lemme don my flame suit... :)

[Tooling]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

I personally do like the TSL CRANKED but I agree I'd like to have heard it for myself. This is a friend of mine but I can also say he is the kind of guy that always needs to be, "the big guy on campus", if you know what I mean. Whenever he discusses guitars etc. with people , he is always like, "I have a Natural finish Les Paul", and then waits for the oohs and ahhs. As if ....look how serious I am about guitar....behold!! It's kind of annoying but I like people so he's still my friend and he doesn't ,"wrong", other people so........

[Soloist1]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

Chuck according to Soldano's web site this is single channel SLO. Of course they may not publish the fact that you aren't getting SLO quality transformers. I checked and most were coming in at 1500. About a grand less than a new SLO. So your probably right about the transformers. Here's what they have printed on their site.

"Avenger

Soldano’s newest amp, the Avenger, gives you pure distilled Soldano
overdrive tone. Period. If you want the overdrive of the legendary SLO
100, and that’s all you want, this is the amp for you: a 100 watt head
with the SOL 100 overdrive circuit, and no channel switching or effects
loop to complicate things. Stripped to the bone, this simplified signal
path also improves dynamic response for a punchier sound.
High and low gain input jacks provide the option of using the full SLO
lead circuit or skipping the first gain stage for a darker crunch. In
addition to the preamp gain, bass, middle, treble, master volume and
presence controls, a depth control is included for boosting low end, and
a rotary impedance selector switch allows the use of 4, 8 or 16 ohm
speaker cabinets. The amp uses 5881/6L6 power tubes, like the SLO. An
EL34 version may be offered if demand warrants."

[Twisteramps]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

I really really liked the Avenger. But most of Soldano's amps are touted as being 'just like an SLO' - they have said that for years about the Hot Rod series. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I've never heard an SLO up close and personal, so I don't know how valid the comparison is. However, that Avenger had a great sound. If you just needed one tone at a time, there ya go. The cleaner sound was nothing special, but the high gain was really nice.

Pete

[Chuckracer]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

Soloist, I've had almost every model of Soldano in my hands at one time or another, and it's a Hot Rod. Bill Sundt even grudgingly admitted this to a friend of mine when pushed.

That don't make it bad by any stretch, as HR's have their own cool thing going on. But as Pete said, on Soldano's website, everything is written up have having the "exact same circut as the SLO"...even the GTO pedal. The circuts may be the same (my bet is very similiar), but the components and construction are way different. The thick board used in the SLO, the Teflon wiring, the transformers, the chassis mounted tubes and more...all those things add up to what makes the SLO so killer. If the HR's, Avenger, Decatone, etc were built "just like the SLO", they would be priced "just like the SLO".

I like the HR/Decatone/Avenger series, too.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

I'd like to try out a Vetta but I find myself becoming a tune snob of late even though I heard some great tone on them with the clips I heard. I have heard so many great things about the Vetta and like to hear it with my own ears and playing

[slo100]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

The SLO is the only amp in the line (regular production, anyway) made with DeYoung transformers. The rest of their products have Mercury Magnetics iron. These are still super high quality and even favored by some antique amp restorers! The party line is DeYoungs are built to very high standards and exacting tolerances to Mike's original design (the SLO). The SLO also has the teflon wiring, chassis mounted jacks, pots, and tubes, and handwired by the same fellow from start to finish. It is not a production line amp by any means! Everything Mike designs comes from that original SLO spec, I believe. The sure do market things that way.

This amp shootout sounds fun. It does, however, appear that sul..i mean someone was donning the flame suit while testing the Ecstacy and could not properly hear it!!! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

What kind of cabs were being used for the testing? That can make a huge difference!

They made a few Avengers with SLO style components and build specs. As I understand it they were the first ones built and sold to one guy who is close to the company.

The cool thing about Soldano is they will build you whatever you want as long as you can pony up the cash. Someday I would love to order a single channel EL-34 based 100 watt head built to SLO specs. Sort of a 2203 killer.

Also, Chuck, I *believe* the Warren DeMartini mod is a scooped clean channel. Bill told me that on the phone and I think I have a schematic for it. I got him at a weak moment and he faxed me a bunch of schematics. Maybe he just did it so I'd quit calling with questions!

[Deneb]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

I've tried a few Soldanos, and they didn't do it for me. I think I've gotten very lucky with the Mesa I bought. You know, sometimes you have an amp, that many people do not like, but everything just falls together on it right, and it sounds good.

I'd like that VHT pitbull, but as I've said before, it's more than I'm looking for. I'll have to agree on the Bogners, they're awesome, but to me, over-rated.

[Twisteramps]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

From what I recall, the Ecstacy had the matching bogner cab with Vintage 30s. BTW, the XTC and the cab were both in matching red tolex. Droool. The Uber was going through a Bogner UberCab with V30s and 75s in an X pattern. The Shiva was through a pair of Bogner 2x12s with Classic 80s. The Avenger was into a cab without a name (could have been peavey, I don't know, it wasn't a marshall or a high dollar cab, to the best of my knowledge) that was loaded with Vintage 30s I think. The cab could have been an avatar.

The guy who owned the XTC dialled it in for me while I played on all the channels and we goofed around with plexi switches and boost modes. It was nice, but I liked the crunch of the avenger more for metal, and the shiva for the marshally stuff.

The plexi mode on the XTC was my favorite tone it had on the blue channel, but for the price of the XTC I'd rather have a real plexi and a hot plate.

Pete

[slo100]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

That's funny, I don't like the plexi mode on the Ecstasy. Of course there is a 1970 Super Bass (essentially a plexi circuit) with a HotPlate sitting next to my Bogner and it is just not the same. I also run the Marshall at 100VAC so it is not a real fair comparison. Only an old Marshall can get that woody plexi tone IMHO.

[Twisteramps]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

[ QUOTE ]
That's funny, I don't like the plexi mode on the Ecstasy. Of course there is a 1970 Super Bass (essentially a plexi circuit) with a HotPlate sitting next to my Bogner and it is just not the same. I also run the Marshall at 100VAC so it is not a real fair comparison. Only an old Marshall can get that woody plexi tone IMHO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, it was close enough for not having the 'real deal' there. I liked the punch it had... the amp could probably blow out the candles on a birthday cake at 50 yards with one muted E chord. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Pete

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

[ QUOTE ]
Guitars tuned to B and he said his TSL smoked everything and everybody agreed.

[/ QUOTE ]

When it caught fire and burned...

[toddstaples]

Re: lemme don my flame suit...

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Guitars tuned to B and he said his TSL smoked everything and everybody agreed.

[/ QUOTE ]

When it caught fire and burned...

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]