Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

[SpiderFingers]

I've been using a Rocktron Taboo Twin for over 5 years now as my main amp for studio gigs, touring, & regular club gigs but I'm looking into buying a good all tube amp. I used to own a 5150 but got rid of it & now I'm considering buying either a Soldano SLO or a Budda amp, probably the small 18 watter. Has anyone here tried both? If so what is your opinion on them? Which would you recommend as a more versatile amp for studio AND road work? I'd be running a bolt on strat shape guitar with a humbucker in the bridge & single coil on the neck with a Floyd & maple neck.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

a 100w slo and 18w superdrive II are very different amps. how much clean headroom do you need?

 

[devastone]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

I agree with Jeremy, you're talking apples and oranges. FWIW, the SD30 is supposed to be a killer amp and 30W is a nice in-between power rating, although all the Buddas that I've played seemed loud for their ratings. The SLOs sound great, but it's a 100W amp.

 

[SpiderFingers]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

For live playing I DO use the clean channels a LOT. For my session work almost 90% of the time it's the distortion sound for solos. I LOVE the distortion sound of the Soldano but dang it's 100watts which honestly I'll probably never even get near to touching that sound level. Having said that THAT was what attracted me to the Budda. I heard good things about their quality & sound & it's low wattage.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

Both Budda and Soldano are 'wide open' sounding amps, meaning they like to be loud, and don't have much in the way of compression at normal levels.

One amp you might want to check out is a the new H&K Switchblade. If you're doing sessions and live playing, it might be a more versatile and useful amp for you. The Bogner Shiva, Ecstasy, Genz Benz, Soldano Hotrod 50+, Decatone, and new Marshalls could also be something to consider.
http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

TOTALLY DIFFERENT AMPS, WATTAGES AND FEEL(s)

As a regular Budda user let me remind you of the following -

The Budda is classic EVH style tone with a little AC30 glass added to the top. Very grind-y sorta distortion with a sweet clean that breaks up nice. I record with one a LOT. With bands it DOES NOT hold the bottom as well as it should, and it may not push over the top enough. Quite a dark amp. you may like it if you are mic'd thru a system. One very popular act here in LA does that, and it's great.

Regarding the SLO, very classic tones in there. I would like to hear one with Greenbacks or V30s vs Soldano cabs. Otherwise, I find their best tones are when they are a bit saturated, yet they can be too much when recording. Not as good a recording amp as a Budda. However, they mix AMAZINGLY with an old Marshall. Mix them and you will find the magical tones that guys like Betts and Haynes have had for years.

 

[SpiderFingers]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

Thanks for that feedback. I'll just have to take a trip up to Austin & try out both & find out which I think will work better .If you read my review of the Rocktron Taboo Twin on Harmony central you'll see where I'm coming from. I was (still am) working full time as a gigging musician, teacher, studio musician & road dog. I didn't have $10K to get an all purpose rack/gear like Michael Landau or Steve Lukather & needed something to get me CLOSE to that while I saved up for it....well years later I'm very happy with it & simply kept it as it can pull all of that off very well in EVERY one of those settings. However my dream still lives. As I listed on there my dream rack would have a Matchless or BadCat for cleans, a Marshall type for crunch rythms & a Soldano for leads. Well I started figuring I could probably put together something but at much less wattage. That's why I was considering the Budda. Also because everything I've heard from working musicians was GOOD, nothing bad from anyone who actually owned one or tried one out.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

The only Budda criticism is the lack of bottom. They are tad box-y, and do not necessarily have a big sound to go with a rock band. Soldanos lack a little brown-ness for me, I have always liked them more when mixed with another amp.

If you like Matchless and Bad Cat, a Budda might eb a bit cheaper, but not by much. The Hot Cat 15/30 is a good route for you to go - great cleans and huge gain.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

go for the budda superdrive 45. the 18 may not have enough volume or gain, the 30 is voiced darker, and the 80 will probably be too loud. The 45 also has the most gain of the buddas + has switch for solid state or tube rectifier. Dont forget to get the budda speakers with it. Without the custom eminence speakers you wont get the great tone those amps are capable of.


the bad cat is another really good amp.

 

[SpiderFingers]

Re: Soldano or Budda? Advice/opinions?

I'm going to have to check those Budda's out. I was thinking of getting the head but like I said (maybe not on this post) I was planning on getting 2 cabs one loaded with Greenback & the other with Sheffields. Thanks for the advice about the Eminence. That's what my Rocktron has.