Dudes, it‘s actually an reissue of a russian amp that was designed by an american, inspired by a british amp that copied an american amp, assembled in the US from chinese parts.
There is a russian guy who claimed that he had designed the actual MIG amps, he is still making MIGs and other amps and they are xeven cheaper than the ehx ones.
@@nedim_guitar he made me a clone of 5e3 a couple years ago and was is as good as the original one, then I moved from Russia (obviously why) and didn’t had a chance to ask him to make a Bassman clone or a MIG. His name is Leonid Musaev, he lives in Saint Petersburg and told a story that he was contacted by Mike Matthews in the early 90s to make a Marshall clone, Leonid made it but he didn’t have enough of production capacity to make the quantity Mike had asked for. So he prepared all the documentation, found the local contractors having 11$ from each MIG produced, but he said that later Mike (or his then girlfriend) contacted the contractor directly and removed the extra link in the form of Leonid. He still makes MIGs, legendary amp clones for 400ish USD per head and everything custom you could want from an amp.
Well, if you actually work and know how to save money to any extent $800 is not much, especially for a guitar amp. Anything under $500 is usually hot trash. Maybe get a new hobby.
@rhettshull 🙏🙏🙏 Awesome!!! Glad you were able to grab some tones that you dig. Run some drive pedals into it and hear it really roar! For clarity on the switches, not cheaping out. They are nice Carling switches and are not cheap in any way. This style was prescribed to us by our testing house. The metal bats certainly have a better "feel" but there's no reason to believe they would have a higher probability of failure/breakage than the metal bat version. Thanks!
Life long Peavey fan here. I bought a 160w all tube Peavey Road Master way back in 2011 because someone told me it is a more affordable alternative to a Sunn Model T. Only paid 150 bux for it since it had a blown fuse. Replaced the fuse and that thing was pumping 160w of ear splitting goodness. I also have a Marshall MG10 that I put a speaker output on so I could actually plug it into a decent set of speakers and that god damn stupid little amp sounds amazing. I am now thoroughly convinced that there really isn't such a thing as a bad amp. Bad speakers and bad guitars, absolutely but if you take a cheap shitty little practice amp like an MG10 or a Line 6 and play it through a decent set of speakers with a decent guitar, it will probably sound pretty great.
You and Rick always know how to inspire me to spend money, I swear! LOL I've been looking at 90's Sovteks for awhile now, but after watching this video, I pulled the trigger on a used EH Mig 50 from Reverb for under $600! Thanks Rhett!
There are Aussie-made tube amps still! EB Amps, for one. I found two Marshall JTM30s, got one for 400 and another many years later for 800 AUD. Sometimes they need servicing, great amps!
I still have my Mig 50 I purchased brand new from a store I worked at back in 1998. With the matching 2/12 cab I paid $380 for both. Back then that was cheap for a 50 watt head. Glad to see them getting popular again.
I always liked the Sovtek amps. I remember a few floating around the used gear shops. Now wish I’d have grabbed one. I’ll think about this head at Sweetwater. I need a shopping spree soon.
Every review of the EHX version from people that have opened them up say the new ones are built much better than the old ones. Never touched one so YMMV.
I had a Mig100H back when they were $300 brand new. Very clean, a great pedal platform but the “high gain” channel was very fizzy. I had it modified by Trace at Voodoo Amps which greatly improved it but I sold it to find another purchase. Not a big loss but like nearly all of my old gear I wish I still had it even though I wouldn’t likely use it much.
I, regretably, sold one of these a few months ago. I ran it through my Marshall 1960A 412. It sounded glorious. I needed the money, but I hope to grab another one eventually. I played through the second input with all of the dials at noon, per Josh Scott, and it ripped. Thanks for showcasing it.
If I remember correctly, I paid 350 for mine used from GC. Into my fender 2x12 bassbreaker closed back it sounds amazing. What Rhett doesn't show is how CLEAN and LOUD this thing is. I was nervous buying it as a pedal platform without an FX loop but it really isnt needed for any normal gig volumes. There's a short on my channel of it cranked with a jazzmaster if anyone is interested!
Yo guy! I don't need any amp at all these days. As good as the modelers have become I've shifted to them almost exclusively. I still crank up my Mesas or my JTM every once in a while but, when gigs come along it's almost always my Helix going into the van. Love your work Rhett. Keep it going...
Live since 84, Peavey musician III with 6 band EQ and a Kustom Roll and Tuck 15x15 plus a MXR 10 band eq. only broke once, transformer blew. changed it myself. Just play and give the crowd of 20 to 14K A GREAT SHOW. Recording is a different beast.
The MIG-50 is somewhere between lead and bass spec as far as Bassman derivatives go. The tone stack has the bass values and there is no bright cap on the bright channel volume (which is II on this amp), but the first tube and the PI coupling caps are lead spec. Me, I modified my MIG-50 to be fully bass spec, even adding a switch to disable the peaking cap so that it acts like a Bassman (as opposed to Marshall's derivatives). My amp is actually an earlier run and has metal toggle switches. I actually use this with a bass cabinet as a practice/recording amp. 50 watts is on the small side for bass, I'll see if it'll keep up for a gig tomorrow or if I'll end up with Lemmy distortion once I'm at gigging volume.
