Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 25, 2006 Members Share Posted February 25, 2006 This afternoon I picked up a Sovtek Mig 100U head from a local music store, cheap. It's in good shape and sounds absolutely amazing!! I played a cheap Les Paul copy into it at the store thru a JBL monitor, and it roared.... My son's Artcore into the Mig, sitting on my Peavey 412F cab, it sounds even better!! I have a couple of questions about this amp, though.... Is there supposed to be a light, LED or jewel, that comes on when you turn the power on? This one doesn't, or the one on it doesn't work. The head has metal input jacks but plastic switches. The speaker jacks on the back are metal, too. I had to blow out the cobwebs in the back of the amp and gave it a good wipedown, re-seated one of the tubes that had started to pop out. Is it normal for there to be a flash in the power tubes when you switch from power to standby?? The power tubes look a bit old, but the amp sounds just balls-out powerful...... I remember reading something about these amps being good to modify. What are the most popular mods done to these amps? My main guitar is a 70's reissue Strat, and my son plays an Ibanez AS-73 Artcore. Bluesy classic rock-type overdrive is what I prefer, rather than metal-crunch. I got it for $200...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KoaFreak Posted February 25, 2006 Members Share Posted February 25, 2006 I don't know much about Sovteks, other than that I played one years ago and they rawk! Cheap too! I'm sure someone here familar with these amps can answer all your questions, but I have heard they respond well to mods. I'm thinking about getting one myself. In the meantime, it is your duty to post a clip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 25, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 25, 2006 Post a clip???? Are you insane?? I can barely check my e-mail...... Yes, I'm kidding. I'd post one if I could, but I don't have the gear to do that...... yet.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 $200 Sovtek = great snatch! I've been playing through Tube Midget 50s for 5 years now, no major problems - actually, all the work I've had to do is due to rough handling on tour and gravity I love Sovtek amps, and hope to get more someday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 26, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 Played my Strat thru it..... Wow!! I had to put earmuffs on when I turned it up, but damn, what a sound! It's weird not having onboard reverb like my X-100B, but not a big deal, either..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ralph Stephens Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 great buy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 26, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 Oh, yeah...... I found the little green light that tells you when it's on last night. It has fallen inside the head, and you can barely see it if you hold your face up to the amp. I found this out after realizing that it had been sitting on standby for the last 3 hours!!!! I'm gonna have to fix that stupid light... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ConfessorT Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 An absolute steal! Personally I'd get a good techie to give it a health check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fatcat Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 Hey man great deal on that Mig. I just had my 50 serviced at New Sensor(they now own or distribute Sovtek and EH in the states). They replaced all of the pots and power tubes. REALLY good work at a VERY fair price. They have all of the NOS parts for these amps. I dropped it off to them in Queens, but had it shipped back. They packed it awesome. The effin thing sounds better than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VH100R Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 The mig's are great and sound kick ass. But I would replaced the power tubes and probably the preamp ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 26, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 It's got Sovtek 5881/6L6's in it, and 12AX7's in the pre-amp, probably the stock tubes, considering the amount of cobwebs and dust inside the head. Is there a different brand of tube that would make it sound better? I don't need full metal crunch, just a good punchy, bluesy overdrive... I'll check out New Sensor's website. Thanks for the info.. Wasn't there a guy named JerryP here who mods amps? I thought I read something when I did a search on this amp last weekend.. I have to wear earmuffs or earplugs due to the size of the room I play in(small, low ceiling)and the power of this thing. I usually keep my Carvin X-100B on the 25% or 50% setting when I play, and it's a good bit quieter than the Mig... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 Originally posted by Ironhandjohn It's got Sovtek 5881/6L6's in it, and 12AX7's in the pre-amp, probably the stock tubes, considering the amount of cobwebs and dust inside the head. Is there a different brand of tube that would make it sound better? I don't need full metal crunch, just a good punchy, bluesy overdrive... awesome amp, harsh,shrill power tubes. JJ 6l6's or anything else will sound better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eyeball987 Posted February 26, 2006 Members Share Posted February 26, 2006 The 100U's are the lower gain version of the Mig 100's. It should already be right up your alley with the type of music that you are going to be using it for. It takes well to pedals too so you can really get anything that you want out of it. It sounds like it might need a little bit of work though. I would have a good tech give it a good cleaning and check up with fresh tubes. I had my mig 60 modded by Doug Roccaforte to add a gain boost and to put the pre amp to JCM800 specs. It didn't cost a lot because the 60's are pretty much 800 clones anyway. If the basic tone works for you now, I wouldn't even bother to get it modded unless you need an effects loop or something like that. Save the money and pick up some pedals to run with it instead to tweak the tone if it is not quite where you want it. Good score by the way! My first 2 Migs I picked up for $200 and $300 and made money selling them. I want my 60 back now but the guy wants $600 to get it back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted February 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 I agree that the tubes probably need to be replaced. I like the tone I get, but I was under the impression that it should be louder than it is. I wear shooting muffs when I turn it up, but I already have tinnitus from years of loud music, shooting and working around guns, and loud motorcycle and 18-wheeler exhaust. I keep the volume close to dimed, but the master volume on 4 or 5. Good Trower-esque OD from my Strat. There is a 'pop' when I switch from on to standby, and occasionally there is another 'pop' when the rig first warms up and I begin to play. I've had another tube head for over a year now, so I know enough to not start banging away when I first turn the amp on. The Mig also seems to take quite a bit longer than my X-100B to warm up to playing temperature..... JJ tubes are one recommendation. Any others?