Sovtek Mig 50H

http://www.afn.org/~afn52445/SovMidget.jpg
-this is the correct model. be sure not to confuse it with the other mig's.


Lo in, Hi in, Volume, Master, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Green Light. Sovtek 6l6's.

For a non reverb single channel amp thats about as good as it gets with features. Effect loops are wastes of circuitry.

This amplifier replaced my Matchless Clubman 35. This has the same bite and clarity. The same dynamic response without the volume struggle for tone. I had to blast the power tubes in the Matchless to get it to overdrive in a pleasing manner. This amplifier gave me the same tone without having to be wall shakingly loud, though if it needs to be that loud it can.

Using my Les Paul with the volume around 3oclock and master around 1oclock, if I strum delicately it gives me warm, crisp, and delicate picking tones. If I strike the strings hard the amp gives me a very powerfully sharp bite.

This amp has been very consistent. However when the preamp tubes started to go it became very un-pleasant. However, preamp tubes are very easily and cheaply replaced.

As far as the structural integrity it is small and dense like a brick.

n/a

Do not confuse this with the other mig50's, theyre terrible compared to this. Trust me. Alot of local players get them trying to emulate my sound but fall extremely short. Playing the other Mig50 is like playing with a tonka toy car compared to this compact black mustang cobra.

This amplifier head is literally a diamond in the rough... about rare and solid as one.

No idea what year the amp was made as I can't find information on decoding the serial numbers for Sovtek amps. Has a wide variety of sounds on tap but not much in the way of features, the power is more than enough. I mainly use this amp for practicing nowadays. I play this amp through a 2X12 upright cab with two Vintage 30's speakers. Found the head didn't sound as great through the modern marshall standard 4X12

I use the Mig 50H with a Jay Turser guitar which has the seymour duncan invader humbucker pickup installed as my main instrument. The amp is noisier on standby then my other amps. My other guitars generally have medium to heavy metal pickups installed in the humbucker positions too and they work amazingly well with the Sovtek. As for a clean sound i don't have any high quality single coil neck pickups and although I find I get a good sound sound on the low channel compared to other amps i have, the clean through the sovtek is dark and kinda flat, better just add pre amp volume and it'll do a far better bluesy tone. I'd like to point out that I invested money on Harma cryo power valves (tubes) that overdrive more than standard valves which is why it does blues and metal far better than clean.It is quite sensitive to pick attack. My amp doesn't do very bright clean, does a great gritty blues and then shines from then on all the way to Boogie territory Metal. It gets very very heavy but focused and clear (long as your in tune).

Haven't put it through gigging and i would gig it without back up at the mo' because the tubes are new and haven't been pushed that hard yet.

Sovtek no longer exists. New Sensor basically bought the right to use it's name...........and does.

I've been playing on and off the last 5 years, I would buy it again as long as collectors haven't pushed the price up to stupid levels, i got it for ??150 without tubes or a front. I own 3 other amp heads, all marshalls.

I'd give it a 10 if it had reverb. Ah, who cares, this is a simple amp and it's great for that reason.

This amp is criminally underrated and has an amazing tone. Those of you not familiar with it might not be aware that this an amp where you will actually use the low and high inputs. High is good for single-coil guitars, low is better for humbuckers. The natural tube distortion you get is obviously much more mellow through the low channel, through the high gain input it can get pretty heavy almost to the point of not having a clean channel. Get a volume pedal and you can control it more. I agree with the earlier post about the warm "brink of distortion" sound you can get from this. BTW, used it with a variety of cabinets and a 2x12 or 4x10 seems to be better than a 4x12... It can get a little bit bassy. But it is extremely responsive to the force of your strumming, anyone who likes Jawbreaker, think of the "quiet" parts that are never THAT quiet. This isn't a Fender, it's closer to an old Marshall, but it's still it's own unique sound. An awesome rock tone with very rich harmonics. A simple, pure tube amp with some of the best amp distortion I've heard. In my opinion, this slays other Sovteks because of this preamp channel.

So far so good. I've heard about plastic inputs and switches on some of these, I think all mine are metal, and this thing is solid. You'll hear they are unreliable from place to place, but I haven't had any problems.

No need .. bought used.

bought for 400 .. best deal out there.

Volume, Master, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence. Sraight forward single channel. Great for me, as I have always preferred a simple layout in guitar amps.

It has a voice that is very Marshall like across the entire drive spectrum. I've been playing professionally for 30 years, covering many styles, and have gigged with just about all of the European amp offerings and many of which were made in America. I would rate the sound quality of the Mig 50H up there with many of the better boutique amps I've used and owned. Many Marshall users would be familiar with the sonic description of how a really good half stack will render a sort of "Knock" when valve meets wood. This amp does it in spades.

I've only had it a few days, but so far so good.

I've got a couple great amp techs that have provided wonderful service over the years, so I don't see a problem there.

I've been watching for others. I've managed to aquire a duplicate of every piece of gear I own. The days of not having a spare are well behind me. When manufacturers start making gear out of Keith Richards DNA, I'll stop packing spares.

Tone monster... single channel just plug in your guitar and go..

