NAD - Soldano SLO100

[handsoffmatt]

Hey Matt - I saw you had a CV Tele in your sig... how do you rate it?

The CV Tele is mostly awesome. i really love it and I gig is as my "Eb tuning" guitar.

PROS
Looks the business
Build quality and fretwork is absolutely IMMACULATE (as good as most of my USA guitars)
Brass Saddles/Pine Body gives very jangly, resonant tone.
Sounds super cool

CONS
Uber thick poly finish means the guitar won't really "loosen up" with age.
Although the pickups sound good, the bridge pickup is a touch microphonic.

All in all, this guitar is only a pickup change and a refinish away from being a stunning piece of work.
In any case, I still really like it as it is.....best value guitar I ever bought.

[handsoffmatt]

So the SLO had it's first outing on the weekend. and what a dramatic weekend it was.....

1) Had trouble getting the SLO's line level FX loop to play nicely with some of my pedals so at the last minute decided maybe I should check out a TC Electronics G-System. Took half a day off and spent a frantic few hours trying to redo my pedlboard and create some G-System patches in time for the gig. Just got finished in time...but started the gig feeling quite "edgy"....

2) Had a MASSIVE buzz through my system for the first two hours of the gig, before evenutally figuring out my pedalboard was plugged into a faulty power outlet. Eventually plugged into a different outlet and the noise was all gone..

3) Just as we were about to play the first set, I lost all the gain from the SLO's OD channel. Limped through the whole first set using just one channel and an unfamiliar pedal board. Quickly discovered the fault in my first break - a faulty preamp tube. Luckily I always carry spares

4) Nothing to do with the guitar rig but thought it was worth a mention - the whole left side of our PA system went down too. Spent most of the gig running on a single PA stack.

All in all it was a pretty crazy night, and not how I would have liked my frst night with the SLO to have gone. It could have been my worst gigging night in 15 years had the SLO not sounded SO DAMN GOOD!!!!!!!

This really truly is an incredible amp. It also a truly unique amplifier - a little disconcerting but in a wonderous way...

The SLO has a LOT more treble and upper mids than I have ever been used to playing with. Yet somehow manages to deliver it with no ear fatigue and in a very "smooth" manner. The "3-dimensional" feel I described in an earlier post is only accentuated as you turn the amp up and it just creates a visceral playing sensation.

What i loved about it was the way in which it created it's own space in the band mix. The guitar cut like a knife, without being obtrusive. Others in the band made a comment that the tone wasn't "fighting" for space with the keyboard player - it really opened up the overall mix and seperated the instruments.

The only thing biger than my guitar sound,was the smile on my face (once I had sorted out the hum issues). This amp sounds absolutely killer. It's a keeper.....for life!!!!!

[Bg]

damn, sounds like I'm going to have order my own one then having a shitload of fun with my DSL at the moment so it could be way off yet

[blackstratblues]

Great to hear it worked well....regarding the loop, from what I read it works fine with most line level stuff, but isn't too pedal friendly.

John Suhr on the SLO loop (pasted from HRI):

Great thing about the SLO100 is that it hasnt changed at all so you know what you are getting. Bad thing is some people would like the loop upgraded but I dont believe it has changed. The drag for some people about the loop is that it is pre EQ and pre master volumes so if one Master is set higher than the other you will get a sudden amplification of whatever is left over in your effect (like reverb or delay) when switching to the higher level setting. This can be bad or a non issue if you mostly hang on one channel or have the Masters set at similar levels. IF you insert anything that is NOT unity gain it will change the overdrive, for instance, bad place for a volume pedal unless you want a gain change as well. Also.... no send level so the effect better be line level and have an input level adjustment. Also a bad choice to use as a power amp return since it is pre EQ. However... for many people it is all a non issue and it works fine for their needs. I'm pretty sure you can custom order it from them with a Post EQ loop as a custom order.

From another thread

Mike makes a rock solid amp and is a great guy but no... that is not the issue on the SLO amp.
IMO ALL loops should only be line level, I would never put pedals in most loops
A) The loop is in the gain producing signal path, anything other than unity gain will change the amount of overdrive.
B) It is non adjustable, the gain settings are your only control over the send level
C) The major issue to me, it is pre master volumes pre EQ, if you have reverb left over in your line level rack mount unit with the master set low since you were just playing overdrive, then you switch to a higher Master Volume setting for your clean tone... that left over Echo and reverb in the processor will become applified to the new MAster Volume setting of the clean channel. it is really quite a problem unless you have both Masters set at the same level which sort of defeats the purpose of having two Masters.
D) There would be no way to preamp out of the send to do any sort of preamp swicthing in a rig since the send is not the completely cooked tone and has no EQ on it yet.

