Soldano SLO vs Friedman BE100

[Mr. Willy]

I really don't understand the notion that the SLO is lacking in the low end. Mines stock and I only run the bass at about 5. It's not a wide low end compared to modern amps but its deep and rich. I kinda understand the Marshall comparisons but to me it sounds more like a Hiwatt screaming its head off near the verge of meltdown. The thing I really love about he SLO is its consistency. It's not an amp that sounds great sometimes and then just ok later. Every time I plug in I know exactly what I'm going to get. I love that piece of mind in a band setting.

 

[nitro]

Soldano SLO........

 

[SBlue]

Hmm...I find more growl and swirl in the tone of the BE100 than the SLO...The SLO is smooth and not very gritty like a Marshall. I always thought the Soldano products had more of an American take on things than anything British in the midrange. In fact, I think Mike Soldano said the SLO was based off the Fender Bassman, which was based off a General Electric circuit.

No worries... se7en, we could change the growl for "modern high gain feel".

 

[SBlue]

I really don't understand the notion that the SLO is lacking in the low end. Mines stock and I only run the bass at about 5. It's not a wide low end compared to modern amps but its deep and rich. I kinda understand the Marshall comparisons but to me it sounds more like a Hiwatt screaming its head off near the verge of meltdown. The thing I really love about he SLO is its consistency. It's not an amp that sounds great sometimes and then just ok later. Every time I plug in I know exactly what I'm going to get. I love that piece of mind in a band setting.

Count me in... my SLO is bone stock, and I never had the need to use the bass knob past 6. I could imagine that if in very low volume if used with a V30 speaker it might need a bit of extra low... but with the master past two the amp already put out more than enough bass for me.

 

[iggs]

I really don't understand the notion that the SLO is lacking in the low end. Mines stock and I only run the bass at about 5. It's not a wide low end compared to modern amps but its deep and rich. I kinda understand the Marshall comparisons but to me it sounds more like a Hiwatt screaming its head off near the verge of meltdown. The thing I really love about he SLO is its consistency. It's not an amp that sounds great sometimes and then just ok later. Every time I plug in I know exactly what I'm going to get. I love that piece of mind in a band setting.

Count me in... my SLO is bone stock, and I never had the need to use the bass knob past 6. I could imagine that if in very low volume if used with a V30 speaker it might need a bit of extra low... but with the master past two the amp already put out more than enough bass for me.

I ran the master on mine around half way up ... with a variation of speakers and cabs, Bogner, Soldano, Mesa, Marshall, Orange.

It's not that it lacks in low end frequencies, it just doesn't seem to project them in the same way as the Friedman for example. With the Friedman you get this huge immediate thump, that just hits you right in the chest ... I think the SLO is just too smooth and Hi Fi sounding for that.

Not a bad thing, just something I ended up missing when playing it.

 

[IntenseJim]

SLO is based off an RCA circuit, I believe.

 

[Ventura]

SLO is based off an RCA circuit, I believe.

All I know is the circuit was built ground up to be "different" than the current "British" and "Californian" circuits.

There was a great interview floating around the net from years ago with Mike. I loved reading it. He touched on everything.

 

[se7en]

Yeah, I can't find the original interview where he talks about the circuit, but I did find information confirming (what IntenseJim said) that it was based off an RCA design. Mike first got started modding Fender Bassman circuits. Once again, the SLO doesn't sound that much like a Marshall to me, which is a good thing considering there are so many derivatives of them.

 

[tubortski]

This is why I'm intrigued to try a SLO, because it's not a Marshall thang, more of it's own.

 

[aftec]

From a technical standpoint the SLO is a pretty bad design. The fx loop is flat out faulty, voltages are way off, phase flips in and out in the circuit in a strange fashion, tone stack is after the fx loop, crosstalk on the channels etc.
Still it is a freakin great amp, Mike tried to fix it, with all the later models, but anything you change, (beside making the loop working properly), kills the sound. Nothing sounds like the SLO and nothing will, because no one will design a more or less faulty amp.

