Soldano SLO100

Mint 1990 Soldano SLO 100 in Boa tolex with KT 66 power tubes (makes the amp sound even bigger and fatter than 6L6's) and NOS Chinese preamp tubes (and believe me preamp tubes make a huge difference in the sound of this amp!) 2 user channels, with 2 modes (wish these were footswitchable as does everone else) on the normal channel being clean or crunch with a bright switch for this channel as well.
The second channel is high gain for soloing but it is articulate enough for chords and any rythem playing as well! Effects loop, slave out, and (toggle switch) bypassable depth mod. The amp has more than enough power especially when you go over the 5 mark on the dials but it just gets better from that point. This is my only amp right now and I have had it approx. 1 year and it is not a one trick pony otherwise it would have been gone long ago as I have GAS (Gear aquisition syndrome) or SATS (serial amp trader syndrome)there have been moments of doubt but you just plug into it later and that feeling goes away..I play 60's 70's 80's 90's and some new hard rock, blues etc...The Soldano cover's it all you just have to learn how to work with it.

The clean channel on the SLO can be crystal clean especially with single coils with the bright switch on and my TC chorus think John Sykes whitesnake type clean! With the bright switch off the clean sound is warmer and rounder sounding still very nice. The clean channel will break up faster with a bridge Humbucker and does have more and more hair the higher you set the channel gain level I stay at about 7 which gives me the best of both worlds with tons of headroom.

The crunch channel on the SLO is that and more if you turn the gain down you can get awesome blues gain sounds, if you go to 6 or 7 nice kinda plexi vibe, turn it up from there and you can get classic rock to metal sounds.

The overdrive channel on SLO is or should be IMHO be the benchmark for all lead channels it still makes me smile everyday. The gain is more than enough for me at 7 or under anything over that is like going to plaid. Very rich harmonic's, sustain, articulation, and the sound swallows the practise room whole no matter what.

The Depth mod I have installed is the Soldano version but with some revisions by myself and my amp tech. I changed the cap value as the one suggested by Soldano was to dark and a little muffled or muddy.
They say use a 1M cap I found the .680 to be clearer with the same depth effect. I installed a bypass switch to put the circuit to stock because with the depth mod turn to 0 it still lost the sweetness of this amp stock. Having this mod is great for when I need a very heavy low end grind, but I prefer the amp stock as it sounds much better, you have to play it to understand.

I use the SLO with my Tom Anderson Drop Top with HSS, Bogner UberKab (with Soldano logo HEHE!) X pattern with Celestions 2 G12H30's and 2 G12M25's, some effects pedals and thats all I need.

Haven't had any issues it seems to be perfect, fully dependable would use it without a backup.

I have spoken with Mike and Bill both are great to deal with, always very helpful with questions I have. No warranty center in Canada. Lifetime transferable warranty who do you know offers that...

I have been playing 20+ years, I have owned many many amps Marshall's, Mesa's, Splawns, Bogner's, Demeter and on and on even 4 other Soldano HOT Rod plus 50's and 100's! I kept going back to Soldano so I figured 5th times a charm I bought the SLO finally and I am very happy with this amp, I don't think there is much out there that would be better for me. If it were lost or stolen I would find you..use your imagination HEHE! The only other amp I see myself buying would be a Fender Vibro King to A/B with the Soldano.

2005 SLO100 Red Head, Warren Haynes mod, scoop mod and depth mod.
This amp is very versatile. I use mainly in my recording studio. I am also using a THD HotPlate and Soldano Cab. I am also using a Boss DD-20 delay in the loop.

The SLO is by far the best amp I have ever played thru. I have played or owned just about everything. It smokes the 5150. I have the Warren Haynes mod,scoop mod and depth mod. I really like the scoop mod. I can get all kinds of sounds with this amp. I am also using a Boss Giga Delay in the loop. This pedal works perfectly with this amp mainly because it can be set to run at +4, which what the loop runs at. I acn't say enough about this amp. It is very tight and responsive. I plat mostly Hard Rock with USA and import BC Rich's, Esp's, Ibanez's and Schecter's. The BC's and the ESP seem to sound the best. I even like the clean channel. Solo's have never sounded so good.

I would have to say excellent (haven't had it to long) but it should be considering it has a lifetime warrenty.

Don't know myself. But have their great.

