Soldano SLO 100 - yay or nay for modern high gain?

Racerxrated said:
The SLO shits on every version 5150 in clarity, punch, feel…..but it’s not as tight even boosted. For me it’s tight enough with a boost but I’m not a metal player. Try one, boost it with different pedals and you may find it works. If not, move it on…
Click to expand...


 
The concept that double the cost does not equal double the quality escapes most people. When you start from a high level, a small improvement in quality equates to an often significant increase in price due to assembling with better parts of much higher value.

Having said that, I own an SLO and two 5150s (Peavey and EVH) in terms of recording, especially if boosted, they are similar, they are actually very different. As far as I'm concerned, the Soldano is an amp with a more 90s sound, although it is capable of doing everything, I don't find it specific for harder and more modern genres.

And it is an amp that is not very forgiving, so it highlights the shortcomings in playing. All 5150s actually have more gain and compression and are definitely more percussive.

If you play an SLO and a 5150 side by side, you understand that although they have similar DNA they are very different. It all depends on the genre you play. If you play metal get a metal amp.

Most people have never even tried an SLO but compare it to the 5150 because many videos put them in competition with each other. And even if they tried it they didn't do it for months or years.

As far as I'm concerned the SLO is a better amplifier only if we consider all musical genres.
 
It’s about using the right tool for the job. SLO’s don’t have an aggressive character and are loose on the low end. They can do metal, but they’re not ideal. Buy any one of these instead:

- 5150 variant
- Mesa Mark series
- Dual Recto (have to boost)
- Diezel VH4/Herbert
- Fryette Deliverance (or any other Fryette, I’m pretty sure they all rock)
 
CrazyNutz said:
...On the older SLOs they don't have a depth control...
Click to expand...
Most of the Seattle-made SLO's with depth knobs were post-production mods with stuck on labels. There are some with the labelled chassis (like mine)....

24949.jpeg
 
JulesDB said:
The concept that double the cost does not equal double the quality escapes most people. When you start from a high level, a small improvement in quality equates to an often significant increase in price due to assembling with better parts of much higher value.

Having said that, I own an SLO and two 5150s (Peavey and EVH) in terms of recording, especially if boosted, they are similar, they are actually very different. As far as I'm concerned, the Soldano is an amp with a more 90s sound, although it is capable of doing everything, I don't find it specific for harder and more modern genres.

And it is an amp that is not very forgiving, so it highlights the shortcomings in playing. All 5150s actually have more gain and compression and are definitely more percussive.

If you play an SLO and a 5150 side by side, you understand that although they have similar DNA they are very different. It all depends on the genre you play. If you play metal get a metal amp.

Most people have never even tried an SLO but compare it to the 5150 because many videos put them in competition with each other. And even if they tried it they didn't do it for months or years.

As far as I'm concerned the SLO is a better amplifier only if we consider all musical genres.
Click to expand...
I would agree with this. The SLO wouldn’t be my first choice for metal, but for almost anything else the 5150’s are not as good. In either case the SLO just inherently has a lot more going on tonally that 5150’s, it just isn’t ideally suited for metal. Just about choosing the right tool for the job. I think the SLO is at least 9/10 good for where it works well, while imho the 6505/5150’s are maybe 7 or 7.5/10 good for what they do well
 
I vastly prefer the SLO to any version of 5150, SPECIFICALLY for metal.

But, when I say "metal", I mean Priest/Maiden/Helloween/Accept/Iced Earth

Not Meshuggah/Slipnot/Deftones/Polyamory/Satellite radio metal

If you are playing modern YouTube metal, yeah get a 5150 and you'll get that sound. SLO is plenty tight with a boost on the crunch channel, and has way more punch, character, and clarity, and way less fizz.

But it won't do Fluff/Tammy Henson tones very well.
 
