Soldano SLO vs. Bogner Ecstasy 101B

[Stratboy151]

Right now I have both
They both rock

i see your on the island....when should i come over to try them..?

 

[zewango]

Right now I have both
They both rock

i see your on the island....when should i come over to try them..?

No problem dude, I just met you at the last ampfest. I think i'm about 15 minutes from you (PJ area).

 

[Stratboy151]

Right now I have both
They both rock

i see your on the island....when should i come over to try them..?

No problem dude, I just met you at the last ampfest. I think i'm about 15 minutes from you (PJ area).

ohhhh ok sorry i guess i didnt associate your name with the face or however it goes. yeah man im in holbrook, that would be great!

 

[stratotone]

I currently own a 04 101B and a 95 SLO. Both are stellar amps, but it depends on your needs:

If you need a great fx loop - Bogner.
If you need versatility - Bogner.

If you need one passable clean or excellent dirty rhythm channel and a high gain channel that just kills, Soldano.

I think I could play the Bogner in almost any style of music pretty easily. The SLO is more of a hard rock or metal specialist.

Personally, if you can only have one high end amp - I'd get the Bogner because there's not much you can't do with it. If you already have an amp that covers a lot of bases, then I'd think about the SLO if you needed more rock.

Pete

 

[cml694]

Hey, thanks for the replies everyone! As expected, everyone has some different feelings about the two amps. The real thing that is holding me back with the SLO is that I have read that without a depth mod, it needs to be REALLY cranking to get the "SLO" sound. Not so sure about that.....but I can crank amps pretty good so it might be okay.

I may go check out The Tone Merchants depending on where they are located soon. Also, which one is worth more on the used market?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Hey, thanks for the replies everyone! As expected, everyone has some different feelings about the two amps. The real thing that is holding me back with the SLO is that I have read that without a depth mod, it needs to be REALLY cranking to get the "SLO" sound. Not so sure about that.....but I can crank amps pretty good so it might be okay.

That's not what the depth mods really does. You get the Soldano sound regardless, and yes that get's better as you crank it. All the depth mod does is give you the ability to dial in some lower mids which really adds some fullness to the tone. And as you turn it up, the depth mod becomes less effective, almost like a "loudness" control on your stereo.

 

[lespaul6]

You should play through both at tone merchants and decide....I would not advise the depth knob- its a totally gay artifact from the 90's when everyone wanted the guitar to be a bass- there is plenty of bass in stock form as the amp was designed. Good luck!

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I would not advise the depth knob- its a totally gay artifact from the 90's when everyone wanted the guitar to be a bass- there is plenty of bass in stock form as the amp was designed.

Well, that's one opinion.

 

[jasonP]

Yeah I would recomend a depth knob on the SLO. When the knob is turned all the way off it is out of the circuit. I would agree if you at anything but super loud that it is quite useful to add some lower mids and beef to the sound.

 

[Shark Diver]

I may go check out The Tone Merchants depending on where they are located soon. Also, which one is worth more on the used market?

About a block from the big A.

 

[se7en]

Yeah I would recomend a depth knob on the SLO. When the knob is turned all the way off it is out of the circuit. I would agree if you at anything but super loud that it is quite useful to add some lower mids and beef to the sound.

Absolutely agree on getting the depth mod...it adds low mids that the amp really lacks otherwise at less than full-fledged stage volumes. Another thing for the OP to consider here is what power tube do you prefer? The Bogner will have more of a warm, wide, British crunch with the EL34's and the SLO has a more focused high mid bite with the more glassy high end from the 5881\6L6's. The response of the 101b wasn't immediate enough for me, but the 20th XTC w EL34's has characteristics that I liked about both the XTC and SLO.

 

[lespaul6]

I would not advise the depth knob- its a totally gay artifact from the 90's when everyone wanted the guitar to be a bass- there is plenty of bass in stock form as the amp was designed.

Well, that's one opinion.

Yeah, its mike soldano's opinion

 

[Shark Diver]

I would not advise the depth knob- its a totally gay artifact from the 90's when everyone wanted the guitar to be a bass- there is plenty of bass in stock form as the amp was designed.

Well, that's one opinion.

Yeah, its mike soldano's opinion

I say whatever floats your boat. I don't like the depth mod. But depending on volume, speakers, guitars, style, taste, who knows? Easy enough to turn off.

 

[lespaul6]

the SLO really sounds breathy with good pushback when the master volume is at 6, I keep the preamp at 5...nice tight and in your face attack. I point my cab toward the drummer or turn it around backwards against the wall if volume is an issue.

 

[cml694]

Interesting, I guess the depth mod somewhat makes the amp sound like it would cranked according to some. But I probably wouldn't put it in just to save some cash. But if I felt it needed it, I might go for it, or just get another amp. I'll probably make a trip down to the Tone Merchants, bummer I didn't know about it before, I drove through the 5 past Anaheim twice this week.

And what would you guys say is worth more? A SLO or XTC 101B on the used market?

 

[lespaul6]

I think they are both about the same price in the used market...I just sold my mint 101B for 2250 and you can get an SLO for 2300 or so if your patient. The used prices are really strange right now because so many people need cash badly given the economic downturn...it is a buyers market for sure at the moment. good luck and post info on what you end up with!

 

[yngzaklynch]

You should play through both at tone merchants and decide....I would not advise the depth knob- its a totally gay artifact from the 90's when everyone wanted the guitar to be a bass- there is plenty of bass in stock form as the amp was designed. Good luck!

Not sure I agree either. If you can play at drummer levels all the time you don't need to Depth mod. However at low volumes to get a fuler tone the Depth mod helps a good bit. If I were to buy another SLO, I would prefer the Depth mod.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Funny how it's "taboo" to add a depth mod to the SLO, yet the Decatone and Avenger which are both based off of the SLO have them stock.

It's just another tonal option. Mike and Bill make plenty of money off of adding it to the amp. $150 option for less that $5 worth of parts and a little labor. But if they make it standard on the SLO, then you get into the early ones vs, the new ones b.s.

As stated, the depth mod only really works at moderate to low volumes, once you crank the master, it becomes less noticeable. Turn it off and it's out of the circuit, retaining the pure SLO bliss!!!

 

[stratotone]

Don't forget, Bill from Soldano will send you info on adding it if you want... I knew how to add a depth control from before (thanks to James Peters back in the day - thanks again man!) but wanted Bill to send the info so I would at least put in the 'approved' mod.

Depth mod adds low end. Turn it off and the amp is 'stock' again. It's a no brainer to have on your SLO because you can tweak the amp further. I believe what Mike Soldano really complained about was the 'XL' mod that the hot rod series had - it was a FIXED depth mod that you couldn't dial out - you were stuck with one setting, and it got muddy really fast. I had one before I moved up to the SLO.

Pete

 

[ericsabbath]

I'd never call the SLO a VERY bright amp
it's much less bright than a JCM and 90% of the modded/hot rodded Marshalls on this forum
I think people tend to repeat that without listening to their ears
just like when they listen to extremely muffled, muddy and awfully recorded Diezel clips and say "oh my god, that's awesome, that's so HI FI"

and the XTC is not "much more compressed"
is just more crunchy and middy
different type of grain, not more saturation
the SLO still has more gain, but cleaner mids

someone here posted a comparison between those amps a couple months ago
my favorite is the XTC, but the SLO sounded better, imo

the XTC is a much more complex amp with tons of features, while the SLO is a very simple amp for the same price
if you want the Soldano tone, I'd rather buy a less expensive model, like the Hot Rod or the Avenger