Am I the only person who does not like the Soldano SLO?

bananaman

I'm a total noob and maybe not that bright. When I tried to reply to the existing thread about the new SLO I got a 404, so I thought I'd try starting my own. Fingers crossed that it works!

Many years ago I couldn't get the SLO out of my head. Eventually, probably after a year of obsessing over it, I bought one. 3 days later I sent it back. It just sounded too 'sweet' for want of a better term. Kind of 'nice and polite'. You can actually hear what I mean in the Ratt songs that feature it. Even putting that to one side it just had a kind of 'hardness' to it that I didn't like either. To prove I'm not tone deaf I really, really liked the Cornford MK50II. It absolutely murdered the SLO in my view. Eventually I figured I just liked the Marshall snarl and went back to my master volumes. There you go, let the flames begin!!!

bananaman

Maybe someone can chip in and advise me on why I can only post here?! Help!

bananaman

Figured it out - it's because I hadn't confirmed my email address. Sorry mods! Could you kindly move this to the 'amps' section? Cheers!

tony99

you eaten a banana eric?

bananaman

tony99 said:

you eaten a banana eric?

Clearly not today, or I wouldn't have been such a numpty!

ICBM

bananaman said:

To prove I'm not tone deaf I really, really liked the Cornford MK50II.

To prove you're *not* tone deaf?!!




I agree that the SLO is quite warm... but definitely not 'polite'. It's not snarly and aggressive like a Marshall, but for me the opposite means that awful boutique jazzy-blues overdrive sound where all the top-end is missing. Kind of like a Cornford Harlequin . (Although the MK50 is certainly much better.) The SLO isn't anything like that - if it's at all 'nice' it's because it just doesn't sound harsh even when it's cranked right up, even though it's huge-sounding. The guitarist in my band used to have one, and the could run it at the sort of level you just wouldn't get away with normally simply because it sounded so good.

EricTheWeary

bananaman said:

Figured it out - it's because I hadn't confirmed my email address. Sorry mods! Could you kindly move this to the 'amps' section? Cheers!

Hit the edit cog above your original post and you can move it yourself. 

bananaman

EricTheWeary said:

bananaman said:

Figured it out - it's because I hadn't confirmed my email address. Sorry mods! Could you kindly move this to the 'amps' section? Cheers!

Hit the edit cog above your original post and you can move it yourself. 

Done. Cheers, you're a superstar.

bananaman

ICBM said:

bananaman said:

To prove I'm not tone deaf I really, really liked the Cornford MK50II.

To prove you're *not* tone deaf?!!




I agree that the SLO is quite warm... but definitely not 'polite'. It's not snarly and aggressive like a Marshall, but for me the opposite means that awful boutique jazzy-blues overdrive sound where all the top-end is missing. Kind of like a Cornford Harlequin . (Although the MK50 is certainly much better.) The SLO isn't anything like that - if it's at all 'nice' it's because it just doesn't sound harsh even when it's cranked right up, even though it's huge-sounding. The guitarist in my band used to have one, and the could run it at the sort of level you just wouldn't get away with normally simply because it sounded so good.

Maybe 'sweet' would be a better word than 'polite'? It just doesn't move me like a Marshall does. Actually I much prefer the tone of its most famous rip-off, the Peavey 5150/6505 whatever it's called these days. EVH is a horrible little git isn't he? Really did the dirty on Mike Soldano.

ICBM

bananaman said:

Actually I much prefer the tone of its most famous rip-off, the Peavey 5150/6505 whatever it's called these days. EVH is a horrible little git isn't he? Really did the dirty on Mike Soldano.

That’s an internet myth - the 5150 circuit has nothing in common with the SLO at all other than using the same type of valves. It’s the Mesa Dual Rectifier which is a (partial) SLO copy.

The 5150 is one of the few modern amps that’s an original design and isn’t based on any of the main amp ‘family trees’.

https://elektrotanya.com/PREVIEWS/63463243/23432455/egyeb/soldano_slo100_sch.pdf_1.png

http://www.kobra.hr/Schematics/Peavey/Peavey%20EVH%205150%20(full%20schematics).jpg

https://html2-f.scribdassets.com/228skaaxts15u9dp/images/1-02eec6d95f.jpg

monquixote

ICBM said:

bananaman said:

Actually I much prefer the tone of its most famous rip-off, the Peavey 5150/6505 whatever it's called these days. EVH is a horrible little git isn't he? Really did the dirty on Mike Soldano.