I have been playing for over 20 years and have had my share of amps and preamps (Crate,5150II,Marshall,ADA,Rocktron) you name it I've either had it or played it. This amp smokes them all. The head and cab are both RED. It looks almost as good as it sounds and It looks damn awesome. My tone has never sounded so good. If were stolen I would I would replace it the next day. Then I would hunt down who stole it strap his head to the cab and crank it to 11 till his ears bleed. The tone is unbleavable. If you can afford this anp buy, if you can't find a way. You won't regret it. I will have mine till the day I die.

just a stock slo....

the amp sounds great... however .. i have had alot of tube problems with it... I play all kinds of music and the amp sounds outstanding.. but like I said.. I am not very happy with it right now..

not well!!! everyone always says how their soldano rocks!! but mine has some issues.. haha ... after owning the amp for 4 years.. i love it.. but I have to put new tubes in every 4 months.. I have taken it to different techs and they haven't found any problems.. but every time I call soldano its the same asshole tech who says.. its just a tube falure... !!! come on!!! so .. a few weeks ago.. I talked to mike soldano.. he was extremly nice about the situation and understanding.. and was telling me how he knows something has to be wrong because he has people who go for years without changing tubes.. so I told him my tech would call him and we could all talk about some issues and try to trouble shoot the problem.. .. and if that didn't work I will mail it back to the factory.. so.. we do all of this.. fix the amp.. and 2 weeks later.. 2 power tubes lite up.. another tube problem... I call soldano again.. and get the same asshole tech.. said its just a tube failure it happens all the time.. i explain the situation.. and how i had the conversation with mike.. and he said .. its not uncommen to replace tubes in amps 4 times a year!!!!! what!!!!! and i told him I was going to send it back.. and he didn't want me to!! he said.. "i guess you can if you want but theirs prob. nothing wrong with it"!!! so.... do you think he will even try to look at it.... i have over 5 grand wrapped in this amp.. and they are trying to be like this with me!! .. if they don't fix this problem... i will never never play this amp on a stage again.. let alone tour with it!! over priced for the pleasure i get!!!

read above.... mike soldano rocks... the other guy i am not so sure about!!

going somewhere else... after 4 years of crap!!! but it does sound good when it works..

I have been waiting a long time for the chance to submit this review... My brand new (3/2006) SLO is fully loaded with all the mods (Warren Haynes, Scoop, Depth Control) in the limited edition black chassis and black covering. I bought it brand new last week.

After about 20 years playing Mesa Mark III's and IV's I began to yearn for a different tone. I was looking for something smoother and less feature-laden, but with the reliability and the "sounds good at any venue/volume" quality of the Mesas. After you realize that there is a reason why the greats all play through this amp it becomes a simple reality that this is the amp to own.

3 channels (2 footswitchable), fx loop, WH mod (lo-gain treble cut), Scoop mod (normal channel EQ shaping), Depth Control (a must for any amp - bass resonance control), no reverb, no nonsense. It comes with a pedal for channel switching and that's pretty much about it.

I wish the loop was switchable, but not a huge issue. My Rotosphere doesn't sound 100% through it, but I'm still trying to figure that out, but basically another non-issue. My other effects sound great through the loop and the front. Some call this amp boring, but, for me, this amp is perfect. You just set the amp for the best possible tone and you can work everything else out. The tone is that good.

You can use this amp in the bedroom and still get a great tone. Of course it soudns better on 2 and up, but the point is you don't have to crank it to get a more than playable tone. I will definitley use this at gigs as people say it really cuts through well.

I am mainly using PRS' with stock pickups and Les Paul R9's and an R8 with stock BurstBuckers. I play Classic Rock (Kansas, Floyd, Heart, AC/DC, Rush, Kiss), anything 80's, and newer stuff like Gov't Mule along with Metal. It suits all of these surprisingly well. It is not noisy at all. I use the gain sparingly with an overdrive pedal in front just to add a bit of grind on the top, but I am finding myself not having to rely on the overdrive pedal because the SLO is so great on its own. The pedal now adds a fourth channel almost.

The claen channel is as good or better than any clean I've heard before. It is usable for anything from funk to country (with the scoop switch on). There is enough variety in this amp to accomplish anything. I think people are starting to confuse variety with footswitching capability. Yes, there are hundreds of tones in this amp, but you have to tweak them by hand and you cannot access all of them via a footswitch. If you can get past that your problems are over.

The Overdrive channel is pure goodness. Thick, but not bassy. Cutting, but not harsh or brittle. Middy, but not boxey. It sounds perfect. You can get a wide variety of dostorted tones from a good Allman Bros to Anthrax. It is all there.