Hi ! I am bass player too but I am not native speaker so I have some trouble understanding the vocabulary here (and Google translate is not helping so much with this specific words...). Could you please explain what is the peaking cap, and the PI coupling caps ? Also do you manage to have clean tone with bass at low volume, or is there always a bit of dirt with this amp ? Because from demos I watched with guitars it looks like even as low as 1 there is some kind of dirt in the sound, I wonder if it is the same on bass... Thank you so much in advance !! 😊
I had a sovtek mig 50 and put hundreds of gigs on it…I was always worried it was gonna start on fire…the voltage is so high…had to replace the switches and jacks…but it was a cool amp…I’ve wanted to try one of these but they’re never in stock anywhere…yeah, through a 412 w greenbacks it’s an awesome ride!!!
I agree with the mic choices and placement. Just got my first ribbon mic yesterday, and will soon be experimenting with that plus each of my condenser mics on a Celestion V30 and an Eminence Texas Heat 😁
The real "secret" to using the MIg-50 is using a split-box or cable and going into both channels at the same time, and then balancing the overall EQ with the channel volumes, and then using it more as a clean "bassman" type pedal platform, in that regard it truly excells!
Awesome! Just picked up one of these a few months ago and I love it. Also one of the few amps in that price range that actually comes with good tubes out of the box.
Definitely a nice amp. If going with an amp without an effects loop I still prefer a Dual Terror though. I've seen a bunch of used ones for about 500. Marshall Origin 50 head is another option at around 600 bucks new.
"If it sounds good, it IS good" - solid advice, but I always have to consider how well built something is. If it doesn't travel well, it's useless except for home studio use. Not to come off as a "boutique snob", but so many of the modern mass-produced amps are made with cheap consumer grade components on a PCB. Some are pretty solid, many are not.
I only play my mesa boogie, or my Marshall plexi , or my Fender hand-wired Twin Reverb. Or at least until I hear my wife say ”It’s time to get up for work, Bob!”
Rhett: excellent demo, and I find the black walls comforting, but you've got to get yourself a Soyez 1973 Condenser mic. The Sen 421 has too much harsh 3kHz. The 1973 is the most balanced/natural sounding affordable mic made. A big part of the sound is the extra resonance canceling diaphragm that reduces harshness. Ask Pete Thorne why he bought one.
50 watts is freaking loud in 2023. I grew up gigging in the era of the original mig 50 amps. During that time I was generally always using two 40-50ish watt amps in my rig (super reverb and Marshall/bassman) . One was always on and the second was turned on and off for for crunchy stuff. Looking back, I cannot comprehend how loud we must have been but clubs were a lot bigger. I now live in Los Angeles and a super or 50 watt anything would get me fired. I'm getting ready to travel to Nashville for some shows in Sept and I'm trying to find something sub 20 watts to get through the gigs. A reissue of this classic is nice but in the hands of a kid, it's like a top-fueled funny car as a daily driver.
Sold a lot of the old Sovtek Migs in the '90s, great amps and great value for money, also the reiteration of the military green look Big Muff. Mike Matthews started the 'tube' movement again, such a good era !!
👍Nice way to test the eq. Often we default to starting at noon on each knob, but there is no technical justification for this. If anything, the most "neutral" eq setting on a passive tone stack is to turn all 3 knobs to "11" and use that as the starting point.
I used to have a Sovtek MIG-50, paid $250 for it back in the mid 90s :) Also had a Crate Blue Voodoo head I paid $300 for back in the mid 90s. These were found in a classified newspaper called "Nickel Ads" (basically a print version of Craigslist before Craigslist). Not sure if that was a national thing every big city had but those were the days. Anything and everything was for sale on Nickel Ads.
So true about being hesitant to use the extreme high and low of the parameters. I know better and I still catch myself doing it. They go all the way down to zero and all the way up to 10 for a reason. Got to use all of the buffalo.
The Crate vintage club 5212 is a AC 30 fender twin hybrid that can be found used for about $400. Best cleans you will ever hear. Mark Knopfler has used them.
Shhhhh! The Traynor YGL line has the nickname "Twin Killer" for a reason. You aren't supposed to talk about them, lest someone like Rhett does a video and drives the used price up! Pete Traynor designed them to be "less fragile" versions of the popular Fender amps: he was an amp tech in Toronto for a large music store and was tired of fixing everyone's busted twin reverbs. The things weigh a ton partly because of the enormous Hammond transformers he sourced and are too loud, but they are built like a tank as a result and have more headroom than anyone needs. The bad things about the amp are: 1) Too loud. 2) Too heavy. 3) Original speakers are not great.
had a mig 100 back in the day have a mig 50 these days. no master volume the 50 is still way to loud but is also awesome. got the 50 with a 90's 1960a in mint condishion for $850 Aus all in the dude even delivered it! so about 550 US for the whole rig.
I’m not sure about now but Mesa boogie used to produce “workingman’s” amps. They were usually similar to their high end models but had less features and a comparatively simple circuit design. And for the most part they sounded GREAT. More amp manufacturers should do this.
