Soldano Hot Rod 100 +

Just an insanely fat sounding amplifier. One thing I love about Soldano's are their fat chewy and rich sounding gain distortion. The lead lines on these amps are so fluid and rich in tone that it makes a lot of other amps sound inferior.

The Hot Rod + takes the best of the SLO features and steps up the ante from the regular Hot Rod Avenger amp with two channels. Having a compressed and an uncompressed feature is very nice where dialing in that particular tone. For example you can have the vintage tone with the uncompressed and kick in the overdrive channel for some modern singing sustain.

UTILIZATION

Soldano Hot Rod 100 Plus 100W Tube Guitar Amp Head Features:

* 2-Channels with independent preamp and master volume controls — Normal (uncompressed) and Overdrive (compressed)
100 Watts of Tube Power
Tube-buffered serial effects loop
A speaker impedance switch (16, 8, 4 ohms)
Footswitch for channel switching
Handmade in the U.S.A.
Dimensions: 9.5" H x 25" W x 9.5"
Weight: 42 lb.

SOUNDS

I like just about any guitar with this amp. However, the Fender Strat stands out to me with this amp. I think it really comes alive with that body shape whether is be a super strat or a regular single coil, the amp reacts to that guitar better than a solid Gibson Les Paul. I think Marshall goes well with Gibson's and Strat's go well with Soldanos. Not saying you can't play one with the other, I'm just saying there is something special to me with those particular parings. A Charvel can play in any setting at any time. Best guitars in the world!

Anyway try this amp out with a Strat and you'll see what I mean by a match made in Heaven. The two were made for one another.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a great amp for the price. At new they come in at around $2500 which is a great price for an amp of this caliber. The tone is agressive and heavy which makes playing extremely enjoyable.

I would recommend this amp to anyone searching for a great high gain amplifier and doesn't want to splurge on a Bogner XTC or other high gain Marshall inspired amp. The Bogner XTC and this would be in the same camp as far as high gainers go but the XTC would have one more channels and lot more options to shape your tone. This is a no nonsense rocker amp that doesn't have a bunch of options, but just straight ahead rock and roll tone.