Soldano

[Eddie's Booze]

What is it with you "Guitar Players", using third rate shite....

A Soldano is the REAL deal....

BTW, All of Marshall's R&D team have left Marshall and started a new company called "Blackstar".

And yah....I have played a BLACKSTAR Amp they are very nice.

http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/

:)

[Nitro Express]

Jim Marshall has turned the operation over to his son and daughter. I met the son and he is a nice, well educated chap but when he was giving us the tour of the operation, he sounded more like a generic production management business school major than someone who was running a legend. I just got a gut feeling those kids of Jim's would turn the brand into nothing special and I'm sad to say it's happening.

I'm into old Fords and I met Mike Soldano at a car show. He also builds some nice hotrods. You can't go wrong with his stuff. It's hand built out of the best components available, simple and has balls. Just like the cars he builds. They are also very reliable amps. I bought a Hot Rod 50 a few years back.

[Nitro Express]

The wiring inside those Blackstar amps is beautiful! I remember being shown the hand wiring section at Marshall. They had four girls doing the handwired special release amps and also fixing old amps that had come int. One of the girls was drop dead gorgiouse! The last place I thought to see someone totaly major lust fuckable was the hand wiring room at Marshall Amplification. LOL!

[Coyote]

Gotta check out these Blackstars...

[Eddie's Booze]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
Jim Marshall has turned the operation over to his son and daughter. I met the son and he is a nice, well educated chap but when he was giving us the tour of the operation, he sounded more like a generic production management business school major than someone who was running a legend. I just got a gut feeling those kids of Jim's would turn the brand into nothing special and I'm sad to say it's happening.

I'm into old Fords and I met Mike Soldano at a car show. He also builds some nice hotrods. You can't go wrong with his stuff. It's hand built out of the best components available, simple and has balls. Just like the cars he builds. They are also very reliable amps. I bought a Hot Rod 50 a few years back.

In all honesty new Marshall Amps are pretty good sounding and are fairly affordable in the UK at least.

However over in the States they are severly overpriced for what they are.

Alot of Guitar Players are sold on that whole "Classic Marshall tone".

NEWSFLASH!!!!

This is 2008 not 1968, times have moved on. There is a Limited Edition Handwired 100 watt Marshall Jimi Hendrix model Marshall have brought out recently....

The price of it with 2 4x12 cabinets.......3000 UK Pounds Sterling.

Way too much money. There are alot better Amps out there for was less money than that.

Marshall really need a new direction. they are trying way to hard to follow trends.

Jim Marshall needs to get a handle of what the fuck is going on with his Legacy.





:(

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by Eddie's Booze
In all honesty new Marshall Amps are pretty good sounding and are fairly affordable in the UK at least.

However over in the States they are severly overpriced for what they are.

Alot of Guitar Players are sold on that whole "Classic Marshall tone".

NEWSFLASH!!!!

This is 2008 not 1968, times have moved on. There is a Limited Edition Handwired 100 watt Marshall Jimi Hendrix model Marshall have brought out recently....

The price of it with 2 4x12 cabinets.......3000 UK Pounds Sterling.

Way too much money. There are alot better Amps out there for was less money than that.

Marshall really need a new direction. they are trying way to hard to follow trends.

Jim Marshall needs to get a handle of what the fuck is going on with his Legacy.





:(

Agreed, but the Saldano's run a pretty fat price tag too.

[jhale667]

I'm sticking with my '86 Mesa Mk III (does kill to clean and all points between and has NOT let me down in 20 years),
but I would like to have a few more amps...
Soldano's are cool, though never was impressed enough with one to buy it...
Would like to check out a Blackstar...

Still thinking of building a Metro Plexi clone...trick it out with Mercury Magnetics Transformers and whatnot....just ta have. :rolleyes: :)

[Nitro Express]

To be honest I use a Sansamp PSA1.1 and it can get damn close to the classic Marshall and Fender tones I like plus it can do so much more. I use it for bass as well.

