As president and founder of Soldano Custom amplification, I’d like to thank you for your interest in Soldano products. As you are most likely aware, Soldano amps are known as the best sounding, best built, and most versatile all-tube amplifiers that money can buy. Innovative design, clean, timeless styling, and my relentless and uncompromising quest for the ultimate tone have earned our amplifiers this reputation. Many of the world’s renowned guitar players have come to rely on Soldano products for their amazing tone. In 1987, the Soldano 100w Super Lead Overdrive redefined and set a new mark for high gain tube amplification. As can be witnessed by how often this design is copied and the number of digital models attempting to emulate the “Soldano Sound”, our mark of excellence still defines the quintessential hot guitar sound for the new millennium.
The 21st century has always held great promise. In the 1950’s, everyone looked to the new millennium and assumed we’d be zipping around in our own personalized rocket ships and spending vacation time on the Moon and Mars or in underwater “bubble cities”. When I was six years old, my hometown of Seattle hosted the 1962 World’s Fair, and I remember being there and taking in all of these futuristic technological dreams in wide eyed wonder. Although, unfortunately, many of these things have not yet come to pass, there is no denying that technology has advanced exponentially in the last fifty or sixty years. And though we have made great leaps forward in technology, there is something to be said for the past. Things were made to last and there was a certain pride in craftsmanship. That pride in craftsmanship is still alive and well here at Soldano Custom Amplification. In a time when more and more manufacturers are sadly succumbing to the lure of quick profits promised by the “new economy” and “planned obsolescence”, I flatly refuse to go there. As I see it, the model for this “new economy” is all about image and hype, and all too often product quality is compromised so that more money and effort can be pumped into the marketing machine, as well as fattening executives’ bonus packages.
At Soldano Custom Amplification, we choose to put our money into obtaining the best parts available and then spending the necessary time to carefully assemble these parts by hand to create the highest quality and most reliable guitar amplifiers possible. Our attention to detail borders on the obsessive. We don’t have an assembly line, nor do we subcontract subassemblies out to “developing nations”. Every amp is crafted here in our shop in Seattle, and each is wired, start to finish, by one technician. We stand by our products through the years and take big pride in all the great musicians who have chosen to play through our amps in this millennium and the last.
As you browse through this brand-new Web site, you will find pictures and descriptions of the products we currently offer. There are also some tech articles and FAQs that you may find interesting.
Enjoy!
Michael Soldano