These are the basic issues, Yes Soldano can move the loop to the traditional placement (Post EQ) like he did for Clapton and Knopfler, I believe the charge is around $500

[handsoffmatt]

Yeah, I was well familiar with the infamous SLO loop before I bought it....and have read numerous postings from John Suhr on the subject.

The Line Level is the big issue for me (being a pedals guy). The pre master/EQ thing isn't really an issue for me in my particular setup of the amp.

I still have some options I can try out with my pedals to circumvent the line level FX loop issue, but I was actually quite impressed with the G-System on it's first outing. Found some very impressive tones in it but conversely am already missing my GigRig/pedals setup.

It may take me a little while to decide which way to go here....

....but whether I go pedals or G-System...I'll be doing it with SLO tone

[blackstratblues]

One of the things I do on some gigs is to mic the amp and run effects post mic. I've got a Presonus MP20 mic pre and Lexicon MPX-1 in a 2 rack SKB, the PA gets 3 feeds: Dry mic and left and right FX (wet only). The wet FX signals get fed to my stage wedge monitor. Can be a bit fiddly to get levels right at first but it's pretty straightforward after doing it a few times.

The G system should work great though, especially with the pedals in controllable loops before the amp. Do you know if it runs A/D conversion on the front end loops too?

[handsoffmatt]

That's a pretty cool setup BSB. I imagine that works great....

Yes, the G-System uses A/D-D/A convertors in the front section. This was/is one of my main concerns with using the G-System. I am not an "analog snob" at all and have no problem with digital FX in the loop - but I DO have issues with the way it can screw up your guitar/amp interplay in the front end.

First night with the G-Sysem though went a long way towards allaying my fears. I gotta say it worked pretty well. Them must be some high quality DAC's they be usin'....

[rickenbackerkid]

One of the things I do on some gigs is to mic the amp and run effects post mic. I've got a Presonus MP20 mic pre and Lexicon MPX-1 in a 2 rack SKB, the PA gets 3 feeds: Dry mic and left and right FX (wet only). The wet FX signals get fed to my stage wedge monitor. Can be a bit fiddly to get levels right at first but it's pretty straightforward after doing it a few times.

I've done this once to try it and rate it much, much win.
Really great effects, the ultimate FX loop really.

Matt, what are you running in the FX loop? The DD-20 should work fine in Line Level?

[badmotor]

Hey Matt - I saw you had a CV Tele in your sig... how do you rate it?

The CV Tele is mostly awesome. i really love it and I gig is as my "Eb tuning" guitar.

PROS
Looks the business
Build quality and fretwork is absolutely IMMACULATE (as good as most of my USA guitars)
Brass Saddles/Pine Body gives very jangly, resonant tone.
Sounds super cool

CONS
Uber thick poly finish means the guitar won't really "loosen up" with age.
Although the pickups sound good, the bridge pickup is a touch microphonic.

All in all, this guitar is only a pickup change and a refinish away from being a stunning piece of work.
In any case, I still really like it as it is.....best value guitar I ever bought.

Thanks so much for that - exactly what I want to know.

[handsoffmatt]

One of the things I do on some gigs is to mic the amp and run effects post mic. I've got a Presonus MP20 mic pre and Lexicon MPX-1 in a 2 rack SKB, the PA gets 3 feeds: Dry mic and left and right FX (wet only). The wet FX signals get fed to my stage wedge monitor. Can be a bit fiddly to get levels right at first but it's pretty straightforward after doing it a few times.

I've done this once to try it and rate it much, much win.
Really great effects, the ultimate FX loop really.

Matt, what are you running in the FX loop? The DD-20 should work fine in Line Level?

Yeah, the DD-20 works great. My problems came with my Chorus, Tremolo and Solo Boost pedals.....

[blackstratblues]

That's one amp I hope to own in this lifetime. Congrats!

What cab are you running through? There's a Bogner 4x12 with Vintage30s at the studio if you wanna bring it by and crank the hell out of it.....maybe record a clip or two even

Almost 10 years later and here we are



Matt, I’m guessing you still got yours, right? The SLOs are keepers.

[werdna]

Wow.

[KNNZ]

That's one amp I hope to own in this lifetime. Congrats!

What cab are you running through? There's a Bogner 4x12 with Vintage30s at the studio if you wanna bring it by and crank the hell out of it.....maybe record a clip or two even

Almost 10 years later and here we are



Matt, I’m guessing you still got yours, right? The SLOs are keepers.

what a great setup!! do you have neighbours???

[Mini Forklift]

Damn, that's quite the haul there

[chur]

Damn, that's quite the haul there

Guessing by the load boxes it isn't an issue