As far as tubes go, I probably dime my cheap ass Epiphone Valve Jr. while running it through a Variac. If the transformer blows it just gives me an excuse to buy a Mercery Magnetics rebuild kit. :D The thing has been bullet proof and I have abused it so brutally. I play bass through it too. It's no Soldano but I'm having gloriouse fun fucking this cheap whore balls to the wall.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
I'm into old Fords-

Yo-

Do you own any?

I've got this thing I've kinda been workin' on.

Not really a Ford, but a Merc. ;)

[jhale667]

Originally posted by Nitro Express

As far as tubes go, I probably dime my cheap ass Epiphone Valve Jr. while running it through a Variac. If the transformer blows it just gives me an excuse to buy a Mercery Magnetics rebuild kit. :D

Have you actually heard one with the Mercury Magnetics upgrade? Holy shit, dude! By all means, don't wait for the tranny to blow, just DO it! ;)

[eddie78]

All i know is that all my favorites in the late 60's, the 70's, the early eighties....Marshall, baby!

Eddie, Lynch (n '87 he had a wall of Jubilee anniversary amps), Demartini, Moore, Rhoads, even Yng....Marshall glory.

And speaking of RR, that new signature amp sounds killer!

When i think of Soldano, i think of Clapton's bizarre tone change in the mid to late 80's.

[jhale667]

Originally posted by eddie78
All i know is that all my favorites in the late 60's, the 70's, the early eighties....Marshall, baby!

Eddie, Lynch (n '87 he had a wall of Jubilee anniversary amps), Demartini, Moore, Rhoads, even Yng....Marshall glory.

And speaking of RR, that new signature amp sounds killer!

When i think of Soldano, i think of Clapton's bizarre tone change in the mid to late 80's.

True, but some of the modded ones are hit and miss...I've heard total turds, or conversely someone like Doug Aldrich's, which sounds god-like...(this I can attest to personally)
I wanna check out the Rhoads one, though...and Doug recommended checking out the VM series...have unfortunately yet to hear either...

[eddie78]

I've heard good things about the VM series.

Don't get me wrong, Soldano's are obviously great amps, but there is just something about a Marshall.
I'm a traditionalist.
I love the history of brands like Marshall & Fender.
I think Charvel was the last "new" company i discovered & got into, and this was back in the early 80's.

I did try a Soldano back in the 90's, and i think i was using a Washburn N2 strat with a Bill Lawrence Humbucker.
I remember being very impressed, overall.

[Coyote]

For some reason, I'm curious 'bout a Laney...

[jhale667]

Originally posted by eddie78
I've heard good things about the VM series.

Don't get me wrong, Soldano's are obviously great amps, but there is just something about a Marshall.
I'm a traditionalist.
I love the history of brands like Marshall & Fender.
I think Charvel was the last "new" company i discovered & got into, and this was back in the early 80's.

I did try a Soldano back in the 90's, and i think i was using a Washburn N2 strat with a Bill Lawrence Humbucker.
I remember being very impressed, overall.

As far as the VMs go, I'm gonna check it out on Doug's recommendation. He wasn't trying to sell me shit, y'know? I was just fortunate enough to get to work for him for a sec...
The main reason I took tech work was to get to hang out with (and learn from) some of my heroes..and I got to. The Cash was a bonus. :lol:
I never really originally aspired to more than being able to maintain my OWN shit so I wouldn't have to PAY someoe to! ;) I was reading "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" by Dan Erlewine on the plane to my first tech gig, fer cryin' out loud...(between getting some great Rhoads stories from Dubrow. R.I.P. twice) :D :(

