Soldano SLO

[hippietim]

This thread is killing me. I have been trying to find an amp to sit next to my Cornford for two months - with no luck. I have no options available to me up here if I don't want a Mesa/Marshall/Fender/Peavey, so I'm running blind. This served me well with the Cornford - I took a chance and love the thing - but now I'm lost.

I thought a Splawn was the ticket, now I'm not sure. I was just recently leaning towards a Suhr, now I'm not sure. So for the last two weeks I have been thinking a Peters Gryphon might be the ticket. Or maybe a Bogner 101b or possibly a...

I envy you guys who are able to try out all these amps to find Miss Right Now.

Tim, a review of the Herbert after you've played with it a while, please.

What are you looking for vs. your Cornford?

The Suhr OD100 is a wonderful amp. This SLO is crushing once you get the power amp at 4-5. So far this Herbert is bad ass.

If anyone is anywhere near Raleigh, NC, you are welcome to come by and check this stuff out. I should have a 5150 III here in a couple days. I will not have all of these amps for long so come by soon!

[hippietim]

don't worry Jimbo, Cornford slays most of the amps mentioned here

That's an absurd thing to say. None of these amps slays any other. These are all incredibly good amps.

[Endrik]

That's an absurd thing to say. None of these amps slays any other. These are all incredibly good amps.

no it's not absurd, I saw it myself, fucking cornford took the axe and started slaying other amps, oh my god, it was horrible

[Top Jimmy B]

Tim, honestly I am looking for something with more gain on tap but with the clarity of the Cornford. The MK50 has such a smooth, clean overdrive that anything else I have tried(Mesa/Marshall/EVH) sounds like bees hovering around my ears. Soundclips haven't been too much help to me, with the exception of the Peters(the clips are bitchin') but the lips may have been eq'd to death. Based on clips, that is the closest yet.

I don't need multiple channels or anything over the top, just a killer core sound that responds well to hands and volume knob.

[hippietim]

The Suhr OD100 would probably be killer for you Jimmy. Send e-mail to Suhr and let him know your likes/dislikes - he is really helpful and will steer you to the best fit from his different models.

[xDEATHSTARx]

Post an update on the Diezel. I heard from some that Warren uses one with Ratt lately, but that the sound is kinda weird for those types of tunes. I don't know, I haven't heard him with the Diezel, but I know they are popular amps. I have heard Warren with the SLO, and that was smokin'. Let me know how the Diezel sounds compared to the SLO. It is supposed to be superior for the heavier sounds. I hope you find what you are looking for. It's great to find the "one " amp. I've had my SLO for over two years now, and I'm still as obsessed with it as the day it arrived. Let us know what you settle with. Have fun..........

When I saw ratt last summer warren used his diezel vh4 the whole night, it sounded good but I like his slo tones better.

[xDEATHSTARx]

Honestly, The Tung Sols were prolly a make or break decision maker to keep the Uberschall. It did make that much of a difference to me, luckily in my favor. It wasn't an instant thing either, I had to re-tweak everythinbg from scratch that took a couple weeks to dial in and get used to when cranked with drums. It was the first time I ever backed uoff the lows after owning it for years.

I'd still would love to try the Herbert. My freind in Beyond Fear came over to play my amp a couple times. He had Powerballs, and used a Framus Cobra on tour..he did like the Framus but thought the Uber was "heavier". He wanted a Bogner endorsement ($1400 for new Uber) but just bought a new home. So he got a deal on a 6505 at the GC he manages. I thought it was kinda silly that he went from Engl, and is stocked to the gills with VHTs, Mesa, Randalls, Kranks, Marshall JVM, the JSX, XXX ect..just to go back to a 5150..but it does the trick.

I had 3 tungsols and put them in the über but it didnt do much for me, a couple of my ubers came from bogner with sovtek lps and they were decent but I still liked the Chinese the best. I tried some penta labs but they weren't very good in that amp also. I also like sed wing c el34 in the über to the power tubes. My fav cabs were the uberkab and vht deliverance cab when I played the über. Once and a while I would use my mesa traditional 4x12 but it didnt sound as good to me as the other 2 I mentioned.

[hippietim]

I got the 5150 III the other day. This is a great amp. I like it better than the SLO. Even at moderate volumes the 5150 III delivers the good stuff. I'm not sure the 5150 III will replace the Herbert though. I picked up some 5881's for the Herbert to try. So the SLO is going for sure and I may have to keep both the 5150 III and the Herbert. I'm certainly in no hurry to let either go!

[Firebird V]

Cool. I keep walking by the 5150III in the store. I tried it at low volumes and it sounded pretty good. I will wait to find a used one in a year or so though... Right now I am messing with the Rectoverb. Like it alot so far and it is more in the direction I want to go then the Marshall I have right now so that is going to go out the door soon. So is the Vetta Combo. With the two gone the 5150III will come in for a vistit maybe sooner than expected... lol. For some reason I can never be satisfied with just one amp... The rectoverb is a really great mesa amp IMO. I like it much better than any other Rectifier I have owned/ heard.

You have peaked my interests with the Suhr though. Comparing it to the SLO (which I loved and have had 2) what is the Suhr like? The thing I did not like about the SLO is the high volume needed to get it to sound good. Did you need to crank the Suhr? What does this amp sound like? Is it more Marshall/Mesa/VHT etc???

[hippietim]

The Suhr sounds great at very reasonable volumes. You can get the amp to sing on 2 or 3 no problem. The clean channel is the best I've ever heard aside from a Twin Reverb on 7 (which is loud as fuck). The gain side is VERY Marshall inspired. It delivers more clarity than a Marshall - so an Ebmaj7 will ring nicely vs. a typical hot rodded Marshall making that WTF sound. Single note lines sing more than a typical Marshall. I believe the OD100 is the only amp that truly delivers on the Fender clean/Marshall dirty promise.

[Firebird V]

Wow is sounds wonderful from your description. What was the downside that made you get rid of it?

[hippietim]

Wow is sounds wonderful from your description. What was the downside that made you get rid of it?

The one I had was the SE/SH version. I was not in love with the gain side. I've since played a couple of the variations and had a conversation with John Surh and for me I believe the Standard+ is the one to get. I've played a Standard (which just lacks a couple of mods from the +) and I think it is pretty much what I'm looking for. Still this Herbert and 5150 III are pretty amazing amps! I wasn't expecting to like the 5150 III all that much but so far it's pretty damn cool.

[Firebird V]

Cool. I hope to get a chance to try out some of the Suhr amps in the future. The 5150III sounds like you might have found the amp for you right now...

[nor]

no it's not absurd, I saw it myself, fucking cornford took the axe and started slaying other amps, oh my god, it was horrible

:ROTF:

[Firebird V]

yeah i laughed hard at that too. that is why i love this place.