Similar to the SLO but...

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Killcrop

Killcrop

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A little tighter, a little sweeter and a bit less money. Does it exist?
 
The Soldano Avenger is tighter than the Slo....5152 , or the Evh amps have a similar voicing to the Slo but are tighter aswell. Mezzabarba Mzero also come to mind.
 
Used MZero Overdrive. Check Reverb. Basically an SLO with different transformers and EL34s. It's definitely tighter. I'm not sure what you mean by sweeter though. If you mean not as bright, you can adjust the negative feedback knob to make it a little darker.
 
If you want that sound as close as possible to the original, the jet city HDM100 is probably your ticket. I had one that was modded to SLO specs, Atleast the schematic ( of course there is more to the SLO than that, but it’s something). And it was 90-95 percent the same tone and vibe as the real thing, as I owned the real thing as well. Hearing both, for me it’s hard to justify the soldano, but I’m not a fan of the amp really as it is, so take that for what it’s worth. There’s nothing closer for actually getting that sound but on a budget. I may even like it more personally.

Similar vibe but tighter and overall better ( Atleast to me)??? 5153 all day.
 
If you want that sound as close as possible to the original, the jet city HDM100 is probably your ticket. I had one that was modded to SLO specs, Atleast the schematic ( of course there is more to the SLO than that, but it’s something). And it was 90-95 percent the same tone and vibe as the real thing, as I owned the real thing as well. Hearing both, for me it’s hard to justify the soldano, but I’m not a fan of the amp really as it is, so take that for what it’s worth. There’s nothing closer for actually getting that sound but on a budget. I may even like it more personally.

Similar vibe but tighter and overall better ( Atleast to me)??? 5153 all day.

That, or the 50H or 100H. All 3 are the exact same aside from output wattage. I have owned 3 of those particular Jet City amps, and have done the SLO circuit mod to each of them. Really inexpensive, and if you're knowledgeable about soldering and amp safety, you can do it yourself for maybe $50 in parts and about an hour's worth of time. Whether or not they sound similar to an SLO is indifferent to me, but they do sound really damn good with that mod.

But for what I think you're after, the 5150 series will get you there.
 
The DeYoung transformers are such a huge part of the sound imo; so I’d start trying to find a set that does the ‘hi fi’ thing like the DeYoungs and then swap them into a 100w Jet City. I’ve had multiple 5153s and played others that have been talked about and they aren’t very close imo to any of the 3 SLOs I’ve owned.
 
The DeYoung transformers are such a huge part of the sound imo; so I’d start trying to find a set that does the ‘hi fi’ thing like the DeYoungs and then swap them into a 100w Jet City. I’ve had multiple 5153s and played others that have been talked about and they aren’t very close imo to any of the 3 SLOs I’ve owned.
There is no magic pixie dust on the transformers. There are replacements that have the same specs.

Edcor: I love these! To my ears, the most similar to the DeYoung and my personal favorites. I used these many times and are my new go to.

Onetic: I love these too!

Mercury Magnetic: same, I don't think most of us can tell these apart from the DeYoung.
 
Good old Peavey 5150. That would be my choice. EVH's don't have the attack that the Peaveys do, no way, no how. I've owned several of both, no comparison.
 
There is no magic pixie dust on the transformers. There are replacements that have the same specs.

Edcor: I love these! To my ears, the most similar to the DeYoung and my personal favorites. I used these many times and are my new go to.

Onetic: I love these too!

Mercury Magnetic: same, I don't think most of us can tell these apart from the DeYoung.
Here’s the problem though..and I know you are a very good tech and know your stuff…
Why is it that a SLO clone with ‘supposed’ hi fi DeYoung clones sound so far off the original? I’ve played one that had specific clones (supposedly) of the DeYoungs and it sounded very different to me. He used the same components in the circuit as well.
No, they weren’t the O netics transformers which are not the same spec(according to the builder)
The amp sounded good, but more like an HR100 than the SLO. Bland sounding
 
Here’s the problem though..and I know you are a very good tech and know your stuff…
Why is it that a SLO clone with ‘supposed’ hi fi DeYoung clones sound so far off the original? I’ve played one that had specific clones (supposedly) of the DeYoungs and it sounded very different to me. He used the same components in the circuit as well.
No, they weren’t the O netics transformers which are not the same spec(according to the builder)
The amp sounded good, but more like an HR100 than the SLO. Bland sounding

It's because there is actually magic pixie dust in there :ROFLMAO:

But on the real, EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT matters. You will not get the correct sound/feel without ALL the right components.

Now that being said, builders will over time have to substitute a component here and there as parts go EOL. You can bet your ass they are not hopping on mouser to grab one that fits the specs, and running with it. They instead will order 5 - 10 - 20 difference manufactures/series samples of the part they need to substitute, and spend a considerable amount of time choosing the one that sounds correct.
 
One last thing some circuits are more forgiving than others, so it might be easier to sub parts
 
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