Soldano Avenger 100

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irondeth21

irondeth21

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Tell me about this amp. I might have the opportunity to trade my jvm 205 for one. I really love my 205 and the flexibility it has, but my band is going for a straight hard rock thing and I'm staying on od orange and red for the most part. Plus I'm using the jtm 45 mode for my cleans as I prefer some dirt in my cleans. I'm thinking even though the avenger is only one channel I could probably accomplish the same thing with an od and my volume knob. Basically an open ballsy crunch rhythm tone that I can roll back the volume to clean and up and add a od for compressed leads? I've never played an avenger, but I have played a SLO and LOVED it. I heard the avenger is pretty close, not dead on but close. Does it have the same feel the SLO has? The one I played was just effortless. Also does it clean up fairly well for a bluesy clean tone? Any advice is appreciated.
 
I had an Avenger 50 watter that was great... I should have kept that amp.. 2 other people that I know personally told me that they owned the 100 watter and didnt like it all that much. There person who sold me the 50 watter told me he missed that amp so much that he later bought a 100 watter and didnt like it as much.

I have no idea why this was there experience but I have also heard that throughout production Soldano used different transformers so depending on what year it was made it could be different from one made earlier or later... I hope someone can correct me if I am wrong but I heard this from a credible source.

Now with all that being said , the 50watt Avenger I had sounded great. It is a straight forward amp but can do a lot with rolling back or up your guitars volume control and a boost involved. Dont expect great cleans or anything because it is a single high gain channel amp.. For me it sounded best boosted. It has a very natural straight forward tone. i think being that it is a single channel amp with no loop you get a very pure distortion. I know some of them came with loops but I personally would get one without , it might have been part of the reason why the one I had sounded so good.
 
You can check out my link at the bottom of my sig for clips of my 100. Boosted and not boosted clips are there.
The amp cleans up really well. The clips demonstrate the amps dymanics in relation to pick attack. Aggressive picking =aggressive sound. Light picking = light sound. I mainly boost the amp, but there is a lot of versatility with the single channel and a good boost pedal.
The amp has some serious thump, and will have a smoother, less spikey sounding gain compared to the Marshall.
 
Dude your clips sound good! I does clean up pretty well. Like I said I don't really use a pristine clean right now. This one doesn't have a loop. Any experience trying to run a delay in front? I know it doesn't typically sound as good, but I used to run my delay in front on an old jcm 800 I had and it wasn't terrible.
 
Oh also could you guys describe the feel this amp has? More so in terms of lead playing. Stiff, loose? I think my jvm is pretty loose for example, but felt my old quickrod was kinda stiff. The slo I played was loose, just like the perfect amount of sag.
 
I owned a avenger 100w for a year and liked it better than the couple slo100 i owned. its very similar in tone but i think its a little bit tighter and slightly darker sounding, more agressive and little more modern.
its not night and day difference or anything like, i played my avenger thru the same guitars and cabs as both my slo100 and thats pretty much my feelings. i try to stay honest and the price didnt matter to me.
 
Les Zombie":2vtndq2g said:
I owned a avenger 100w for a year and liked it better than the couple slo100 i owned. its very similar in tone but i think its a little bit tighter and slightly darker sounding, more agressive and little more modern.
its not night and day difference or anything like, i played my avenger thru the same guitars and cabs as both my slo100 and thats pretty much my feelings. i try to stay honest and the price didnt matter to me.
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Thats kinda what I was hoping for. I really loved the slo I played and I didn't even get to turn it up to band levels.
 
irondeth21":1z4kmi2v said:
Dude your clips sound good! I does clean up pretty well. Like I said I don't really use a pristine clean right now. This one doesn't have a loop. Any experience trying to run a delay in front? I know it doesn't typically sound as good, but I used to run my delay in front on an old jcm 800 I had and it wasn't terrible.
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Sorry, haven't used any effects with that amp. I can't imagine there being any issues with a delay up front.
As for the feel, it's very much like you described with the SLO you played. Loose, with just enough sag.
 
