Soldano Supercharger G.T.O.

very simple, three buttons
two ecc83 tubes

outstanding...
awesome tonality and not too much noisy

concerning the noise and hum,here's a message from Mike Soldano taken from "ask Mikey with Michael Soldano":

"Hello again. I've got two words for you and all of your hum plagued buddies on the Internet - GROUND LIFT. Come on, do you really think that I have the gall to put out a product that hums so bad that it renders it useless? Well I don't, I leave that to my competition (ha,ha,ha!). Seriously though, the Supercharger G.T.O. pedal was carefully designed to not have a hum problem, but because it is AC powered, there is always the potential problem of "ground loops" when connecting to other AC powered devices, such as one's amp. The basic rule in audio circuits is that everything should ground to only one point. When you connect the Supercharger to your amp, they are grounding to each other through the pedal's output jack and the amp's input jack, as well as being grounded by their AC power cords. This makes two ground paths, which creates a ground loop between the pedal and the amp. The easiest way to solve this problem is to put a ground lift (three to two prong) adapter on the power cord of either the Supercharger or the amp - I usually put it on the pedal's power cord. TO AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF OFTEN FATAL ELECTRICAL SHOCK, EITHER THE SUPERCHARGER PEDAL OR THE AMP MUST ALWAYS REMAIN PROPERLY GROUNDED! DO NOT LIFT THE GROUND ON BOTH!

With that said, I would like to explain that because of the litigious nature of the world we live in, I was advised by the Safety Nazis not to say anything about ground lifts in the Supercharger's instructions. My apologies to those of you out there that have had a noise problem with the Supercharger G.T.O. pedal because of this. Try it with the ground lift and I'm sure you'll find that the hum goes away. And please readers, if you are having a problem with a product, give us guys that made it a call first to see if there is a solution to the problem. I think I speak for quality manufacturers everywhere when I say that we want our customers to be happy campers, that's what good business is all about".

built like a tank

very competent technicians
fast and effective answer

It's a true bypass - you can play trough even when the pedal is not conneced !! Great.

Perfect, but you have to find how to use it.
It's not one of these "plug and play pedal",
i has to be part of a coherent rig.

It was VERY expensive. Like most of us, i bought it thinking it would make my amp sound like a soldano SLO 100.

But it's actually an overdrive pedal.
So here's the real interest of it and what made it
the ONLY piece of my rig that never changed.

Use it as an overdrive on a crunch channel to boost it to
a LEAD sound. It makes your sound clearer, tighter,
sparkles, great hamonics and cuts through.

So if you like the philosophy of "an old marshall super lead
boosted to the bones", this is what you need.
I'm not a 1980's shred guy at all, but i noticed that George Lynch, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and more had this sound before
HIGH-gain amps started to appear, and they sounded much better to me.
Remember soldano is basically a marshall on steroids.

Had it for 5 years. No issues, don't think i'll ever have an issue.

N/A

I play indie, alternative and classic hard rock. Think Led zep, Pearl Jam, GNR or the Smashing pumpkins maybe...

Means i'm after an authentic, roots, vintage style sound with atttitude. But i usually like to explore the sound of different styles, such as country, punk or heavy metal, there's always a good sound out there that can be incorporated to your music.

The soldano doesn't seem to match that "roots" descritpion,
but when i play leads or melodies, i often end up having
a muddy sound, and my lead guitar "covers" the beatiful crunch of my telecasters or les paul rythme parts.

So in the end i bought a superstrat (Vigier) with high-output humbuckers,
this pedal on the CRUNCH channel of my amp and here we go.

NOW, the real trick is:

Instead of pushing the gain up and the volume down,
which gives you a LOT of noise i agree, and not so much gain,
push the LEVEL to the top (4 o'clock) and the gain upside down (9 o'clock). Use the TONE to have a clearer and brighter or darker and thicker sound.

On your TUBE amp (what else ??), use a crunch sound, not too much gain, because your sound would be muddy or noisy. Find the "sweet spot", clear and loud at the same time.

What do you get ? A "crank it to the top" sound,
makes your amp roar and you get a nice blend of your amp's sound
and the pedal's tone, sustain, dynamics, clarity, which in my case is the best sound i've heard out of a tube amp.
(and at the namm i've tried them ALL !!)

Crank up your tubes, that's the core of soldano's philosophy -
Hot Rod cars and Hot Rodded amps. So this is how you get
the full potential of this pedal.

