Tone King! I realy like your shoot outs.You take the time to explain things without showing off. a lot of other peoples videos seems to be more about showing off their guitar chops instead of informing us. Keep up the good work
There is definitely a different EQ curve to each but if you are looking for a Soldano but don't want to pay out a arm and a leg, Jet City is the way to go!
@@MICKEYISLOWD I know these comments are old, but for anyone else reading, I just want to say, to be fair, I don't think he made any mention of what tubes were in each one, so a difference of tubes can cause a slightly different EQ curve. Jet City amps are solid, and sound great. Anyone who doesn't want to shell out the cash for the real thing can easily get Soldano tones from a JCA. Used JCAs are pretty cheap, so you can't really go wrong.
I would also want to compare their clean tones with simple arpeggios and strumming for instance to complete the quick comparison as that is all can be expected until you plug in and play anything in person. But, these kinds of reviews do always give a fair idea of where I may want to look, listen and feel first. So, always appreciated.
I am glad to see you back in the saddle! It has been awile since we got back to the meat and potatos of TTK! Both amps are killer. I guess the big question is price. Also, I bought the Jet City ISO Cab you reveiwed. best purchase I have made. I get no bleed from the drums, bass rig or vocals. Using it live! The front of house takes the mic signal and has complete control over the volume (it keeps them happy) with the door open, I get plenty of stage monitor volume. You turned me on to it \m/
The JCA20H, is my first true tube amp. Been using a Vox VT-50. Tone King, your reviews are what lead me to buy a Jet City amp. I love my new amp!! Thank you Tone King!
The SOL is a 50 watter so at same volume levels you're also going to get a bit more natural tube compression, where as the 100 watter has more headroom before the power tubes start to affect that character. Plus, let's not forget that the stock tubes are likely of a better quality in the higher priced Soldano. In all a great demo showing the JC as a great amp for much less money. High gain pre's would give it a kick up in gain. In all a great demo showing the JC is a great amp for the money.
Dear TK. The only difference between both amps I could hear when all knobs were at 12o'clock, were a lack of "richness" in the tone of the jca 100h. Well I believe that firstly 2 tubes get more pushed than 4 at the same volume level and secondly - and thats more important IMO - the Depth mod. The Depthmod isn't turned off at 12 o'clock, it's turned off at 8 o'clock - at 12 its already much fatter than without it. sorry for my unkind english, I appreciate your work!
Well, when I first watched this, and had an SLO beside my JCA100HDM, it was too much high end. I was still running the stock tubes in the Jet City, so they were pretty fizzy and loose. Since I retubed it with GrooveTubes and Mesa Boogies, I found my former settings a little too muddy. I rolled everything back to 12:00 and started again, and guess what? I ended up with Tone King's final settings to the Jet City :-p It is very close to George Lynch's tone from the Wicked Sensation album actually! Thanks again for showing your method for dialing it in :-) Cheers mate!
Hey I was wondering if you ended up buying that Ed Roman Quicksilver. He makes incredible guitars. Did he cut you a nice deal on it I remember when you did the demo on it. As far as the amps go ones 50 watt and ones 100 Watt so your tubes are going to break at totally different points plus one has 4 power tubes one has 2. They dont sound 2 far apart definateley the same amp family.
Thanks bud. I figured that Soldano would be a superior amp just by the cost differnece, and being hand built in the US. Looking at getting my first tube amp and these Bugeras seem to be a pretty good choice just from what I have been reading about them. I was looking a 333xl Infinium. I like the idea of haveing 3 channel setup for maxuim versitility. I'm just a hobby guitarist but I play Beatles, Colletive Soul, Van Halen, anything rock. Does this amp cover these genres? Thank you.
One thing I will totally as a Jet City owner. In order to keep the price down on these Jet City's, they ship them with very cheap stock tubes which do make the amp sound very thin. Once you replace the tubes in the amp with something of a better quality, there is a very beautiful and extremely huge difference. Spending $929 (or 500 when it goes on sale) and buying a re-tube kit that goes for $150 is an easier option than spending $3000 on a Soldano, or many other amps, they are really great!
Hey TTK! awesome shoot out as usual! Now, to the amps.... I understand what people say about the the soldano sounding... different. I refuse to say better becouse these 2 are completely different. You see, I see the soldano being used in a 2 amp setup, just for leads IMO. To my ears the Jet City's got a midrange quality to it that reminds me of a JCM type of tone that would cut through the mix. Now, having these 2 amps together in a 2 amp setup for rhythm and leads... dang! Cheers man!
I understand your point, but for me the guys is still correct. Soldano is crunchier, it has more power on the clipping, so distortion waves are shorter, and gets more appealing to high-gain addicts, as myself... but both amps are amazing, IMHO
It is amazing how close these two amps sound. The Jet City does sound more brittle, but it's clear that could be tweaked a bit with the EQ. The bottom line is that you can get the legendary Soldano tone at an affordable price.
The Soldano definitely has more presence. I've recently decided to buy a Randall RM22 instead of waiting for the JCA22H to be released. Hey ToneKing, how about a review of the DBZ Guitars Halcyon?
+simo21beatrice i own both a soldano and a jet city and i gotta say the jet city is a damn nice amp and as close as you can get for the cash to the soldano u.s.a. definitely worth the money and i use my jet city way more than i thought i ever would.
The fullness is only lacking because the power tubes aren't pushed nearly as much as the Soldanos. I've had these compared 100 vs 100 in person, they're way closer than this.