I have an avenger 100 with deyoung trannies and i also have an slo
They sound different but similiar

They both can be dialed in tight by turning down or off the depth knob

More sag can be dialed in with the depth up and less on the bass knob


To me the avenger is a little noisier
 
My Avenger was a little noisey too. More of a hiss than anything. But I always ran agate so it wasn't that big of a deal.
It's currently in for a cap job and new power tubes, so I'll see if that cures it. Mine has Mercury Trannnies and its a 2001 model.
 
Hiss doesn't really bother me, especially after using the jvm, I love it but with all that gain there's a lot of hiss.
 
D-Rock":oegqprpp said:
irondeth21":oegqprpp said:
Dude your clips sound good! I does clean up pretty well. Like I said I don't really use a pristine clean right now. This one doesn't have a loop. Any experience trying to run a delay in front? I know it doesn't typically sound as good, but I used to run my delay in front on an old jcm 800 I had and it wasn't terrible.
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Sorry, haven't used any effects with that amp. I can't imagine there being any issues with a delay up front.
As for the feel, it's very much like you described with the SLO you played. Loose, with just enough sag.
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I've tried for a long time to get delay to sound good in front, but I'm about to give up. I run all my other effects up front, but delay just doesn't sound right. It's grainy, distorts too much, and it's very hard to get the level right. Plus, the delayed note doesn't chase the dry note, it's kind of on top of it, if my description makes any sense. It's become very annoying.

As for the op... the Avenger is a great amp. Loves boosts, kinda dark but can be dialed in a bit bright, a bit saggy on the bottom but not Recto saggy. It reminds me of a mix between a JCM800 and 5150. The only thing I think you'd be concerned with is a lack of versatility. If you work your volume knob and boost, you can get different gain levels of the same tone, but it's not the same as a channel switcher. Single channel amps with no loops are much more in your face and punchy though imo. It's a matter of preference.
 
Yeah I kinda like the idea of a no frills just one killer tone amp. I was thinking about going back to a jcm 800 and using pedals, but the avenger is basically the same thing with the soldano tone. I think I'm gonna go for it.
 
Its a killer amp, i had it for like a year or more. BUT i think that if you want a killer crunch, Marshall is the deal. The Avenger, like they said, is darker and has a modern vibe.

Id love to try a good Soldano Hot Rod, maybe its better for the stuff you play?
 
irondeth21":2yirymx1 said:
Yeah I kinda like the idea of a no frills just one killer tone amp. I was thinking about going back to a jcm 800 and using pedals, but the avenger is basically the same thing with the soldano tone. I think I'm gonna go for it.
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The JCM800 cleans up better. Sure, the Avenger has more gain on tap, but the 800 is more versatile imo. I had an Avenger for a few months, traded for a Mako Dorado, sold that and bought a handwired 2204 clone. I'm currently in tonal heaven.
 
JohnSykes":24ooomcf said:
Its a killer amp, i had it for like a year or more. BUT i think that if you want a killer crunch, Marshall is the deal. The Avenger, like they said, is darker and has a modern vibe.

Id love to try a good Soldano Hot Rod, maybe its better for the stuff you play?
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Yeah I always wanted to try a hotrod as well. Bonus is they have a clean channel as well. But everything I'm reading is the avenger is closer to the slo, which is really an amp I fell in love with right away.
 
try to find a bad review on an avenger. its the most aggressive modern sound ever. i just got this amp two weeks ago and its just amazing.
 
The Avenger is the amp I owned the longest. Mine was the EL34 100w version. It was pretty killer. I miss it.

Here is me wanking around on it a while back. I say go for it.

 
Soldano's don't get a lot of press here on RT but they are pretty killer amps.
Not sure what's up with their product development as they have not came out with much lately.
Still SLO/Decatone/Hot Rod's all sound pretty good to me and are a great deal used, new prices have crept up as of late.
 
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