My amp is a Koch Studiotone. I'd give it a 9.
Many amps have a better crunch, a better clean,
but none have both....

GTO is Probably great for all kind of lead sounds, bues, rock, heavy metal, pop....
I don't use it for rythm parts.

I do use it to give my clean sounds a boost for let's say, country style fingerpicking.

I also own a Krank Distortus Maximus bought at the namm.
Another "sounds great but not what i expected when i bought it" !!!

Remember, the tone is in your head. When you buy a new pedal,
give it a chance, because there's always a good sound you can get out of it if you know a little about gear nd the philosophy of the pedal.

I went to a store with John petrucci before a clinic a few years ago and he tried every single pedal in the store, even the cheapest ones,
he was very excited and ended up buying a cheaop 20??? chorus !!!!

Very easy to use. Gain, Tone, and Output knobs, and a footswitch. Also a power switch on the top panel. The tubes are easily accessible with a screwdriver, as is the fuse. One input, one output for easy connectivity.

The sound quality of this pedal is quite good. There's a decent amount of distortion, and the tone is very amp-like. However, it's not my favorite distortion sound in the world... I think it's a bit more buttery sounding than Soldano's typical tear-your-face-off high gain sound. I can see why many have been disappointed by this pedal. I too was expecting higher gain with more sizzle available on the top end. Not really the case here.

I've tried different tubes in it. (Mesa, JJ's, GT's-whatever else I had lying around-I like it with high-gain JJ's the best.) Also, mine isn't noisy. If I kick on the Lead Channel of my amp (a Carvin Legacy), with the G.T.O. effect shut off, there IS some hum. However, I use the G.T.O. in conjunctin with the Clean Channel so this is not really an issue for me.

I think the G.T.O. sounds the best with a Keeley-modified Boss DS-1 Ultra in front of it. The knobs on the DS-1 Ultra are all set somewhere below 12 o'clock, and the mode switch is set to the Ultra position. As a result, the amount of distortion is greatly increased, the tone is improved (IMHO) and it sounds much more like the way I expected the G.T.O. to sound by itself.

It just seems kinda redundant to purchase a $400 (!) distortion pedal, AND THEN want to use another distortion ($129) in front of it to get the sound I was seeking when purchasing the Soldano in the first place. To be completely honest, I think the DS-1 Ultra sounds MUCH better as a stand-alone distortion unit than the G.T.O. does, and it's a fraction of the cost.

I also have a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin pedal. When used with an amp, I like the sound of the Soldano more than the Mesa, hands down... better tone, more available gain and better note definition. However, the Mesa sounds great for direct recording, and the Soldano does not. So each pedal has its own strengths and weaknesses.

One other thing... the G.T.O. sounds MUCH better when playing it through a loud amp vs. a quiet amp.

Very dependable. I've had mine for almost a year. I mainly use it in my studio. It's also been used on stage several times, but I've stopped taking it with me to gigs. One, it's too heavy... (It HAS to weigh about 10 lbs.) My live setup is simple... a couple Music Man guitars --> Boss TU-2 tuner pedal --> Keeley DS-1 Ultra --> Carvin Legacy. The G.T.O. is huge and it more-than-doubled the weight of my pedalboard. Two, it was too expensive. It could be relatively easy for someone to walk off with it, AND considering it's been discontinued (according to Soldano's website), it would probably be more difficult to replace. Three, I think two of the knobs are a bit too close to the footswitch. I've stepped on the switch and accidentally adjusted the knobs more than once.

I've had the same JJ's tubes in it for about 8 months now, and they still sound like new. I recently compared them to a new set I have, and there was no difference.

I've spoken with the folks at Soldano (via phone and e-mail) a few times, and they're great.

I've been playing since 1992. I play mainly rock music. The G.T.O. is a very high-quality distortion unit with a great sound, and would serve the interests of many seeking a particular tone. If lost or stolen, I probably wouldn't seek out another one... again, I think it sounds great, but it's just not my ideal distortion sound. There's a fair amount of other gear I would purchase over this in the $400 range. In retrospect, it seems a bit insane to spend that much on a tube distortion pedal, only for it to fall short of my expectations. For me, it does a great job in the studio, so it has earned a permanent place in my collection of gear.

This is about as simple as you can get. Three knobs to work with.
If you like it simple, this is the pedal for you.

