What's going on with the EHX Sovtek Mig 50?!

THR1LLHAU5

I've been hearing about these EHX "reissues" of the sovteks for bloody ages now and not really seen them materialise. Today I noticed that GAK have them up on their site - Electro-Harmonix MIG-50 Sovtek 50W Head (gak.co.uk) 

If they're anything like they're meant to be, i.e. Bassman-esque they could be a really cool little amp. I'm not arsed about it only being assembled in NYC but some may be. 

What dya reckon? Anyone in the know? 

Moe_Zambeek

‘Combined by hand in NYC’

Does that mean they take the chinese made amp and stick it in a Chinese made head sleeve in NYC then ship ‘em?

Keefy

https://youtu.be/YgMWCRURzvQ

ICBM

Why would anyone want to reissue those?

Keefy

ICBM said:

Why would anyone want to reissue those?

Because Josh Smith loves them?

Sassafras

I've never read anything good about them.

oldmansanj

I had a sovtek mig50 about 15 years ago. In all honesty it was a boring amp and when I sold it I didn’t regret it. 

EricTheWeary

Keefy said:

ICBM said:

Why would anyone want to reissue those?

Because Josh Smith loves them?

And a once upon a time association with Joe Perry? 

The attraction was cheap and cheerful; not so cheap anymore so therefore not so cheerful either maybe. Although maybe at US prices the Josh Scott fans will buy them up. 

Alex2678

Is it Josh Scott that loves them rather than Josh Smith?

Keefy

Alex2678 said:

Is it Josh Scott that loves them rather than Josh Smith?

Indeed it is, my mistake!

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

The attraction was cheap and cheerful

If you want cheap and cheerful, just buy a Jet City instead. It will sound good, be well made, and not blow up...

Alex2678

Keefy said:

Alex2678 said:

Is it Josh Scott that loves them rather than Josh Smith?

Indeed it is, my mistake!

I knew Josh Scott did but I know next to nothing about Josh Smith so wasn’t sure!

Alex2678

I had considered one at one point and was probably influenced by Josh Scott saying how great they are, but he also adds the caveat that he replaces a lot of the crap parts in them 

impmann

I used to borrow one - it was pretty good, iirc. They used to be inexpensive.

Didn’t Jimmy Page use them for a bit? 

EricTheWeary

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

The attraction was cheap and cheerful

If you want cheap and cheerful, just buy a Jet City instead. It will sound good, be well made, and not blow up...

The attraction 30 years ago was cheap and cheerful. It’s a bit like recreating the Talbot Samba and expecting people to pay £20k for one now. If I turned up a Mig 50 in a charity shop for £40 I’d be happy but if I had £590 for an amp head it wouldn’t be what I’d look at. 

EricTheWeary

impmann said:

I used to borrow one - it was pretty good, iirc. They used to be inexpensive.

Didn’t Jimmy Page use them for a bit? 

Definitely Joe Perry. The Mig 50 was a Tony Bruno design so he might have got them into the hands of a few other well known names I guess. 

b_dj

impmann said:

I used to borrow one - it was pretty good, iirc. They used to be inexpensive.

Didn’t Jimmy Page use them for a bit? 

Jimmy Page used the even freakier PETERSBURG P-100 amps of a equally strange background.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/petersburg-p-100-jimmy-pages-main-amp-in-1990s-2000s.823221/

TTBZ

From what I could tell it sort of seems to pretty much be a budget JTM45 kind of amp? They sound pretty decent to me on the demos I've seen.

impmann

b_dj said:

impmann said:

I used to borrow one - it was pretty good, iirc. They used to be inexpensive.

Didn’t Jimmy Page use them for a bit? 

Jimmy Page used the even freakier PETERSBURG P-100 amps of a equally strange background.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/petersburg-p-100-jimmy-pages-main-amp-in-1990s-2000s.823221/

That was it - thanks!!!

lustycourtier

ICBM said:

Why would anyone want to reissue those?

I had one in early 2000s. One of the best rock n roll amps ever, but they were £250 amps then. 

p90fool

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

The attraction was cheap and cheerful

If you want cheap and cheerful, just buy a Jet City instead. It will sound good, be well made, and not blow up...

I don't think Jet City exist any more.