The other thing is amps like SLO’s allow for more expressive nuances in playing to come through vs 5150’s, so if you are a more aggressive player you will hear it more even though it’s more on the loose, round attack side. Personally I’d rather hear the cool nuances of a great player on an amp that lets those details through more vs a more homogenized amp like a 5150 even though it sounds more “metal” by nature. It also in some ways is more boring
 
thegame said:
Bitch pickers need “metal” amps to get metal tones because their hands didn’t practice on ”non-metal” amps such as the SLO and, this one especially cracks me up, JCM 800s. I can get metal tones out of an accordian.
Click to expand...
braintheory said:
The other thing is amps like SLO’s allow for more expressive nuances in playing to come through vs 5150’s, so if you are a more aggressive player you will hear it more even though it’s more on the loose, round attack side. Personally I’d rather hear the cool nuances of a great player on an amp that lets those details through more vs a more homogenized amp like a 5150 even though it sounds more “metal” by nature. It also in some ways is more boring
Click to expand...

This idea is so, sooooo true and so important

I think some of the lack of consensus in the gear/forum world is because of the obvious differences in respective players' right hands.

I'm a "super aggressive right hand" type player, so stuff like a SLO or 800 is plenty metal....at least when I play it 🤷

Shit man, ever tried to get a heavy tone out of a Peavey keyboard amp from 1989? I did, for the first couple years I learned guitar

I don't think a 5150 is a bad amp at all, they have their place, even though they're overused on modern "metal" recordings - but I have a suspicion that the reason so many people love them, is that they are very "player independent-" they sound the same no matter who is playing them.


Whereas an SLO is very "player dependent-" where there is so much expressiveness and dynamic range, that it basically requires metal technique to get metal tones.
 
jabps said:
Back in the 90's I had the OG 5150, been playing it a few years. Finally got my dream amp the SLO 100 with the depth mod. Long story short, I kept the 5150, sold the SLO. Several friends thought I was crazy as the SLO was top of the heap...the standard. Years later the 5150's would be the standard as well.

Both great amps, nobody will debate the build quality of the SLO but in the end, it's about what feels and sounds right to you the player. In my experience, I just much preferred the high gain tones of the OG 5150. It was everything I wanted in an amp at that time. I was spoiled with that amp for about 10 years.

The SLO is big and ballsy, sorta round in it's tone (to me) and to get that tighter high gain sound you're gonna have to run an OD. Back in the day I didn't even run an OD with the 5150, I could dial in my tone with the amp only. Btw/ I still don't run an OD into my amps, just not my thing. Personally, I'd go 6505's or the EVH's but that said, I'm a firm believer in trying something for yourself, that's really the only way to find out. Maybe you have that option, I don't know.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Your Kung Fu is good.
 
I wouldn't buy an SLO for metal. It's a great all around amp, excelling at rock. One of the best for singing leads.
An EVH Stealth, or even a Mesa .50 Caliber + are better for metal tones than the SLO. IMO.
 
I absolutely LOVE the SLO 100, but for more modern tones, it's definitely not an amp I gravitate towards. Like a few others have commented here, it has a much more "rounded" tone and attack than something like a 5150, or even a Rectifier.

The Depth mod on the newer ones is a nice plus, as is the more modern effects, loop, especially if you're wanting to use an EQ in the loop, which you would most likely need to achieve more modern tones.

With that said, I had fantastic luck tightening up my SLO 100 and the Avenger I had using my Soldano front loaded 412, as well as a boss SD1 and an EQ pedal in front of the amp. I cut A LOT of low end before the amp, and it actually seems to respond very well to doing so, and I also boosted the front amp fairly hard, just because the preamp of the SLO 100 tends to mud up if you try to push the gain too hard.

But, if you're hoping to use whatever cab and boost lying around and not tailor your playing to the amp to get more modern tones, the SLO is not for you.
 
After doing a lot more research and looking at videos where I could find them - as well as taiking stock of the overwhelming majority of comments on this thread that indicated this amp wouldn't cop the modern metal sound I was looking for - I convinced myself this is amp isn't what I am looking for as well. Thanks, guys.

Have a couple of other oddballs that I couldn't find much info about on the radar, will see if those are a better fit.
 
If you want a super bloated, super over hyped amp that has been on about one modern heavy record ever, then THIS is the amp for you! It TOTALLY sounds JUST like a rev C! AND a 5150…. At the same time! It’s just a big conspiracy why this amp has literally been on like one heavy record ever, it’s just that no one knows how awesome it truly is!







Sigh……..
 
Last edited:
I dont have an actual SLO, but I have a Jet City JCA100HDM that I modded to SLO specs. It reminds me more of living somewhere between a high gain modded JCM800 and a Dual Recto. It does not get as aggressive as a 5150.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top