When you want tones by soldano it is usually the crunch channel for your main tone. Also I don't appreciate the fact that the loop design is crippled: It may be vital to the tone but he could keep it, bypass the in outs and add another loop even unbuffered. He robs the input signal of a lot of treble and harmonics. He adds brightness later on and bases the sound on the basic note. Sometimes this is good others it is limiting. A unique marshall derived design with a lot of drawbacks.
Good shoot out. I would love to set down with a JCA50 and repeat the process. I feel that you treated the pair extremely fair. I watched the video because I'm considering a JCA purchase.
Soldano is better by far but one can work the JetCity with extra FX pedals to create a similar sound. And since I cant afford the Soldano guess which one will I get?
Thanks for a cool shoot out!. I liked the Soldano a hair more, but I know it is a lot more then a hair more money! They are very close. I bought a Jet City and love it. I have the 20 watt combo. I sold my Marshall Artist 4203 combo (or was is 4302?) after compairing them for about a year the marshall just couldn't get the gain I was looking for with my 57 reissue strat. I think for the money, anyone looking for a new amp will just love the Jet City amps. I know I did. Thanks again.Jim
The Jet City sounds like it has more of a bass roll-off _before_ the gain stages. That gives it a tighter bottom end, but makes it sound thinner than the Soldano. So while the Soldano sounds beefier, it's also mushier. If you could take the Jet City and add bass _after_ the gain stages, that would be a force to be reckoned with. The Jet City reminds me of the Cornford MK-50 in that respect.
+stumpyjoe No it's is simply because he has the volume running on 2 and the volume opened up on the soldano ... and as we all know that is not how volume differences work on 50w vs 100w... So yes you will get a thinner sound with the a less open volume, and especially on a Jet city coz the volume pots have a bizarre range on the wiper, and if you don't go past 3 ish it acts a bit like a low pass filter, which translates in a less air-y sound a bit muffled if you will. What you can do on the Jet city amp to avoid this volume pot problem at low volumes is put a volume box/pedal in the loop to act as a second master to be able to crank up the Amp volume pot
The Soldano is recorded at a higher volume than the Jet City. I'm not talking about the 50 watt vs 100 watt but the volume level coming out of your speakers is higher on the Soldano. Because of the way the ear works, louder sounds always sound better than quieter ones. Watch it again turning the Soldano down and the Jet City up on your speakers. Guess which one sounds better now. It looks like this video is (unintentionally) rigged to make the Soldano sound better.
Yeah, but even after adjusting for volume the Soldana is just a crisper more articulate amp. But you pay for that, obviously. The higher cost is not just cause it's made in the US. It's also better components. The interaction of the components makes a big difference too. Use the SAME lower part quality inside the Soldano and it too will sound more like the JC. Both are still great in their respective price range.
The Soldano completely kills the Jet City in this clip tonally but for the price tag the Jet City is a decent sounding amp. Tonally though the Soldano is just miles ahead.
Agreed. I had a HR 50 Soldano head with the snakeskin tolex. It’s a great amp for overdrive. I traded that head and a Fender Twin Reverb for a Fuchs ODS 100. I wanted something with a nice rich Clean, with the clarity to pair nicely with the drive from a couple of tube screamer‘s. I recently just ordered a jet city 333 for an extra head.It’s a great amp for the price. It’s very similar in tone , but like you said, the Soldano has that clarity and bite that makes it an American made Mike Soldano amp. Then you have the SLO. Now we are talking minor to major leagues. Lol
The SOL has a bit more gain on tap. Also, it's voiced more with scooped mid tone even with the mid set to 12. The JC isn't as "compressed" sounding, and the mids at 12 show that it's voiced with a wider mid section. You turned up the treble, but you should have set the mid at about 9 or 10 o'clock. When you scooped it, it went too far, and then you raised it back up to 12. You never tried 9 or 10 and leave treble alone. And you should adjust the presence as well to better match the mids.
Glad you added the check mark on the amp because it was hard to see the little light on the switcher. Considering the Jet City is probably 3 X Less than the Soldano it didn't sound bad at all. Can't wait to see the new 22 Watt Jet City so I can test drive it. I think it will have a street price of $399 US Dollars. Not too shabby. If I had the money I would get the Soldano but on my budget the Jet City wins. I would like to see the Blackstar Stage 100 Head VS the Blackstar Series One Head.
No there is a difference. But it is not as great as the volume difference may lead you to believe. Try watching the video and using your volume control on your computer to compensate the volume levels. You may still hear a huge difference. But both amps will be on the same playing field at that point. I'm not saying they're equal but that this video does not make the Jet City shine.
You can tell which one is a custom. The Jet City still has some nice tone. I'd like to see a Blackstar vs. Bugera vs. Jet City Shootout. Since all three are foreign made, that would be a good indicator of tone, I believe. I have been impressed with Bugera's tone an quality, so let's see what everyone else has to offer.
its more about making a comparison in price point. If you really want to buy a soldano because of its tone, you might find that theyre damn expensive. but the designed by soldano jet city is WAY cheaper. does it sound like a genuine soldano? TTK did us the favor of doing a side by side comparison of tone.
Both very fine high gain amps, but given the huge price differential the Jet City is awesome. Love to see a shootout between the JCA 22H and the Custom 22 just to see what the differences in the channels sound like.
Good demo. I like your style of playing. The Soldano sounded clearer. The Jet City sounded a little more muddy. The Soldano also was more punchy with a little more beef. I'd like to see you compare a Marshall TSL60 with a Marshall DSL50.
I agree with tasman guitar amps. There was an audible difference in levels between the soldano and the jet city. The jet city has alot more midrange, less bass and treble. Although if it was adjusted correctly, they would probably sound very similar.
