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From: lmsjr
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  • everything sounds the same when the king is playing.... he is a really nice guy, I like him but he does not have the King Tone, too bad....

  • more gain more gain

  • 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.

  • Not this gimp again ...

  • I actually like both of these amps... however, I think it would have been a lot better 50 vs 50... :/

    I'd like to see the Blackstar HT50 vs the Soldano HR50...

  • Y'know, i'd take the jet city. The soldano might be a better amp, but it's not worth three times as much, not when the jca is only inches behind it. Plus, you're going to get a lot of headroom and sacrifice a lot of the saturation by playing a 100 watt head at a low volume, where a 50 watt at the same volume will sound a whole lot more cranked and just generally sweeter, so its not really a fair fight here. Of course, opinions. But for 800 notes, you are not going to find a better valve head XD

  • The Soldano HR50 wins hands down! Despite being a lower wattage amp, the designing is much better! Do not settle for anything less if you're serious about your playing!!!

  • The Jet City will do just fine live. Remember the JCA's come with cheap stock tubes, and I'm sure anyone with the $ to own a Soldano would probably keep quality tubes in it.

  • u should pick harder, then ur sound will be better, no balls right now =\

  • Damn - that Soldano sounds so sweet

  • Soldano for the win - the jet city sounded like it wouldn't cut through in a mix live...the Soldano - definitely will.

  • The soldano definitely had more note definition and clarity.

    I'd like to see a Marshall AVT150H vs. Mesa Dual or Triple Rec.

  • 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

  • Soldano 1 Jet shitty 0

  • id like to see a shootout between the jet city 100 watt head and the peavey windsor 100 watt head ...Please!!!!!!!!!!

  • I'd LOVE! to see a shoot out between an Egnater Tweaker 40 and an Jet City jca22h

  • First of all, you needed to crank the Jet City a bit to open it up. Then you needed to crank the bass up a bit because the Soldano had more bass. You could have gotten them closer, but a Jet City will NEVER sound like a Soldano because while the design is similar, the components are not even close.

  • cool video. thank you very much

  • What make of 6L6's and pre amps tubes were in each amp

  • Soldano for the win but you can tell Mike's input is buried within the Jet City. A first cousin, so to speak.

  • Wow.  Those sounded pretty close to my ears. You cannot beat Soldano designs.

  • This shootout has no sense, even he says he is comparing only the preamp stage:

    - Soldano: Master at 5

    - JCA100: Master at 2

    I know I know, it's to achieve the same volume, but he could have done that in the video editing.

  • I had made the same test between a JET CITY 50H and a SOLDANO Super Lead 60 series II. Jet City is not a SOLDANO!!!! I made a lot of mod in the JET CITY, but the transformators are too bad in quality. The schematic is 99% the same like SOLDANO but the sound is completely different.

  • 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??

  • @yamahabmxer1 The difference between 50 and 100 is nill. You lose a touch of headroom. Tehnically 30 watts is plenty to keep up with a drum kit and play in a small venue.

  • Comment removed

  • @tbirdpunk thank you very much:)

  • @yamahabmxer1 a 50w valve amp will be loud enough

  • Comment removed

  • 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 Soldano was clearer and more articulate, of course. How could it not be? It uses cheaper transformers. That and the cheaper tubes are the only difference between a JCA and a SLO, and the bigger and better your output transformer, the clearer the tone. Stick a Soldano OT in each amp, put the same tubes in there, and you have the same tone.

  • with my AKG headphones I use for mixing the soldano blew the jet city amp out of the water on everything the difference was like a fight agianst epiphone pickups verse seymour duncan pickups theres no contest the seymour duncan pickups win. but if your on a budget go with egnator and no one needs a 100 watt amp to play anything nowadays go with a 40 to 50 watt head that you can push without the sound guy telling you its too much, its better for the mix and your wallet

  • Thanks for the vid, pretty helpful

  • wow the jet city sounds great

  • Soldano has a better, rich tone. Jet City is only a well disdtorted tone. The amount of distortion has nothing to do with the quality of sound that you only can feel playing with it or with your hands.

    To achieve only a little of a better quality of sound and dynamics you need a LOT of more money. So in my opinion Soldano wins hands down.

    Plus: Jet City is way more compressed and thin, less dynamics also. Changing settings doesnt change too much in tone.

  • Soldano has a better, rich tone. Jet City is only a well disdtorted tone. The amount of distortion has nothing to do with the quality of sound that you only can feel playing with it or with your hands.

    To achieve only a little of a better quality of sound and dynamics you need a LOT of more money. So in my opinion Soldano wins hands down.

