NAD: Soldano SLO 50w Clone by Toe-Knee

[Brow]

Hey guys.

Some of you may've seen Tony's NGD thread where he said we've done a trade: he got my LTD EC401 and I got this:



It's Tonys most recently made clone of a Soldano SLO with the 'Depth' mod.

We weren't able to crank it up too much today due to Tony living in an apartment block full of whingers and I didn't want to get him evicted

I tried Tonys own clone a few months ago and the tones available on the Normal/Clean channel in Crunch mode have haunted me ever since! It's been the only amp I've played since getting my Splawn a few years ago that's made me feel like my Quick Rod was missing something.

I'll have to post back in more detail about the sound tomorrow night after I've had chance to put the amp through it's paces.



Cheers!

[STRATDELUXER97]

Looks awesome! Bet it sounds that way also...New stuff is cool...Enjoy!

[Brow]

Looks awesome! Bet it sounds that way also...New stuff is cool...Enjoy!

Cheers John.

Tony really liked the TS9 you modded for me many years ago too.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Cheers John.

Tony really liked the TS9 you modded for me many years ago too.

Very cool and thanks for sharing...Haven't modded a TS in many years! ;o)

[JOLLY]

Congratulations. I was listening to a soundclip of that amp the other day and it sounded fantastic!!

[Brow]

Congratulations. I was listening to a soundclip of that amp the other day and it sounded fantastic!!

Thanks Jolly

The stuff Tony has been posting of it is alot more 'Metal' than the stuff I play, so I'll have to see how it works out

[TheProphet]

Mucho Jealous. Those amps (SLO's) are the closest thing for me to the Holy Grail of Tone.

If I had the expendable cash I'd be sending him a PM right away.

[Mr 9finger]

I was super impressed by the amp and Tony's work on it. He's got me wanting to dive head first into building amps! Super nice guy! As soon as I tie up a few loose ends, I'm going to go for my first SLO build and then on to other magical tube driven noise makers.

[misterwhizzy]

I was super impressed by the amp and Tony's work on it. He's got me wanting to dive head first into building amps! Super nice guy! As soon as I tie up a few loose ends, I'm going to go for my first SLO build and then on to other magical tube driven noise makers.

Perluss Whun.

[TwilightOdyssey]

That is a mighty powerful amp stack you got there, Brow!

[SirJackdeFuzz]

CONGRATZ on what looks like a Fantastic Amp

We want to hear some High On Fire & Gov't Mule like clips, by the weekend !

Cheers

[Brow]

That is a mighty powerful amp stack you got there, Brow!

Cheers Ben.

Theres my 100w JCM800 and 50w Carlsbro 50-Top out of shot too

CONGRATZ on what looks like a Fantastic Amp

We want to hear some High On Fire & Gov't Mule like clips, by the weekend !

Cheers

Thanks!!

Who is High On Fire?

[Kam]

Who is High On Fire?

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Who is High On Fire ?

SLEEP's guitarist, Matt Pike's, current band :

All'round great guy, and never takes himself too seriously !

http://media.photobucket.com/image/r...ighOnFire3.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/r.../MattPike2.jpg









http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=matt+pike&m=text

[SirJackdeFuzz]

. . . and some Gov't Mule :








W O W . . . look at that "stretched-limo" head stock !!!

"...dear Gibson, please pimp my head stock"

[d1dsj]

Awesome stuff Craig, I very very nearly pulled the trigger on that one myself! All in all you have one hell of a serious amp arsenal to chose from.

[Brow]

Cheers guys!

Ok, back from cranking it up for a bit. Well, 2 on the volumes anyway

Through my Zilla Fatboy oversized 2x12 with V30 the tone can be described as 'full'. It's a very full sound, bass needs cranking compared to Mid and Treble in order to round out the top end a little but other than that it's great.

Whereas my Splawn is more compressed and slightly smoother overall, the SLO is a bit brasher, not quite as tight and dry feeling as the Splawn but still a joy to play. Alot of people don't like the Splawns because of this but it seems to work for me.

The normal channel in clean mode is perfectly useable, nothing outstanding but good enough for what I need. I'd say it may be ever so slightly more useful than the cleans on the Splawn, but the fact it's a more open type of tone probably helps this. The normal channel in Crunch mode though is what really does it for me (so to speak)

The main thing that jumped out at me when I 1st tried Tonys own SLO was this Crunch mode. A lower gain crunchy OD tone is 1 thing I really miss when using my Quick Rod, and the SLO provides it in spades. I've found that by cranking the gain of the crunch mode and hitting it with a Tubescreamer, I can get close to Gary Moores sound on the Blues Alive album, which is good as it's a tone I've always liked (even managed the 30 second held sustained note he does). Without the OD to boost it this crunch mode gives a great 70s hard rock style crunch that cleans up really well from the volume control. To give an idea of levels of gain this channel has: with the gain at 10/11 in crunch mode and with a Strat with vintage style pickups the tone is very reminicent of Richie Blackmores tone on 'Since You've Been Gone' by Rainbow. The gain level went up (obviously) when I switched to my LP with Mules but it still wasn't what you'd call high gain.

The lead channel though is what most people use these amps for and it doesnt disappoint in anyway. With the gain at 3/11 it's about as much gain as I'd ever need for the 70s Rock stuff I tend to play. 80s stuff could do with a bit more, but nothing OTT. This isn't an amp you need to peg the gain at 11/11 to get alot of distortion from.

It's a very clear, articulate sounding amp that I think will pair up very well with my Splawn on recordings as each fill in something that the other is slightly missing.

All in all I'm extremely happy with the amp and am also in awe at just how great these amps are to say Tony builds them in his kitchen That's a compliment by the way!

[Toe-Knee]

All in all I'm extremely happy with the amp and am also in awe at just how great these amps are to say Tony builds them in his kitchen That's a compliment by the way!

I'm glad you're digging it! And my kitchen worktop is the optimal height for working on comfortably for someone of my height! If you noticed also the coffee machine is placed exactly next to where I work and the fridge is right below me so I can just sit there for the entire day and i'm good

[King IzzO)))]

Matt Pike, best teeth in the business.

And I'm hella jealous of the new amp ownership, that MF'er is badass.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

THANX A LOT BROW . . .



. . . now i want a SLO clone too