 

[duesentrieb]

From a technical standpoint the SLO is a pretty bad design. The fx loop is flat out faulty, voltages are way off, phase flips in and out in the circuit in a strange fashion, tone stack is after the fx loop, crosstalk on the channels etc.
Still it is a freakin great amp, Mike tried to fix it, with all the later models, but anything you change, (beside making the loop working properly), kills the sound. Nothing sounds like the SLO and nothing will, because no one will design a more or less faulty amp.

Pretty accurate summary.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Let's not forget the SLO's LIFETIME TRANSFERRABLE warranty. Are there any other amps that have this? I can't think of any. That, to me, is the ultimate statement of confidence in a product's construction and reliability.

 

[steve_k]

Let's not forget the SLO's LIFETIME TRANSFERRABLE warranty. Are there any other amps that have this? I can't think of any. That, to me, is the ultimate statement of confidence in a product's construction and reliability.

^^^ he said two things that speak loads about the SLO. 1) lifetime warranty and, 2) consistency.

like the tone or not, it is a touring amp through and through and meant for the stage. there's not a lot of bedroom tone altering options built into it, but it was never meant to be that sort of amp.

 

[SBlue]

One important point about the SLO I've forgot to mention is the reliability.
I do own quite a few amps, since I have a studio and record pretty much everything, specialty being electric and acoustic guitars and bass.
I was amazed when I've first got my hands on the SLO. Having amazingly reliable amps, opening the SLO for the first time just amazed me!
Everything, and literally everything, about this amp is flawless. From every impeccable solder joint, to the extra heavy duty chassis, ultra strong transformers, and even the bolts holding the chassis in it's box.
It's one of the easiest amp to trust on a tour.

 

[Mr. Willy]

We guitarists live in a great time for choices when it comes to amplification. I don't wanna say that the SLO is the greatest amp ever made because that's subjective, but FOR ME and my style, it's perfect. I don't need a bunch of toggles and switches that change voicings and the like. I want simplicity and reliability. Having a lot of tonal shaping options is great if that's want you want, but I've found that I spend much more time tweaking my tone instead of playing music and progressing on the guitar with an amp like that. Again, this is totally what works/doesn't work for me. It's so awesome that there are so many options when it comes to choosing quality, affordable afflification these days. If I could, I'd own a room full of Marshall's, Boogies, Bogners, Fortins, etc because I think they ALL sound great even if I prefer one tone over another. But I can't afford to do that. Believe me, if I could, I would. I know the price tag of the SLO is very high (luckily I got mine used at a VERY good price) but the reliability and consistency are worth every penny, IMHO. Especially when I consider how much money I've spent over the years on amps. Since snagging the SLO I have zero amp gas, and that hasn't happened in years.

 

[aftec]

Seems like "Bad design and faulty" are the only words stick from my post.
Yes it is a bad design and yes it is still a great sounding amp. Happy crash.
Like the way Champagne was invented. Someone made something differently, in theory it should be bad, but turns out to be great.
The amazing thing is, that this happy crash can be replicated very closely. At least SLOs are one of the best amps in terms of consistency.

 

[SLOgriff]

I forgot about this thread. Still have never tried a BE100(and no longer really interested in that amp), but sold 3 SLO's since this July 2012 post. I'm pretty happy with my Bogner's these days. The SLO is great but finicky with tubes and speaker cabs. I just got tired of tweaking and tube swapping. I've had EVERY flavor of the SLO and it's still one of my favorites and I'm sure I'll have another one sometime soon.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

trust me

as one who owned an slo for a long time and then sold it off.

it was the amp that i always missed.

later, i was able to pick another one up used.

one chord was all it took to tell myself that I would never sell it off again.

I forgot about this thread. Still have never tried a BE100(and no longer really interested in that amp), but sold 3 SLO's since this July 2012 post. I'm pretty happy with my Bogner's these days. The SLO is great but finicky with tubes and speaker cabs. I just got tired of tweaking and tube swapping. I've had EVERY flavor of the SLO and it's still one of my favorites and I'm sure I'll have another one sometime soon.