I loved it from day one and I found someone to mod it and it's even better.

I had some reliability issues but the guy who fixed mine found some diodes that seemed to be in a very unintelligent place.. he yanked them and no problem now.

Never dealt with them

Cant beat the price to sound ratio... I have access to a JCM 800 and a Mesa Boogie single rectifier.. we used my 68 SG and my Marshall 1960TV cab and everyone agreed the sov had slightly better tone.

Not many features. Channel switching and an FX loop would be nice.

Think a JCM 800 distortion and Bassman clean. This amp doesn't need a noise gate. It is a super quiet amp. This amp is best for hard rock/metal but the clean channel is good for other styles like blues or jazz. the guy who works on our amp said it is point to point hand wired with military parts and if the amp the amp were made in the U.S. they would be considered boutique amps. This is a really loud 50 watt amp.

Had it a little less than a year no problems

Don't have any idea

Been playing almost 4 years. If you like Mesa Boogie Marshall etc. don't try this because you won't like those amps anymore. This is the only amp you will play.

No idea when this puppy was shot out. Although it has but one channel, it just takes a bit of creativity to get a variety of tones. I found it to be quite capable of rocking out. I give it a 7 because it is what it is.

I use a Fender Big Apple Strat with a humbucker at the bridge and a Les Paul Studio. I get
a wide variety of tones with these guitars coupled with a 10-band eq and a tube driven
preamp pedal (Mesa-Boogie V-Twin). I play the rock spectrum. Push the power tubes with the preamp pedal for a fat responsive tone. Crank the preamp gain for crispy chug and squelch fun. She's a high gain amp. Said to be modeled after Marshall JCM800, I believe.

Had a Mig 50 a few years back and toured with it for 2 years. Never had a problem. I hear that these Mig50h amps have integrity issues, but I have no complaints thus far. Replaced the tubes right away and it sounds great.

NA

Playing for 20+ years and I own lots of guitar gear. This was a steal at the price.
If it were stolen I would take out a loan and buy the Orange Rockerverb 100. I would miss the little Meatwad. I love the fact that it weighs like 18 lbs. and feels like a lunchbox. What a power pack. If you are on a budget like me or want good tone for back-up or prac, I recommend it. I will play it out with confidence.

Made in 1997. One channel, nice tone. A couple tours & recorded with it.

Used this Amp w/SG's & an Epiphone DOT. The gain is nice, but kind of muddy. A very poor man's Marshall or Laney. I did get very nice tones in the studio with this Amp. Clean is OK (not Fender).

Sold it because I could not rely on it.
It would just cut out for no reason. My Amp tech could never find the problem. My Mig 60 did the same thing (& more often).

New Sensor at the time was OK to deal with.

Been playing 27 years & counting. I think these are highly over rated Amps. I know there are some good ones out there like anything else. On Ebay these Amps are going for more than their original retail, which is crazy. My old Peavey Butcher sounded as good as this Amp. The tone was nice, but there was no way I could depend on it. I now use Laney, Marshall & Ampeg. If they were going for $200 then it's nice Amp. But not for the crsazy prices they're goiing for now.

The only thing that I miss is reverb. Other than that, the amp has the only features I'd ever need--master gain and volume, 3 band EQ, 4/8/16 ohm speaker outputs, presence, and high/low inputs. The greatest feature on this amp is that the EQ actually works, unlike a lot of Marshall heads. This may be due to the Bassman circuitry???

I don't want to be overly dramatic, but this is literally the greatest-sounding amp I have ever heard when overdriven, and the tone is extremely versatile and well-balanced when played clean (through the low input). This guy is p-2-p wired and, from what I understand, is a hybrid of a Fender Bassman and Marshall 800, and I can get tones that mimmic both of these great amps with my Sovtek. When I bought the amp (used) about a year ago, I had to replace the power tubes and have the amp biased, which is normal wear and tear stuff. After that, the amp tech called me to the back of his shop and he started playing. He had never worked on a Sovtek before, and both he and I could not believe the rich tone. This is a very loud 50 watts. I've never had to dial more than 1/3 up on either the volume or gain. The key to sweet tone is to roll the bass and mid back and the treble and presence up with humbuckers. This thing does get very bassy, but it can be controlled. If you are having tone problems, it's not the amp's fault. You need to change the tubes and have the amp biased.

Never a problem since changing the tubes

Buy one while they're still cheap. I will never get rid of this thing! It puts the clean on my Fender Deville and the crunch of my Marshall 900 to shame.

Basic features. Has two channels via the two input jacks. Bassed on Fender Bassman and older Marshall JCM 800?. Tone so incredible, you will not miss all the features it may lack. Has Vol, Mast, Bass, Mid, Treb, Presence, Standby, 4/8/16 ohm outputs, line out. Great tube amps do not need much more

Absolute Glorious tone to die for. I still have 4 fender tube amps, 3 marshall tube amps, Hughes & Kettner, Vox ac15, Classic 50, and all I know is this thing absolutely smokes them!

Built like a tank... just be careful of the plastic jacks.

Worth every penny. If you're searching for awesome tone, you better get your hands on one of these while you still can!! There's only so many of them.