Behind a plain façade near Fishermen's Terminal, Mike Soldano plies the craft which has helped define the sound of Rock 'n' Roll for more than 20 years.
Soldano amplifiers produce the high-gain effects favored by such guitar luminaries as Eric Clapton, Lou Reed, Eddie Van Halen and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.
Soldano talked about the beginnings of his business in the loft-like space filled with vacuum tubes, wooden housings, bolts of material, amps in various stages of completion and rock artifacts (the amp borrowed by Eric Clapton for his induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and the one that accompanied Stevie Ray Vaughan on his final tour).
In 1983, Soldano was trying to make a career as a musician in Seattle. Both for reasons of affordability as well as in pursuit of "the ultimate tone," he began experimenting with building his own guitars. That's when he realized the true weak link to the sound was the amp the guitar was plugged into. Unable to find any amps on the market that lived up to the sound Soldano heard in his head, he taught himself the technology of amplifiers by reading 1940s Navy radio manuals and experimenting until he created a satisfactory prototype. One of his musician friends eventually purchased the prototype, giving Soldano the idea that amplifiers could be a profitable business.
Soldano began contacting band managers and artist representatives in Los Angeles about his amp. He set up appointments for Monday, borrowed a vehicle from his boss (at an auto body shop on Lake City Way) and drove to L.A. over the weekend, only to have no-shows. "I learned how flaky the music industry is. I did this twice and realized I'm pretty dumb." But Soldano remained determined. In the winter of 1987, he put a new motor in his 1938 Chevy hot rod, loaded it with all his worldly possessions and set off for the bright lights of L.A.
The Seattle Connection
Shortly after the move, some ex-Seattleite friends invited Soldano to the Rainbow Bar & Grill, a hot rock music spot on Sunset. While they were ordering burgers, in walked Howard Leese, guitarist for Heart and another Seattleite. At his friends' urging, Soldano introduced himself and told Leese about the amp. Intrigued, Leese invited Soldano to bring the amp by the studio the following morning. Leese had only to play a handful of notes before deciding to buy the amp. He asked Soldano to wait at the studio while he drove home to Malibu for his checkbook. Seattleites Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart arrived at the studio while Soldano was waiting, and they invited him to join them for barbecued ribs. Leese's return with the checkbook clinched sale No. 2.
But it wasn't all magic. By 1987 and early 1988, times were lean for Soldano. Five years had passed and still no one knew who he was and his money was running out. Then Tony Antidormi came in from Toronto and at loose ends. He was a friend and he needed a job. He became interested in selling the amps so Soldano agreed to pay him a 10 percent commission for every sale. Antidormi had a talent for showing up where musicians were recording. The door was frequently slammed in his face, until finally, in September of 1987, Tony made a sale to Steve (Luke) Lukather of Toto. That sale would be a turning point for Soldano and his business.
The Buzz Spreads
Lukather was a well known session player. Like many professional musicians, he stored his equipment at a cartage company that would deliver and set up equipment at gigs on demand. Cartage company owner Andy Brauer heard from Lukather about the Soldano amp and the word began to spread.
"All the other hotshot players in L.A. kept their stuff at the same cartage company," Soldano said. "Everyone wanted to know about Luke's amp. The buzz spread so quickly that it went to the East Coast and back in a week."
Still, Soldano had made only two sales. To survive, he had to do odd jobs and small guitar repairs. By December he had been in L.A. for a year and was nearly out of money. His parents bought him a ticket to fly home for the holidays. Dejected, he returned to L.A. on Jan. 1 fully expecting to move back to Seattle permanently.
The Cinderella Story Begins
But he kept putting the move off. He did amp repair jobs. He took a job as a guitar tech for the Vixens, an all-girl rock band. In mid-January 1988, Soldano returned home at 4 a.m., after a Vixen gig, and saw the message light blinking on his answering machine. In spite of being bone tired, he decided to check his messages.
The first message was a deep voiced individual with a New York accent who identified himself as Lou Reed, expressed interest in an amp and left his phone number. The person leaving the second message had a Scottish accent, said that he was Vivian Campbell of Whitesnake (later guitarist for Def Leppard) and was interested in an amp. The third caller was Michael Landau, a hot L.A. session player, also after an amp.
Soldano went to bed excited but began to suspect that Andy Brauer at the cartage company was playing a joke on him. Andy was in the habit of putting on accents. The next morning Soldano called Andy and berated him for playing a joke on his starving friend. Andy vehemently denied that he was responsible for the calls, and suggested that Soldano "get off the phone and call."
