Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

[King IzzO)))]

And interesting commentary from M. Weed.

http://atomiumamps.tumblr.com/

[jon the art guy]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

I've got a new blog to follow now.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Yeah man, he's cool as ****.

[jon the art guy]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

...and those amps are practically exactly the same in sound. I was assuming there'd be a noticeable difference in the $3000, $1200 and $700 (and lower) heads. Practically speaking it's a nonissue, though the Soldano sounded a little thicker in a couple chunks....but I might just be hearing that to hear it.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Nah, it's not just you, but still.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

And interesting commentary from M. Weed.
http://atomiumamps.tumblr.com/

Thanks for posting !

This is very interesting.

Some quotes from the above link :

'It also demonstrates how incredibly similar these amps are'.

'Obviously the first 5150 was conceived as a knockoff of the SLO'.



The SLO and 'regular' 5150 does sound very similar to me in the link/clip above . . . yet, when i posted the thread below, everyone who participated in it, said that the 5150 sounds nothing like a SLO.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/show...&highlight=slo - ermmmm, please see post no. 11



Very interesting !

[dystrust]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Not trying to troll here, but have any of you played an SLO? It might sound somewhat like a 5150, but it feels REALLY different. The original 5150 probably has more gain, but it's a harsh, bright, metallic mush that your notes just sort of disappear into. An SLO also has a sick amount of gain, but the tone is much smoother and controllable, and it has amazing clarity for such a gainy amp.

I haven't really had enough time with a 5150III to compare, so I don't have an opinion of it.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Not trying to troll here, but have any of you played an SLO? It might sound somewhat like a 5150, but it feels REALLY different. The original 5150 probably has more gain, but it's a harsh, bright, metallic mush that your notes just sort of disappear into. An SLO also has a sick amount of gain, but the tone is much smoother and controllable, and it has amazing clarity for such a gainy amp.

I haven't really had enough time with a 5150III to compare, so I don't have an opinion of it.

NOPE, not played a SLO . . . i am going by what my ears tell me, vai the clip in post no. 1

The guy who created that blog, in the link, is a an amp tech and amp builder, and even someone with his credentials says they sound scarily close.

[dystrust]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

NOPE, not played a SLO . . . i am going by what my ears tell me, vai the clip in post no. 1

The guy who created that blog, in the link, is a an amp tech and amp builder, and even someone with his credentials says they sound scarily close.

He's right, they do sound really close. And after reading his blog I absolutely believe you could modify a 5150 to get it much closer to a SLO tone-wise. I'd also be curious how he thinks a Mesa Rectifier compares. The first time I played an SLO I thought more 'recto' in terms of comparison than 5150.

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

I don't see what's so great about it. For one, we don't know what pickups he used or what speaker. A speaker that sounds good with a 5150 isn't going to sound as good with an SLO. In my experience, 5150's, 6505, EVH are more Celestion-friendly than Soldanos are. Soldanos love Eminence speaker and that's because Mike Soldano mostly uses those speakers in his shop. Moreover, they're all dialed in to sound similar. It would be a different story if you set all the EQ's and gain at 12:00. Not only that, it sounded like he might have been using high-output ceramic pickups. I don't know if juicing an amp with hot pickups is the best way to go about hearing the amp tone. Also, once you dial in higher amounts of preamp gain I doubt that's going to let you hear a lot of difference from other gained-out amps.

There is definitely an audible difference though. The SLO mids were stronger, the EVH actually sounded a little smoother and more like the Peavey than the SLO. He was talking about adjusting visually, etc..., but what difference does it make because the EQ's don't interact the same way from one amp to the next? I doubt there is truly a "right" way as he so confidently claims. To me the right way to compare different amps is to have them all at neutral settings and using a balanced speaker, not a spiky V30 or a bassy Swamp Thang.

I'm not an expert, but I have my doubts. High gain metal, dialed in to sound similar, through the same speaker and mic, and with high output pickups doesn't seem exactly like the "right" way to compare them. I'll go as far as to say also that he pulled back the mids on the SLO and to me that's kind of a no-no even for metal because that's one of the greatest things about that amp is the midgrange. The EVH also seems to agree more when the mids are set higher.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Did you even read what he said?

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

pretty much what i would expect from this type of video, complete with predictable responses to the thread

the point of it all is, similar amps sound similar, and many amps can be EQ'd to sound like other amps. I've heard people complain that modern Orange amps sound like 5150's, and I've heard other people complain that the same amp sounds like a Plexi.

you get "a little extra this" or a "a slight bit more of that" from one model to the next... but loud distorted guitar sounds like loud distorted guitar no matter which amp or distortion you use.

[vinta9e]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

The three don't sound "practically the same" to me. Anyone else agrees or disagrees?

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

No, they don't, and that wasn't the implication that I got from it. What I got from it was that they do sound very very similar recorded. Even though I've never played one I think I know what dystrust means by the feel of an SLO vs a 5150. I can vouch for the difference in feel of my MarkIII vs a 5150 and various Marshalls, etc. When set for similar tones my amp always feels more "bloomy" and more aggressive. On a recording not much of that will make it through though. That's my main takeaway from all this.

I am very curious about the 5150 changes to outright SLO specs though.

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Heh, SLO/5150/5150-III comparo

Yeah a used 5150 modded to SLO specs would be a cheap option for sweet tone.