NAD: Soldano SLO 50w Clone by Toe-Knee

[Brow]

Matt Pike, best teeth in the business.

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

Cheers!

THANX A LOT BROW . . .



. . . now i want a SLO clone too

I aim to please!

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Cheers!

I aim to please!

Hey Brow . . . question for you.

I read in various posts that the stock SLO is a bright amp by nature.
I assume your's is a faithfylly-direct copy of the original, correct ?
If so, do you find the amp to be a bright beast ?
Say, as bright as a JCM800, or even brighter ?


Thanx

[Brow]

Hey Brow . . . question for you.

I read in various posts that the stock SLO is a bright amp by nature.
I assume your's is a faithfylly-direct copy of the original, correct ?
If so, do you find the amp to be a bright beast ?
Say, as bright as a JCM800, or even brighter ?

Thanx

Hello.

As far as I know it's pretty much a direct copy of an SLO, aside from maybe particular brands of components etc. I'll ask Tony the next time I speak to him, but as far as I know I think it's pretty spot on.

I've found I am setting the Bass control control higher and the Treble and Presence controls lower on the SLO than I normally do on my Quick Rod or JCM800. The SLO uses 5881s in the power section whereas the QR and JCM800 have EL34s, so I'd expect that makes a fair difference to be honest.

The EQ controls on the SLO are very interactive and useful though, so it's pretty easy to tame some of the highs (and add some bass with the Depth control) if you need to.

I played the amp again last night for an hour or so and I'm still really impressed with it. I find I'm using it with the normal channel in Crunch mode with the gain at about 8 or 9/11, which to my ears gives a cranked Plexi type of crunch, and then backing off the guitars volume control to clean up the sound. It's a much more guitar volume control receptive amp than my Quick Rod is, so I'm not really missing a pristine clean sound. I have the gain on the Lead channel at about 4 or 5/11, which gives a similar tone to how I have the Crunch channel set, but obviously with a bit more gain and a more compressed sound.

All I need now is to find a band so I can give it some welly in a bigger room

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Cheers mate !

[Toe-Knee]

As for the accuracy of the build.

Circuit wise and value wise it is exactly the same other than the screen grids are 1k rather that 500r this is to enable the use of power valves other than 5881/6l6

In some places I have actually outspecced soldano such as the filter caps and the b+ smoothing caps. I did this purely because it was cost effective and gives excellent results.

The main differences are brand wise on the capacitors I used Mallory 150's throughout but it's not exactly like soldano are consistent in what they use anymore.

And from my experimentation using orange drops, xicons and even the original Mallory pvc found in the fabled 1992 SLO I've found that there really isn't much if anything in it soundwise at all. So I stick with the Mallory 150s because they have proven to be reliable and more importantly consistent whilst sounding excellent.

I deviated from the original plan in a few places such as higher amperage on the filament tap in the power transformer again to accommodate changing valve types and again it doesn't alter the tone.

I also elevated the heater supply with a DC reference of 43v this lowers the noise floor and prolongs the life of the cathode follower.

Other than that and the external bias test points its exactly the same.

Also in regards the the brightness as Brow has pointed out the EQ is very interactive and the amp also reacts very differently with different power & preamp valves so this is easily tamed if that is the desired result.

[Dr.J4ckal]

Guys.. Sorry for noob question..
I know the SLO is up there with bogner XTC, diezel VH4, ENGL SE in a category of 'ultimate' amplifiers money can buy.
I read a lot review on XTC, many people love it's chewy/woody overdrive and steve vai sustain. Demo clips on youtube sounds amazing and I can hear those characteristic to some extent.
But every SLO demo sounds just like cranked marshall to me.
So what's the deal with SLO? What makes it so revered?

[Toe-Knee]

You really have to play one to understand it.

It has a very unique feel that makes playing effortless and when doing leads the amp just sings.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Thanx for the build info Toe-Knee

[King IzzO)))]

*wants one*

[Toe-Knee]

Thanx for the build info Toe-Knee

No problem. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

[misterwhizzy]

So what's the deal with SLO? What makes it so revered?

Dude, even the Jet City stuff is really great. It's very dynamic, and it has a wide range of gain levels, even just by using the volume knob. I think my JCA20H sounds best as a heavy, gainy Marshall amp, but it can also do cleans beautifully when driven with the right guitar and pickup.

I have yet to play a SLO, but I've always had a thing for Soldano tones. And even that little amp sounds really big. I'd love to play this clone, especially after I heard Tony's clips.

