Is the slo all it’s cracked up to be ?

RaceU4her said:
well i gotta disagree cause most of my purchases as of late are amps you cant try and ive gone by clips and im totally happy with all of them. theres nothing in the SLO gain structure i hear that does anything for me for any style :dunno:
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Hey, I get it...can't try it first. Personally I'm glad I asked about certain amps instead of going by clips that make some amps sound like any other, which is to say average at best. In person these amps sound/feel far different.
 
I also never heard a SLO clip that wowed me, and then a couple months ago I had the opportunity to trade for one. I played it at band practice, at volume, and IMMEDIATELY got what all the fuss is about. The tone & feel are phenomenal, it cut the mix like a knife, and the power section is huge.

My band does 80s-90s style metal, punk, thrash etc.. After practicing & playing a gig with it I came to realize that in my opinion the SLO is one of the best amps ever made for rock & things like that. However, for metal, even with a boost, it was just too loose in the ass so I moved it along.

P.S. I have a mint Wizard MTL in the classifieds right now..
 
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VESmedic said:
People will justify anything in their head to make themselves believe their 4000 dollar amp sounds great.
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But the SLO do sound great, it's just not the best amp for some genres that might require less balls, less organic sound, ear piercing high mids and essentially every tone definition that a couple of decades ago would have been used to describe an ugly sounding amp. But the Soldano IS a spectacular sounding amp, and let me be a dick to everyone here, there's no "my EvH 5153 is far superior and less pricey lol" here, the EvH just fits modern music better, just like a Fiat Panda 4x4 gets the upper hand going off-road against a Lambo.
 
Zado said:
But the SLO do sound great, it's just not the best amp for some genres that might require less balls, less organic sound, ear piercing high mids and essentially every tone definition that a couple of decades ago would have been used to describe an ugly sounding amp. But the Soldano IS a spectacular sounding amp, and let me be a dick to everyone here, there's no "my EvH 5153 is far superior and less pricey lol" here, the EvH just fits modern music better, just like a Fiat Panda 4x4 gets the upper hand going off-road against a Lambo.
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Yea dude… whatever you say. So spectacular, that literally no one in modern metal, which is what THE OP said he wants to use it for, has used one on a major metal release, ever. But thanks for sharing your opinion. When I want an amp with less balls and less high mids and terrible saturation and absolutely no low end compared to anything else I own, I’ll consider the SLO.
 
VESmedic said:
Yea dude… whatever you say. So spectacular, that literally no one in modern metal, which is what THE OP said he wants to use it for, has used one on a major metal release, ever. But thanks for sharing your opinion. When I want an amp with less balls and less high mids and terrible saturation and absolutely no low end compared to anything else I own, I’ll consider the SLO.
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No discussing the OP preferences, just stating that the SLO sounds spectacular,especially if you can appreciate it. Buy yeah, going off-road with a Panda is no slouch either
 
VESmedic said:
Yea dude… whatever you say. So spectacular, that literally no one in modern metal, which is what THE OP said he wants to use it for, has used one on a major metal release, ever. But thanks for sharing your opinion. When I want an amp with less balls and less high mids and terrible saturation and absolutely no low end compared to anything else I own, I’ll consider the SLO.
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Less Balls???? Hey man I get that the SLO isn't an ENGL tight tight punching bag but less balls? With that statement, you either played one with issues that hadn't gotten fixed/diagnosed, or you played one with issues. Lol
The SLO has a power section that will SHIT all over most amps that you record, like your F Dual( I have an F Trip), 5150(any version), etc etc. Only amps that will keep up with it are named Wizard...Vintage 1959...Mark Coliseum....even your modded Morin Marshall(killer amp btw!) would have a hard time matching the huge sounding power section of a HEALTHY SLO.

I'm usually 100% with you on most things...but less balls? Haha I've heard the loose thing compared to many other amps...but it's power section makes many other amps cry in the corner. Lol
 
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Racerxrated said:
Less Balls???? Hey man I get that the SLO isn't an ENGL tight tight punching bag but no balls? With that statement, you either played one with issues that hadn't gotten fixed/diagnosed, or you played one with issues. Lol
The SLO has a power section that will SHIT all over most amps that you record, like your F Dual( I have an F Trip), 5150(any version), etc etc. Only amps that will keep up with it are named Wizard...Vintage 1959...Mark Coliseum....even your modded Morin Marshall(killer amp btw!) would have a hard time matching the huge sounding power section of a HEALTHY SLO.

I'm usually 100% with you on most things...but no balls? Haha I've heard the loose thing compared to many other amps...but it's power section makes many other amps cry in the corner. Lol
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I think you missed my point…. The guy came in here and started blasting his opinion that the SLO has more balls than other modern amps and sounds spectacular… that’s why I said what I said.


And I still stand by what I said. Not one modern metal record has been released using the SLO that I’m aware of. Not one. Could there be? Sure. But I don’t know of any. I’ve never heard of an amp being so amazingly fantastic for a genre of music yet not one relevant record ever having being done with it. For modern metal rhythms specifically…. The SLO I owned was just fine, and didn’t hold a candle to anything I own or play, sorry. It would absolutely never win against anything I own for what I like to hear. Again, something so great but yet has never been used or is a staple of tone for this style of music. Strangest thing I’ve ever heard.
 
