Re: Diamond-Soldano Collaboration
I'll believe it when I see it. The problem is that Diamond amps just go over most of our heads. They're very expensive, bulky, 100w amp heads marketed like metal amps. No doubt they are quite good, but Diamond can't seem to come up with the right product/feature/price combination to really break through which leaves us with their cheap foreign-made stuff which is pretty good but do nothing amazing. I have come very, very close to pulling the trigger on a Balinese only to find out they stopped making it. What a great amp and so unfortunate that it's no longer part of their line.
Mike Soldano is like the EVH of the amp world. I don't really see a successful collaboration with Diamond considering that Mike Soldano is very stable and pays his employees well. If it means Soldanos can be had for less money and still made in the U.S., then that's very interesting to me. However, it sounds like an expensive venture which might end up like most of Diamond's $3000 amps - collecting dust in a stack of used amps at Guitar Center. I played some Jet City amps, but never felt like they were worth buying because I've owned real-deal Soldanos and no Chinese amp is going to come close.
Now, I think Diamond amps are very, very good. The problem is they are made right here in my hometown and no one buys them. He doesn't have much appeal to local and doesn't seem to care about marketing to our wants and price range so no one really catches on around here. His amps need to be a little more portable and in the $1200-1800 range. Whatever they do with Soldano isn't going to interest me unless it's cost effective. Otherwise I'll just go with the real deal.
Well, let's see if anything happens. I've heard Soldano collaboration deals before and none of it has come to fruition.