Jealousy rages through my heart at the wall of amps in the background there. Cool to see a Quicksilver. I've got both of these amps. I knew the Soldano couldn't be licked but I stool like my jet city. I hade to pull the lame cover of the front though. Nice compare vid. Thanks!
Tone is NOT in the fingers. Tone is the voice of your instrument, I'm serious, look up the definition. SOUND is in the fingers.You can get anyone's TONE by using their gear, but it doesn't mean you'll sound like them. It's like telling a painter that the color is in their fingers. NO. Color is on the palette and your fingers arrange the color. The point still stands and it's a good point to make but there's this HUGE misconception about what tone is in the guitar world and it pisses me off because people think ANY sound the guitar makes is tone now.
100% agree with you. Your fingers will never make Fender Deluxe sound like a Boogie Recto. Your style, touch, personality, and your musical signature are in your fingers, but that's it. People don't really understand the definition of what "tone" is.
@panicblade. Crap ... in the extreme. Tone is in the playing more than anything. There's a famous story about SR Vaughn (before he became super well known) opening for Ted Nugent. Nugent heard SRV at soundcheck and couldn't believe the tones he was getting. Nugent thought SRV had discovered some amazing effects/amps/speakers/pickup/guitar to make his tone sound so awesomely bluesy and tasty. After SRV had left Nugent persuaded SRV's guitar tech to let him have a lash on his rig. Guess what...? On SRV's rig Nugent sounded just like Nugent always sounded. SRV sounded like SRV because he was SRV ... Tone is in the playing.
TTK, I don't understand why you ran the Jet City at 1 the whole time. The amp isn't THAT loud that 1 would be comparable to noon on the Soldano, or a good test of the amp.
I like the Soldano better"....How about a shootout between some Preamps?..Rocktron Pirahna-Marshall JMP-1-ADA MP-1-Rockmaster-Engl...Through an All tube Power amp....Thank you!
I made the sound on my Boss GT3 based on Soldano Amp modeling Soldano SLO but the result is very close on sound of Jet City. I think in change the name of patch a seeking this samples to made a really close sound of this 2 amps... Nice sounds, both amps...
IMO the best for a jet city is mids at only like 3, and then treble at whatever you want, and bass at 2 (or for me 4) notches up from whatever your treble is at
I own two jet city 50 watt heads and have been very happy with the overdrive. one is retubed with JJs while the other still has the shuguan stock tubes. it took a while for me to find the sweet spot on the clean channel. now that I found it I like the clean side also. I agree the Soldano is better but I can't justify spending the extra cash. I'm a weekend warrior with a regular job during the week days. I my own oppinion Jet City does a good job and is very reliable
People saying that the Soldano sounds better are making me laugh and not because I don't think it sounds good. It sounds awesome. The problem I have is the JCA is obviously at a lower volume and as such, it doesn't sound as good. Even if TTK was going for the same volume wise despite where the volume controls were set, it's obvious the JCA is at least a few dB quieter.
I agree. It is a tube amp turn some of that gain down and push the volume up. It looked like the master volume was set to 1 on the Jet City and the Soldano was definitely getting a fairer shake since it was actually making the tubes work some.
they sound pretty much the same except for the jet city kind of sounded like it had a blanket on it compared to the soldano. id bet if you swapped the transformers with either the soldano or a mercury magnetics transformer, youd get pretty close to the same sound.
I am wearing some pretty good head phones and the Jet City sounds like a solid state version of the Soldano. The Soldano is just clearer and more powerful even at 50wts
I'm sure we would all prefer the soldano on top of our rig at a live show but for the money there's not$1500 worth of difference there for me. I went with the jet city(which is still a soldano) and I haven't looked back. It destroys my Vht PITBULL ULTRALEAD head as well as my Orange rockerverb.. So I'm in fact buying the newer version of the jca 100hd this week.. you slap a soldano logo on the front and there's not a sole in the room that can tell you the difference.. also the tone is absolutely in the fingers.. thank you tone king for clearing up a huge doubt about the tone of these amplifiers.. you rock lml
Aah like that, I was wondering why the hell anyone would compare a jet city to a soldano haha.. I was almost thinking it's the same thing as the fireball/mesa rect comparrison, that the price of the jet city is much higher in the usa, over here you can buy a jet city for about 375 euro's.
@ThieleM I was not lumping anything, other than foreign made amps. Let's see how well a Bugera can compare to the others...that's all. I've been impressed with their ability to come VERY close to the originals.
TTK, I would like to hear a shootout between a Boogie Triple Rectifier and a Soldano SLO 100 watt amps. Schematically, these amps a virtually identical. - Also a shootout between a JCA20H and the Soldano Atomic 16 Head - these too are schematically virtually identical. Thanks, Bruce Dowdy BRit-Ton Amplification Research - P.S. Loved the shootout between the JCA100H and the Soldano Hot Rod 100+
Hey there TTK i've been watching many of your reviews and it would be awesome if you could add some chugging to your amp and OD or distortion reviews because IMO its important to see how the amp also reacts to muted kinda sounds. Anywho great job on the reviews and keep on rockin' \m/
You should do something with Bogner, like the Bogner Ecstasy vs. a Marshall JCM or JVM or the Bogner Uberschall Twin Jet vs. maybe like a Krank or Randall
@anlcntrox The Soldiers (Soldanos) use Sovtek for the most part. On the Hot Rod 100 Plus, it comes with JJ Preamp + Sovtek's Power amp. The sovteks are what I consider a "working man" normal tube... they do their work well but are not the very best. The Citizens (JCA's) use chinese Shuguang 12AX7 Preamp tubes wich are not bad, but the power tubes are Chinese (Shuguang Linhzhou or something) 6L6GC wich sound as if 1,000,000 Chinese were screaming behind the Great Wall.