That’s an internet myth - the 5150 circuit has nothing in common with the SLO at all other than using the same type of valves. It’s the Mesa Dual Rectifier which is a (partial) SLO copy.

The 5150 is one of the few modern amps that’s an original design and isn’t based on any of the main amp ‘family trees’.

Glad you clarified that as I don't think of them as sounding that similar.

Also surprised the recto is that close as I always struggle with them getting a bit unmanageable in the low end and lacking high end sparkle which is not something I'd associate with a Soldano.

bananaman

I don't think any of those 3 sound that similar either but I was under the impression that the preamp circuit was pretty close in all 3, bar the placement of the FX loop? Obviously that doesn't mean they would sound the same as they have different OTs. That being said I have never actually looked at either schematic, let alone side by side, so I'm happy to be educated!

ICBM

monquixote said:

Also surprised the recto is that close as I always struggle with them getting a bit unmanageable in the low end and lacking high end sparkle which is not something I'd associate with a Soldano.

It’s not that close overall, but the early stages of the preamp are definitely a copy - there are far too many similarities to be coincidental.

The loose low-end is a characteristic of the power amp, especially in Modern mode where it turns off the negative feedback. Ironically the ‘resonance mod’ for the SLO does something like that in a more controlled way with a pot.

bananaman said:

I don't think any of those 3 sound that similar either but I was under the impression that the preamp circuit was pretty close in all 3, bar the placement of the FX loop? Obviously that doesn't mean they would sound the same as they have different OTs. That being said I have never actually looked at either schematic, let alone side by side, so I'm happy to be educated!

They’re actually more similar in the power stages. The 5150 really has a completely different preamp - the most obvious difference is that both the SLO and the DR use cathode-follower stages, which are an evolution of the Bassman/Marshall circuit - the 5150 has only plate-coupled stages. There’s much more than that too.

Apparently the Peavey designers *were* aiming for the same sort of sound, but they went about getting it a very different way circuit-wise. In my opinion Peavey don’t get anywhere near enough credit for original design, either in their valve or solid-state amps.

TTBZ

I've never played a real soldano but I do tend to like the Soldano model when I use modelling stuff. Always fancied trying one out but never had the opportunity. Do any of the more reasonably priced Jet City amps get close or are they a bit of a different circuit?

monquixote

TTBZ said:

I've never played a real soldano but I do tend to like the Soldano model when I use modelling stuff. Always fancied trying one out but never had the opportunity. Do any of the more reasonably priced Jet City amps get close or are they a bit of a different circuit?

Yeah they are very close especially the 100hdm

thecolourbox

Could just be your playing style that makes it not work, I've found that with pedals that stuff which is proven to sound good and is a classic pedal just sounds terrible under my playing style (I don't use picks and am quite a quiet/gentle player).

bananaman

Could be, but I don't think so because I hear the same things I dislike in recordings of it by really good players.

PolarityMan

TTBZ said:

I've never played a real soldano but I do tend to like the Soldano model when I use modelling stuff. Always fancied trying one out but never had the opportunity. Do any of the more reasonably priced Jet City amps get close or are they a bit of a different circuit?

Im in a simlar position to you. dunno if its similar but its obv a soldano deisgn and the JCA50h is ridiculously good for a sub £300 amp. 

tekbow

The SLO is a unique sound, and I can get why people don't like it *in isolation*.

Put it in a mix though, live or recorded, which is what it was designed for and the story is different. It's a mix cutter which may or may not appeal depending on your preferences.

It is distinctly different to a Marshall sound which may be the issue. Many seem to think its "basically a Marshall on Steroids" and expect it to sound as such.

I wouldn't say sweet or polite either, but it is very articulate and "dry" in the sense that it's  unforgiving of any degree of sloppiness.

The Peavey VTM is, according to James Brown, the platform for the 5150, itself heavily based on an actual Jose modded Marshall. It was apparently tweaked to bring it into the SLO sonic ballpark, but is not a similar circuit according to Brown.

shaunm

I want to have an opinion but I’ve never tried one of these in person. On YouTube I only hear people doing high gain chugging or shredding. Is that what the SLO is? 

ljs

shaunm said:

I want to have an opinion but I’ve never tried one of these in person. On YouTube I only hear people doing high gain chugging or shredding. Is that what the SLO is? 

Thank God no... I agree that YouTube SLO’s are mostly (too) high gain stuff. 

Best I can tell you is listen to 21 nights or any Clapton live from this era. It’s gorgeous and tekbow is spot on with his description.