Speedster Deluxe 50 Watt Head

I bought this amp new in 2001 with a matching 1-12" speaker cabinet. Both the head and cab are finished in a stunning oak. It's got a 50 watt rating but it can easily drown out a 100 watt Marshall stack, it's that loud. I play every style except country/western and this amp is perfect for every one of them. I use the first input when playing rock as it gives me the volume and clarity needed to cut through. When playing jazz, for example, I plug into the second input, which has a bit of a decibal pad to it, to get a really smooth sound.

This amp contains very straight-forward features (Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Reverb), but what makes it stand out is an adjustable tube bias knob and corresponding meter. The 50 watt model comes with 2-6L6's stock. Simply pop in any matched pair of 6L6 or equivalents and dial up how many millivolts are drawn- the more mv's the easier the amp distorts. NOTE: you can even "make" a matched pair by flipping the "tube select" switch on the back of the amp that displays which tube is shown on the meter up front. There is no channel switching on this amp. If you want distortion, use a pedal or turn the amp up! I've found that with the 50 watt, you need to crank it way up to distort, thus, something like a THD Hot Plate would be the way to go. There are two 8 ohm speaker outputs as well.

The great thing about the Speedster is that it makes any guitar sound great. I use either a PRS McCarty (humbuckers, but I use the coil-tap feature for strat-ish sounds), Heritage Archtop (super 400 style), or a Guild Aristocrat (Les Paul sized, but hollow with P-90's). From those guitars I go to my pedalboard which contains, in order: VHT Valvulator, BOSS OC-2 Octave, RMC 2 wah, Ibanez TS-9 (modded by Analog Man), ProCo Rat, Ibanez CS-9, H&K Rotosphere, MXR Phase 90, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, BOSS DD-3 Digital Delay, Danelectro Dan-echo, and BOSS GE-7 Equalizer. I keep the tone controls pretty minimum as I like to let the guitar (and hands) shape the tone. I also have the bias control on the lowest setting for a Fender-esque tone (it also makes your tubes last longer this way!).

The only thing that I noticed might be a drawback to this amp is the noise. When the amp is off standby with nothing whatsoever plugged into it, you hear this humming. However, you don't notice it at all when you're playing and any studio engineer worth a darn can use a little noise reduction to eliminate it.

Like I said above, you have to crank it to get some distorion. When you do, it's that great old school style distortion, or should I say overdrive, as that's what you're doing. I've tried to get a heavy metal sound out of it via a BOSS Metal Zone, but it just wasn't happening. I suspect this might be due to the open-back 1-12" cabinet. However, this is perfect for everything else. It is simply the best sounding amp I've ever owned.

I use this all the time on gigs without even thinking about a backup. I've owned it for 2 years now and have only changed tubes once, and I play for a good two hours at least almost everyday. You'll hear microphonics from the tubes to know when to change them (if you don't know how to do this, turn the amp on with a little bit of volume, stick your head next to the speaker, and tap on the tubes with a pencil or chopstick- if you hear that sound coming through the speaker, it's time to change your tubes).

I bought this directly from Lynn Ellsworth. He answers all your calls and emails promptly. I've never needed anything repaired on it, but I know someone with a Speedster and the reverb tank was working only intermittently, so Lynn made a house call and completly exchanged tanks...for free!

I've been playing for 10 years and have tried a Fender '65 Twin Reverb, Roland JC-120, and Fender Blues Deluxe among many others that I've played through and this is hands down the best amp in the world. If it were stolen, I'd be devasted. Playing through the Speedster is my tone. I take it everywhere. It allows for you to think of a sound, then dial it in and before you know it, you've got you're own thing going for you. It's a tube lover's dream amp for the ease of tube swapping.

If you like Fender amp's and don't mind using a pedal for distortion, this is the amp! Plus, not a gig goes by where someone doesn't approach me asking about the amp, including girls who could probably care less about guitar gear :)

The amp was made late this year hand built by Michael Soldano it is 50 watts very loud fifty watts I play classic rock/ blues it fits my style very well I like the amp because it is very simple to use and sounds very good you can't get a bad sound I wish it had a 1/2 power switch and a lead boost switch this amp has more than enough power it is down right Loud!!!

I play this amp through custom shop strat and Old Les Paul JR with a P-90 pickup the amp sounds great through both guitars I run a TS-9 modied by analog Mike the amp has very sweet sound not harsh it cuts through the mix great!!! When I Kick on the TS-9 it has sustain for days and yet it is still very warm and clear sounding the amp was built by Michael Soldano but sounds nothing like a Soldano it very fenderish the amp was designed by Lynn Ellsworth The tone on this thing is awesome However it is not a metal amp this amp works great for blues rock /country I even play some surf with it. very cool reverb

the amp looks like it's made very well I know they build these amps by hand with best parts money can buy it's never broken down yet. When I first got the amp I took it a part to look in the chassic and the work menship looked very good I heard Michael Soldano personal builds these amp him self that good enough for me

I have talked to Lynn the owner a few times before I brought the amp He seems like a cool guy answered all my questions and emails

I been Playing for 20 years in local bands I'm a amp junkie this is a very cool amp It gets a lot of attn: the finish on the amp is awesome mine is bright pearl orange every were I play with this thing people are always asking what is that the sound is so big sounding I love this amp. If were ripped off I would buy another one in second if your looking for a 4 channel death metal amp with midi etc etc don't even try this amp!!! This is for the guy who wants to plug in and geta great sound