It's pretty damn close ! The Soldano sounds a little better, but the difference is so thin that i'm sure you can get the same sound by tweaking a little, and why not modding a little the JCA.
I actually played a 50 watt jet city and a Mark 5 in store and preferred the JC. The M5 had the dark, compressed tone all Mesas have and it sounded awfully weak in it's 1x12 combo form.
I like the Soldano. It has more bite, and I like the more high end. The Jet City sounds good on rhythm, but it sounds a bit muddy and dark. I like the brightness.
Because of this video and only because of it, I own 2 100 watt jet city heads.. I altered the look of the first one because I hated that blue tolex, but the second one I bought was the new version.. it's got a better tone to it as well with the overall depth control added.. Thank you
.. Hey TTK you have to use a JC 50 for a fair comparison or a Soldano 100 for a fair comparison, u shouldnt use a 50 watt vs a 100 watt the tubes breakup and react different in 50 and 100 .. I like the soldano in this video a lil more but the JC was pretty close and with some tweaking im sure it would get closer .. The question is do u want to spend $600-$700 MORE for the Soldano HR, thats the real question but in terms of actual tones, they are close and next time use 50 vs 50!
Question: I really want the Soldano but its only 50 watt and i will buy the Head first and after a couple of months I will buy the Cab. Is this amp loudemough to gig in a bar/School??
(Opinion based on what I heard through my HD650 headphones) I preferred the Soldano. It sounded more aggressive, brutal and fuller than the jet city, however considering the jet city is only a fraction of the price of the Soldano you really cant complain!
I own the Soldano Hot Rod Avenger and I'm probably going to get a Jet City TO GO ALONG with my Soldano, mainly I just want it for the cleans.. =P The Jet City is a really great head BUT the Soldano's overdrive in person BLOWS it away... It's GORGEOUS!
The Volume on the Jet City was slightly lower than the Soldano throughout the video. Same family of tone just a Third Cousin. LOL That's a Southern joke ;-) I wonder if Jet City will revamp their 50 watt like they did their new 20 watt Head. You are right, Soldano is in it's own class of tone for sure but it's around $3000 isn't it? Great video.
@ThieleM Absolutely. We have no argument there. That said, some (and I mean very few) Chinese guitars are actually pretty good quality. I have an OLP MM1 which has served me well, but compare that, to say even an Agile, which is made in Korea...there is NO comparison. I own an AL-3000...great guitar. Amps seems to be a different beast. The Bugera 6262 seems to be just as clear, crisp, and defined as a similar Marshall...they have very high quality control, and I have been impressed so far.
They are not in same setting. There is not so much audible difference in volume of 50W and 100W, because there is not difference in gain stage of output tubes. For how thing is loud, ear must tell. It is clear here that Soldano is set louder. Also Master Volume depends on the design, so ear must tell again, not numbers.
What, you don't like the toneking's signature licks??!! lol.. i think the biggest problem is that everything sounds the same because of the way he is mic'ing the damn cabs. Is he using a seinheiser or SM57? Either way, buzz city, needs to work on some mic placement..
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Tone King! I realy like your shoot outs.You take the time to explain things without showing off. a lot of other peoples videos seems to be more about showing off their guitar chops instead of informing us. Keep up the good work
There is definitely a different EQ curve to each but if you are looking for a Soldano but don't want to pay out a arm and a leg, Jet City is the way to go!
Not really. Today there are clones of the great soldano amps for less than half the price and they sound identical to the amp they are copying.
@@MICKEYISLOWD I know these comments are old, but for anyone else reading, I just want to say, to be fair, I don't think he made any mention of what tubes were in each one, so a difference of tubes can cause a slightly different EQ curve. Jet City amps are solid, and sound great. Anyone who doesn't want to shell out the cash for the real thing can easily get Soldano tones from a JCA. Used JCAs are pretty cheap, so you can't really go wrong.
Thank you very much for the demo TK !
Its been a long time that i wanted to see an A/B demo !
Dare I say I like the jet city better?
I like it better
I would also want to compare their clean tones with simple arpeggios and strumming for instance to complete the quick comparison as that is all can be expected until you plug in and play anything in person. But, these kinds of reviews do always give a fair idea of where I may want to look, listen and feel first. So, always appreciated.
I am glad to see you back in the saddle! It has been awile since we got back to the meat and potatos of TTK! Both amps are killer. I guess the big question is price. Also, I bought the Jet City ISO Cab you reveiwed. best purchase I have made. I get no bleed from the drums, bass rig or vocals. Using it live! The front of house takes the mic signal and has complete control over the volume (it keeps them happy) with the door open, I get plenty of stage monitor volume. You turned me on to it \m/
The JCA20H, is my first true tube amp. Been using a Vox VT-50.
Tone King, your reviews are what lead me to buy a Jet City amp.
I love my new amp!!
Thank you Tone King!
The SOL is a 50 watter so at same volume levels you're also going to get a bit more natural tube compression, where as the 100 watter has more headroom before the power tubes start to affect that character.
Plus, let's not forget that the stock tubes are likely of a better quality in the higher priced Soldano.
In all a great demo showing the JC as a great amp for much less money.
High gain pre's would give it a kick up in gain.
In all a great demo showing the JC is a great amp for the money.
