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

  • Thread starter Thread starter nightlight
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I’m a rock guy and I always thought the 5150 sounded “out of focus,” like there was the core sound and right parallel beside that sound was all this fizz. I played an SLO and remember thinking it was similar but much more refined and better. Again, for rock. Do still like the 5150 though
 
VESmedic said:
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……..
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I’m not sure who your dig is at, but there are plenty of amps that are good that are not on any albums or being used by good bands. Fryette stuff comes to mind, I’m sure there are other examples.

A couple of people on this thread have already said they could cop the metal tones they want using the SLO. That’s good enough for me, but it was not the tone I was looking for.

There was also a good clip of someone using the amp, whose recording prowess was similar to my own skills.

The SLO was also on one kickass KSE album as someone pointed out. That’s again good enough for me.

So why do you want to control people and impose your views? People like what people like, no need to try and belittle them.
 
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nightlight said:
I’m not sure who your dig is at, but there are plenty of amps that are good that are not on any albums or being used by good bands. Fryette stuff comes to mind, I’m sure there are other examples.

A couple of people on this thread have already said they could cop the metal tones they want using the SLO. That’s good enough for me, but it was not the tone I was looking for.

There was also a good clip of someone using the amp, whose recording prowess was similar to my own skills.

The SLO was also on one kickass KSE album as someone pointed out. That’s again good enough for me.

So why do you want to control people and impose your views? People like what people like, no need to try and belittle them.
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….you LITERALLY asked to be talked into, or talked out of this purchase…your words…. Not mine…. No one is belittling anyone, obviously you got my point. I wasn’t calling out anyone, or shitting on someone’s opinion. I gave MY opinion because YOU asked for that in your first post. Think what you want, but if these amps were “ SOOOO AMAZING” for metal ( VHT and soldano) they would be all over classic albums. Simple as that. But they aren’t. And for good reason. People love getting upset about this because it goes against their beliefs they have had on certain pieces of gear for years. But reality is reality . If you like it , great. That’s all that matters. But, the folklore these amps get just does not in any way shape or form, hold up to real world use.
 
VESmedic said:
….you LITERALLY asked to be talked into, or talked out of this purchase…your words…. Not mine…. No one is belittling anyone, obviously you got my point. I wasn’t calling out anyone, or shitting on someone’s opinion. I gave MY opinion because YOU asked for that in your first post. Think what you want, but if these amps were “ SOOOO AMAZING” for metal ( VHT and soldano) they would be all over classic albums. Simple as that. But they aren’t. And for good reason. People love getting upset about this because it goes against their beliefs they have had on certain pieces of gear for years. But reality is reality . If you like it , great. That’s all that matters. But, the folklore these amps get just does not in any way shape or form, hold up to real world use.
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Well, we have the KSE album as proof. If you want to argue that exceptions are not the rule, that's fine. But it definitely can be done.

I haven't heard a lot of Sig:Xs or Ultra Leads on albums either. I don't think I've heard a lot of Wizards as well. That doesn't prove an amp can't be used for metal.

If we went by conventional logic, we also wouldn't be running distortion pedals at full tilt into amp, but look at the Swedish death metal tone. And people struggle to replicate that tone now successfully, even though they have the equipment.

All I'm saying is, there's definitely more than one way to skin a cat, I could bet the SLO could be made to sound modern using just a boost and an EQ pedal, forget about thousands of dollars in outboard equipment.

In fact, some of the guys on this thread were saying the exact same thing, but you just stated your opinion as though it was fact.
 
Anyhow, I did a small recording of the Axe FXIII model of this amp as a way to close this thread. When boosted, it sounds quite good. Unboosted, I think it would suit older styles of metal quite well.



First part of the clip is the amp boosted and dual tracked. Next is the amp without a boost in mono. Third part is the amp boosted in mono.
 
Techdeth said:
This is me using SLO for metal . Production sucks but some have told me they like this
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That really floats my boat dude!

20230930_070317.gif
 
nightlight said:
Anyhow, I did a small recording of the Axe FXIII model of this amp as a way to close this thread. When boosted, it sounds quite good. Unboosted, I think it would suit older styles of metal quite well.



First part of the clip is the amp boosted and dual tracked. Next is the amp without a boost in mono. Third part is the amp boosted in mono.
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That boosted part was nice 👍
 
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.
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This^^^^^
I’m over the narrative of how “tight” an amp is.
It’s people who pick like a bird, scoop all the mids and whine that the amp is flubby.
“Tight” response is 90% picking.
 
PLX said:
The SLO is the samurai sword of tone.

The Thor's hammer of thump.

If you can't get your jam on with an SLO, you might as well pack it up and go home.
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💯
It’s clear after reading this thread that most of the people commenting have never played an SLO.
I’ve played about every high gain amp there is and to imply that the SLO is somehow not able to pull off modern metal tones is ridiculous.
 
Mr.Fun said:
💯
It’s clear after reading this thread that most of the people commenting have never played an SLO.
I’ve played about every high gain amp there is and to imply that the SLO is somehow not able to pull off modern metal tones is ridiculous.
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I dunno, man.

My theory is.. most guys don't spend enough time turning knobs, changing a few components, and dialing an amp in before they sell it and buy another amp.

:aww:
 
PLX said:
I dunno, man.

My theory is.. most guys don't spend enough time turning knobs, changing a few components, and dialing an amp in before they sell it and buy another amp.

:aww:
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Quite possible.
 
Mr.Fun said:
This^^^^^
I’m over the narrative of how “tight” an amp is.
It’s people who pick like a bird, scoop all the mids and whine that the amp is flubby.
“Tight” response is 90% picking.
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100 percent agreed. Amps today are far, far too tight sounding out of the gate. The recto is the perfect amp for me because you can shape its front end (or don’t) however you want, there’s no boost pedal it can’t take. Amps that are super tight just sound choked off to me, and as you guys said, these kids have zero right hand strength at all and pick like a pussy. They’ve never had to “work” for the notes and the response they want because all they’ve ever played is an amp with 12 boosts upfront.
 
Mr.Fun said:
💯
It’s clear after reading this thread that most of the people commenting have never played an SLO.
I’ve played about every high gain amp there is and to imply that the SLO is somehow not able to pull off modern metal tones is ridiculous.
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Can it pull em off? Sure. Wouldn't be my first choice for a metal amp, or why I'd buy an SLO. The Friedman Phil X boosted does the modern metal sound better, imo. But the SLO still sounds pretty freaking great.

I put these up a while back, I think for a similar thread. SLO, boosted with an SD1 in the SG clip, and I think a Klone in the LP clip:


 
Mr.Fun said:
💯
It’s clear after reading this thread that most of the people commenting have never played an SLO.
I’ve played about every high gain amp there is and to imply that the SLO is somehow not able to pull off modern metal tones is ridiculous.
Click to expand...


The proof is in the pudding bro….the truth hurts, I know!
 
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.
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That’s basically the camp I fall into. I gigged a 5150 II for over a decade before I joined RT. I plugged into a SLO at a store with a $4k pricetag and was shocked that my 5150 II sounded so close at band volumes. I couldn’t justify the price difference and still can’t.
 
Ken from Unearth is very fond of his x88r preamp. Not sure how they stacks up against a slo
 
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