Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

[Hot _Grits]

I've been quietly looking around for an amp in the 'marshall' food group to add to the collection, and after a few days of playing my friend's soldano, I'm thinking of getting one. It just so happens that my local store has a secondhand Hot Rod 50+ in stock. Who out there uses/has tried this amp? -i'd like to hear what you think of it.

[chcjunior]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

I've got one and am thinking about unloading it...but only for the reason that ever since I've gotten my Rivera I've started wanting better cleans out of it.
But when it does what it does best I love it. Nice sustain and breaths fire. One downside is it has to be pumping to really hit its sweet spot.

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

I'd love a Hot Rod 50 in green or purple tolex after I get my Orange...i'll have the brightest-colored amp rig in town.

-X

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

Not real practical experience- but I played around with a HR 50 that I thought was pretty nifty. But I haven't owned one or REALLY put it through a workout.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

I think the Hotrod 50+ is channel switching right? If you can get a good deal on it, go for it. Also, look at the new Orange 'Rocker' amps. Those are way cool!

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

I think the Hotrod 50+ is channel switching right? If you can get a good deal on it, go for it. Also, look at the new Orange 'Rocker' amps. Those are way cool!

Yeah, it is. It's a sale on behalf, so I'll try and knock it down as much as I can, but it all depends on the seller. As you can imagine, Soldano stuff isn't too common down here. I know of one SLO in the whole country.

I'll check out the Orange rocker amps. The bass player in my side band recently got the halfstack for his main band.

[Jeff_H]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

If I was going to buy a Soldano, the HR 50 + is what I'd get. I like the two channels, but dislike the shared eq. However, I love the sound of the drive channel on the HR 50 +. The cleans are decent as I remember....better than those on a stock 2 channel Marshall, but still not Fenderlike.

If the price is right, it will be a great amp.

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

Just gave it a test drive through a recto 4x12 with v30s. Despite having no idea exactly which volume and overdrive controls performed which function, I was able to get a fair idea of what was up.

It sounds a lot like the atomic I've been playing through, only way louder and tighter at volume. It's incredibly ballsy and defined, and does great mid-to-low gain sounds. What amazes me is how the amp seems bright, but loves strats. You expect to plug a strat in after a McCarty and have it slice your head off, but it doesn't. It also plays really smoothly for such a precise sounding amp. I thought the cleans weren't too bad, either. Pennies permitting, I'm gonna go for it...

[aleclee]

Re: Thinking about a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ -opinions?

I've owned a HR50 and a Decatone as well as a Soldano-designed Yamaha T100. Haven't played a HR50+ but here are my thoughts based on the clean and gain channels on the Decatone (and the gain on the HR50).

On the plus side, there's that wonderful overdrive. It can be sweet or rude, depending on how you dial it in. The cleans are surprisingly good for a gain monster but just okay overall, especially given the fact it runs 6L6s. The amp is well-voiced so the shared EQ is less of an issue than you'd think. Customer support via email is quite good and the amps are built quite well.

The biggest drawback was the POS FX loop. I had impedance and level issues with a lot of devices that I tried. With my Line 6 stompboxes, engaging the stompbox made it sound like the amp was locked in a closet. If you want FX in the loop, there's a good chance you might have to go rackmount 'cause it doesn't do well with a lot of stompboxes.

I eventually decided that the tone was too compressed for my taste...but that's a personal issue.