Dear TK. The only difference between both amps I could hear when all knobs were at 12o'clock, were a lack of "richness" in the tone of the jca 100h. Well I believe that firstly 2 tubes get more pushed than 4 at the same volume level and secondly - and thats more important IMO - the Depth mod. The Depthmod isn't turned off at 12 o'clock, it's turned off at 8 o'clock - at 12 its already much fatter than without it.
sorry for my unkind english, I appreciate your work!
Hello from the question of reliability the jet city is good;
Well, when I first watched this, and had an SLO beside my JCA100HDM, it was too much high end. I was still running the stock tubes in the Jet City, so they were pretty fizzy and loose.
Since I retubed it with GrooveTubes and Mesa Boogies, I found my former settings a little too muddy. I rolled everything back to 12:00 and started again, and guess what? I ended up with Tone King's final settings to the Jet City :-p
It is very close to George Lynch's tone from the Wicked Sensation album actually!
Thanks again for showing your method for dialing it in :-)
Cheers mate!
Hey I was wondering if you ended up buying that Ed Roman Quicksilver. He makes incredible guitars. Did he cut you a nice deal on it I remember when you did the demo on it. As far as the amps go ones 50 watt and ones 100 Watt so your tubes are going to break at totally different points plus one has 4 power tubes one has 2. They dont sound 2 far apart definateley the same amp family.
Jet City sounds a bit darker and the Soldano is brighter both very nice sounding amps wich cab are you using by the way
Just found you! WOW! Just bought the JCA20H, because of you. Really enjoying my new head.
Thanks bud. I figured that Soldano would be a superior amp just by the cost differnece, and being hand built in the US. Looking at getting my first tube amp and these Bugeras seem to be a pretty good choice just from what I have been reading about them. I was looking a 333xl Infinium. I like the idea of haveing 3 channel setup for maxuim versitility. I'm just a hobby guitarist but I play Beatles, Colletive Soul, Van Halen, anything rock. Does this amp cover these genres? Thank you.
One thing I will totally as a Jet City owner. In order to keep the price down on these Jet City's, they ship them with very cheap stock tubes which do make the amp sound very thin. Once you replace the tubes in the amp with something of a better quality, there is a very beautiful and extremely huge difference. Spending $929 (or 500 when it goes on sale) and buying a re-tube kit that goes for $150 is an easier option than spending $3000 on a Soldano, or many other amps, they are really great!
Hey TTK! awesome shoot out as usual! Now, to the amps.... I understand what people say about the the soldano sounding... different. I refuse to say better becouse these 2 are completely different. You see, I see the soldano being used in a 2 amp setup, just for leads IMO. To my ears the Jet City's got a midrange quality to it that reminds me of a JCM type of tone that would cut through the mix. Now, having these 2 amps together in a 2 amp setup for rhythm and leads... dang! Cheers man!
I understand your point, but for me the guys is still correct. Soldano is crunchier, it has more power on the clipping, so distortion waves are shorter, and gets more appealing to high-gain addicts, as myself... but both amps are amazing, IMHO
can you answer a question about the orange rockerverb/thunderverb shootout? that vid had comments disabled. great work!
It is amazing how close these two amps sound. The Jet City does sound more brittle, but it's clear that could be tweaked a bit with the EQ. The bottom line is that you can get the legendary Soldano tone at an affordable price.
The Soldano definitely has more presence. I've recently decided to buy a Randall RM22 instead of waiting for the JCA22H to be released.
Hey ToneKing, how about a review of the DBZ Guitars Halcyon?
How about the tubes in each amp? Could that be why the Soldano has more bite?
Good demo,well done
I'm looking with a lot of interest to the Jet City amps,great tone & not too expensive....thanx dude ;)
+simo21beatrice i own both a soldano and a jet city and i gotta say the jet city is a damn nice amp and as close as you can get for the cash to the soldano u.s.a. definitely worth the money and i use my jet city way more than i thought i ever would.
+rowdy johnson thanx for your feedback,good to know.....
These amps seems to be very intresting.... I'm thinking to buy one to try it ;)
The fullness is only lacking because the power tubes aren't pushed nearly as much as the Soldanos. I've had these compared 100 vs 100 in person, they're way closer than this.
When you want tones by soldano it is usually the crunch channel for your main tone. Also I don't appreciate the fact that the loop design is crippled: It may be vital to the tone but he could keep it, bypass the in outs and add another loop even unbuffered. He robs the input signal of a lot of treble and harmonics. He adds brightness later on and bases the sound on the basic note. Sometimes this is good others it is limiting. A unique marshall derived design with a lot of drawbacks.
Good shoot out. I would love to set down with a JCA50 and repeat the process. I feel that you treated the pair extremely fair. I watched the video because I'm considering a JCA purchase.
Soldano is better by far but one can work the JetCity with extra FX pedals to create a similar sound. And since I cant afford the Soldano guess which one will I get?
Cheguebuddha I feel you so hard on that.
@TheRoflc0pterz have you actually played one yet? Or checked out some of the JCA stuff on my channel?
Thanks for a cool shoot out!. I liked the Soldano a hair more, but I know it is a lot more then a hair more money! They are very close. I bought a Jet City and love it. I have the 20 watt combo. I sold my Marshall Artist 4203 combo (or was is 4302?) after compairing them for about a year the marshall just couldn't get the gain I was looking for with my 57 reissue strat. I think for the money, anyone looking for a new amp will just love the Jet City amps. I know I did. Thanks again.Jim
@DMSProduktions this is not the SLO, its the Hot Rod 50+
The Jet City sounds like it has more of a bass roll-off _before_ the gain stages. That gives it a tighter bottom end, but makes it sound thinner than the Soldano. So while the Soldano sounds beefier, it's also mushier. If you could take the Jet City and add bass _after_ the gain stages, that would be a force to be reckoned with. The Jet City reminds me of the Cornford MK-50 in that respect.
