School me on Sovtek MIG 30 head

[Jam119]

I've some great things about the MIG 50 and recently took a chance on purchasing a MIG 30 at a decent price... It Arrives next week... can anyone out there tell me hows the overal sound? I understand it to be modeled after a fender bassman- very clean 6L6 tone noth breakup - which is what I'm after.

[anibas]

If I remember right,these amps were just an early version of the MIG 50,and pretty much if not exactly the same amp. Comes with 3 12AX7s and 2 5881's,right?I tried one out at Cowtown Guitars(Cols,Oh) in '92 and '93,and thought it was a cool sounding amp,esp. for $150!I was worried it would have reliability issues,so I passed on it.Hopefully another forum member owns one and can weigh in on this.

[guitbeef]

I own a Mig50 (two 6L6's in mine) and I'm very happy with it (never owned or even played through a Mig30, though, so I can only speak of my particular Mig, which I haven't owned for very long). As a matter of fact just got it out of the shop today. It only needed a minor cleaning and retube (scratchy pots, I think it had been sitting in storage for a while). My tech said it was very well built and that I shouldn't expect any major problems, at least not anything beyond what to expect from any other tube amp. I asked him what he thought of the stock plastic switches (I had heard that it was wise to replace them with steel ones) but we flipped them back and forth several, several times pretty forcefully and our decision was to just leave them on (I do gig with a back-up, though).
As far as tone, I want to stay away from the usual catch phrases and slang, but I usually use it clean (sometimes slightly broken up) and hit it with pedals. In that capacity I love it. Not only the tone I love but also the feel of the amp, meaning, how it feels to play through it. It has a nice natural compression without even really sounding very squashed (and I'm referring to running it a little less than halfway, which is still clean). No stiff feel to me, at least the one I own.
And of course, the stories you may have heard about it nailing AC/DC type tones when dimed are pretty accurate IMHO- to my ears it has a wonderful crunch in that capacity.
All of this is just my 2c, of course. Depending on what your going for, you may just love it. If not I'm sure you could flip that 30-watter pretty easily- I think they're a little rare (and in that case I might be interested in it myself!)

[Jam119]

Thanks guys for 2 great replies!

[scottywompas]

I had a mig 50 years ago ( kinda wish I still had it ) I used it as a clean amp mainly. I didn't have any reliability issues. I rehearsed three nights a week with it. Never had any unusual problems. had to tighten up an input jack once or twice but that's about it.

Scott

[Glass Onion]

Same here Mig 50 was my first tube amp. That and an OD-1. I lived out in the country and could crank it as loud as I wanted. I miss that amp and I shudder to think what I could do with that tone now that I know how to play.

[Jam119]

Just wanted to post taht I've received the MIG30 head - Plugged it into My Avatar Classic Cab 2x12 (Celestion Vinatge30 & G12H30) and the thing is a monster! Big fat bottom, Mid control is awsome - Scooped or pushed mid if you want them, Chimey highs! Very little break up even @ maxed volume. Accepts all my pedals extremely well. I've got a 8'x9' VocalBooth.com in my project studio and had the volume pegged with no his! Can't wait to track it on a serious session.

Through an old post I found a member that mentioned he had one for sale... By luck I picked up a matching 4x10 Slant Cab 2 Bills! What a great 30 watter for taking a chance on Ebay! I can only imagine the 50's and 60's sound great as well.

IMHO - these amps are worth the $300 - $500 their getting in the marketplace. Check one out if your looking for a reasonable amp...

[mickey69]

Jimmy page used sovtek amps during the page/plant and crowes tours. the amp below is the model he had. i have video of him using these from both tours and they have "petersburg" stenciled on them. he used these with Tone King and Ac30's as well.


http://www.ringomedia.net/spetel.html

[mickcivic]

What you have is an exceedingly rare collector's item--not to mention a great sounding amp. If you still have it, don't let it go.

Mike Matthews, who designed the amp with Tony Bruno, said they were the best of the Sovtek amp lot--despite the fact that their existence is a bit of a mistake.

You can check out the whole interview where Mike talks about the Mig 30 here:

http://www.gearwire.com/snamm08-elec...erview004.html

[Ant1-Hero]

I stand behind my Mig-50 Model 001, 100%. I even bought the matching 412 cab

My friend owns a 64 or 66 bassman blackface (don't quote me on the year), and he likes my sovtek more, uses it for recording all of his songs.

I havent tried the 30, but i sure look at them on ebay alot

good luck

[blastastick]

The Mig-60 is a very well made amp, and it has more of a point to point build. It has metal switches, and just better robust build than any of the 50 or 100's I have owned.

[eyeball987]

Originally Posted by blastastick

The Mig-60 is a very well made amp, and it has more of a point to point build. It has metal switches, and just better robust build than any of the 50 or 100's I have owned.

Tell me about it. I want my Mig 60 back but it has passed hands twice now and the second time was on the bay. I look for it a couple times a week.

[Maruuk]

Yeah, my MIG-30 is seriously clean with a huge bottom end. Totally different from the later amps to come like the 50 and 60 which could be overdriven much more easily. The dark input (supposedly a Marshall-style preamp bent) breaks up a tiny bit, but the Fender Bassman side can be cranked and stay clean. This amp makes for a cool PA amp in addition to a bass amp and oh yeah, a guitar amp.