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I've been meaning to share this with you all for some time now, but haven't had the time to write it up.
So probably like most of you, for the last few years I've been playing multi-channel amps, vintage and modern, tube and solid-state, some effects, and even some modelers.
In the summer of 2004 I visited the Experience Music Project in Seattle, For those of you haven't been, it is an interactive music museum. One of the cool things they have is a complete professional sound studio where you can play and even record songs (for a price of course). So they have a main studio and a bunch of isolation/practice rooms. So I'm waiting my turn and go into one of the isolation rooms. In it they had a Soldano Atomic 16 and a Stratocaster. So I turn it on and start playing. It was an epiphany. A tonal awakening. It was the greatest guitar tone I had ever heard. For those who don't know, the Atomic (no longer made) was a simple 16W one channel amp. No reverb, no loop, nothing.
I left the room and thought, well, it probably only sounded so perfect because it was in a sonically perfect environment. Anyway, I told myself I would try to find an Atomic and play it in a noiser environment. Once I discovered the amps were no longer made, it wasn't so easy.
Fast forward to March 2006. My local Guitar Center starts agressively pushing Soldanos. I go try out the new and more powerful models. Reverbosonic, Decatone, Avenger, etc. Nice, but not too impressed. Meanwhile, this other great local store where I go a lot which also has some used stuff gives me a call. They just got in an Atomic! I rush over there. By the time I get there, its gone! BUT, they have an Astroverb, which is what replaced the Atomic. Supposed to be the same thing + reverb. I had refrained from trying those out before because a lot of people told me they were not as dynamic and pure sounding as the Atomics. Anyway I try the Astroverb in the store, and was pretty impressed. It was very pricey though, but I knew I wanted it. I went home to sleep on it and woke up deciding I was going to buy it. Before heading to the store though I decided to check eBay. Wouldn't you know it, there was a mint condition Astroverb auction ending in 5 minutes, at a price that was exactly half of what it would have cost me in the store. I bid and won the auction. I got me a virtually new Astroverb, delivered, for just over $700. I was somewhat content.
So I get the amp and start playing. I kinda liked it, but wasn't completely digging it. I've been playing it clean, with no pedals/effects or boosts. Yet. Another fellow guitarist who is much better than me came over and listened to me play for a few minutes. He proclaimed it to be the greatest amp he had ever heard. I let him play and listened for a bit. It was really growing on me. As I continued to play it the first two weeks, it sounded better and better to me with each passing day. I realize now I had to get re-accustomed to what pure tube sound is without any effects.
Now, after playing it for a few months, and still playing other Marshall, Mesa and Fender amps from time to time, I can truly say, this is the greatest sounding amp in the world, to me. Every single one of my guitar-playing colleagues who have heard/tried it completely concur. I only kick myself for not having picked one up earlier. If you play blues to hard rock to 80s metal to probably just about anything, do yourself a favor and check out this amp.
So probably like most of you, for the last few years I've been playing multi-channel amps, vintage and modern, tube and solid-state, some effects, and even some modelers.
In the summer of 2004 I visited the Experience Music Project in Seattle, For those of you haven't been, it is an interactive music museum. One of the cool things they have is a complete professional sound studio where you can play and even record songs (for a price of course). So they have a main studio and a bunch of isolation/practice rooms. So I'm waiting my turn and go into one of the isolation rooms. In it they had a Soldano Atomic 16 and a Stratocaster. So I turn it on and start playing. It was an epiphany. A tonal awakening. It was the greatest guitar tone I had ever heard. For those who don't know, the Atomic (no longer made) was a simple 16W one channel amp. No reverb, no loop, nothing.
I left the room and thought, well, it probably only sounded so perfect because it was in a sonically perfect environment. Anyway, I told myself I would try to find an Atomic and play it in a noiser environment. Once I discovered the amps were no longer made, it wasn't so easy.
Fast forward to March 2006. My local Guitar Center starts agressively pushing Soldanos. I go try out the new and more powerful models. Reverbosonic, Decatone, Avenger, etc. Nice, but not too impressed. Meanwhile, this other great local store where I go a lot which also has some used stuff gives me a call. They just got in an Atomic! I rush over there. By the time I get there, its gone! BUT, they have an Astroverb, which is what replaced the Atomic. Supposed to be the same thing + reverb. I had refrained from trying those out before because a lot of people told me they were not as dynamic and pure sounding as the Atomics. Anyway I try the Astroverb in the store, and was pretty impressed. It was very pricey though, but I knew I wanted it. I went home to sleep on it and woke up deciding I was going to buy it. Before heading to the store though I decided to check eBay. Wouldn't you know it, there was a mint condition Astroverb auction ending in 5 minutes, at a price that was exactly half of what it would have cost me in the store. I bid and won the auction. I got me a virtually new Astroverb, delivered, for just over $700. I was somewhat content.
So I get the amp and start playing. I kinda liked it, but wasn't completely digging it. I've been playing it clean, with no pedals/effects or boosts. Yet. Another fellow guitarist who is much better than me came over and listened to me play for a few minutes. He proclaimed it to be the greatest amp he had ever heard. I let him play and listened for a bit. It was really growing on me. As I continued to play it the first two weeks, it sounded better and better to me with each passing day. I realize now I had to get re-accustomed to what pure tube sound is without any effects.
Now, after playing it for a few months, and still playing other Marshall, Mesa and Fender amps from time to time, I can truly say, this is the greatest sounding amp in the world, to me. Every single one of my guitar-playing colleagues who have heard/tried it completely concur. I only kick myself for not having picked one up earlier. If you play blues to hard rock to 80s metal to probably just about anything, do yourself a favor and check out this amp.
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