I'm assuming I can depend on it. I was trying it out the other night when it arrived and the volume was surging every few seconds. My heart dropped before I tried a different cable and that turned out to be the problem. I guess my other amps weren't sensitive enough to ever surface that problem. I would use it without backup.

I emailed them about the mod definitions because their web site is so horribly undermanaged. They never replied. I didn't try calling. I know they aren't exactly brimming with personnel, but that is why I bought this amp.... because the quality is still there. I would hope that if I had a servicable problem under the warranty that I would be able to get a hold of someone.

I have been playing for 23 years and own a few other Mesas still. I would try and get another one if given the opportunity. I now truly feel there is nothing left to buy. I'm tonally content. After buying amps with too many features or too few I've finally found my perfect amp. You can do metal with it, but you don't have to.

this is an amp that some may feel lacks in features for a 3-4000$ amp.im glad soldano decided to only issue the s.l.o with a fx loop and slave as a standard mod. this amp doesnt need a third chanel. i can go from a gorgeous clean to a s.r.v sound, to all out rock, just with my volume control, then switch to the other chanel,and the into the overdrive mode. what the hell woul a third chanel do???
this is a 2004 model. its my second one.i sold the last one because of $$$ troubles.
i play in 2 bands. a punk band and a radio rock band. this amp does both easy.

here is the majik. while i am primarly a les paul player, i find that this amp really shines with a strat. i re discovered my 62 american re issue with this amp. the single coil sound is just so wide open on the s.l.o .no crazy mind frying high end, just clean sparkling grind. and on the lead chanel its pure heaven. with the articulation being just right.on a les paul , this amp is deadly. page tones are easily acheived,as well as metal tones, however i feel that while the s.l.o has all the gain you want, it doesnt really have that scooped limp bizcuit boogie rectifier tone, wich is great. this amp would do more of an aggressive slayer tone better. this amp has the ability to cut through anything. it has a majik equation of ingredients that allow tha mids to slice through at any setting. the amp is very touch sensitive and responds well to volume button adjustments.i honestly feel that this amp is one of the few that deserves the mistique it creates. there is nothing like it.

i havent had any problems yet. but its been only 6 months.upon inspection of the inside , you feel that you probably wouldnt have any anyway.

i have phoned soldano and spoke to both bill and mike several times. both are always eager to talk gear. ive asked the most redundant questions, and some very ligit ones. both were answered with total clarity and with the feeling that they acctualy cared about my verbal meanderings. ive met mike soldano, and he's a great guy. loves to talk. he singed the back of this amp i am reviewing.

ive been playing 25 years. i own 4 amps that i feel are prime examples of their era. i have a stock 74 marshall 100 watt super leadMKII, i have a 82 2203 jcm 800, i have a bad cat hot cat 100, and this s.l.o.
this is an amp that i would do anything to get back if it were lost. i love its tone ,the look, the prestige. i would say that the s.l.o and the bad cat are my faves, but the s.l.o would beat out the bad cat in number of times played. it easier to use. but i wouldnt say it s better sounding . both sound different.

Think mine was made in '92 This amp is quite versatile for lots of styles of music for me. Its maybe not going to suit a die-hard Fender twin clean player tho'.. they are welcome to buy a twin..! Features have all been stated. This amp has wonderful Blues tones as well as Fabulous Rock/Heavy rock tones. You must always have a great sound in your head, or you will NEVER get a great tone .. no matter what you use. Features are minimal, but this baby does not need many bells and whistles... The biggest feature is its GREAT TONE...!!

I use this amp with two L series Strats ('63+ '64) a Reissue USA Strat, A '71 Les Paul, and 2 MUSIC MAN Luke guitars as well as a '62 tele Custom.. (depending on what type of gig i do) I use it through a Marshall Vintage 4/12 w/ 25 watters, or a Soldano 212 with Vintage 30s. I play it mainly to do Covers. I have nailed a great SRV tone.. it is unbelievably close.. the gains are not too high tho' (5-7 on the crunch, and 3 on the Lead channel. Having the LUKE guitar allows me a genuine Lukather tone with the Soldano SLO 100..I saw him use two here...! now that, IS a great tone. Luke is one of the Best on the PLANET..!! All these sounds are simply spine tingling... I love this amp. It had EL34's in it and I'm leavin' them in there... I Cannot believe ANYONE but a moron would can this Amp...