  • Am I the only one that sees that the Master Overdrive volume on the JetCity is only at 2? vs 5 at the Soldano?

  • @lffabara Cuz the Jet City's a 100 and the Soldano is a 50 I think.

  • @anlcntrox Still no reason for the huge ammount of volume difference.

    100w vs 50 Watt is 3dB max difference through the same Cab.

    This test was rigged.

  • @lffabara I agree. I own the Jet City one and it gets loud as hell; anything past 4 is full concert volume pretty much.... would you say rigged for Soldano to sound better? because I think it does in this video, but the JCA's definitely not being pushed.

  • @anlcntrox Its past 4 that it gets its roar... putting it at 2 is criminal for tone.

    I deal with Soldano's and Jetcity, this test does not show the potential of the Jetcity.

    Tubes are also an issue, you can't compare a premium amp with premium tubes at high volume against a great amp with subpar tubes at low volume.

  • @lffabara True that, I'm not sure what factory-standard tubes the Soldano uses but the JCA ones are a little cheap. I'm pretty happy with the one I've got, the pricetag is really what draws me away from Soldano amps, and IMO slight tone differences are overrated.

  • @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.

  • @lffabara Thank you for the info man!

  • @lffabara Lol, is 1 million chinese people screaming behind the Great Wall a good or bad thing as far as tone goes? :P

  • My thoughts exactly

  • Great video..

  • I would like to see some demos of rack preamps,JMP-1-ADA MP-1-Rocktron Voodu Valve-Pirahna-etc...Axe FX...

  • The Soldano kills it hands down ...... However in saying that the Jet City is a great amp :)

  • 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'd like to see a Valveking 100 vs a JCM 800 or 900

  • Change the tubes! I know that JC uses, for lack of a better word, "lower quality" components so they can sell at more economical prices. Easiest thing to do, in my opinion, is throw in some better tubes (maybe spend it on NOS tubes with the money you saved, haha) and see how you feel.

  • The best version of this song that I found was on mp3ify.com and you can download the mp3 or import it into itunes.

  • yep soldano for sure good amps one of a kind

  • which valves does both have? :)

  • Anyone else notice the Jet City's treble dial is actually at 1 O Clock?

  • I like SOLDANO

  • hey tone king where is made the jet city? thanks!

  • Any comparison between SLO100 and JCA100H? Nice video BTW.

  • 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.

  • jet city sounds lifeless

  • the soldano kicks the jet city's ass!

  • soldano sounds a bit middier. that's all.

    I could make them sound the same on tape with a subtle volume and presence settings tweaking

  • no comparison!!! you get what you pay for.. soldano make amps that smoke! your PC speakers dont pick up what you hear in the flesh! big difference. I have a SLO. To me its so articulate, and has tons of balls! jet city is ok if your on a budget.. tho id probably use a 5150 you can get one used for the same price..

  • 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.

  • .. HOLY SHIT I dont care what anyone says, the tones are pretty damn close, maybe the soldano sounds a lil bit better, but lets be honest both amps sound really nice

    .. The real question is do u want to spend $600-$700 MORE for the Soldano HRod, thats the real question but in terms of actual tones, they are pretty damn close. I would have fun rocking out either amp, more toan comes from you than any amp, after 20 yrs i finally learned this, nice demo

  • "for all intense and purposes"... What? The phrase is "for all intents and purposes." Now does that make more sense to you?

  • 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..

  • The soldano had bit too much presence in its tone for my tastes, but that might work better in a band situation.

  • I liked the jet city better, they have the same "texture" in their type of gain but there was to much low end on the soldano, and I know a ton of people love to turn up the bass on their amp but I think that the bass on an amp is to round out the tone, and leave the bass up to the bass player

  • @btruins Have you even played a Soldano outside of Guitar Center? They're very bright amps by nature.

  • @btruins You nailed it there on the bass statement. What a lot of guitarists (especially modern metal guys) don't realize is that in a mix, having a lot bass on your guitar tone really makes a mess of things...especially beyond 60hz. When recording, you find yourself dialing out bass often to make room for bass guitars and kicks drums, which do a much better job at it in the first place; because they sit right on that area of the frequency spectrum.

  • 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!

  • soldanos more gainy but the jet city is deffinetly more of a rock oriented amp. soldano is a metal amp for sure.

  • definitely soldano..much fuller and tigher sounding in my opinion..

  • TTK, thanks for this A/B. My ears can hear a diff.

    Say, have you considered storing a decent riff in a small Boss or DigiTech looper, then using it as consistent source for an A/B comparison?

  • 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.

  • .. 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!

  • soldano. end of discussion.

