Description
This Mike Soldano-designed tone machine boasts three versatile channels with four assignable Galaxies (voices), deftly covering high-headroom cleans, scorching-hot high-gain, and all points in between. The Soldano Astro-20 is a flexible 20-watt tube amplifier head with features tailored to modern guitarists. The Astro-20 accommodates a wide range of speaker cabinets, and for those occasions where you need to go cab-free, you also get a built-in IR loader, which allows you to employ this guitar amplifier as a standalone unit — no speaker required. You’ll appreciate the simplicity of the Astro-20’s straightforward front-panel controls, which enable you to dial in any tone with ease, plus you get a 4-button MIDI footswitch and free downloadable Soldano Editor Software for saving, recalling, and organizing your settings presets. The Soldano Astro-20 is a terrific choice for modern players searching for an all-tube amplifier with a classic control set, yet one that’s loaded with the latest state-of-the-art features.
Three channels of tube-fueled tone
Fueled by two 6V6 power tubes and four 12AX7 preamp tubes, the Astro-20 is teeming with authentic tube tone. And no matter what sort of tone you’re aiming for, this guitar amplifier head’s three channels — Clean, Overdrive 1, and Overdrive 2 — have you covered. Moreover, the Astro-20 flaunts four assignable Galaxies that you can use to voice its channels. The Clean channel is automatically assigned to the Green Galaxy, yielding high-headroom cleans and slightly pushed crunch tones reminiscent of a classic American tube combo. The Astro-20’s Overdrive 1 and Overdrive 2 channels can be independently assigned to the Blue (bluesy cleans to fat crunch), Purple (higher gain with a tight response), or Red (classic Soldano leads to modern high-gain) Galaxies.
Straightforward front-panel controls
The Astro-20’s master Presence control ranges from a tight, mid-focused response to an open, three-dimensional feel. You also get a 3-position Depth switch for fine-tuning the amplifier’s low-frequency response, along with a 3-way Bright switch. The Clean channel brandishes a Volume and Tone knob for dead-simple tone shaping, while the Overdrive 1 and Overdrive 2 channels include independent Volume and Gain knobs, along with a shared 3-band EQ.
Outstanding cab-free operation
Modern guitarists often find physical cabinets unwieldy and unnecessary in many applications, both onstage and in the studio. That’s why the Astro-20 includes a built-in IR loader with six onboard IR slots. You can assign a recorded IR to any channel or Galaxy independently, ensuring that you get exactly the tone and speaker response you need for your situation, be it running direct onstage, recording quietly in the studio, or using the Astro-20’s headphone output for silent practice. Adding and managing your IRs is easy, courtesy of the free Soldano Editor Software, and the amplifier’s novel STAR display gives you at-a-glance confirmation of which Galaxy and IR you’re currently using.