Never had a problem... I think they need to be looked at around once a year by a great tech to keep it serviced and you shouldn't have a problem. I play around 3 nights per week.

I sent a fax to Soldano before I had a computer, and Had reply within 2 days...Very helpful, And I live in Melbourne, Australia.
Luckily I have the services of Tim Evans In Chelsea Victoria,to look after my gear.. He is about the best Guitar Amp technician here in Australia.

I have Two Labsystems Cage amps( hand built 30 watt class A, and 50 watt A/B)which are GREAT amps for beautiful vintage jangly breakup...!!!(See reviews...) and an old '76 Marshall, and a Mesa dual rectifier. The mesa is great for heavy rock, no doubt,but its not as sweet as the SLO, and does not have the overall best tone from bottom to top, the bottom is a bit ,'false'..but that is partly what gives you the Foo fighters/ Nickelback sound..The Mesa is great with Humbuckers, not so good with Vintage Single Coils.. The Soldano SLO 100 is a credit to its designer/ builder. This amp suits someone who loves good Hot Marshall vintage like tone. Marshall these days, have TOTALLY lost the plot. Soldano...?? LOVE IT... LOVE IT...!!

2002 Model, Extremely Versatile amp, My Amp Quest is Over, Just truly an amazing amp, 2 channel amp, with crunh and brightness switches. Shared EQ in Boith Channels which may be an issue for some but not for me, it's easy to work around that, My Head is stock with no extras on it and IMHO its better the more stuff that touches the circuit the higher chances you have for problems...The Clean channel was important to me and was my primary concern as I do lots of covers and top 40 stuff, The clean channel turned out to be extremely useful,..you can do the funk thing very well..just set the proper pre-amp level an leave it there..it is very,very fenderish type clean...I am very happy with that, the clean on this amp is way better then on my previous HR50+XL heads... The Overdrive Channel is outrageous, and surpassed my liking over and over, Before getting this amp, I was going to go with a Bogner Extacy Classic, which was more money but the tone is very,very similar...but will not cut threw the mix well...This is not the case with the SLO100, I am happy I did not get that amp, and I went down this route, from my previous experience with the soldano products, I had a twin setup with 2 HR50+XL heads, while soldano claims in there ads that the circuit is identical in both models which may be the case I am not an electrical engineer...the SLO100 in my ears was way past both of those amps in the overdrive dept, just sounded very full bodied ,& thick and just makes you want to rip all day long...I had considered doing this change along time ago and always procrastinated..THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE.

I amp using a USA SCHECTER custom shop telecaster, A Jackson/charvel San Dimas re-issue IV. A Epiphone Les Paul that had all of its guts changed, and a 1982 Stock Fender Strat....The amp is not noisy at all, and does not shriek unlike my old 5150. I am running in the fx Loop a Korg SDD 3300, a Roland SVR-3030, I can dial in any kind of tone with this amp, It can go from lush clean to an extremely aggressive and out of control distrortion, It has lots of Headroom and more punch then you may possibly need..I can dial in scorpions tone easy, nail Gary More sound to the T...You can do a whole set of classic Jazz Standards on thr clean tone..and just go crazy on set 2 with just a stomp on the channel select switch...this amp will blow you away, if you are practicing at home, It maybe somewhat loud as in order to get the good taste of this amp you would probably run it on 2. The amp is 100 watts and is very,very powerfull, I doubt that you will ever go past 6 in live setting as it will start drowning evrything and everyone and they will throw you out of the club. I have used this amp amp with ruby 6l6 tubes on it, as well as old Sylvania 6l6 Tubes........It's so hard to describe this amp, as I have nothing negative to say about it..It blows me away everytime I use it.

in the last 7 years of using soldano products I have never had an amp break down on me, other then regular tubes getting changed.

I have spoken to these people in several times with both models, the support the offer is prestige and excellent, they will never try to sell you anything or recommend that is not necessary, The Warranty is the Best in the Business, on this Model (SLO100) it's lifetime and transferable..You can not get better then that.