I have been playing guitar for 33 years. I have played out and toured professionally as well done recording sessions. I own my own studio currently and I am using The Soldano GTO as my main pedal. I am using a Peavey Classic 30 using only the clean channel for my power amp with a Diezel 2x12 and a Mesa 2x12 cabinet. I play a PRS McCarty and a Parker Classic thru the rig. The project I am working on currently is a hard rock Christian based CD. I finally got the sound I have been looking for with the Supercharger. It does sound CLOSE to an SLO
thru my rig. The clarity and sound is very good even at relatively high gain settings. It does not color the guitar's sound very much at all. I own many other pedals such as the Damage Plan Demonizer.While both have the great features, I still use the Soldano almost exclusively.

As far as the noise goes that I have been reading about, I have had no problems with that at all. If you use a power conditioner such as a Furman or SKB board like I use, the noise should be greatly reduced. I use JJ ECC83 tubes in mine and love the sound.

I had to send mine back to Soldano to be repaired after I bought it new. The volume knob did not work properly so Mike asked me to send it back and they would repair it. Very helpful and quick turn-around made the situation not bad at all. I has worked flawlessly since so I have no complaints in this department. I would carry extra tubes when gigging just in case. It is built like a tank. One drawback is that t is a very heavy and bulky piece but the performance more than makes up for that

Read above reliability comments.

--See above details--

Please feel free to email me if youwould like to chat about the Supercharger GTO.

Simple. Gain, Tone, and Output Level knobs. 1/4" input and output jacks. IEC 120VAC power connector. On/off stomp switch (true bypass).

Fantastic unit in terms of tone. Perfect for medium to hi-gain tones with non-master amps (at clean voulme levels). Definately nails the Soldano/Mesa Recto preamp voicing when used in front of Super Lead style amp.

I purchased this unit new from Musicians friend. As in the previous reviews, it arrived with major noise/hum issues. The noise was NOT related to grounding or gain levels. After reverse engineering the pedal, I was able to modify the internal circuitry to eliminate the noise. Now the pedal is silent and I enjoy it very much.

Top quality hardware, jacks, pots, switches, tubes, sockets, etc... The circuit board is double-sided with plate through holes. Metal film resistors, quality capacitors, and mercury magnetics transformer. Sturdy rubber feet bolted to heavy-duty steel chassis. Cool blue aluminum 'fins' on the sides. Lighted power switch and status LED. This pedal is solid--no backup required.

Friendly, personal customer support from Mike and Bill. All calls and email returned promptly. However, they were not helpful in solving the noise issues. They suggested using a ground lift to stop the hum, but the noise problem has nothing to do with ground loops.

Quality all-tube overdrive unit. Great tone, but the stock circuit is ridiculously noisy. In it's stock form, this pedal is virtually unusuable. The good news is that it can be modified to completely eliminate the noise without altering the tone in any way. Feel free to contact me for details.

Frankly, your just stupid if you can;t turn three knobs

First let me tell you , in the interest of full disclosure, I walked in and bought this pedal without even playing through it, based on the Soldano name and rep alone. It was absolutely one of the dumbest purchases I have ever made. I play a variety of strats (clapton signature, lone star, 60th anniv.) Teles and a 57 gold top reissue through it. Usually into a Bassman or Marshall. It sounds best in front of the Bassman. The pedal generates a shitload of noise for a product in this price range(especially with single coils) and of the Soldano pedigree. Iv;e read certain reviews perscribing "fixes", However, you should not have to alter a product to have it work properly. The sound is decent, but does not deserve the rave reviews iv;e read. If it were any other name it would not be getting such great reviews.The pedal can also be a little Harsh sounding depending on the amp. The sustain is good. No it won;t turn your rig into an slo regardless of the hype. There are better boxes out there for the same ,or even less, money. Hope this helps.......

seems to be dependable. It;s heavy and overbuilt to justify the price.

They replied to my e-mail within 48 hrs and told me, more or less, that the pedal generates noise, it wasn;t defective.

