......

[bog70]

Sold my 1st SLO to Ray Gomez in 1990

 

[Jdub]

My first SLO was an '88 that was beat to hell from touring with Faster Pussycat. I later picked up a minty '97 to go with it. After putting fresh/identical tubes in both, I could not tell a difference in sound. I currently have an '03 and a '13 and the same thing: fresh pre's, fresh 5881's, and I can't hear a difference. I must deaf.

cool!! I had an 89 in purple that belonged to Faster Pussycat too. Small world! That was my first one. Do you know Toru Onda?

Right on. Mine was purple, too. Brent beat the living shit out of it. I doubt Toru would remember me.

did yours have a Suhr loop?

 

[Jdub]

Sold my 1st SLO to Ray Gomez in 1990

Hi Carl,
You were kind enough to buy one of mine somewhere along the line. Probably around the time of the U-haul episode IIRC.

lol cheers!

 

[stratjacket]

SLO is a dream amp I'll own some day. I've got my Diezel and my Uber, I'm still missing the SLO...
One of the things that really made me want one is that it's been my favorite model in my AxeFxII. I've done that with many of the pedals and amps they model, if its good in the Axe, I feel compelled to buy the real thing...I guess that's a real upside of all these modellers.

 

[Luca79]

There are various version of the SLO:

I'm sure i seen one with Xicon resistors in the grids.


The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

 

[cecilbag]

There are various version of the SLO:

I'm sure i seen one with Xicon resistors in the grids.


The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing

 

[Elric]

everything cycles... I remember buying one for 1850 on TGP in 2001 .. everyone was dumping them.

I got a Rackmount SLO from Rick Steier of Warrant for 900.00 in 1998. Also an x88 preamp from a music studio in VanNuys for 400.00!! the good old days.

Wow. I also remember plexis in good condition going for 500, early 90s when everyone wanted rack stuff. Damn shame I wasn't much of a gear nut then.

Yes the good old days there were some amazing deals only if we would have known

You'd have to do the inflation calculations to know. The house I grew up in cost my parents less than my car cost me in absolute dollars with no inflation adjustment when I bought it a couple of years back but that really doesn't tell you much without more data. $900 was probably pricey in '98 for an amp head.

 

[northern1]

There are various version of the SLO:

I'm sure i seen one with Xicon resistors in the grids.


The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

Yes the filter caps had to change, apperently they are not making the Mallory Caps anymore. The last pic also the Deyoung label isn't on the choke transformer so probably pre 91..
The second pic looks like a clone SLO it isn't a Soldano..

 

[FourT6and2]

There are various version of the SLO:

I'm sure i seen one with Xicon resistors in the grids.


The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

Yes the filter caps had to change, apperently they are not making the Mallory Caps anymore. The last pic also the Deyoung label isn't on the choke transformer so probably pre 91..
The second pic looks like a clone SLO it isn't a Soldano..

Correct. I made that photo. And that is the clone I built.

There aren't really multiple "versions" of the SLO. But the amp has been around for a long time, and over the years, various manufacturers of caps and other parts stopped making them, or came out with replacements. So Soldano had to use what was available. For what it's worth, the newer Panasonic caps are better (on paper) than the Mallory ones. And I know the Philips MKT preamp caps are made by Vishay now. Same shit though.

 

[FourT6and2]

The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

No orange drops there. SLO doesn't use 'em. Were originally Philips MKT. Are now Vishay MKT. They look like orange drops, but they are not metal. They are polyester. By contrast, the second one down is my clone. And that has Sprague orange drops. But not real orange drops. They are 716P.

 

[Luca79]

The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

No orange drops there. SLO doesn't use 'em. Were originally Philips MKT. Are now Vishay MKT. They look like orange drops, but they are not metal. They are polyester. By contrast, the second one down is my clone. And that has Sprague orange drops. But not real orange drops. They are 716P.

Thanks for the clarification, and nice build there.

 

[northern1]

...

 

[jlb32]

Congrats!! Looks killer!!

I've loved every Soldano I have ever played. Mike does them right and they are all hand built to order.

I personally ended up with a new Soldano Hot Rod 25 (with depth mod) around 2 years ago and still love it to death today.

 

[cecilbag]

Here is a pic.

Nice setup. I like your style. I will be playing my LPC and SLO tonight. Tasty

 

[jjjj]

I always said that the SLO was for you! Hang on to this one!

 

[Jdub]

There are various version of the SLO:

I'm sure i seen one with Xicon resistors in the grids.


The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

Yes the filter caps had to change, apperently they are not making the Mallory Caps anymore. The last pic also the Deyoung label isn't on the choke transformer so probably pre 91..
The second pic looks like a clone SLO it isn't a Soldano..

Correct. I made that photo. And that is the clone I built.

There aren't really multiple "versions" of the SLO. But the amp has been around for a long time, and over the years, various manufacturers of caps and other parts stopped making them, or came out with replacements. So Soldano had to use what was available. For what it's worth, the newer Panasonic caps are better (on paper) than the Mallory ones. And I know the Philips MKT preamp caps are made by Vishay now. Same shit though.

Great post and pics. and nice build man! (for what i know) which is nothing tech wise... but it sure looks good!!

 

[rstites]

Wow. I also remember plexis in good condition going for 500, early 90s when everyone wanted rack stuff. Damn shame I wasn't much of a gear nut then.

My main amp for years was a JMP 2203 with a matched 4x12 loaded with G12-65. I purchased the halfstack for $600 in the early 90s, and played for a decade in various bands.

Relevant to the thread, I have a 1992 SLO as my main amp for the last 15 years. I run it through the same Marshall cab. I have one of the purple head cabs......which I dislike but I've never spent money on straight cosmetic things like that, so it mismatches my black Marshall cabs I pair it with.

I've gone through a bunch of gear, but those two have been the core of my sound for 25 years.....man, does that sound like a long time now!

Also, now that I mention it, those are some pretty good base sounds to work with aren't they?!

 

[russoloco]

The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

No orange drops there. SLO doesn't use 'em. Were originally Philips MKT. Are now Vishay MKT. They look like orange drops, but they are not metal. They are polyester. By contrast, the second one down is my clone. And that has Sprague orange drops. But not real orange drops. They are 716P.

The original used Mallory PVC series coupling caps. I have a stash of them that need to be used.

 

[FourT6and2]

The last is the oldest SLO, with Mallory TC filter caps, and all Orange Drop in the pre board.

No orange drops there. SLO doesn't use 'em. Were originally Philips MKT. Are now Vishay MKT. They look like orange drops, but they are not metal. They are polyester. By contrast, the second one down is my clone. And that has Sprague orange drops. But not real orange drops. They are 716P.

The original used Mallory PVC series coupling caps. I have a stash of them that need to be used.

Wonder why they aren't used anymore. You can still buy them in bulk.

 

[RockyStar]

I never understood why there is all this talk of such and such year being better. Each amp in a way is unique just like a guitar. Each part matters, each tube, cap, etc all combined brings the total package. I would think if you put 10 of the same amps in the same room with all new parts and tubes from various "eras" it would be next to impossible to tell a difference. Does an 89 SLO really sound better than a 94? Is a 98 better than a 2006? I would imagine the differences are minimal if any and that tubes make more of an impact (old vs. new tubes, not various tube brands types etc in this example) than anything.