[zzmoore]

Somebody did a real nice job on that face-plate.
Is that from the SLO Clone site, or did you have that made.?
The whole esthetic is impressive to be honest with you. It just kind of gives a guy (a customer) a bit of extra confidence that the amp will be OK.....
if you know what I mean.
best

[Toe-Knee]

The chassis are from a guy who visits the sloclone site every now and then.

And I understand exactly what you mean I felt exactly the same when building my first one. I didn't want it to look cheap in any way. I wanted it to be sturdy and reliable looking

[Toe-Knee]

Dude, even the Jet City stuff is really great. It's very dynamic, and it has a wide range of gain levels, even just by using the volume knob. I think my JCA20H sounds best as a heavy, gainy Marshall amp, but it can also do cleans beautifully when driven with the right guitar and pickup.

I have yet to play a SLO, but I've always had a thing for Soldano tones. And even that little amp sounds really big. I'd love to play this clone, especially after I heard Tony's clips.

Another thing that I forgot as well is that a large part of the sound is the fact the amp has a very wide frequency range and is really ultra clear and detailed due to the hifi/hi-def output transformers.

[Brow]

Just a bit of an update incase anyone is interested:

The house was empty last night so I took advantage and cranked the SLO a bit more, think I got it upto about 2.5 on the master, and it gets brighter as the amp gets louder. I turned the Treble and Presence down to about 3 and that more or less tamed it but there was still a little bit of shrillness if I played high up on the neck.

I tried the amp through my 1x12 with well worn in Celestion Classic Lead 80 speaker and really liked it. It was bright, but didn't have the shrillness to it that the sound had when through my larger 2x12 with V30s. So either my V30s aren't played in yet, which could well be the case, or they're just not right for my amps.

I'm now starting to think that a pair of V30s aren't the best fit for either this amp or my Splawn Quick Rod, so I'm looking into something I can replace 1 of the V30s with. Any suggestions?

[Soulcrusher_X]

I always really like Greenbacks. Can do classic stuff, and some modern stuff. Megadeth used GBs for YEARS and tons of classic bands have used them.

I loved my QR, Dual Rec, SLOclone and MKIII with the Greens.

I need to build another one. I think the SLO fits in a nice place between the Splawns and Rectos. Where the Splawns are tight, very focused and at times stiff, the Rectos have a very wide, broad and big tone that can be a little loose. The SLO has the 'bigness' and grind of the Recto, but has more focus like the Splawn. Overall, for rock and metal, I dont know if anything sounds better.

[Brow]

I always really like Greenbacks. Can do classic stuff, and some modern stuff. Megadeth used GBs for YEARS and tons of classic bands have used them.

I loved my QR, Dual Rec, SLOclone and MKIII with the Greens.

I need to build another one. I think the SLO fits in a nice place between the Splawns and Rectos. Where the Splawns are tight, very focused and at times stiff, the Rectos have a very wide, broad and big tone that can be a little loose. The SLO has the 'bigness' and grind of the Recto, but has more focus like the Splawn. Overall, for rock and metal, I dont know if anything sounds better.

Hello.

Thanks for your suggestion.

As my Spalwn is 100w a pair of Greenbacks won't have enough power handling in a 2x12 cab, so I need something with higher power handling but with the voice or a Greenback.

I've been looking at G12-65s, Emi Private Jacks, Emi Manowar/Governor combo etc.

[Toe-Knee]

The Emi private jacks are meant to be fairly greenback like and are rated at 60w each I think. Could be 50 though.

[Soulcrusher_X]

WGS has the Invaders, which are 50w a piece and supposedly GB-like. The Celestion Creamback is supposed to be a 65w version of the GB.

If you are looking at the Gov/MOW combo, then just pop out one of your V30s for a G12T75. The MOW is just Emi's version of the G12T and the Gov is the same as the V30. Eminence speakers tend to be a little smoother than the Celestions, though.

The G1265/ET65/Tonespotter has more low end, thicker mids and creamier highs than the V30, but they mix very well together.

[Brow]

WGS has the Invaders, which are 50w a piece and supposedly GB-like. The Celestion Creamback is supposed to be a 65w version of the GB.

If you are looking at the Gov/MOW combo, then just pop out one of your V30s for a G12T75. The MOW is just Emi's version of the G12T and the Gov is the same as the V30. Eminence speakers tend to be a little smoother than the Celestions, though.

The G1265/ET65/Tonespotter has more low end, thicker mids and creamier highs than the V30, but they mix very well together.

Thanks for the info.

I didnt know the mow was their take on a g12t75. I hated those with my Splawn so may give that 1a miss.

I'll look into your other suggestions though.

Thanks!