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fatcat Posted February 27, 2006 Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 I have jj/teslas in my pre and they just put some matched Sovtek 6l6's in the power section. The pops sound like bad power tubes. Mine did it too. Try this: let the amp fully warm up and heavily strum some open chords, as they bloom, see if there is non musical break-up(pops, clicks, static). Thats what mine was doing and it was the power section. I hear that JJ's are good choices for our amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aortizjr Posted February 27, 2006 Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 Excellent score! I have a Sovtek MIG100. They are killer amps. I use the clean with pedals mostly, but I also love the high gain, it has a certain vibe to it. I would get it checked over by a tech, or do it yourself. Basically see if you can get schematics, check some voltages to be sure. It sounds like your powertubes are getting old based on the symptoms. It is probably a good idea to change them anyway. For tubes, the Sovtek's have a really high plate voltage. Sovtek 5881's handle that really well and sound great. JJ 6L6's are good, so are SED's. They handle high plate voltages well. Many other tubes just get eaten up. For the Pre, I like Chinese for V1 and V2, and a regular ol' Sovtek 12AX7 for the PI. But mine is a higher gain one than the MIG100U. I have an LPS and 12AX7C's that I have been meaning to try as a recommendation from Doug's Tubes. I use almost all pedals with it when I use it. So my goals are a bit different. For mods, there is no protection on the tubes. So a bad tube could blow a transformer. You can make sure to change tubes often, or put in some protection. Also, you can mod it to the higher gain specs. Most of the changes are in the EQ and gain section. So you can go: MIG100U, MIG100H, or MIG100. Basically just look at the schematics, the changes are pretty easy to follow. Another MOD, which I haven't done, is to make one of the inputs a footswitch jack, and then you can footswitch between low gain and high gain. Voodoo Amps will mod them. I am sure there are others as well. They are mostly P2P wired, so mods are really easy. They really are great amps. I love mine. EDIT: Oh and also, throw an OD/Boost in front of the High Gain channel. There is some real power in there when you do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted March 10, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Update: The popping noises when the amp first comes on have gone away since the amp is being played regularly. The head was in thr guitar shop for at least 1 year before I bought it, and it looks like it had sat in storage somewhere for a long time before that.... The Mig loves pedals, and makes my X-100B look over its shoulder for high gain work. The LOW setting works best with pedals, while the HIGH setting is for flat-out big tone. Love this amp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VH100R Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Ironhandjohn Update: The popping noises when the amp first comes on have gone away since the amp is being played regularly. The head was in thr guitar shop for at least 1 year before I bought it, and it looks like it had sat in storage somewhere for a long time before that.... The Mig loves pedals, and makes my X-100B look over its shoulder for high gain work. The LOW setting works best with pedals, while the HIGH setting is for flat-out big tone. Love this amp!! glad you like it! I tried migs in the past and they always had great tone. They are becoming rare too, so hold on to yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Smokey Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Anyone know if these amps are PTP wired or PCB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members m90guy Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I've had mine for 8-9 years and love it! Got for $50 from a friend who couldnt stand it. I ended up just recently put in a set of Sovtek 6L6WXT+ in it and Oh my!!! Also Changed the Preamps with JJ's , but I cant really tell a differance as the amp sounds totally differant with the 6l6's in it Anyway, Great amp, and you got a great deal. These things usually sell for around $400-500 nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fatcat Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I'm back. I have spent some time with the amp since it was returned to factory specs by New Sensor with Sovtek tubes. I seemed to have lost some volume with the sovteks(thats a good thing) and it seems to break a little earlier BUT the tone doesnt have the warmth and depth of the JJ/Teslas. Input 1 is really nice and round, 2 is great for leads and more gain. I am having a hard time pulling off some good pinch harmonics now. Anyone have any ideas? Boost Pedal? Is it hard to swap tubes and bias these amps?? I would really like to experiment in my quest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cobrahead1030 Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 nice score i really regret selling the one i had, but i just didn't have a good reason to keep it @ the time...it would be an awesome head to have in the studio now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by jjpistols $200 Sovtek = great snatch! Jessica Alba=great snatch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eyeball987 Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Fatcat I'm back. I have spent some time with the amp since it was returned to factory specs by New Sensor with Sovtek tubes. I seemed to have lost some volume with the sovteks(thats a good thing) and it seems to break a little earlier BUT the tone doesnt have the warmth and depth of the JJ/Teslas. Input 1 is really nice and round, 2 is great for leads and more gain. I am having a hard time pulling off some good pinch harmonics now. Anyone have any ideas? Boost Pedal? Is it hard to swap tubes and bias these amps?? I would really like to experiment in my quest. Two ways to boost that thing for harmonic heaven: 1) Clean boost up front or 2) run the amp clean and loud and then hit the front end with an OD or distortion box. The second way is my favorite. Don't stand in front of the cab at first though because you might dislodge something. I really liked JJ powers in mine and pre's I would change every couple of weeks for a different flavor. The amp responds very well to pre amp tube changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted March 18, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2006 Old thread update: My Ibanez TS-9 and this amp seem made for each other!! My other pedals like it too, but hitting either input with the Tube Screamer push this amp into Classic Rock Heaven!! It even likes my old Peavey 412F cab, too.. The somewhat unfocused, VERY bassy, tone I get from it doesn't work so well with my '88 Carvin X-100B, but it fits the Mig almost perfectly. With an old cab like this.... I wonder what it would do with a Marshall 1960A or Carvin Legacy........... Why do my ears ring???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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