I was seriusly broke 5 years back, so I needed something cheap and good to start gigging with my band. I got myself a Peavey ValveKing MKII 100w for 250 euros 4 years ago. I still use it live, just recorded an album with it, on a Harleybenton 2x12 cab. The whole setup is about 500$, so I highly recommend it. And don't buy into the better gear=better music. It's up to you for you to find what you like, and use that.
I used a Sovtek for a while. It was superb. Overheated and chewed valves if you used them loud (well mine did about every 9 months...) but a set of cheap Russian valves was not a lot when I was using it.
I have the E-H 212 cab reissue in my home studio that I use with my Helix modeler. Another very good piece of equipment for not a lot of money (US$250 lightly used). Good stuff from E-H.
800 isn’t bad for a tube amp. I think what works against this amp is that most think of EHX as a pedal company first and you generally won’t see this amp in stores because most won’t take the chance of putting one out there thinking it won’t sell. Plus you have everyone demo’ing this thing online saying buy it from x online retailer. 800 is a good price, but it’s a lot for most to risk on an amp they can’t play in person
It would be nice if these videos were recorded just with a SM57 and no post processing. It is what most of us will have or have experienced, and would be one less factor to consider in the signal chain
Being a member of the working poor and not playing for money, I never had the cash for a tube amp. A couple of years ago, I got a stage right 30 watt head and cabinet for 500.00. It is a Chinese amp, and I don't know how well it will hold up, but I finally have a tube amp and can get the sounds I want. Until then, i had a solid state marshal 15 w and a Pevey backstage 30 w.
Bit like the 5E3 I built. Soviet era 1960's 6P6 power tubes I bought from Ukraine, 1970s USA made 5y3 rectifier, British Mallard EEC83 (12ax7) ~1970 and a new JJ 12AY7 from Slovakia. Assembled by me in the UK using mostly Chinese electrics :)
I loved the old MIG 50. I so want to buy one of the EH ones one day. You'd have to replace all the switches and pots on an old one anyway and they play the same from goofing around with one. I thought this would be a normal gear video and halfheartedly clicked. The gear was just part of it. You did an amazing job of briefly describing mic-ing a cabinet well. That's a lot of experience packed into a couple of minutes and so accessibly described without going into math. I hope it helps stop the spread of angled SM57s. I'm guilty of honoring the gravity of the center of an EQ knob, but I'm happy you brought that up. The whole range is usable... the circuit is designed that way. Be free!
Fetched a blackstar 2x12 60 watt has tube amp doctor tubes so far its been excellent for 300 bucks can't complain 1 bit el34 2 6l6 and 2 12ax7 has a mode that goes from fender clean to Marshall built in
I remember these were like $299 for the head when they first were on the market. I repaired a couple and they were sort of haywire like a 60s Silvertone 1484 but sounded really good then!
I dumpster dived a Sovtek MIG100 years ago, strong like tractor, loud like bastred, but not my sound at all. Swapped it for a 1960 Ampeg Rocket R-12 which makes me a very happy guy.
Rhett, My one and only complaint about your videos is that you don't play nearly enough. I don't know about anyone else but I seriously want to hear you strumming and plucking a lot more.
Now comes the question: are the Power and Standby switches wired or PCB-mounted? If they're wired, they'd be relatively easy to swap out for more robust switches. I'd likely swap out the input jacks while I was at it.
I'd say the biggest difference between 112, 212, or 412 speaker cabs, is how they're wired and the ohms resistance. Most speakers of the same wattage, ohms, and size, will sound very similar comparitively. Nobody seems to delve into these comparisons much on RUclips. I think goofball from SMG is doing a segment about speakers soon. He keeps talking about it, but I haven't seen much.
I like seeing your videos talking about gear, Rhett, although it's stuff I would probably never buy Something like a $800 amp would cost about 2400 dollars in my country because of the taxes and other stuff And my money is worth 5 times less so the minimum wage here is about $2/hr But anyway is nice to see this kind of stuff and dream about it
@@BravoSeven unfortunately no, I believe there would still be some taxes My main option is to buy a luthier's guitar, they are not as expensive as big brand guitars like fenders or gibsons, and they could be very decent
@@pietroborgesparri The problem is shipping prices, to the U.S., snd many other countries. RetroheadFX is an Argentinian company, but they only employed two or three people, when I first found them. They make the coolest Phaser I’ve ever seen, as far as it’s control set, and amount of different effects, one could get out of it. That is their Cosmic Phaser, and they used to have a analog Flanger, as well, with all the great parameters, snd ways to do different things. The Thorpy Camoflange, snd the Doppler phaser, use the same type of pedal enclosure, and pretty close to the same layout of controls. Very similar as RetroheadFX’s circuits. They sold them for for about $140-150 US, but the shipping was also $150. I still may get one their Phasers, one day, if they still build them. I’ve had a similar issue with a few small builders, doing cool stuff, but don’t have distribution, or a big enough clientele, time, etc. to commit to trying to be a bigger business, yet. Great pedals, at prices, half what it costs someone to build, in many European countries, Australia or even Japan, all have insane taxes on shipping. I remember finding Deep Trip, right before, they released their V2 BOG, and the line of Fuzz pedals, with it. Excellent Brazilian company! I wish I’d bought the phaser, when I found it.