I have been playing since 81-82, If someone would rip off this amp, and I would nab him, I would do jail time, I have owned lots of amps in this time, 73 Twin Reverb, 86 Marshall JCM800, Peavey 5150 first series, 69 Fender Bassman, 71 Traynor head, 86 Fender Super Champ (This is the only amp that I actually wish I still had kept.....If you can find one of these pocket rockets, grab it right away) , 85 Boogie MKIIC+, Soldano Hr50+XL . With this amp I can dial tones very,very close to the previous heads I owned, but I don't need 2 heads onstage with an A/B switch....... You pay for what you get, this amp is a keeper. I will never sell this head, tone search is over. Only problem these are very hard to find up in the Canadian great white north, and when you do, you will definately get a big hole in your wallet....I will recommend this amp to anyone

I will admit that the features are limited, but it is sold as a Lead Over Drive unit which it is. If Soldano could have added one more feature, I'd pick reverb. My unit is a combo which I wish it was a head/stack, maybe someday I'll put the head in a new case and buy the cabinets.

I replaced the second position tube with a RCA NOS 12AT7 instead of the 12AX7 tube and that tamed the down the overdrive to my liking. I must say, turn the Overdrive Preamp knob to 11, hit a note and go have lunch, it will still be playing when you get back. I've read some bad reviews and I will say, I had trouble when I first bought my SLO. I have a Les Paul Custom Premium Plus and a Strat Ultra deluxe. After a lot of thinking it was the amp, I found that my strat was creating a 60 hz hum on my SLO, which it didn't have with my Red Knob "The Twin" Fender. I did some work on the guitar and life was good again. I can't imagine an amp with a better Overdrive sound.

I've had it for two years with out a problem. No reason to complain.

When I first bought the amp I e-mail Soldano and received several emails back with suggestions. That's where I got the tip to replace the 2nd tube with a 12AT7. I bought a foot switch and received it promptly. I deal with maintenance of computerized manufacturing equipment for a living and Soldano's crew helped when needed. They were as good as any of the vendors I deal with.

Overall it's a 10 for me. I've played in a few bands around the Portland Oregon area. I played with a couple guys that use Line 6 amps. One night one of the Line 6 amps died and our lead Guitarist plugged into my Fender "The Twin". After that night he has offered to buy my Fender many times which I've said no. After getting and playing my SLO, I'd sale the Fender before the SLO. Although I plan to keep both. I've been playing for 30 years and I like those quite moments when the kids and wife go shopping, then I crank it up and let it rip, you know those quite moments.

2005 model. The amps versatility is there for me. Play a rock, blues, funk, country. This amp covers what I need. No complaints from band members or audience. I get compliments from both on the tone. Not planning on getting the depth or any other mods. Ordered mine with the effect loop I've heard so many bitching about lately. Works fine for me. What the hell is this bullshit about sucking tone, and touch sensitity issues with this loop? I agree with the last poster that Soldano would not be selling amps with this loop if they were that bad. This thing is plenty loud for me. Not too many features. Just right for me.

I'm so tired of people bitching about the clean channel. Some people just like to bitch. You want Fender Twin clean, buy a god damn Fender Twin and shut the fuck up you fucking idiots. This amp was made to rock anyway you fucking morons. The OD channel is the shit. This is one of the few amps I own that sets up well for me just about anywhere. Ofcourse, I don't play in churchs or old folks homes. And, I sure as hell didn't spend this kind of money on any amp to play it in the bedroom. If that's all somebody else bought it for they have fucking rocks and shit for brains. And to the dickweed that said it's no better than a 5150, check with your doctor or psychiatrist. You need serious help. Go get laid. Maybe it will improve your attitude.

Don't anticipate probs at all. Built like a brick shithouse.

Have not had to deal with them yet. Have heard only good about them.

I've got a Mesa MKIV, and VHT UL CL 100. Both great amps, but different. Can't imagine wanting anything else for a while. I'm in tone heaven right now. Too cool.

Truly amazed at the ignorance of the last post.....2005 model. Versatile, not really. More of a one trick pony. I play rock and metal in a cover band.
Effects Loop, well, I will get to that later.....No you are a one trick pony. Lottttttttttts of people including my self find more than one sound from this amp. Learn how to turn the knobs, and listen. Maybe you should have bought a hearing aid instead of the SLO. Get a life.

The previous poster needs to pull his head out of his ass. The loops fine. It wasn't made for cheap bullshit stompboxes or bargain basement rack gear. If it was that bad, Soldano would not be seeling as many of these amps with this loop. Takes away from touch sensitivity? Again bullshit.

The best.

Don't need them yet. Both of mine have worked flawlessly for the past 10 years. They answered what few questions I had right away.

Love these amps. Most reasonable and experienced players that have them do. Never fails some punk will post bullshit on these because they haven't a clue. The 5150 better tha this? Makes me laugh. I think the last poster just wanted to run down the ratings.