What's so great about Soldano amps?

[Boogie Bill]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

I remember playing a couple back in the '90s, when Mike had his shop in Seattle. To my ear, more Fender than Marshall. Tight response, very punchy. Too loud for what I was doing at the time, and not quite versatile enough. Then I found my Mesa Mark III, and that amp hit the right balance perfectly.

But the Soldano was a great amp.

Bill

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

SOLDANO AMPS GO TO ELEVEN!!

Thirteen year hiatus ended for that. I'll be off searching for the most epic of facepalm GIFs.

 

[Ascension]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

Soldanos are based off Boogies not Marshalls. Whole different animal have played a number of them.
Michael Soldano originally worked with his head technician Bill Sundt at Stars Guitars (San Francisco, CA), modifying amps brought to him. He had built his first amp, a Fender Bassman clone, with the aid of books being discarded by a library. Michael worked on modifying his version of the Bassman for years, until he bought a Mesa/Boogie Mark II and began modifying this amp. The first three SLO amps were based upon this amp and the first one was sold to a female friend. The second one was sold to Howard Leese from the band Heart. Within six months, he had sold amps to Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Vivian Campbell, Aldo Nova, John Fogerty and Lou Reed

 

[Coma]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

Years and years ago I was on the prowl for my first tube amp. Borrowed my parents car and brought a guitarist friend and we drove out to the countryside where this guy had a Mesa Stiletto for sale. We rock up and he shows us the amp and right next to it is an SLO. So I try out the Mesa and it's alright I guess but since we're there anyway, and I know how rare that amp is, I ask if I could plug in and the guy is super friendly and says no problem, so I hook up and chug away and mother of God it was beautiful. We finish up and I tell him thanks for the hospitality, but now that I've played the SLO, no way am I gonna be happy with that Mesa and he says yeah, that's what everybody who came here for the Mesa ended up saying [emoji1]

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

I have a SLO 100 schematic. It is essentially a Marshall 2203 with an extra preamp tube. I can see alluding the SLO to the TWEED bassman, though, since most Marshalls are a variation on that theme, and the 5F6A DNA is plain to see in the schematic. It has little in common with the black face topology that the MK series is based on, however.

 

[Sirion]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

George, Warren, Gary*; some real tone monsters got their best tones from the SLO. They are extremely rare on this side of the pond, but I tried an HR+ 10+ years ago, and it is to this day the best-sounding amp I have ever tried, no question about it. If the SLO 30s ever become available to us old-worlders, I am going to have a really hard time not getting one/getting the money for one.

*: If you can't tell whom I'm talking of from their first names, you should hang your head in shame.

 

[Ascension]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

George, Warren, Gary*; some real tone monsters got their best tones from the SLO.
*: If you can't tell whom I'm talking off from their first names, you should hang your head in shame.

Not only do I know I have stood in front of them playing a SLO!!
I agree 100% on all 3 like HERE!!

 

[JB6464]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

I love my 98 HR100+ , it's been my main amp since 2010 and nothing yet has knocked it off the throne .
I've tried going back to Marshall's , Mesa's and Carvin X100B amps but I prefer the Soldano tone and smooth tube overdrive gain .
The SLO is the flagship amp but if you have one you quickly learn the magic lives in that amp being cranked up really loud to get the goods , it's also more hifi sounding than the HR amps . The SLO may not be the only amp for you depending on what your trying to get out of the Soldano tone .
I have also owned the SLO , HR50 , Avenger 100w with Deyoung iron and there is still something magical about my old 98 HR100+ with stock MM iron that just smashes it for me .
Only mods I have done to it was drop the 5881 tubes and run real 6L6GC tubes and install SLO knobs , hated the chicken head knobs .
I use the slave out on the back to my effects and bring them back through a Carvin 100w tube power amp pumping it through EVM12L loaded cabinets , sounds much better than effects through the loop imo .
After 10 years straight of playing Soldano amps my gear search is over , other than buying more Soldano amps when a good deal pops up , lol .

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

In an overly generalized sense, and in case there is confusion, Soldanos are generally considered feature added and gain stage changed Marshalls JCMS which themselves are feature added and gain stage changes to the original Marshall JTM which is also a gain stage change to the Fender Bassmans -which is ALSO where the Mesa Boogie line comes from with feature adds and gain stage changes. -of course all versions of every brand had minor power stage, tube and transformer tweeks as well -especially because of what they could source.

But the Soldano, Mesa Boogie and Marshall lines all trace their DNA from the Fender Bassman.

So they are all related -nobody's wrong referencing a Soldano as Marshally or Mesa Boogyie -maybe its just more correct to say they are Bassmany. :lmao:

 

[jeremy]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

i thought the boogies were more bf fender based than tweed? growing up a local guy had a slo100 and it was awesome but the volume needed to be at like 5 or 6 to sound its best. he also had some mod done so there was a little more low mid at lower gain settings or something. its the only slo ive spent much time with and if i was playing places where i could have a 100w at 6 id be very happy to have one.

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

I know SLO-100 is a head but... What is the matching cab? What speakers?

 

[Coma]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

I know SLO-100 is a head but... What is the matching cab? What speakers?

Maybe Eminence?

 

[Sirion]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

The above is technically correct, but it appears to me that the Soldano cabinets have never enjoyed the same status as the amps, and most of the rock guys playing them ended up using Marshall cabinets.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What's so great about Soldano amps?

my buddy ran his slo 100 through two vertical 2x12 cabs loaded with v30's. was a great setup!