Fun review, as usual!. But to my ears, it sounds a bit boomy, mushy and lacks mid-high definition. As a recording engineer from back in the day, I would not be happy with it. I'd rather use a used Mesa Boogie, though smaller, it would have more presence and clarity. With that said, the amp in this review would be usable with serious EQ in the recording.
I had a Sovtek Mig100h in the 90s, it was a clone of the JCM 800 with 6L6 power tubes and it sounded like fire, I regret having sold it, one of the best amps I have owned.
My $80 used Tech 21 Tri AC sounds great. I run it into a studio monitor and double mic it. Doubt anyone will be able to tell on recordings I didn't use a real amp
Maybe you can answer a question. How do traveling musicians deal with USA v, European voltage differences when it is time to plug in the amps and etc.?
Most artists rent amps or have backline supplied for them when they fly overseas so typically there isn’t anything to worry about! I’m in the US and whenever I’ve flown over to Europe most venues have voltage converter boxes with American plug sockets that take care of the work for you. Hope this helps
for most people £800 is still unaffordable... i saved up as much money as i could to buy the valeton gp200lt for £250 and that was after a whole year of careful budgeting.
2:51 - I don't know? It sounds like you've become quite the salesman for Sweetwater, Hey, I guess I would too if they were sending me all sorts of free gear!
![Dan Chooses A New Amp For His Wet-Dry Rig [JTM45 Vs Tweed Bassman Vs Sovtek MIG-50]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S_1xnJsTQ5s/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dan Chooses A New Amp For His Wet-Dry Rig [JTM45 Vs Tweed Bassman Vs Sovtek MIG-50]](/img/tr.png)
Dudes, it‘s actually an reissue of a russian amp that was designed by an american, inspired by a british amp that copied an american amp, assembled in the US from chinese parts.
Don't forget it was recorded partly using a german microphone!
LMAO 🤣😅😂
There is a russian guy who claimed that he had designed the actual MIG amps, he is still making MIGs and other amps and they are xeven cheaper than the ehx ones.
@@b10buzz Tell me more!
@@nedim_guitar he made me a clone of 5e3 a couple years ago and was is as good as the original one, then I moved from Russia (obviously why) and didn’t had a chance to ask him to make a Bassman clone or a MIG. His name is Leonid Musaev, he lives in Saint Petersburg and told a story that he was contacted by Mike Matthews in the early 90s to
make a Marshall clone, Leonid made it but he didn’t have enough of production capacity to make the quantity Mike had asked for. So he prepared all the documentation, found the local contractors having 11$ from each MIG produced, but he said that later Mike (or his then girlfriend) contacted the contractor directly and removed the extra link in the form of Leonid. He still makes MIGs, legendary amp clones for 400ish USD per head and everything custom you could want from an amp.
I hope one day to be in a position where I would consider an $800 amp "not expensive".
lol yeah when I saw the title I was like "oh Rhett got a Katana" ...nope.
generally cheaper amps just are just throw aways if u play them all the time, so figure what 2 cheap amps will cost u and go from there
@@robertschultz4100cheaper amps are $400? That gets you into HRD territory. Guitar is just an expensive hobby and nothing better than decent is cheap.
Well, if you actually work and know how to save money to any extent $800 is not much, especially for a guitar amp. Anything under $500 is usually hot trash. Maybe get a new hobby.
$1699 in AUD fml
I’ve always wanted a Sovtek but since Josh from JHS seems to own them all I’m glad EHX decided to start making these they sound amazing
@rhettshull 🙏🙏🙏 Awesome!!! Glad you were able to grab some tones that you dig. Run some drive pedals into it and hear it really roar!
For clarity on the switches, not cheaping out. They are nice Carling switches and are not cheap in any way. This style was prescribed to us by our testing house. The metal bats certainly have a better "feel" but there's no reason to believe they would have a higher probability of failure/breakage than the metal bat version.
Thanks!
Can confirm. The switches on my Mig 50 feel pretty solid.
I love the combination of creative camera work and insightful gear review on this video man. Keep it coming!
You and Philip work really well together with the question/answer back and forth.
They're both great and better together
Life long Peavey fan here. I bought a 160w all tube Peavey Road Master way back in 2011 because someone told me it is a more affordable alternative to a Sunn Model T. Only paid 150 bux for it since it had a blown fuse. Replaced the fuse and that thing was pumping 160w of ear splitting goodness. I also have a Marshall MG10 that I put a speaker output on so I could actually plug it into a decent set of speakers and that god damn stupid little amp sounds amazing. I am now thoroughly convinced that there really isn't such a thing as a bad amp. Bad speakers and bad guitars, absolutely but if you take a cheap shitty little practice amp like an MG10 or a Line 6 and play it through a decent set of speakers with a decent guitar, it will probably sound pretty great.
Had a Peavey Duece - loved it!! Have a Peavey “Reknown”, have played it for 25 years. I love it! I still get positive remarks from audiences.
You and Rick always know how to inspire me to spend money, I swear! LOL I've been looking at 90's Sovteks for awhile now, but after watching this video, I pulled the trigger on a used EH Mig 50 from Reverb for under $600! Thanks Rhett!
You're always just one more amp or guitar away from having all the gear you'll ever need! LOL
@@ElevenProductionsIndy That’s what my wife says!