I was the kid in my neighborhood trying to figure out what a "Charvel" was the second I read that's what EVH was using/building with in GP mag...
Was the first kid in my freaking (rural Appalachian) county to have a catalog (based on the visitors who would come to drool over it with me) :rolleyes:...an older local hotshot was later the first one to actually own one...was one of the (so-called "lawsuit"?) exact VHII replicas...then my best bud in high school got one...I was the first kid in my town with a Charvel-parts mutt like our hero...;)
Almost snaked that same replica in a pawnshop cheap in '89, but was strapped for cash trying to move to L.A. (Not like it would have done anything other than hang on the wall anyway, playing a gig with one would be unthinkable...but...dammit! :mad: )
As for Boogies, wanted one since I heard Ozzy's Speak of the Devil, and always remember thinking it would have been interesting to have heard Randy with that particular tone...which if I've heard/read correctly were Mk IIC+'s....anything under a MK IV in stereo is still a glorious sound to this day IMO :cool:
I also remember obsessing over every little tremolo trick Brad Gillis pulled off after I got my first guitar with a Floyd... :guitar:

But yeah, I wanna try some new amp flavors...:D

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by jhale667
As far as the VMs go, I'm gonna check it out on Doug's recommendation. He wasn't trying to sell me shit, y'know? I was just fortunate enough to get to work for him for a sec...
The main reason I took tech work was to get to hang out with (and learn from) some of my heroes..and I got to. The Cash was a bonus. :lol:
I never really originally aspired to more than being able to maintain my OWN shit so I wouldn't have to PAY someoe to! ;) I was reading "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" by Dan Erlewine on the plane to my first tech gig, fer cryin' out loud...(between getting some great Rhoads stories from Dubrow. R.I.P. twice) :D :(

I was the kid in my neighborhood trying to figure out what a "Charvel" was the second I read that's what EVH was using/building with in GP mag...
Was the first kid in my freaking (rural Appalachian) county to have a catalog (based on the visitors who would come to drool over it with me) :rolleyes:...an older local hotshot was later the first one to actually own one...was one of the (so-called "lawsuit"?) exact VHII replicas...then my best bud in high school got one...I was the first kid in my town with a Charvel-parts mutt like our hero...;)
Almost snaked that same replica in a pawnshop cheap in '89, but was strapped for cash trying to move to L.A. (Not like it would have done anything other than hang on the wall anyway, playing a gig with one would be unthinkable...but...dammit! :mad: )
As for Boogies, wanted one since I heard Ozzy's Speak of the Devil, and always remember thinking it would have been interesting to have heard Randy with that particular tone...which if I've heard/read correctly were Mk IIC+'s....anything under a MK IV in stereo is still a glorious sound to this day IMO :cool:
I also remember obsessing over every little tremolo trick Brad Gillis pulled off after I got my first guitar with a Floyd... :guitar:

But yeah, I wanna try some new amp flavors...:D

Wow Brad Gillis, have not heard that name in a while. I remember when I was 15 and recording an Ozzy concert off of a local radio station with my reel to reel player and praying to god it was a concert featuring Randy. Well at first I was disapointed because it was Brad Gillis and at the time and to this day I worshipped Randy and Ed. But the more I listened to the tape, I became really impressed with the way Brad played and put his own spin on the Randy material. He was really heavy on the whammy bar but it worked and he had a killer tone to boot. Wish I still had that tape.

[jhale667]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Wow Brad Gillis, have not heard that name in a while. I remember when I was 15 and recording an Ozzy concert off of a local radio station...

Yes, the "King Biscuit Flour Hour" show...I remember it well...taped it too. Probably available to download somewhere...:D
Every time some kid comes up to me in a club and says "You do some cool shit with the bar" I direct them back to the source...:)
The dude's tremolo technique was unparalleled in the day, if you think about it...
Sure, EVH was doing dive-bombs (and the 3rd fret G string 'Horsey' noise) and whatnot, but Gillis was the first person I heard doing the 'gargle' trick, EXACT octave-drops...
think he was the first guy I heard RAISING the pitch with the bar, too...before anybody had thought to RECESS a Floyd for upwards play...:cool:

[ULTRAMAN VH]

If I remember correctly Brad used a red strat with a black pick guard, during that tour. Am I correct Mr. President?