Iv;e been playing about 25 years off and on, mostly Blues and classic rock. This pedal definetly leans towards a more modern type of distortion sound rather than the smooth overcharged overdrive I expected. It;s not bad....factor in the price though, and it;s not really worth the money

set up like the drive channel of an amplifier. very easy to work your way around

the sound of this pedal is the sound that i have been looking for since ive been playing. even in the high gain settings, there is still this clarity about the pedal. you dont loose notes, like you do with a big muff or a rat pedal. i actually use it on bass, and it is the only pedal that has a good overdrive sound and keeps its low end.

i have used it nonstop since i got it. i do not have a backup and have not needed one. the only issue i have had with it is stepping on the knobs. i have more than once stepped on it and rolled the volume all the way off. i ended up running it through an a/b switch to not have that problem.

not yet inquired

i play in a very loud rock and roll band, and this pedal has really beefd up the sound. i can never see myself getting rid of it. it sounds great on bass and even better on guitar. it is also the most versatile pedal i have ever nerded out on. it can be very subtle, almost like a tube screamer, and you can really drive the pedal to sound like a hotrodded marshall. big thumbs up to this pedal.

Three knobs, input, output, on/off switch, stomp switch, about as basic as it gets

Everyone is complaining about the squeal/hum...I had the same thing happen. I put an old RCA 12au7 in the first tube socket to knock the gain down a bit and the problem was solved. Does anyone really need that much gain when you get your rig up to stage volume anyway? The 12au7 makes the pedal much more responsive as far as picking dynamics go, and gives you a more useful range of adjustment. I actually do this with all of my amps.

Seems bulletproof

E-mailed them and they E-mailed right back. They were very helpful.

Kind of expensive but if its the sound you're looking for then its worth it. Put this in front of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe on clean and it smokes.

Well, there's a Gain, a Tone and an Output control. Some might want to be able to turn the Gain further, but apart from that it's incredibly straight forward.

Excellent, if you like that sound - it's a real Soldano.
Contrary to some other reports I have no problems with noise. I'm using it in the send-return loop of a BOSS GT-6 with an Epiphone Explorer w/Seymour Duncan SH-2N, SH-6 I put in myself and it has less (!) noise than the GT-6's high gain preamps. In fact I switched off the noise suppressor! Suddenly all that mud the GT-6 creates in high gain is gone and you hear all your own lack of precision in playing (damn).

Looks like you could run over it with a 40ton truck and it'll be just fine. However, if you depend on it have at least a pair of spare tubes.

Never dealt with him, bur concluding from his posts he seems to be very helpful.

I play guitar for 20 years now, from Hardrock, Heavy Metal to Experimental and Jazz. It's an excellent choice for a Solo sound, though sound is always a very personal question. However, if you do Metal you might wish the Gain would go further.
The main reason I post it here is because I had no problem whatsoever regarding noise. If you do encounter noise either try to get a replacement or try both of the methods mentioned in these pages, i.e. avoid ground loops and the placement of the cables inside the GTO.
I give it an 8 since it has it's price, otherwise it would be a 10.

Ease of use? It's 3 knobs, 1 button and it's a HUGE pedal, so it's somewhat hard to miss the button. I dont know if you would call the 1 sheet of paper that comes with it a manual, but it does have that. I played around with this pedal for some time, and I couldn't get a decent sound out of it, for the style of music I play.

I use 3 guitars. I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio (stock), a Gibson SG (Seymour Duncan SH-5 in the bridge), and a Fender Telecaster '72 Deluxe re-issue. For amps I use a Mesa/Boogie F-100 and a Marshall 1960BV cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. That's my set up. I AB'ed the GTO next to the stock dirty channel of the Mesa, and there was no contest. My F-100 blew it out of the water. I ordered the GTO under the assumption that it would make my rig sound like the SLO. I figured, "hey, why spend $3500+ for the head, when I can get the sounds out of my head, and the SLO sound for only $500?". Foolish me.

Now, I play post-hardcore, screamo, indie rock, and this pedal is not for me. It would be, however, perfect for someone else. It's all a matter of the ears that hear it.

I dont aspire to have my guitar sound like someone else. I like my sound.

Alright, it's been said that this pedal is a tank.

First of all, it's the size of a phone book (well, not really, but pretty close). It weighs 9 pounds, and seriously, you could kill a man with this thing.

never dealt with.

This pedal does not suit my style of music. I returned this pedal after trying to get a sound that I liked out of it for several days. This is not to say that it is a poor pedal. Personally, I just can't justify spending $500 on a pedal that doesn't suit my needs. It was at the point when I AB'ed it against my stock Mesa distortion that I realised how good my head is.

If you play more classic rock, or garage-y stuff, this pedal will be perfect for you. As I've said many times, it's just not for me.

Take care.