I’ll bet it’s twice the price if available in Australia. I’m definitely jealous of the stuff you guys can get and the prices.
There are Aussie-made tube amps still! EB Amps, for one. I found two Marshall JTM30s, got one for 400 and another many years later for 800 AUD. Sometimes they need servicing, great amps!
@@johnvcougar I agree that there’s great Aussie stuff around. It would just be nice to have the access to everything at reasonable prices.
Move to the United States. We have ALL the gear...and at least 500 less creatures that can kill us.
I still have my Mig 50 I purchased brand new from a store I worked at back in 1998. With the matching 2/12 cab I paid $380 for both. Back then that was cheap for a 50 watt head. Glad to see them getting popular again.
Probably made better with better parts in 98
I always liked the Sovtek amps. I remember a few floating around the used gear shops. Now wish I’d have grabbed one. I’ll think about this head at Sweetwater. I need a shopping spree soon.
I had a MiG 60 once upon a time. It felt like if you blew on it too hard it'd fall apart, but damn did it sound good.
I just came here to say that, lol. Rhett is placing people's wallets in extreme jeopardy by suggesting this amp.
Every review of the EHX version from people that have opened them up say the new ones are built much better than the old ones. Never touched one so YMMV.
I used a Sovtex Bassov Blues Boy for like 5 years on loan from a friend and that thing felt like it could survive being shot by anti aircraft guns…
I still have a Mig 60 and it's tough as nails. I did re-cap and re-pot it though.
I used to have an original mig 50. Traded it for a Strat 15ish years ago before they blew up. One of the "ones that got away"
Because Josh Scott asked them to?
I had a Mig100H back when they were $300 brand new. Very clean, a great pedal platform but the “high gain” channel was very fizzy. I had it modified by Trace at Voodoo Amps which greatly improved it but I sold it to find another purchase. Not a big loss but like nearly all of my old gear I wish I still had it even though I wouldn’t likely use it much.
I, regretably, sold one of these a few months ago. I ran it through my Marshall 1960A 412. It sounded glorious. I needed the money, but I hope to grab another one eventually. I played through the second input with all of the dials at noon, per Josh Scott, and it ripped. Thanks for showcasing it.
I also threw an aftermarket SOVTEK badge on it, which I got from Rigs of Doom. Because, you know.
Love this Geartalk segments you’re doing, Always cool to see a piece of gear I own manipulated by a different musician.
If I remember correctly, I paid 350 for mine used from GC. Into my fender 2x12 bassbreaker closed back it sounds amazing. What Rhett doesn't show is how CLEAN and LOUD this thing is. I was nervous buying it as a pedal platform without an FX loop but it really isnt needed for any normal gig volumes. There's a short on my channel of it cranked with a jazzmaster if anyone is interested!
Checked it out, it’s sick!
,,You Don't Need An Expensive Amp" You just need expensive cabinet
Or you could get a Sovtek cabinet which are cheap and replace the speakers one at a time, or just use the ones that came with it which aren’t bad
Yo guy! I don't need any amp at all these days. As good as the modelers have become I've shifted to them almost exclusively. I still crank up my Mesas or my JTM every once in a while but, when gigs come along it's almost always my Helix going into the van. Love your work Rhett. Keep it going...
Modelers sound good, but they just don’t do it for me, especially playing live nothing beats an amp moving Air.
I haven't used an amp on a session in about three years. My back thanks me every day.
No thanks
I have one of those. I got it for $350 at a shop in Memphis and it was lightly used with box. I run it through a Marshall 2x12.
Rhett, this new video style from you is great. Just fucking great, 10/10 love the camera man talk especially
Live since 84, Peavey musician III with 6 band EQ and a Kustom Roll and Tuck 15x15 plus a MXR 10 band eq. only broke once, transformer blew. changed it myself. Just play and give the crowd of 20 to 14K A GREAT SHOW. Recording is a different beast.
The MIG-50 is somewhere between lead and bass spec as far as Bassman derivatives go. The tone stack has the bass values and there is no bright cap on the bright channel volume (which is II on this amp), but the first tube and the PI coupling caps are lead spec. Me, I modified my MIG-50 to be fully bass spec, even adding a switch to disable the peaking cap so that it acts like a Bassman (as opposed to Marshall's derivatives). My amp is actually an earlier run and has metal toggle switches.
I actually use this with a bass cabinet as a practice/recording amp. 50 watts is on the small side for bass, I'll see if it'll keep up for a gig tomorrow or if I'll end up with Lemmy distortion once I'm at gigging volume.
Hi !
I am bass player too but I am not native speaker so I have some trouble understanding the vocabulary here (and Google translate is not helping so much with this specific words...).
Could you please explain what is the peaking cap, and the PI coupling caps ?
Also do you manage to have clean tone with bass at low volume, or is there always a bit of dirt with this amp ? Because from demos I watched with guitars it looks like even as low as 1 there is some kind of dirt in the sound, I wonder if it is the same on bass...
Thank you so much in advance !! 😊
I had a sovtek mig 50 and put hundreds of gigs on it…I was always worried it was gonna start on fire…the voltage is so high…had to replace the switches and jacks…but it was a cool amp…I’ve wanted to try one of these but they’re never in stock anywhere…yeah, through a 412 w greenbacks it’s an awesome ride!!!