Depth mod maybe?
Maybe a EQ pedal in the effects loop would do the magic.
+stumpyjoe No it's is simply because he has the volume running on 2 and the volume opened up on the soldano ... and as we all know that is not how volume differences work on 50w vs 100w... So yes you will get a thinner sound with the a less open volume, and especially on a Jet city coz the volume pots have a bizarre range on the wiper, and if you don't go past 3 ish it acts a bit like a low pass filter, which translates in a less air-y sound a bit muffled if you will. What you can do on the Jet city amp to avoid this volume pot problem at low volumes is put a volume box/pedal in the loop to act as a second master to be able to crank up the Amp volume pot
just curious why u don't like Ed Roman; i was considering purchasing a guitar from his website...
I always forget about the Jet City Amps but I really think my next amp is going to be a JCA22H. It sounds great! Great comparison TK!
Did you ever get one?
Could you have pulled a couple power tubes out of the JCA or???
The Soldano is recorded at a higher volume than the Jet City. I'm not talking about the 50 watt vs 100 watt but the volume level coming out of your speakers is higher on the Soldano. Because of the way the ear works, louder sounds always sound better than quieter ones. Watch it again turning the Soldano down and the Jet City up on your speakers. Guess which one sounds better now. It looks like this video is (unintentionally) rigged to make the Soldano sound better.
Yeah, but even after adjusting for volume the Soldana is just a crisper more articulate amp.
But you pay for that, obviously.
The higher cost is not just cause it's made in the US.
It's also better components.
The interaction of the components makes a big difference too.
Use the SAME lower part quality inside the Soldano and it too will sound more like the JC.
Both are still great in their respective price range.
The Soldano completely kills the Jet City in this clip tonally but for the price tag the Jet City is a decent sounding amp. Tonally though the Soldano is just miles ahead.
Agreed. I had a HR 50 Soldano head with the snakeskin tolex. It’s a great amp for overdrive. I traded that head and a Fender Twin Reverb for a Fuchs ODS 100. I wanted something with a nice rich Clean, with the clarity to pair nicely with the drive from a couple of tube screamer‘s. I recently just ordered a jet city 333 for an extra head.It’s a great amp for the price. It’s very similar in tone , but like you said, the Soldano has that clarity and bite that makes it an American made Mike Soldano amp. Then you have the SLO. Now we are talking minor to major leagues. Lol
The SOL has a bit more gain on tap. Also, it's voiced more with scooped mid tone even with the mid set to 12. The JC isn't as "compressed" sounding, and the mids at 12 show that it's voiced with a wider mid section.
You turned up the treble, but you should have set the mid at about 9 or 10 o'clock.
When you scooped it, it went too far, and then you raised it back up to 12.
You never tried 9 or 10 and leave treble alone.
And you should adjust the presence as well to better match the mids.
Glad you added the check mark on the amp because it was hard to see the little light on the switcher. Considering the Jet City is probably 3 X Less than the Soldano it didn't sound bad at all. Can't wait to see the new 22 Watt Jet City so I can test drive it. I think it will have a street price of $399 US Dollars. Not too shabby. If I had the money I would get the Soldano but on my budget the Jet City wins. I would like to see the Blackstar Stage 100 Head VS the Blackstar Series One Head.
No there is a difference. But it is not as great as the volume difference may lead you to believe. Try watching the video and using your volume control on your computer to compensate the volume levels. You may still hear a huge difference. But both amps will be on the same playing field at that point. I'm not saying they're equal but that this video does not make the Jet City shine.
You can tell which one is a custom. The Jet City still has some nice tone.
I'd like to see a Blackstar vs. Bugera vs. Jet City Shootout. Since all three are foreign made, that would be a good indicator of tone, I believe. I have been impressed with Bugera's tone an quality, so let's see what everyone else has to offer.
Yo, Tone King! I noticed you have a Krank Nineteen80 back there, used to have one myself. Question, what do you think of it?
its more about making a comparison in price point. If you really want to buy a soldano because of its tone, you might find that theyre damn expensive. but the designed by soldano jet city is WAY cheaper. does it sound like a genuine soldano? TTK did us the favor of doing a side by side comparison of tone.
Both very fine high gain amps, but given the huge price differential the Jet City is awesome.
Love to see a shootout between the JCA 22H and the Custom 22 just to see what the differences in the channels sound like.
Good demo. I like your style of playing. The Soldano sounded clearer. The Jet City sounded a little more muddy. The Soldano also was more punchy with a little more beef. I'd like to see you compare a Marshall TSL60 with a Marshall DSL50.
I agree with tasman guitar amps. There was an audible difference in levels between the soldano and the jet city. The jet city has alot more midrange, less bass and treble. Although if it was adjusted correctly, they would probably sound very similar.
Jealousy rages through my heart at the wall of amps in the background there. Cool to see a Quicksilver. I've got both of these amps. I knew the Soldano couldn't be licked but I stool like my jet city. I hade to pull the lame cover of the front though. Nice compare vid. Thanks!