Yeah, I have no clue if any metal record was ever made with one. Rock/Hard rock absolutely. Blues/rock absolutely. But no metal that I know of.
It's all good. I can't stand the 5150 genre; buzzy plasticky noisy mess even with a noise gate. At least live...but they are the recorded staple of metal for decades.
To each their own.
 
VESmedic said:
I think you missed my point…. The guy came in here and started blasting his opinion that the SLO has more balls than other modern amps and sounds spectacular… that’s why I said what I said.


And I still stand by what I said. Not one modern metal record has been released using the SLO that I’m aware of. Not one. Could there be? Sure. But I don’t know of any. I’ve never heard of an amp being so amazingly fantastic for a genre of music yet not one relevant record ever having being done with it. For modern metal rhythms specifically…. The SLO I owned was just fine, and didn’t hold a candle to anything I own or play, sorry. It would absolutely never win against anything I own for what I like to hear. Again, something so great but yet has never been used or is a staple of tone for this style of music. Strangest thing I’ve ever heard.
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I’m pretty sure Matt Pike from High on Fire plays an SLO, but that’s not a tight, modern tone by a long shot. Lol
 
Racerxrated said:
Yeah, I have no clue if any metal record was ever made with one. Rock/Hard rock absolutely. Blues/rock absolutely. But no metal that I know of.
It's all good. I can't stand the 5150 genre; buzzy plasticky noisy mess even with a noise gate. At least live...but they are the recorded staple of metal for decades.
To each their own.
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I feel ya brotha. I get what you are sayin! If it’s not your cup of tea it’s not your cup of tea ( the tone in this genre)!
 
Beyond Black said:
I’m pretty sure Matt Pike from High on Fire plays an SLO, but that’s not a tight, modern tone by a long shot. Lol
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Right you are sir! I would love to know what kind of custom mods were done for his SLO, I think he used to run the SLO into a Green Matamp, through another power amp and then into a whole mess of 4x12s before Mike made him a custom job.
Now is it ultra tight, modern metal?...probably not. But is it absolutely F'n crushing....YUP! Blessed Black Wings and Snakes for the Divine are some of my favorite metal tones.

Here is Mike talking about his set up with a SLO and the Marshall Kerry King.

What differences are there between that one and a standard SLO?


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Pike's dual-amp rig of Soldano SLO and Marshall JCM800 Kerry King heads. Soldano settings: Preamp - Normal: 7, Overdrive: 11, Bass: 11, Middle: 8, Treble: 4.9, Master - Normal: 4.9, Overdrive: 4, Presence: 4 - Marshall settings: Presence: 8, Bass: 8, Mid: 0, Treble: 5, Master: 5, Preamp: 9.8, Gate: 5, Assault: 10. Photo by Chris Kies
Well, it’s basically an SLO, but he and the guys there souped it up a little for me. So I use both those amps in conjunction with an A/B box, and I have my Soldano channel switch, which sits right next to it. I hit two switches at the same time to get my distortion. So I have this clean tone coming through the Soldano, and then I’ll hit both the pedals and it turns on the Marshall and the other 4x12s—and the distortion channel of the Soldano. I’m using three Emperor 4x12s—one for the SLO and two for the Marshall. [Editor’s note: Emperor cabs says Pike’s cabinets have a combination of Jensen JC12-70EL Electric Lightning and 80-watt Weber Ceramic Thames speakers.] I’ll sometimes use either two cabs or one for the clean tones, depending on the size of the venue. I’m also using an MXR Carbon Copy delay.
 
I liked my SLO 100 when I owned it but it sounded pretty thin until I got the volume up pretty high.

Not an easy amp to use in the bedroom, better off with an EVH. Way easier to live with.
 
I agree with what most guys are saying here. It’s a great amp but for tight modern metal I would get something else. I’ve had 2 SLOs , Avenger and Hot Rod. If you want Soldano go for the Avenger and boost it, it’s just better at the type of low end response metal players usually go for. 80s Metal sure SLO might be the dream amp for some, heavy rock stuff like AIC sure it would be good for that too. Think big harmonically rich chords and power chords with great lead sound. Thrash stuff not really. I played mine stupid loud too and boosted it l.
 
For my 2 cents, I play everything from 80’s metal to modern metal with my SLO and think it sounds great, love it.
I’m either dense or deaf, can someone list an example of what the SLO can’t do as far as metal?
 
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stratjacket said:
For my 2 cents, I play everything from 80’s metal to modern metal with my SLO and think it sounds great, love it.
I’m either dense or deaf, can someone list an example of what the SLO can’t do as far as metal?
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It's not that the SLO CAN'T do it, it's that for tight percussive chunking metal there are a lot of amps that do that thing better.

However, for big, rich, harmonic open chording, and killer lead tones, I'm not sure if anything is better than a SLO.

If the SLO I had was modded to be as tight as a Mark it could have been an everything killer.
 
GJgo said:
It's not that the SLO CAN'T do it, it's that for tight percussive chunking metal there are a lot of amps that do that thing better.

However, for big, rich, harmonic open chording, and killer lead tones, I'm not sure if anything is better than a SLO.

If the SLO I had was modded to be as tight as a Mark it could have been an everything killer.
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That’s what I’m interested in ! A SLO that tight .
 
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