if you like the old Marshall JTM45 sound, you'll like the Sovtek too. And for a whole lot less money...I give it a 10 because it does sound great.

I've been inside it and it's pretty well made. It does have plastic switches and jacks, but on the other hand it's in a heavy metal chassis and the tube sockets are mounted to the chassis. It's never given me any trouble yet. I would take fuses and tubes to a gig, same as any other tube amp. It gets a 7 for the plastic.

Nyet. They don't make em anymore.

I've been playing 33 years. I'm a Fender guy usually and I've got a 59 Bassman RI, a '69 Super Reverb, a Pro Junior, and a few Champs. I would look for another one if this one went missing, because it's better than any Marshall I've ever played, and the price is right. It's kind of funky looking with the great big SOVTEK logo, but that's part of the charm I guess. This amp ROCKS. It's LOUD. It's got BALLS. I have to tell you that this is a fabulous amp for the bucks. I got mine used but in like new condition for $225 and in my opinion if you could find one for that kind of money, you'd be crazy not to jump on it. No kidding folks, it's that good.

Not many features, just what you need. It would be nice though to have a channel switch, but a simple A/B pedal takes care of that.

I use a Godin SD guitar, sounds fine clean. It's a bit noisy but as someone said, just turn up the volume until you don't hear it anymore ;)
Choosing a distortion pedal can be a pain, I have a dod bluessomething with slight distortion, but with the amp crunch combined, it makes very nice distortion. I also use bigmuff for more distortion which makes very unique sound.
But an equalizer is probably a good idea :)

Never had any troubles.

Is there any?

If my amp was stolen.. I'd go get it back, I don't think there is another one in Iceland :)