Soldano + Blues

Gunny47

Gunny47

New member
Hey guys, you probably know that I am mainly a blues player and love listening to all that stuff all the same. We all know that most blues players prefer the cranked clean amps for the most parts (Super Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, Tweeds, other boutique stuff, plexis etc). However, blues dudes like Warren Haynes and D!ckey Betts play(ed) Soldanos, which I always thought were associated with guys like Eddie Van Halen. I just picked up the new Guitar World, and theres an article on "Stevie Ray Vaughan's Lost Amp" and what was it, a soldano! The thing looks sick - Its a SLO-100 head with tweed covering and black chicken head knobs. Mike Soldano modded it for SRV with a mid scoop switch in the back that makes the amp act more like his Supers and Marshall Majors. I thought it was a very interesting article. I also did some more research and found out that Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore also used Soldanos. Sounds like sick amps, but of course, expensive. Just thought I'd share....
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

SRV used Marshalls? What studio recorded songs did he use Marshalls?

I think an Avenger would be a sick blues amp.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

Soldanos have a great lead tone and can get a soaring bluesy tone if dialed in right. I saw clapton use them in his backline in the 80s early 90s, and they sounded great to me. Did EVH ever use soldanos? I've seen Warren Haynes and ****ey uses 'em live with the allmans and they sounded amazing as well. I've always dug warren's tone and playing.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

Yeeup. SRV used Marshalls in his rig *along with* Fenders. What I mean is that he ran them at the same time. He would record with something like 16 amps going at once, each mic'd in their own room. That was all done by the sound guys. He would want a sound and they'd do what they had to to get it there. Didn't know he had a Soldano in his arsenal though. That's cool.

EVH recorded For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with a SLO-100. It's pretty common knowledge now that the 5150 was designed around the SLO-100. They have a pretty similar gain structure. The 5150 wasn't officially released until after the album was already done although I had heard he cut a couple tracks with a prototype model.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

I didnt know that about for unlawful carnal...his tone during the van hagar years was always a distant second to his van roth days. It's too thin or something. Now GL's tone with a soldano is great. Soldanos were all the rage in the 90s but at this point an amp like a splawn QR puts it to shame price wise and options wise, wouldnt you say?
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

I never played a Splawn, only heard clips. I've played a SLO-100 before in a shop and was totally blown away. The closest I'll get to actually owning one is the model of it in my Vox AD50VT. LOL

I like EVH's tone on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance the best out of the Van Hagar years. Of the Roth years, 1984 has the best tone out of them all, IMO.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

Lespaul1981 said:
Soldanos were all the rage in the 90s but at this point an amp like a splawn QR puts it to shame price wise and options wise, wouldnt you say?
Click to expand...


Depends, you can pickup up Hot Rods used for less than a Splawn, a SLO on the other hand is quite a bit even used. The difference is the components in the SLO are very expensive, custom wound trannies, etc... But the quality of the HR components are on par or better than other amps at the same price point. Not dissin' Splawn, Scott makes some killer amps too, but to compare apples to apples I think you have to look at the "mid-level" Soldanos and not the SLOs.

Just my $0.02,
Roger
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

True the SLO is more pricey, which is one of the turn offs. 3k plus for a 2 channel amp is pretty steep.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

****ey only used soldanos for a short period and warren uses marshall/diaz setup with the brothers now. the slo is a great amp but not something i would use for my style. warren sounds great with it and lots of others do to
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

ErikH said:
Yeeup. SRV used Marshalls in his rig *along with* Fenders. What I mean is that he ran them at the same time. He would record with something like 16 amps going at once, each mic'd in their own room. That was all done by the sound guys. He would want a sound and they'd do what they had to to get it there. .....
Click to expand...

SRV reportly used this kind of multi amp recording on the In Step album. It was actually recorded in a multi storey Victorian era house, with different amps in different rooms, IIRC. Similar to Jimmy Page's approach to some Led Zep recordings.

SRV had a bunch of Marshall cabinets, including some 4x15 bass cabs, that he was fond of runnning 200 watt amps through in the studio.

Wow, SRV using a SLO-100 is news!
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

I always liked Warren Haynes' tone in EVERY recording I listened to... I don't know the exact rig he uses and how much of that tone depends on the SLO-100. He has a klon and another overdrive pedal (which I can't remember).

Insane blues tone...
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

Don't forget, there's Soldanos specifically made for blues. The SLO and Hotrods are popular, but the Reverb O Sonic and Astroverb are designed with clean/midgain tones in mind.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

ErikH said:
EVH recorded For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with a SLO-100. It's pretty common knowledge now that the 5150 was designed around the SLO-100. They have a pretty similar gain structure. The 5150 wasn't officially released until after the album was already done although I had heard he cut a couple tracks with a prototype model.
Click to expand...



Hey Eric . . . not a big fan of Van Halen, but i was told (not too long ago either) ther the 5150 was loosly based/moulded around the Peavey VTM series of amps ! :eek13:

. . . any truth in that statement ???
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Hey Eric . . . not a big fan of Van Halen, but i was told (not too long ago either) ther the 5150 was loosly based/moulded around the Peavey VTM series of amps ! :eek13:

. . . any truth in that statement ???
Click to expand...

That's a new one to me. Only way to really find out is to compare schematics.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

Yeah, soldanos can be great blues amps.

They're a very different animal than your average classic fender blues amp, even though their tone stack is modelled on tweed fenders (and, more pertinently, Marshalls) and they use 6l6/5881 power tubes.

To me, they have a very defined response, but manage to do so without sounding nasty in the mids or being difficult to play. In fact, the reverse is true: soldanos are among the most playable amps I've used.They can really fool you into chasing after stuff you normall wouldn't think you can pull off.

So, to answer your question, they are a very usable blues amp,especially if you wind up the power section and keep the gain down. But they definitely have a feel all of their own, and it's quite different from your supers and deluxes.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

the more I think about it...

-I think a big reason why a lot of those classic rock/blues guys started using Soldanos was timing.

Mike Soldano bought out the SLO at a time when boutique amps didn't really exist. So for a while, his amp was the last word in well built big amps. So a lot of touring pros were probably grabbing them for reasons of reliability alone. Also, there were some pretty specific needs that his amp addressed:

-Clapton got his with his Bradshaw rack, and probably needed it to cut through all the effects mush. Judging by his sound at the mid 90s gig I saw, he failed. He dropped the rack and went on to use tweed twins.

-Knopfler uses them to this day, and likes them because they have clarity and push a lot of air, which helps make up for the attack he loses by not using a pick.

-Moore was a transplanted metal guy, and was pretty much playing 'blues' with a metal tone.
 
Re: Soldano + Blues

ErikH said:
Yeeup. SRV used Marshalls in his rig *along with* Fenders. What I mean is that he ran them at the same time. He would record with something like 16 amps going at once, each mic'd in their own room. That was all done by the sound guys. He would want a sound and they'd do what they had to to get it there. Didn't know he had a Soldano in his arsenal though. That's cool.

EVH recorded For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with a SLO-100. It's pretty common knowledge now that the 5150 was designed around the SLO-100. They have a pretty similar gain structure. The 5150 wasn't officially released until after the album was already done although I had heard he cut a couple tracks with a prototype model.
Click to expand...

Fact....The preamps in these 3 amps are almost identical....Almost and I'm sure not all by coicidence and I have the 3 schematics with the SLO 100 being around first....The 3 amps are:

SLO 100
Peavey 5150
Mesa Dual Rectifier

If you have the schematics,look at the preamps..:13:
 
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