Tone is NOT in the fingers. Tone is the voice of your instrument, I'm serious, look up the definition. SOUND is in the fingers.You can get anyone's TONE by using their gear, but it doesn't mean you'll sound like them. It's like telling a painter that the color is in their fingers. NO. Color is on the palette and your fingers arrange the color. The point still stands and it's a good point to make but there's this HUGE misconception about what tone is in the guitar world and it pisses me off because people think ANY sound the guitar makes is tone now.
100% agree with you. Your fingers will never make Fender Deluxe sound like a Boogie Recto. Your style, touch, personality, and your musical signature are in your fingers, but that's it. People don't really understand the definition of what "tone" is.
Kordun Serb THAAAANK you
Very welcome!
I agree with what you're saying, it goes against the commonly repeated nomenclature but it's true.
@panicblade. Crap ... in the extreme. Tone is in the playing more than anything. There's a famous story about SR Vaughn (before he became super well known) opening for Ted Nugent. Nugent heard SRV at soundcheck and couldn't believe the tones he was getting. Nugent thought SRV had discovered some amazing effects/amps/speakers/pickup/guitar to make his tone sound so awesomely bluesy and tasty. After SRV had left Nugent persuaded SRV's guitar tech to let him have a lash on his rig. Guess what...? On SRV's rig Nugent sounded just like Nugent always sounded. SRV sounded like SRV because he was SRV ... Tone is in the playing.
Can the Jetcity sounds like a Dual Rectifiere or Peaves 6505?
TTK, I don't understand why you ran the Jet City at 1 the whole time. The amp isn't THAT loud that 1 would be comparable to noon on the Soldano, or a good test of the amp.
Wow. Those sounded pretty close to my ears. You cannot beat Soldano designs.
What cabinet are you running those through? I'm assuming a 4x12 with celestion vintage 30s?
I like the Soldano better"....How about a shootout between some Preamps?..Rocktron Pirahna-Marshall JMP-1-ADA MP-1-Rockmaster-Engl...Through an All tube Power amp....Thank you!
Marshall VM player that just played a soldano hr50 for the first time and it rocked my world....I will own one very soon!
so who makes the Jet amps?
I made the sound on my Boss GT3 based on Soldano Amp modeling Soldano SLO but the result is very close on sound of Jet City. I think in change the name of patch a seeking this samples to made a really close sound of this 2 amps... Nice sounds, both amps...
does the jet city sound as bright as the soldano when the volume is up higher? cause they mostly sound the same to me.
you should do a shootout between your jet city 22H custom and the soldano
IMO the best for a jet city is mids at only like 3, and then treble at whatever you want, and bass at 2 (or for me 4) notches up from whatever your treble is at
very true! I had two of them before I switched to some real old Marshall Plexis. The SLO sounds absolutely stunning!
how do you do a shoot out against the guy who built both amps?
I own two jet city 50 watt heads and have been very happy with the overdrive. one is retubed with JJs while the other still has the shuguan stock tubes. it took a while for me to find the sweet spot on the clean channel. now that I found it I like the clean side also. I agree the Soldano is better but I can't justify spending the extra cash. I'm a weekend warrior with a regular job during the week days. I my own oppinion Jet City does a good job and is very reliable
People saying that the Soldano sounds better are making me laugh and not because I don't think it sounds good. It sounds awesome. The problem I have is the JCA is obviously at a lower volume and as such, it doesn't sound as good. Even if TTK was going for the same volume wise despite where the volume controls were set, it's obvious the JCA is at least a few dB quieter.
Oh and I almost forgot: That said, TTK has improved his demos quite a bit.
I agree. It is a tube amp turn some of that gain down and push the volume up. It looked like the master volume was set to 1 on the Jet City and the Soldano was definitely getting a fairer shake since it was actually making the tubes work some.
they sound pretty much the same except for the jet city kind of sounded like it had a blanket on it compared to the soldano. id bet if you swapped the transformers with either the soldano or a mercury magnetics transformer, youd get pretty close to the same sound.
I am wearing some pretty good head phones and the Jet City sounds like a solid state version of the Soldano. The Soldano is just clearer and more powerful even at 50wts
Soldano all the way, nice shoot-out =)
I would like to see some more bugeras against more expensive amps !
Cheers
I'm sure we would all prefer the soldano on top of our rig at a live show but for the money there's not$1500 worth of difference there for me. I went with the jet city(which is still a soldano) and I haven't looked back. It destroys my Vht PITBULL ULTRALEAD head as well as my Orange rockerverb.. So I'm in fact buying the newer version of the jca 100hd this week.. you slap a soldano logo on the front and there's not a sole in the room that can tell you the difference.. also the tone is absolutely in the fingers.. thank you tone king for clearing up a huge doubt about the tone of these amplifiers.. you rock lml
Aah like that, I was wondering why the hell anyone would compare a jet city to a soldano haha.. I was almost thinking it's the same thing as the fireball/mesa rect comparrison, that the price of the jet city is much higher in the usa, over here you can buy a jet city for about 375 euro's.
Is that the classic purple on the soldano or the bronco purple? just ordered my slo in electric purple. if it looks like that happy days..
@ThieleM I was not lumping anything, other than foreign made amps. Let's see how well a Bugera can compare to the others...that's all. I've been impressed with their ability to come VERY close to the originals.
have you done a video with your modded jet city 22h?
TTK,
I would like to hear a shootout between a Boogie Triple Rectifier and a Soldano SLO 100 watt amps. Schematically, these amps a virtually identical.
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Also a shootout between a JCA20H and the Soldano Atomic 16 Head - these too are schematically virtually identical.
