Sunn Beta Lead or Sovtek 100 head?

[Pumpkin]

Any experience with either? I'm looking for an older amp and these are on the list of possibilities.
I know the sunn is suitable and its got an amazing sound (its ss too) but i been looking into the sovtek heads.
i know nothing about sovtek amps other than the sovtek thread in this forum

Opinions/experiences/comparisons?, spare no feelings!

[mjet]

If I remember correctly the Sunn is a transistor (solid state) head. The Sovtek is tube. They're as different as chalk and cheese...

[mynameisjonas]

i haven´t owned one myself, but i know the Sovtek MIG-100s are capable of producing great sounds. the main guitarists in two great swedish bands; Fireside and The Price of Ink* used them. people oftent say the MIG-100s are JCM800 copies, but to my ears they sound better... a bit more 70s british crunch.





*the left channel in the linked song is a Sovtek MIG-100, the other guitar is played through an Orange Overdrive 120

[luau]

My old guitar teacher used to play a Sunn Beta through a Fender 4 12" (the one with the crazy angled speakers) and it roared. I'm generally not fond of guitars through solid state amps but his sounded great with his '69 LP Deluxe.

[Stereordinary]

The other guitar player in my last band played a MiG-100.  Standing in front of it when he played some heavy riff was like getting slugged in the chest.  With a brick. 

[JazzBlaster]

I have owned 2 MIG-100 damn fine amp! 

[ohm-men]

Oh, man....a blast from the past.
I owned a Sovtek MiG 100. It was my first full tube amp head. I used it with a vintage (late 60ties puprle Marshall 4x10 cab) and later on with a JCM 900 angled cab.
It sounded fantastic. Somwhere in the vciinity of an old JCM 800.
They were cheap back then. I bought mine new in the early 90ties for like 300 or so. Sold it later for more

Wel, even though I have some really good vintage fender amps nowadays, I still a kind of miss my old Sovtek MiG 100, the loudest amp I ever owned....
Wel the low gain stage goes over one 12ax7 (pre amp) to the quad of 6L6 power tubes. The high gain stage goes over 3x 12ax7's....very nice. Sounded really good with almost every guitar....And I took pedals very, very good. Think of it as a very powerfull BF Bassman.....
The controls are spartan, but what do you need more. just two inputs (low and High) volume, master, treble, middle and bass....no FX loop, two speaker jacks (8 and 16 Ohm) stand by ans power switch...
If you are not into super high gain, like classic rock tones and a lot of power, this is it....
Also their MiG 50 and MiG 60 are very nice....

[Pumpkin]

MiG 100 sounds cool,I'm gonna see if i can track one down for a reasonable price.Sunn prices are getting a bit ridiculous i think,after all we are talking ss.The sound of the beta is as good if not better imo to a lot (but not all)f tube amps but the fact remains its not a tube amp and should be priced accordingly.....ya ya i know,they dont make em anymore....

Anyone see's a Sovtek in AU let me know!

[mynameisjonas]

although sovteks are still quite cheap, i´ve noticed that the prices are climbing pretty fast. just 2-3 months ago a saw several MIH50s go for less than $400, but now they all seem to be up to $500-600.
might not be a steady trend but still...