The Very First Soldanos (and their owners: a list)

EVH's first slo:

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LeftyLoungeLizard said:
And a Rectumfrier ain't no Plexi. :cool:
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for people of a certain generation, yes. For another generation it might be modded plexi’s or JCM800’s. Really just depends on how old you are and what music was big when you were growing up.

Rectifiers are at least in the conversation, they had a period of 10-20 years of shaping the sound of rock music. It’s no knock on the SLO, they evolved guitar amps a bit and then got evolved further by something else.
 
la szum said:
Haha! Yeah, the Soldano is not Nu Metal enough, is it?

:idk


:sofa


:rofl
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Hahaha! That’s one of its biggest shortcomings, nu metal production demands the most massive of tones. All those incredible productions wouldn’t have sounded the same if they had the sound of SLO’s on them. Couldn’t cut the mustard for grunge or britpop either.

Tbh even though my favourite guitar tone of all time was done with an SLO, the thought of the amp generally conjures up some terrible 80’s music that sounded dated as soon as it was released. I know the SLO was used by a range of guys but it’s kind of a “caveman” souped up JCM800 type amp.

I much prefer the rhythm channel on the SLO to the lead, which means you lose the clean. The FX loop is shite, who wants it before the EQ? Depth mod isn’t my favourite implementation.

Rectifiers ushered in an era of proper multi-channel amps that (eventually) had distinct channels and a wider range of tones. It seemed like the emerging new music of the 90’s wanted to drastically move away from the associations of the 80’s, and the SLO falls more into that category (line level loops, big racks, big hair, makeup etc).

They can sound cool, very influential circuit and progressed amp designs along in a very important way. I do think they’re overrated though - I really struggle to name that many great recorded tones done with them, and you’re not really getting a lot of modern features or versatility for your money.
 
MirrorProfiles said:
for people of a certain generation, yes. For another generation it might be modded plexi’s or JCM800’s. Really just depends on how old you are and what music was big when you were growing up.

Rectifiers are at least in the conversation, they had a period of 10-20 years of shaping the sound of rock music. It’s no knock on the SLO, they evolved guitar amps a bit and then got evolved further by something else.
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Thought you were counting by number of records the amp is on?

MirrorProfiles said:
As much as I enjoy a Soldano, I can’t really name THAT many records with one on it. Can probably count the ones I like the sound of on one hand. It’s a great amp, but it ain’t no rectifier
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With that criteria, one could say the Plexi wipes its butt with the Rectumfrier (I mean, since you're making a point of it).
 
LeftyLoungeLizard said:
Thought you were counting by number of records the amp is on?
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Yeah, that’s one way of determining it. You could also just look at the number of GREAT sounding examples of it, rather than just sheer volume. Believe me, I’ve tried looking for the best examples I can find of SLO tones and there ain’t a lot to pick from.


LeftyLoungeLizard said:
With that criteria, one could say the Plexi wipes its butt with the Rectumfrier (I mean, since you're making a point of it).
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If you want to yeah. The SLO and Rectifier get brought up a lot together because the preamps share a lot of similarities (!), and also they were released within a few years of each other.

The era Plexi’s were from….. there wasn’t really a ton of options for anything else, a lot of guys used them because that’s what was available and they were loud enough to do what they needed. There’s enough guitarists from that era who say they hated their tone, but that’s all they had. Absolutely one of the most influential and important amplifiers of all time though, who’d dispute that? If someone wants to say it’s the greatest, I wouldn’t argue it. Certainly on a lot of records. In 2024 they still probably get used on more albums than an SLO, although I couldn’t really tell you who is using them these days.

Here’s another way of looking at it. Amp circuits progressed something like this:

Early Fenders>Bassman>JTM45>JMP100>JCM800>SLO>Rectifier

Has any new amplifier influenced music to a similar extent since the recto? The kind of amp where you turn TV or a festival on and everyone’s using one? The recto was the last new amp that took over the world like that. Out of those, SLO probably had the least cultural impact and reach; its influence is more on amp design than music made with it.