Thanks,
Bruce Dowdy
BRit-Ton Amplification Research
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P.S. Loved the shootout between the JCA100H and the Soldano Hot Rod 100+
Wtf was that noise at 7:13 ??? Thanks a lot
Nice One TTK!! I would love to buy the JCA100H how much is it?
Thank you man ! It help me understanding those heads a lot, i can use it for better now !
i would love to see a shout-out between the bugera 6262 and the engl
Hey there TTK i've been watching many of your reviews and it would be awesome if you could add some chugging to your amp and OD or distortion reviews because IMO its important to see how the amp also reacts to muted kinda sounds. Anywho great job on the reviews and keep on rockin' \m/
I would like to see some demos of rack preamps,JMP-1-ADA MP-1-Rocktron Voodu Valve-Pirahna-etc...Axe FX...
You should do something with Bogner, like the Bogner Ecstasy vs. a Marshall JCM or JVM or the Bogner Uberschall Twin Jet vs. maybe like a Krank or Randall
@anlcntrox The Soldiers (Soldanos) use Sovtek for the most part. On the Hot Rod 100 Plus, it comes with JJ Preamp + Sovtek's Power amp. The sovteks are what I consider a "working man" normal tube... they do their work well but are not the very best. The Citizens (JCA's) use chinese Shuguang 12AX7 Preamp tubes wich are not bad, but the power tubes are Chinese (Shuguang Linhzhou or something) 6L6GC wich sound as if 1,000,000 Chinese were screaming behind the Great Wall.
I couldn't hear it clean. why not? Why do people start bashing away on distortion?
4:27
+Matt Nunes I agree. glad you posted.
Jet city doesn’t have a clean channel, just crunch and high gain.
It's pretty damn close ! The Soldano sounds a little better, but the difference is so thin that i'm sure you can get the same sound by tweaking a little, and why not modding a little the JCA.
Not if you play them. The JC sounds grainy. I own both. Soldano wins all day.
love the tone lounge,, you guys rock.
I actually played a 50 watt jet city and a Mark 5 in store and preferred the JC. The M5 had the dark, compressed tone all Mesas have and it sounded awfully weak in it's 1x12 combo form.
the shoot out to decide the best bang for the buck! engl 30 watt combo amp vs jet city 20 watt combo amp.
+Grace NArms No
I like the Soldano. It has more bite, and I like the more high end. The Jet City sounds good on rhythm, but it sounds a bit muddy and dark. I like the brightness.
Because of this video and only because of it, I own 2 100 watt jet city heads.. I altered the look of the first one because I hated that blue tolex, but the second one I bought was the new version.. it's got a better tone to it as well with the overall depth control added..
Thank you
.. Hey TTK you have to use a JC 50 for a fair comparison or a Soldano 100 for a fair comparison, u shouldnt use a 50 watt vs a 100 watt the tubes breakup and react different in 50 and 100
.. I like the soldano in this video a lil more but the JC was pretty close and with some tweaking im sure it would get closer
.. The question is do u want to spend $600-$700 MORE for the Soldano HR, thats the real question but in terms of actual tones, they are close and next time use 50 vs 50!
Question: I really want the Soldano but its only 50 watt and i will buy the Head first and after a couple of months I will buy the Cab.
Is this amp loudemough to gig in a bar/School??
The shoot out to decide the best bang for the buck! Engl 30 watt combo amp VS Jet city 20 watt combo amp
+Grace NArms No
(Opinion based on what I heard through my HD650 headphones) I preferred the Soldano. It sounded more aggressive, brutal and fuller than the jet city, however considering the jet city is only a fraction of the price of the Soldano you really cant complain!
PLEASE DO A DEMO OF THE 6505+ 112 COMBO
I own the Soldano Hot Rod Avenger and I'm probably going to get a Jet City TO GO ALONG with my Soldano, mainly I just want it for the cleans.. =P The Jet City is a really great head BUT the Soldano's overdrive in person BLOWS it away... It's GORGEOUS!
The Volume on the Jet City was slightly lower than the Soldano throughout the video. Same family of tone just a Third Cousin. LOL That's a Southern joke ;-) I wonder if Jet City will revamp their 50 watt like they did their new 20 watt Head. You are right, Soldano is in it's own class of tone for sure but it's around $3000 isn't it? Great video.
@ThieleM Absolutely. We have no argument there. That said, some (and I mean very few) Chinese guitars are actually pretty good quality. I have an OLP MM1 which has served me well, but compare that, to say even an Agile, which is made in Korea...there is NO comparison. I own an AL-3000...great guitar.
Amps seems to be a different beast. The Bugera 6262 seems to be just as clear, crisp, and defined as a similar Marshall...they have very high quality control, and I have been impressed so far.
The shoot out to decide the best bang for the buck! Engl 30 watt combo amp VS Jet city 20 watt combo amp!
+Grace NArms No
The soldano definitely had more note definition and clarity.
I'd like to see a Marshall AVT150H vs. Mesa Dual or Triple Rec.
Dear TTK,
I would love to see a Single Rec vs Dual Rec vs Triple Rec.
I doubt that would ever happen though
-Andy
They are not in same setting. There is not so much audible difference in volume of 50W and 100W, because there is not difference in gain stage of output tubes. For how thing is loud, ear must tell. It is clear here that Soldano is set louder. Also Master Volume depends on the design, so ear must tell again, not numbers.
What, you don't like the toneking's signature licks??!! lol.. i think the biggest problem is that everything sounds the same because of the way he is mic'ing the damn cabs. Is he using a seinheiser or SM57? Either way, buzz city, needs to work on some mic placement..
This is an awesome idea, get vid TTK!