I agree with the mic choices and placement. Just got my first ribbon mic yesterday, and will soon be experimenting with that plus each of my condenser mics on a Celestion V30 and an Eminence Texas Heat 😁
The real "secret" to using the MIg-50 is using a split-box or cable and going into both channels at the same time, and then balancing the overall EQ with the channel volumes, and then using it more as a clean "bassman" type pedal platform, in that regard it truly excells!
this wouldn't mess with the impedance?
@@Mr.Lowstacan’t see how, it’s pretty much running in to a plexi, just having the channels jumpered inside instead of a 4 hole solution
@@RichardLainegard thanks✅
Awesome! Just picked up one of these a few months ago and I love it. Also one of the few amps in that price range that actually comes with good tubes out of the box.
5881s are great valves, I fitted a couple of my amps with them sound great!
Does this amp stay REALLY clean at a pretty loud volume before it starts breaking up?
Definitely a nice amp. If going with an amp without an effects loop I still prefer a Dual Terror though. I've seen a bunch of used ones for about 500. Marshall Origin 50 head is another option at around 600 bucks new.
"If it sounds good, it IS good" - solid advice, but I always have to consider how well built something is. If it doesn't travel well, it's useless except for home studio use. Not to come off as a "boutique snob", but so many of the modern mass-produced amps are made with cheap consumer grade components on a PCB. Some are pretty solid, many are not.
Rhett, it looks like you're in a cave full of goodies. It's a vibe. Love the off camera questions and comments.
Oh man, just those first few chords sold me. Never checked this amp out before but now I want one.
I only play my mesa boogie, or my Marshall plexi , or my Fender hand-wired Twin Reverb. Or at least until I hear my wife say ”It’s time to get up for work, Bob!”
Ok buddy..sure u do
Rhett: excellent demo, and I find the black walls comforting, but you've got to get yourself a Soyez 1973 Condenser mic. The Sen 421 has too much harsh 3kHz. The 1973 is the most balanced/natural sounding affordable mic made. A big part of the sound is the extra resonance canceling diaphragm that reduces harshness. Ask Pete Thorne why he bought one.
50 watts is freaking loud in 2023. I grew up gigging in the era of the original mig 50 amps. During that time I was generally always using two 40-50ish watt amps in my rig (super reverb and Marshall/bassman) . One was always on and the second was turned on and off for for crunchy stuff. Looking back, I cannot comprehend how loud we must have been but clubs were a lot bigger. I now live in Los Angeles and a super or 50 watt anything would get me fired. I'm getting ready to travel to Nashville for some shows in Sept and I'm trying to find something sub 20 watts to get through the gigs. A reissue of this classic is nice but in the hands of a kid, it's like a top-fueled funny car as a daily driver.
30 watts is the new 50 😁 A Princeton with a 12" speaker or an AC15 (or one of each😈) should cover just about any indoor gig.
No kidding. I'm considering the Marshall JTM Studio simply for the JTM tones but at a more "reasonable" 20w.
Sold a lot of the old Sovtek Migs in the '90s, great amps and great value for money, also the reiteration of the military green look Big Muff. Mike Matthews started the 'tube' movement again, such a good era !!
I have an old Sovtek Mig 50 and it’s awesome! This EH model is not cheap in Australia, it’s over $1500!
I picked up a used Bugera 50w tube head from guitar center for $390 and it sounds great and it’s been my main gigging amp for a while.
👍Nice way to test the eq. Often we default to starting at noon on each knob, but there is no technical justification for this. If anything, the most "neutral" eq setting on a passive tone stack is to turn all 3 knobs to "11" and use that as the starting point.
I used to have a Sovtek MIG-50, paid $250 for it back in the mid 90s :) Also had a Crate Blue Voodoo head I paid $300 for back in the mid 90s. These were found in a classified newspaper called "Nickel Ads" (basically a print version of Craigslist before Craigslist). Not sure if that was a national thing every big city had but those were the days. Anything and everything was for sale on Nickel Ads.
No Nickel Ads up here in Maine, but we do have the dickering bible, AKA Uncle Henrys
So true about being hesitant to use the extreme high and low of the parameters. I know better and I still catch myself doing it. They go all the way down to zero and all the way up to 10 for a reason. Got to use all of the buffalo.
Awesome video. Some people probably think you're only into high end gear, but you cover everything. Great EQ tips. 👍
Domt be afraid of turning eq knobs all the way up or down is Best advice I've heard in a while. My marshall tsl100 sounds best with treble at 1.
The Crate vintage club 5212 is a AC 30 fender twin hybrid that can be found used for about $400. Best cleans you will ever hear. Mark Knopfler has used them.
You absolutely must do a video on old Traynor amps. Hand made in Canada. Tubes, baby! Killer tones too.
Shhhhh! The Traynor YGL line has the nickname "Twin Killer" for a reason. You aren't supposed to talk about them, lest someone like Rhett does a video and drives the used price up!
Pete Traynor designed them to be "less fragile" versions of the popular Fender amps: he was an amp tech in Toronto for a large music store and was tired of fixing everyone's busted twin reverbs. The things weigh a ton partly because of the enormous Hammond transformers he sourced and are too loud, but they are built like a tank as a result and have more headroom than anyone needs. The bad things about the amp are:
1) Too loud.