  • WOW! No comparison. Just about every primo amp maker has tried to capitalize on their reputation for making insanely cool sounding amps, by pimping a CHEEZEY assembly line "affordable" version. Thanks to TK, they can't slip under the craftmanship radar. Shoot-outs tell it like it is. Most music stores don't want you to compare! Picture Wayne's World when Wayne wants to try out his dream Strat (for the umpteenth time). Thanks again TK for mythbusting these ringers, knockoffs and wannabees.

  • you should do a shoot out with the Ibanez MiMx

  • The Soldano sounded better in my opinion. Like your reviews, keep em' coming

  • Soldano!

  • 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.

  • you talk through half of your video

  • it would be interesting to hear them both with the same tubes.

  • When it comes to all tube amps you pay for what you get. Thier is a reason some cost so much more than others and that is quality of craftsmanship and components.

  • i would like to hear the B C RICH guitars agin on next amp shoot out

  • man please adopt me!!!! :-)

    I'll keep you're tone lounge cleaned up and amplifiers well biased, played and runnig!!!!

  • Oh, and I love how Queensryche is in the related videos... i know what I'm watching now! =D

  • While all at noon:

    The Hr Sounded like it had more highs and lows. The JCA sounded more balanced.

    When tweaked around a bit:

    The HR sounded like it was starting to get a LITTLE bit of fizz on the high end and started to sound eh (I like dark sounding amps). The JCA sounded pretty good and about the same. But when you started to make it sound like the HR, it started to get some harshness that wasn't too pleasing.

    But overall, I liked the JCA more.

  • am i the only one that thinks the JC is better..

  • Soldano ... no contest.

  • yeah 955th

  • They're both really great amps. Soldano is definitely better as in quality, but the Jet City is better in price. I own a Jet City and all it needs is a new set of tubes and you're good.

  • Dear TTK,

    I would love to see a Single Rec vs Dual Rec vs Triple Rec.

    I doubt that would ever happen though

    -Andy

  • Comment removed

  • Interesting. NOT a great deal of difference between them, even tho the Soldano was 50W it had more balls than the JC100! Every time you switched the SLO sounded louder!

    Both are good sounding amps, very similar but different.

    I think the SLO beats it as it just has more presence, better low-mid focus and it just sounds more HIFI, than the Jetty Betty.

    So for me, SLO by a small margin!

  • @DMSProduktions this is not the SLO, its the Hot Rod 50+

  • @agutierrez20 I KNOW what it was! SLO = Soldano! Ok maybe I should have written it SOL instead, OK?

  • Pisses me off when my Soldano and Jet City aren't the same wattage:/

  • PLEASE DO A DEMO OF THE 6505+ 112 COMBO

  • I was fortunate enough to play a Soldano Hot Rod 50 a little while back and it completely put everything I had played before it to shame. It made me re-evaluate everything I ever knew about a guitar amp. Being short on cash I decided to look into Jet City, played two amps for about ten minutes and knew it was just a low rent imitation. You want *that* sound, the Soldano sound? You need to own a Soldano. For me, I'll just sit on Craigslist until I find mine.

  • JCM800 vs Fireball!

  • I agree with Rampage222555. I own the Fuchs ODS100 because I play blues and classic rock n roll, and I prefer Fuchs over everything out there. I will say that for a beautiful warm gain, the Soldano SLO100 kills both of these amp. The Hot Rod is great for the price, but the SLO has the DeYoung transformers that give the amp its warmth.

  • 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/

  • Fuchs amps all the way!

  • At least I know one thing, both of these beat the crap out of any line six amp.

  • terrible.

  • Show me a Bugera 1990 top with a neat Marshall Cabinet! =D

    Maybe against some Mesa Boogie!? :)

  • I think the Soldano sounds better but it does cost almost 3 time as much as the Jet City.

  • Mesa Boogie.......period.

  • After this demo i would buy non of this amps.

    They really sound like shit in here.

    Sorry dude.

  • blackstar ht5-h vs blackstar series one head 100 or 200 doesen

    t matter =D

  • 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!

  • @themastershandsdean Very welcome! Thx!

  • Id love to see a demo of a CAE 3 Channel Preamp

  • nice guitar, nonetheless!

  • blackstar vs mesa please !

  • Jet City = Jet Shitty!

  • @TheRoflc0pterz have you actually played one yet? Or checked out some of the JCA stuff on my channel?

  • I have always found these Jet City amps sound brittle

  • Soldano all the way, nice shoot-out =)

    I would like to see some more bugeras against more expensive amps !

    Cheers

  • Soldano all the way...but then again, it costs a lot more as well!! Jet City certainly holds its own for the price!

