I am a hard rock/metal player and lead vocalist who is starting a project that will gig alot and I wanted a combo amp that would stand up in tone and durability and be completely versatile. My research led me to this amp, which led me to ZZounds, which made me an owner. And it has been hands down, the best purchase I have made in a very long time.

Sound
You can say what you want about "Soldano sound" and you can tout the Soldano name as freely as you want, but until you plug your guitar in and experience this amp you are just name dropping. Flip the switch and it will be jaw dropping. Simply put, this is the best sounding all tube amp under a $1000 you can ever get. Period.Here is my experience from right out of the box. First of all, the packing of this amp for shipment is pretty cheap. I mean stupid cheap. But the amp came out of the box completely undamaged so I guess its adequate despit the looks of it. I let the amp warm to room temp and plugged it in. I let the tubes warm for about 5 minutes. I plugged in a PRS Singlecut. The clean channel is clean. I mean very clean. No gain control, just clean. Switched to the Crunch channel and slowly dialed up the gain looking for the breakup and kept dialing it up till I reached 10. I was expecting a massive saturation and was instead served up a crunchy classic rock sound that was really sparkly and warm. I play harder rock/metal so this tone just will not do. So I unpacked the Metal Muff which I also… read more bought from ZZounds and started a chain. I was straight in before this. I stepped on the Muff and the best sounding tone I have ever experienced from a tube amp came billowing into the room. I was stunned. Absolutely stunned. I immediately dialed in some settings on the amp of Bass 10, Mids 4, Treble 3.5 and turned the gain down to about 5.5 or 6. Brought the distortion up on the Metal Muff to center and and bass at 4 mids at 2.5 and treble at 3.5 and it just all came together in one of those rare moments when you know your research paid off and you bought stuff that lived up to the hype.The definition of the sound, the attack and clarity, are something you have got to hear to believe. The amp has such a sweet tone when you hit these massive open chords it shimmers and pounds you at the same time. Make no mistake...you hear EVERYTHING with this amp and its design is not by accident. Soldane knows how to give you something you can experiment and mold to your own. This amp is packed with the opportunity for you to find your "grail". I did. It is the perfect sounding amp.

Features
The most useful feature for me is the crunch channel. With the use 12AX7b tubes they reach saturation at lower levels than A tubes and this is the perfect scenario for me to get my tone. The master volume on 2.5 is loud enough for a room and to not kill living things at all. The amp sings when the master reaches 4.5 to 5 and that is about band paractice volume. It really allows you to dial in saturation to those B tubes and get the cabinet involved to resinate to your liking. Like I said...perfectly customizable.

Ease of Use
It is a simple straight forward design and it does not get any easier than this. Two channel footswitch with an effects loop(i really will probably wish this was switchable later)

Quality
Packing was really sub par but adequate. The amp itself is built well. Looks fantastic and feels durable and quality made.

Value
You will never ever ever find another amp in this price range that can do what this amp does or sound like this amp sounds. Period. I have been playing guitar for 30 years and have more than been around the block with amps. I am convinced this is the best value, without sacrifice, of any all tube amp. Hands down.

Manufacturer Support
Have not dealt with them.

The Wow Factor
It sounds stunning. I compared it with my guitarists Dr Z boutique amp last night at rehearsal by swapping out pedal boards and this 5212 blew it away. This Dr Z Senior is almost two grand with nohwere near the features and it was absolutely defeated by this Jet City amp at half the price.

Musical Background:
Professional Musician

Musical Style:
Hard rock/Metal read less