2) Too heavy.
3) Original speakers are not great.
Surprisingly good. Not much to hate on except that switch.
I got into pedal board amps awhile back and I love 'em. I've built 9 of them. Those Moorer Baby Bomb 30s are killer.
Dude, when u hit that Zeplin lick at the start i knew it was a good amp. Thats all i needed to hear.
Man, I've been contemplating getting a mig 50 for a while now. It sounds great bud!!!!
i don't really look for gear but when i saw that there was a MIG-50 re-issue..i ordered it today. it was an easy choice.
had a mig 100 back in the day have a mig 50 these days. no master volume the 50 is still way to loud but is also awesome. got the 50 with a 90's 1960a in mint condishion for $850 Aus all in the dude even delivered it! so about 550 US for the whole rig.
Got a Peavey classic 30 that really services my needs. New it cost about 800. Got it thirty yrs ago.
Definitely has it's own thing going on. More in the lower/medium midrange than a Marshall but not as smooth as an Orange.
I have sooooo many amps. And I’ve learned you can get almost any amp to do what you want with the right pedals and the like.
I’m not sure about now but Mesa boogie used to produce “workingman’s” amps. They were usually similar to their high end models but had less features and a comparatively simple circuit design. And for the most part they sounded GREAT. More amp manufacturers should do this.
I was seriusly broke 5 years back, so I needed something cheap and good to start gigging with my band.
I got myself a Peavey ValveKing MKII 100w for 250 euros 4 years ago. I still use it live, just recorded an album with it, on a Harleybenton 2x12 cab.
The whole setup is about 500$, so I highly recommend it. And don't buy into the better gear=better music. It's up to you for you to find what you like, and use that.
Thank you for the steadier camera this time! BTW: Loving this series!
I used a Sovtek for a while. It was superb. Overheated and chewed valves if you used them loud (well mine did about every 9 months...) but a set of cheap Russian valves was not a lot when I was using it.
I have the E-H 212 cab reissue in my home studio that I use with my Helix modeler. Another very good piece of equipment for not a lot of money (US$250 lightly used). Good stuff from E-H.
800 isn’t bad for a tube amp. I think what works against this amp is that most think of EHX as a pedal company first and you generally won’t see this amp in stores because most won’t take the chance of putting one out there thinking it won’t sell. Plus you have everyone demo’ing this thing online saying buy it from x online retailer. 800 is a good price, but it’s a lot for most to risk on an amp they can’t play in person
It would be nice if these videos were recorded just with a SM57 and no post processing. It is what most of us will have or have experienced, and would be one less factor to consider in the signal chain
Rhett kinda reminds me of my gramma in the best possible way !!
Being a member of the working poor and not playing for money, I never had the cash for a tube amp. A couple of years ago, I got a stage right 30 watt head and cabinet for 500.00. It is a Chinese amp, and I don't know how well it will hold up, but I finally have a tube amp and can get the sounds I want. Until then, i had a solid state marshal 15 w and a Pevey backstage 30 w.
I was hoping he would put that Tonebender mk1 thru it, LOVE that PEDAL.
Bit like the 5E3 I built. Soviet era 1960's 6P6 power tubes I bought from Ukraine, 1970s USA made 5y3 rectifier, British Mallard EEC83 (12ax7) ~1970 and a new JJ 12AY7 from Slovakia. Assembled by me in the UK using mostly Chinese electrics :)
Love the questions and the simple explanations. Useful for a lay person who finds the engineering aspects interesting.
I loved the old MIG 50. I so want to buy one of the EH ones one day. You'd have to replace all the switches and pots on an old one anyway and they play the same from goofing around with one.
I thought this would be a normal gear video and halfheartedly clicked. The gear was just part of it. You did an amazing job of briefly describing mic-ing a cabinet well. That's a lot of experience packed into a couple of minutes and so accessibly described without going into math. I hope it helps stop the spread of angled SM57s.
I'm guilty of honoring the gravity of the center of an EQ knob, but I'm happy you brought that up. The whole range is usable... the circuit is designed that way. Be free!
Your content keeps getting better, congrats
Fetched a blackstar 2x12 60 watt has tube amp doctor tubes so far its been excellent for 300 bucks can't complain 1 bit el34 2 6l6 and 2 12ax7 has a mode that goes from fender clean to Marshall built in
There was never that many in UK from the Sovtek run. I wanted one at the time, but ended with a Laney AOR30 instead - which was great (now sold).
I remember these were like $299 for the head when they first were on the market. I repaired a couple and they were sort of haywire like a 60s Silvertone 1484 but sounded really good then!
I dumpster dived a Sovtek MIG100 years ago, strong like tractor, loud like bastred, but not my sound at all. Swapped it for a 1960 Ampeg Rocket R-12 which makes me a very happy guy.
Rhett,
My one and only complaint about your videos is that you don't play nearly enough. I don't know about anyone else but I seriously want to hear you strumming and plucking a lot more.
