I have seen a lot of talk in the past regarding the Decatone vs. SLO. I remember this over-the-top dude named Lynn Bird or something over on TGP who kept saying pretty much that all amps are shit compared to the SLO. He was a Soldano dealer and I was wanting to buy a Decatone but he pissed in my ear for like 30 minutes straight about the SLO being the supreme amp and all. Then when I was researching discussion boards and reviews, people were always saying the same thing: "Decatone is great but it's not an SLO." or something to that effect.
Well I owned a 2008 SLO and it was too loud so I sold it and ended up buying a Decatone later on. My first impression of the Decatone certainly broke the mold of what you usually read on the Internet. The Decatone had an absolutely gorgeous clean channel. The crunch channel was simply amazing and very versatile all on its own. The gain channel kind of reminded me of the Lucky 13 overdrive but more saturated. Wow! What an amazing amp. It wasn't as loud as an SLO, but the brightness was also a little more tame. Sometimes the SLO was a bit too bright if I didn't use the right speakers. The SLO has amazing definition. I can't say that the Decatone has that same degree of definition, and I suppose it's because is slightly more compressed and darker, but it still has exceptional definition.
The FX loops were another thing I remember seeing a lot about. Some people said the SLO effects loop was better, etc... but I found the Decatone FX loop to be pretty quiet. My SLO used to have just a little bit of noise in the FX loop when you were running the volume low, but the Decatone was very pedal friendly in the FX loop.
After owning them both, I realized that most of the Internet talk is done by people who probably never even played both of them. I also found out that a lot of people were not running the master volume high. On the Decatone, you pretty much turn the master volume all the way up and leave it like that.
Maybe this sounds crazy but I actually prefer the Decatone over the SLO. It's more flexible, it has an immaculate clean channel, plus it's like $1000 less than an SLO. Though it doesn't get a bad rap, I don't think it gets enough respect. After all these years and all these great amps out there like the Diezels, Wizards, Ecstasy 20th's, etc... the freaking Decatone is STILL magnificent.
Well hell, that's my take. Who here has really honestly given both a fair shake and what is your opinion?
Well I owned a 2008 SLO and it was too loud so I sold it and ended up buying a Decatone later on. My first impression of the Decatone certainly broke the mold of what you usually read on the Internet. The Decatone had an absolutely gorgeous clean channel. The crunch channel was simply amazing and very versatile all on its own. The gain channel kind of reminded me of the Lucky 13 overdrive but more saturated. Wow! What an amazing amp. It wasn't as loud as an SLO, but the brightness was also a little more tame. Sometimes the SLO was a bit too bright if I didn't use the right speakers. The SLO has amazing definition. I can't say that the Decatone has that same degree of definition, and I suppose it's because is slightly more compressed and darker, but it still has exceptional definition.
The FX loops were another thing I remember seeing a lot about. Some people said the SLO effects loop was better, etc... but I found the Decatone FX loop to be pretty quiet. My SLO used to have just a little bit of noise in the FX loop when you were running the volume low, but the Decatone was very pedal friendly in the FX loop.
After owning them both, I realized that most of the Internet talk is done by people who probably never even played both of them. I also found out that a lot of people were not running the master volume high. On the Decatone, you pretty much turn the master volume all the way up and leave it like that.
Maybe this sounds crazy but I actually prefer the Decatone over the SLO. It's more flexible, it has an immaculate clean channel, plus it's like $1000 less than an SLO. Though it doesn't get a bad rap, I don't think it gets enough respect. After all these years and all these great amps out there like the Diezels, Wizards, Ecstasy 20th's, etc... the freaking Decatone is STILL magnificent.
Well hell, that's my take. Who here has really honestly given both a fair shake and what is your opinion?
