Yamaha Soldano

[zeegler]

I see these come up on Egay every once in a while, and can't help but wonder why they don't sell for more $.

I assume that since they are designed by Soldano, that they are pretty decent amps. Since they are built by Yamaha, the quality must be decent.

Anyone have any clue?

[Firebird V]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

I have owned a T50 while owning a Rack SLO.

They are really great sounding and if you do the choke mod to them they sound very much like the SLO.

The reverbs are really bad though. They add distortion when turned past 1!!!!


My brother has my old 50 and a modded 100 and the mod makes these things kill. Simple to mod too. Cost of parts for the choke is like $25 bucks.

Sometimes they go for a good buck but in comparison to the SLO it is a good deal even after the mod. IMO it is the closest sounding amp to an SLO on a budget..... More so than a 5150 or any modelling amp.

[markD]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

i had one a long time ago, right after they first came out and while it was built well, and sounded pretty good, i had to add too much stuff to make it sound great. the gain was weak, and the treble was fizzy (but now i realize that is a soldano thing after buying an sp-77 and an SLO). the clean was good.

i just think the word really didn't get out about them. plus if memory serves me correctly they hit the market around the time of the vintage craze. you know, crappy big muff pedals into legend amps and stuff like that (mudhoney and melvins type amp set ups). [img]/images/graemlins/sick.gif[/img]

[zeegler]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

Honestly, I have never tried a Soldano, so I don't have a point of reference.

Firebird - What exactly is the choke mod?

MD - So you're saying that Soldanos have weak gain and bad sounding treble?

[markD]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

no, my yamaha did.

i don't like a lot of fuzzy high cutting treble, and that's how I hear the soldano's. i know a lot of people disagree with me and that's okay. i really like rivera, and most people around here don't. different strokes for different folks.

soldano's kick ass in every possible way, but the sound just doesn't work for me...it's almost like they have too much of everything. same reason i dumped my boogie mark IV, i had to work too hard to get what i wanted to hear.

i have come to the conclusion that my sound comes from a rivera amp with EL34 power tubes and an EV speaker. if i can't have that (which i do, in spades), then give me a fender amp with a sans amp classic pedal and i am happy.

but then and i again, i don't shred. i don't crank my gain to 11. i don't like EMGs...or high output pickups for that matter. i am the JCF oddball!!

but after reading firebird's post, maybe my yamaha was a turd because it was nowhere near a vicious as my snakeskin SLO.

[Firebird V]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

My t-50 did not have the mod and the gain was not very SLO sounding at all. The t100 with the mod in it rocks.

According to Mike Soldano, He designed the T series with a choke and a different reverb too but Yamaha eliminated them from the design against his wishes. They did it to cut costs. Instead they used a capacitor/ resistor / diode or something in place of the choke.

With the choke in place, the gain is much tighter and focused. Much more usable.

It is a really changes the tone of this amp!


A Choke is an inductor, most commonly an inductor used as a power supply filter - That is a simple explanation without getting into a big discussion about the insides of an amp.

Mike also said in a conversation that I had with him that the quality of components used in these T series amps were decent but did vary a bit. This also could be the diffeerence in tone between amps... The components of the SLO are tops and have very strict variances so that each amp should sound very similar, if not the same.

All this is based on having all 3 at the same time.

I still have the SLO. my brother has the other two heads (The t-50 and the t-100).

[zeegler]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

So the T50 or T100 should have a decent amount of gain, the choke mod just helps to improve the quality of the gain sound?

[Firebird V]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

They will have the same gain. The 50 will break up earlier. The 100 will have more headroom. The sound is 10x better all around with the choke in it. 2 wires soldiered to the board in place of what will be removed and you are done. Very easy mod.

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

I played one with very loud setting on stage.
It sounded VERY sweet.

[Firebird V]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

If I had to sell my SLO I would by a t100 and mod it. Or find a HR head. i like those too but they (to my ears anyway) don't sound quite as nice as the SLO. I would love to try a decatone because I hear they are really nice too. For the money the t100 modded is a great little amp IMO. The cleans are great on it too. Just ditch the reverb!

[atilla]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

Anybody know how much the mod costs if you have a tech do it?

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

I can imagine it will go around $300 just for the basic mod.

[zeegler]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

[ QUOTE ]
They will have the same gain. The 50 will break up earlier. The 100 will have more headroom. The sound is 10x better all around with the choke in it. 2 wires soldiered to the board in place of what will be removed and you are done. Very easy mod.

[/ QUOTE ]

No kidding!?! SO you're actually removing parts and strapping them out to achieve the mod? I think I will be looking for one of these T50s or T100s.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

I had a T100 years ago and it was great. The gain was definitely not weak. It had quite a bit of gain. I also had the soldano SP77 preamp at the time. They were similiar in design but I liked the Yamaha better.

[Firebird V]

Re: Yamaha Soldano

You are actually replacing a a diode I believe (might be a capacitor/transitor... can't remember) off of the PC board and where it attaches to the board you are soldering 2 wires. You will need to mount the choke (looks like a mini transformer) to the chassis. It will fit behind the power tubes with no problem. I would say that if you were to have it done with the part it probably would not be more than 100 bucks. Chokes are not an expensive part for an amp of this size. $25 bucks around....

I can most likely (I will ask) get my brother to pull his from the head shell and take pics of the spot you would need to solder as well as the choke and the mounting location.

I have had the sp-77 and I liked the t series modded or unmodded better than it as well.

I think they sound pretty damn good unmodded but the modded version sounds closer to the SLO.