Now comes the question: are the Power and Standby switches wired or PCB-mounted? If they're wired, they'd be relatively easy to swap out for more robust switches. I'd likely swap out the input jacks while I was at it.
the best way to me is to find that breaking point of the most change in sound
and leave the controls rigth before that
I'd say the biggest difference between 112, 212, or 412 speaker cabs, is how they're wired and the ohms resistance. Most speakers of the same wattage, ohms, and size, will sound very similar comparitively. Nobody seems to delve into these comparisons much on RUclips. I think goofball from SMG is doing a segment about speakers soon. He keeps talking about it, but I haven't seen much.
Sounds awesome. If I didn't already have a few Laney heads, I'd grab one in a heartbeat
I have my dads Sovtek Mig-50 from the 80s-90s that I luckily was able to get repaired. Such a cool amp.
I love that they reissued the MIG, but should say Sovtek on the front. The EHX badge just doesn't have the vibe
I like seeing your videos talking about gear, Rhett, although it's stuff I would probably never buy
Something like a $800 amp would cost about 2400 dollars in my country because of the taxes and other stuff
And my money is worth 5 times less so the minimum wage here is about $2/hr
But anyway is nice to see this kind of stuff and dream about it
@@vandal_dk it is a 2004 brazilian hand-made strat from Giannini
It costed me 60 dollars (the pfp is not me, I have a red one)
Brasileiro identificado kkkkkkk tamo na merda
@@BravoSeven unfortunately no, I believe there would still be some taxes
My main option is to buy a luthier's guitar, they are not as expensive as big brand guitars like fenders or gibsons, and they could be very decent
@@pietroborgesparri
The problem is shipping prices, to the U.S., snd many other countries.
RetroheadFX is an Argentinian company, but they only employed two or three people, when I first found them.
They make the coolest Phaser I’ve ever seen, as far as it’s control set, and amount of different effects, one could get out of it. That is their Cosmic Phaser, and they used to have a analog Flanger, as well, with all the great parameters, snd ways to do different things. The Thorpy Camoflange, snd the Doppler phaser, use the same type of pedal enclosure, and pretty close to the same layout of controls. Very similar as RetroheadFX’s circuits.
They sold them for for about $140-150 US, but the shipping was also $150. I still may get one their Phasers, one day, if they still build them. I’ve had a similar issue with a few small builders, doing cool stuff, but don’t have distribution, or a big enough clientele, time, etc. to commit to trying to be a bigger business, yet. Great pedals, at prices, half what it costs someone to build, in many European countries, Australia or even Japan, all have insane taxes on shipping.
I remember finding Deep Trip, right before, they released their V2 BOG, and the line of Fuzz pedals, with it. Excellent Brazilian company!
I wish I’d bought the phaser, when I found it.
@@BravoSevenImport taxes are way too high in south America
love my Laney VC30 212, which has the best clean sound i've heard. add EQ + crunch peddles & it sings
Fun review, as usual!. But to my ears, it sounds a bit boomy, mushy and lacks mid-high definition. As a recording engineer from back in the day, I would not
be happy with it. I'd rather use a used Mesa Boogie, though smaller, it would have more presence and clarity. With that said, the amp in this review would be usable with serious EQ in the recording.
My main rig consists of a Crate Powerblock, a couple of pedals (or a Korg Toneworks cigarette box) and a no-name 2X12 cabinet.
Grand Total? $150.
😄
For $799, you could get a used HX Stomp and a small powered speaker. That is 96 amps for under $8.32 each.
The clean sound is awesome!
rhett u can use an ABY pedal and blend both inputs, u should try it!
You HAVE to!!!
The old ones were basically a bassman circuit. Had an old mig 50 combo. Ran over it with my van. I was sad.
Nice choice of the riffs - Jet's CHB sounded very nice.
I had a Sovtek Mig100h in the 90s, it was a clone of the JCM 800 with 6L6 power tubes and it sounded like fire, I regret having sold it, one of the best amps I have owned.
Head and cab REALLY sound good!
My $80 used Tech 21 Tri AC sounds great. I run it into a studio monitor and double mic it. Doubt anyone will be able to tell on recordings I didn't use a real amp
I have the 1990's Sovtek Tube Midget 50H. Small, heavy and LOUD! I think I paid around $500 for it (used).
Damn, I knew the inflation is out of control, but considering 800$ not expensive is crazy
It's CHEAP
Maybe you can answer a question. How do traveling musicians deal with USA v, European voltage differences when it is time to plug in the amps and etc.?
Most artists rent amps or have backline supplied for them when they fly overseas so typically there isn’t anything to worry about! I’m in the US and whenever I’ve flown over to Europe most venues have voltage converter boxes with American plug sockets that take care of the work for you. Hope this helps
Use a Y cable and run both inputs at the same time and blend them with the volume controls! It's like an extra eq
love the subtle use of zeppelin riffs!
for most people £800 is still unaffordable...
i saved up as much money as i could to buy the valeton gp200lt for £250 and that was after a whole year of careful budgeting.
Love seeing that guitar on your video one of my favorite guitar buying stories.
2:51 - I don't know? It sounds like you've become quite the salesman for Sweetwater, Hey, I guess I would too if they were sending me all sorts of free gear!
What I was hoping this video was:
Rhett: “The Boss Katana”
Rhett five seconds later: **shreds on the Brown setting for 10 minutes and 39 seconds**
Orange OR15. About $500 on the used market. Surprisingly loud for what it is.