Soldano Hot Rod 50 Avenger

[s_swanson]

Hey guys, I'm in the process of scaling down my guitar rig. I wanted a simple, single-channel amp that was still pretty versatile. I used to own a couple of Soldano Hot Rod 50's and always thought that they were excellent amps for the price. One of them was a stock HR50, one had the XL mod (which I though was too muddy), and one was a two-channel HR50+.

My favorite of these three was the stock HR50. I've been looking around for a used one and found one of the new Hot Rod 50 Avenger amps (with FX loop) for a good price, so I picked it up.

From what I understand (and my own personal experience), most of the Soldano amps have very similar circuits, but each model sounds a little different. If anybody has experience with the Hot Rod and Avenger Series amps, what are the differences I could expect with this new HR50 Avenger compared a regular HR50?

It almost seems to me like this amp could be viewed as a HR50 with the addition of the depth knob since they no longer sell the regular HR50.

 

[FourT6and2]

There is an HR50 Avenger, a 50 Avenger, and an HR50 Plus.

50 Avenger: SLO lead channel, hi/low input, depth control
HR50 Avenger: Same as 50 Avenger, but with FX Loop (different type of loop than the SLO)
HR50 Plus: Looks to be a cheaper SLO with Depth control. From what I've read, the SLO sounds better. But I don't know first hand. FX Loop is the same as the Avenger.

 

[Aidanspaghetti]

Had an avenger and loved it.... One piece of advice... Do not be afraid of the lo input..... Some great tones in there!

 

[Racerxrated]

If you can get one with the SLO DeYoung transformers it will be SLO ish. That's the key. If not then its not the same. Similar maybe...but without the true SLO power section, its not gonna be the real thing. And that's the magic of an SLO..when you turn it up. I'm sure its a great amp tho...congrats!

 

[s_swanson]

Had an avenger and loved it.... One piece of advice... Do not be afraid of the lo input..... Some great tones in there!

Yeah, the low input was something I loved about my HR50's! You can get some really nice "semi-clean" and crunch tones!

If you can get one with the SLO DeYoung transformers it will be SLO ish. That's the key. If not then its not the same. Similar maybe...but without the true SLO power section, its not gonna be the real thing. And that's the magic of an SLO..when you turn it up. I'm sure its a great amp tho...congrats!

Right. I'm ok with it not being an SLO though, if it falls anywhere between HR50 and SLO I'm going to like it! I wanted a simple amp around the $1000 range so I could sell my Wizard Modern Classic and hopefully come away with enough cash to help pay for some non-gear-related expenses.

 

[Racerxrated]

Cool. I had an HR 100+ and it was a great amp. Not quite an SLO but I paid 900 for it vs 2400.....I wouldn't expect it to be. Soldano makes great stuff.

 

[s_swanson]

Well I finally got the Avenger tonight, and I'm definitely happy with the tones I'm getting out of it. Alot of people say they're darker and more modern sounding than the SLO, but I don't know. I don't think it's darker that my old HR50 unless the depth knob is cranked way up-I almost wonder if it's not the depth knob that throws people off when they say it's "darker" sounding. This one has all JJ's in the preamp even, so that should have made it really dark.

It has a ton of gain though! More than any of my previous Soldanos from what I can remember! It definitely doesn't have the dynamics and touch sensitivity of the Wizard, but really, how many amps do! For the price I paid, I'm not complaining!