Soldano called the first number and Lou Reed himself answered the phone. Reed had heard about the amp from the man who builds his guitars, who in turn had received the news from Lukather's guitar tech. Reed wanted to know where he could try out a Soldano amp in New York. Soldano agreed to build one on spec. The next two phone calls resulted in Campbell and Landau trying out and ordering amps, leaving Soldano thrilled but wondering how he could scrape together the money to fulfill three amp orders. The second stroke of luck came later that week.
The Luck Continues
Returning to his studio, Soldano saw a handsome and familiar looking young man emerge from the tattoo parlor next door to admire the hot rod. The owner of the tattoo parlor introduced Soldano to Charlie Sexton, whom Soldano recognized as the guitarist in a MTV video. When Sexton heard that Soldano built amps, he came over to the studio to try one out. He then invited Soldano to his show at the Palace that night. At the show, Sexton introduced Soldano to his road manager Ed. When Ed learned of Soldano's predicament, he lent him money to purchase parts for the amps. Ed eventually became Soldano's business manager.
Soldano's third lucky break came when Yamaha asked him to design an amp that they planned to mass produce. Yamaha created an elaborate advertising campaign marketing Soldano as the new "amp guru." The ad illustration was a photograph of Soldano standing atop his signature Yamaha amp. When Yamaha of Japan discovered their American office's campaign, they disapproved and ordered it shut down. But the ads had already provided Soldano with free publicity.
At around the same time as the Yamaha campaign, Brauer, who in addition to owning the cartage company wrote a column for "Guitar World," wrote a highly complimentary product review. Between January and March of 1988, Soldano went from zero to six months of backorders. By April he had sold amplifiers to Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler.
By mid-1988 Soldano found himself "building stuff for every big band in L.A." In three years, he outgrew his Hollywood shop, moved to Van Nuys (in the San Fernando Valley) and employed eight. Commenting on his sudden success, Soldano said, "I feel really lucky. Obviously I had a great product, but there was so much luck and timing involved."
Return to Seattle
Once Soldano Custom Amplification had moved to Van Nuys, Soldano figured he could locate his business anywhere. He had grown tired of the traffic in L.A. and wanted to be closer to family. In 1994 he moved back to Seattle.
He admits that his business has slowed down since the move. The loss of direct contact with the L.A. music industry is a contributing factor, but per Soldano, "My biggest competitor is me. One problem is that my stuff doesn't break." He finds himself competing against his own used amplifiers sold on eBay. Soldano amps have a lifetime transferable warranty. Soldano has spent less than $1,000 servicing the warranty over the past 20 years. To illustrate the durability of his product, he told the following story.
Soldano always liked to claim that his amps "could be thrown into a lake and still survive," but his theory had never been tested. A guitarist from the Freddie Jones Band asked Soldano to write a letter supporting his claim to an insurer because his amp had been submerged in his Louisiana basement during a flood. He sent the amp to Soldano unpackaged via UPS because he believed it was a lost cause. The amp arrived filthy and full of silt. Soldano plugged it in and it still worked.
The Soldano Touch
On the uniqueness of his amps, Soldano states, "I'm first and foremost a guitar player and secondarily an engineer. Most commercially produced amps are designed by engineers. My amps are designed from the point of view of an artist. I was creating the amp for myself to give myself the ultimate guitar tone."
Soldano amps are elegant in their simplicity compared to the feature-laden products made commercially. Soldano believes most professional guitarists prefer simplicity. Each amp is hand built, and uncompromising in design. Soldano will also customize to order, from the simplest alterations to an existing model such as customized skins, cutting out certain frequencies and putting in effects loops; to building a custom amp from the ground up. One example is an amp built for Martin Barre, guitarist for Jethro Tull. Barre refused to perform without his Soldano amp, but it was too heavy to take on a plane as luggage. Soldano designed an amp in two pieces, each piece light enough to qualify as luggage. Barre could simply plug the two pieces together at the venue.
What's Next
Soldano is currently in the process of building a prototype for the Amp Show in Anaheim next January. His specialty has always been the high-gain amp, designed for lead rock guitarists. The new prototype will feature a purer tone with fewer sound enhancing properties and is designed to appeal to blues, folk and country players. Soldano's interest in serving this segment of musicians has developed alongside his recent pursuit of the pedal steel guitar, which he plays in his band The Kings of Outlaw Country.
Some day Soldano wouldn't mind it if someone came along to buy Soldano Custom Amplification so he can be free to pursue his many hobbies - his two bands (Los Peligrosos and the Kings of Outlaw Country), working on cars (he currently has seven including the original hot rod he drove to L.A.), scuba diving and drawing. Meanwhile, he will continue to build "the best sounding, best built and most versatile all-tube guitar amps that money can buy."[[In-content Ad]]