[jhale667]

You are correct, sir! It was the first 22-fret Strat neck I think I'd ever seen...found out later he had installed a new fretboard to do it...
He also had a black one, as well as a black Floyd-equipped Les Paul as backups...did you catch the MTV concert at the time?
That was kind of eerie, seeing the same stage set I had just seen Randy himself on several months before...
I remember MTV was a 'premium' channel then, most of our parents wouldn't spring for the "Devil-Music" channel at first...
we all went to my high school buddy's house (the one that got the 2nd Charvel ever in WV) to watch it....

Coincidentally, my friend called me yesterday...said the Charvel is currently in its case collecting DUST in his closet, and I was like "BLASPHEMY!!!!" :D

[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
Yo-

Do you own any?

I've got this thing I've kinda been workin' on.

Not really a Ford, but a Merc. ;)

Yup. 28 A, 30 A, 32 B, and a 34 V8 Coupe unrestored. My Model B is a hotrod and both model A's I have are restored originals. The 1930 A even has the original engine.

[Nitro Express]

My current car project is restoring a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. Mechanical and interior is all done. She just needs the paint worked on which I'm leaving to a professional.

[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by eddie78
All i know is that all my favorites in the late 60's, the 70's, the early eighties....Marshall, baby!

Eddie, Lynch (n '87 he had a wall of Jubilee anniversary amps), Demartini, Moore, Rhoads, even Yng....Marshall glory.

And speaking of RR, that new signature amp sounds killer!

When i think of Soldano, i think of Clapton's bizarre tone change in the mid to late 80's.

Yup. I like Marshalls. They have this old radio tone to them that is rich and powerful. They have an almost electrocution sound to them.

[Nitro Express]

A good Marshall to me kind of sound like a high voltage arching or has that kind of vibe to it.

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[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
If I remember correctly Brad used a red strat with a black pick guard, during that tour. Am I correct Mr. President?

I remember watching him play that guitar when I saw Nightranger many moons ago.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by jhale667
You are correct, sir! It was the first 22-fret Strat neck I think I'd ever seen...found out later he had installed a new fretboard to do it...
He also had a black one, as well as a black Floyd-equipped Les Paul as backups...did you catch the MTV concert at the time?
That was kind of eerie, seeing the same stage set I had just seen Randy himself on several months before...
I remember MTV was a 'premium' channel then, most of our parents wouldn't spring for the "Devil-Music" channel at first...
we all went to my high school buddy's house (the one that got the 2nd Charvel ever in WV) to watch it....

Coincidentally, my friend called me yesterday...said the Charvel is currently in its case collecting DUST in his closet, and I was like "BLASPHEMY!!!!" :D

First off Mr. Prez, you are a fountain of information on the topic of guitars and amps, oh and of course muff too. I did see that Mtv gig, and it was eerie. I have to admit I am envious that you saw Randy play live, DAMN, i'll bet it was AWESOME!!! You need to offer up your buddy some cash and get your hands on that Charvel.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
Yup. 28 A, 30 A, 32 B, and a 34 V8 Coupe unrestored. My Model B is a hotrod and both model A's I have are restored originals. The 1930 A even has the original engine.

Wow, you must really be into it!


There's a 64 Monterey Marauder calling me, but I don't have that kind of time right now.

All I have left is the body- I can't do that. I'll have to take it somewhere. The rear quarters have some cancer. Other than that, it's
pretty close. NOT Barrett-Jackson, but damn good.

[jhale667]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
First off Mr. Prez, you are a fountain of information on the topic of guitars and amps, oh and of course muff too. I did see that Mtv gig, and it was eerie. I have to admit I am envious that you saw Randy play live, DAMN, i'll bet it was AWESOME!!! You need to offer up your buddy some cash and get your hands on that Charvel.