Great amps have been released since, but none that have really shaped music in a massive way. Things like Diezels and JVM’s wouldn’t exist without Rectifiers paving the way for multichannel, multi-mode amps - but they’re kind of small fish by comparison.

Side note; I think i’ve read people calling it a “Rectum Fryer” for like 30 years. Was that ever funny, aside from when you’re 14 and you hear it for the first time?

I did a thread at Rig Talk a while back trying to collage the best SLO tones. A few gooduns but overall slim pickings.
 
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I thought the SLO came from Mike modding mesa mark IIs...right?

I have no horsie in any race, but I'm pretty sure fender has everyone beat as far as recording appearances are concerned.....but really who cares......and what percentage does the console get....direct for life!!!!!!🤘

Just plug right into the pre......and slap it.


And the recording ain't shit without that blue voodoo!!!

😁😂🤣
 
likitlikeyoulikeit said:
I thought the SLO came from Mike modding mesa mark IIs...right?
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JCM800’s. He got fed up of having to fix battered old ones, that he started making Hot Rod’s from the ground up. HR circuit is about 5 component values apart from an SLO, overall circuit is almost identical in how it works.

Mark II is totally different, goes back to a modded Fender style circuit.
 
MirrorProfiles said:
JCM800’s. He got fed up of having to fix battered old ones, that he started making Hot Rod’s from the ground up. HR circuit is about 5 component values apart from an SLO, overall circuit is almost identical in how it works.

Mark II is totally different, goes back to a modded Fender style circuit.
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20240813_193925.jpg

20240813_194407.jpg
 
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The SLO is a weird amp because there are times that it feels like it has more usable gain than I need, but at other times feels like it could use a touch more gain. I think it must just be the way it’s voiced relative to my ear and mood at the time. lol Either way that chewy midrange is a thing of beauty, though in practical use I’ve generally used the Clean/Crunch more than the Lead channel. I think I’m going to dip back into the SLO game with the v2 Synergy module. Everyone needs some SLO in the rig.
 
likitlikeyoulikeit said:
Sorry...I guess I'm wrong ....😉
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I mean…. take a look at the circuit (and explanation here):

Soldano

How the Soldano SLO-100 & 50W Functions
robrobinette.com

You can trace the lineage of how they got there. JCM800’s were plentiful and cheap, but people wanted more gain, another channel, fx loop. Think about where the tone stack is in a Mark series amp, plus the push pulls, the GEQ etc. Nothing like an SLO, nor are they tonally similar. Maybe the experience of playing it was an influence?

Tons of examples of Mike Soldano + Bill Sundt SLO modded Marshalls out there, don’t think I’ve ever seen any examples of a Soldano modded Mesa (not saying they don’t exist). A JCM800 is a good platform for modding - big chassis, simple circuit, lots of room to tweak it. Mesa amps are generally the opposite - not very mod friendly.
 
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I understand, but that isn'........it doesn't matter.... you're right ....I got shit to do anyway....I honestly don't care, I just know the stories I have read for countless years.....I'm just a dumb Internet guy.

Edit - had a Chance to read through that site ....and it seems if we were to mash our stories we would both be right.

There are 2 to 3 things in the breakdown specifically attributed to fender ...such as the phase inverter, and the power section that I remember.....so it seems like he wanted the gain of the Marshall, with his style fx loop ...and a hi fi fender power amp....that highlighted his innovative pre amp, tone stack ...and gain staging......

My main point was about the inspiration and lineage....and you kind of left out the mark....

👍
 
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I've had an SLO100 and Dual Rectifier 2018 MW next to each other in the studio. They sound eerily similar to be honest. Much closer than a lot of other amp pairings.
 
MirrorProfiles said:
Side note; I think i’ve read people calling it a “Rectum Fryer” for like 30 years. Was that ever funny, aside from when you’re 14 and you hear it for the first time?
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I was in my 30's when I first heard it on some of the earliest gear internet forums.

It's as funny today as it was 25 years ago... watch out, it'll burn your ass! :p
 
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