  • Yeah this was my request :)

  • TTK! Demo some Ceriatone stuff! Please?

    

  • 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?

  • I owned a Soldano 50 plus head and sold it...It had the factory XL mod which I didn't care for....The XL mod scoops the mids on the clean channel and pushes the bass and treble on the gain channel. I had to crank the presence all the way up to get the mids to be heard.

    Other than this, the head worked great and made any cheap pedal sound amazing. I miss the head but hated the XL mod and was the only reason I sold it.

    I use a full stack two 4X12 cabs and the 50 watts pushed them fine.

  • The Jet City sounds good, but the Soldano just has something about it that makes it.. awesome. It seems to have more presence for sure, but other than that I can't really pick out the exact things.

  • Like the Soldano tone much better. Just more aggressive. Not bad jet city but def different.  Blackstar vs Mesa

  • The Jet City sounded like poo

  • lol @ tone king trying to eq the jet city just like the Soldano...wow

  • soldano

  • Blackstar and Marshall

  • I want to see the sustain test. You never test sustain. Hit a single note (not chord) with each and see which one can go the longest.

  • 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.

  • @tak178

    I am pretty sure most (all?) of Blackstar's high wattage amps are made in the UK....which is 'foreign' but amps made in Germany (Diezel, ENGL) and the UK (Marshall, Cornford, Blackstar) are at least as well made as anything out of the US. Being a Diezel and ENGL owner I am going to say that the European amps are actually better made than US amps.

    You cant lump chinese made stuff with German or UK made stuff.

  • @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.

  • @tak178

    Bugera makes good stuff. 

    My point was that not all 'foreign' stuff is akin, Chinese production is not as solidly engineered as US, British, German or Italian made stuff. Of course I am talking about higher shelf products.

  • @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.

  • @tak178

    I have never found a high gain Marshall that I have liked, at least without mods until hearing the AFD and YJM amps..both of which are godly.

  • i would love to see a shout-out between the bugera 6262 and the engl

  • @poison806 that will most likely come next!! 6260 vs. Fireball

  • i dig the little elvis guy on the right of the soldano!

  • @Luckums135 haha - that little Elvis guy is actually Ozzy!

  • @lmsjr I think some1 needs NEW glasses! Even I could see it was Ozzy! LOL!

  • @lmsjr even better!

  • 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.

  • soldano +!

  • soldano ftw !

  • Thanks For Using One Of My Guitars... Appreciate the publicity... Ed Roman

  • I would LOVE to hear a Peavey Valveking shootout against any other cheap budget amp honestly¡¡¡¡

  • at first i liked the Jet City better but by the end i liked the soldano better... but i don't like 50w amps so i would use the Jet as a slave... or well .. i would take the 100w if i couild only take one.

  • Wow the soldano sounded like a professional wanker rock tone. Smooth and full saturated tone. The Jet City sounded not quite as big by comparison and the saturation was ok. If I had no amp and only heard the Jet City I'd be happy anyhow. The right kind of tube saturation is important when shopping for a an amp with that specific tone to suit your playing style.

  • That is a pretty awesome guitar! How much was it?

  • Try this again and pull two tubes from the jet city.....

  • Jet City sounds a bit darker and the Soldano is brighter both very nice sounding amps wich cab are you using by the way

  • @akaboo69 the two amps are similar in tone but there are some subtle nuances

  • Shoot out, Blackstar (isf on brit) vs marshall and Blackstar (isf on usa) vs Mesa

  • Huge difference in the mids, the lows and highs are the same

  • Just found you! WOW! Just bought the JCA20H, because of you. Really enjoying my new head.

  • Jet City Sounds Better In My Opinion!

  • Ed Roman is one of the best luthiers!

  • @DrEviscerator666 Too bad he is a complete asshole. It really shouldn't matter that he is but guess what, when you own a business it really does matter.

  • Is that little figurine standing in the place where your Soldano typically is? :-)

  • huge difference in price points narrow difference in tone. Would love the Soldano but the jet city does stand up well especially for the price.

  • Pretty hard to beat the Soldano in my opinion. Killer old skool amp.

  • id kill for a day in the tone lounge...

  • the soldano slo 100 wouldve been cooler to review, but that things expensive.

  • @rampage222555 I agree with Rampage222555. I own the Fuchs ODS100 because I play blues and classic rock n roll, and I prefer Fuchs over everything out there. I will say that for a beautiful warm gain, the Soldano SLO100 kills both of these amp. The Hot Rod is great for the price, but the SLO has the DeYoung transformers that give the amp its warmth.