Thank you, kind sir. Not only did I see Randy, spoke to him briefly and got his autograph. Still have it. :cool: He was dead less than a month later...:( But yes, seeing him live was a religious experience.
And yeah, I totally have dibs on the Charvel if he ever sells it....:D
Though I doubt he ever will...used to let me borrow it for gigs, though I must admit my Charvel parts mutt sounds better...mine is ash, pretty sure his is alder.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by jhale667
Thank you, kind sir. Not only did I see Randy, spoke to him briefly and got his autograph. Still have it. :cool: He was dead less than a month later...:( But yes, seeing him live was a religious experience.
And yeah, I totally have dibs on the Charvel if he ever sells it....:D
Though I doubt he ever will...used to let me borrow it for gigs, though I must admit my Charvel parts mutt sounds better...mine is ash, pretty sure his is alder.

Mr. President, what are your thoughts on Agile guitars? Elvis spoke highly of them and for the price they seem to good to be true. I am on a tight budget and have always wanted a Les Paul with a maple fingerboard. Agile has what appears to be a pretty impressive copy. From a glance it is a sweet looking guitar and the body is mahogany. Any thoughts???

[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
Wow, you must really be into it!


There's a 64 Monterey Marauder calling me, but I don't have that kind of time right now.

All I have left is the body- I can't do that. I'll have to take it somewhere. The rear quarters have some cancer. Other than that, it's
pretty close. NOT Barrett-Jackson, but damn good.

Well. My dad was into them and I inherited his collection. I'm the only one in the family who knows how to work on them and nobody wanted to sell them. I give all my nieces and nephews rides when they come to visit. I forgot to mention the Model T touring car. Very cool It has acetelyne lamps and the whole deal. That car turns more heads than a Lamborghini does. LOL!

[Nitro Express]

I have a big barn where I keep them. I bought the Rolls a while back and haven't worked on it until this winter. I have all sorts of old shit in the barn that is just waiting to be worked on. I I find a good deal, I just buy it and sit on it. Some of this unrestored stuff I probably could sell for a profit. Who knows.

[Nitro Express]

What's nice is I'm part owner of a machine/fabrication shop. We specialize in aircraft restoration/maintenance.

I bought a wreaked Lamborghini 500S. They have a very heavy duty tubular frame with a thin aluminum skin on them. We repaired it in the shop and overhauled the engine. The car and restoration cost me around $50,000 and I could sell the car for $100,000. I think the longer I sit on it the more the value will go up. There is always a market for these old cars and they are fun!

[jhale667]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Mr. President, what are your thoughts on Agile guitars? Elvis spoke highly of them and for the price they seem to good to be true. I am on a tight budget and have always wanted a Les Paul with a maple fingerboard. Agile has what appears to be a pretty impressive copy. From a glance it is a sweet looking guitar and the body is mahogany. Any thoughts???

Honestly, Mr. VP, though they certainly look cool, I have yet to actually play one...not even sure there's a dealer in LA...
Wish I could be more helpful, sorry.

[Nitro Express]

For what they cost, it's not that much money to gamble with. I'm sure they are at least comparable to Epiphone guitars which in the lower end use cheaper woods and smaller pieces of them glued together.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by jhale667
Honestly, Mr. VP, though they certainly look cool, I have yet to actually play one...not even sure there's a dealer in LA...
Wish I could be more helpful, sorry.

Thanks anyway, Commander. Happy Easter to ya!!!

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
For what they cost, it's not that much money to gamble with. I'm sure they are at least comparable to Epiphone guitars which in the lower end use cheaper woods and smaller pieces of them glued together.

From the reviews I read, they are better than Epiphone. I think you are right though, for the money it is worth the gamble. The reviews also stated their customer service was top notch. I think very soon I am going to pull the trigger and treat myself to one. Thanks for your input, Nitro.