Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Anyone on here have any experience whith Soldanos. Ive been getting a little frustrated with my Mesas and might sell them and make a change. A buddy told me he thought I might like a Soldano, of course they are hard to find in my neck of the woods to try out.

Any input would be appreciated.

They have a few dif heads, the one I've heard was the SLO-100 which is like a standard "hotrod" marshall superlead. I thought it sounded really good.

JW,
What is it about your Mesas that has you frustrated?

Dude.. I was gonna suggest a Rivera Knucklehead.. They are really pimp amps. I know an engineer that has one and they're freaking perfect. He said it cost him $2700..

Well.. I just ran across this..

(Edit is for: Sorry I just had to take this link off. I hate it when they're unGodly huge and I have to scroll left to right just to read through a thread.)

This would be insanely FAT to have!!

(it was an auction for Steve Miller's Rivera head)

Shredd, Ive had three Rectifiers thru the years. The first one I bought in 92 a Triple, that amp was magic, it didnt seem to matter how I set the controls, it sounded great. It also stayed in the shop a lot, I found out later that that run of amps had inferior circuit boards. So I added a Dual Rec around 94 and basically I had one working most of the time, when both went down I would use my old trusty Sunn with pedals to get by. I got rid of those amps around 99 and kind of went in musical hibernation.

This past year I decided to get back into playing again. So I bought one of these new 3 ch Triple Recs and a cab. It just doesnt inspire me to play like the old one did. Maybe its cause every other song on the radio has that sound and its just common. I dont know. I get a good rythym sound but when I go to lead I dont like it, in fact lately Ive been using the ole Sunn for leads, its just not a real practical amp as in being too loud.

Anyway, theres problably nothing wrong with the Mesa, its just me. I need a tone to inspire me and Im not getting it out of my Mesa anymore.

I feel ya man..

I've gone through it more than once with my Dual Rec.

I've ALMOST sold it at least 4-5 times. But just when I'm about to, I think of the alternatives.

I could sell it and let's say get roughly $1,000 (to be fair). Most "great" amps of any make are starting to cost an arm and a leg. Combos from $1500-$2,000..Heads in the same range. But in all honesty, all you would be doing is switching to another tube and preamp setup. Is it worth the extra cash?? Not to me.

One thing about Mesas is they are versatile if you want to change your sound up, but you have to use your preamp tubes to start, then depending on whether you like to use the Recs or the 6l6/el34 power section, accommodate one or both to suit your ears.

By having a Marshall 8100, I'm able to listen to the difference between each 12ax7 individually. There are sonic differences between a 12ax7a, and a 5751 triple mica, that you can plainly hear.

If all you've ever done is use Mesa preamp tubes in every slot, and Mesa 6l6's and 5u4's, then I can see why you finally get bored with it. But the cool thing about Mesas is, you can tailor the amp to suit your style by using a preamp tube selection designed to what you want to hear.

For about $300 you can have a PIMP sound coming out of your Rec, I just don't know if you know it yet. Now keep in mind, that doesn't include changing your 6l6's (but it does include changing your 5u4's). Getting a matched sextet of 6l6's can be costly, but the 6l6 section can give you a less bold attack, and sound like butter if you want to go that rout. As butter as any Soldano.

Remember my buddy who has that Knucklehead (Rivera)?? Yea well.. My dual Rec is every bit as good as his head right now. Where the knucklehead has an edge is the versatility of the foot-switching between the channels. But as far as sound and tone, my Mesa kills. And part of that is because of the style I'm playing along with my tube selection. And vise versa with him. He's a 80's butt-rock shredder, I'm a 90's pound your facer. But our amps are tailored to our styles, and you can do that with any amp of the magnitude of your Triple Rec, or a Rivera, or a Soldano, or a Marshall, etc..

Tube tone is what it is. It's how you use it to suit your own style that gives you that inspiration. A new amp could very well be a temporary fix right now, but later, I'm afraid you'll find yourself in this same spot if you don't get to know the nuances of the different tube types, and how to utilize your preamp and power sections to your benefit. By all of the sudden selling your head, and buying something else, you really are going an expensive rout that is unnecessary, and it will still most likely come with stock tubes.

My advice would be.. Don't change your amp. Change your tubes. Design your sound. Your Mesa gives you that opportunity. A Triple Rec is freakin' tube heaven, now make it a JW custom. Trick the f***er out.

This is turning into an insanely long post. Sorry for that.

But if you are interested in keeping your Rec. and pimping the tubes, I'll be happy to help you in the "Tubes" thread..

For now, there's my 2-cents. I hope it helps JW.


Edit:

For the record I've been having a lot of fun with my 8100 lately. It really is a cool amp. It was $250, and I can change the sound of the distortion in about 30 seconds.

Thanks Shredd, I had a couple of sets of preamp tubes sitting around and replaced them this weekend and the amp sounded better. I also am trying to play the amp to quiet. To get the real sound you have to push the power tubes past the midway point to get any life out of these amps. I think I have way more amp than I need. My ears are buzzing.

Sup?

I would say try more tubes first, some Tun sol's or Shuguang's for the pre's and some winged C's for the power section.
about the Soldono, ie. the SLO100,,you WILL have to open it up to get the tone it is known for, and it is LOUD.
If you just aint lovin the mesa sound anymore, try an ENGL..the Savage 120 i have crushes every Mesa i have ever owned.
MOSH ON

Moshwitz, I like your setup and your song on your profile. There were some folks looking for a heavy guitarist recently, I dont know if you saw it or not. Heres a link to a thread and then look at bandinquire

http://forum.bandmix.com/viewtopic.php?t=5239


They sound more like an 80s hairband but who knows until you check it out.

Thanks for the headsup on the Engl

Pro Tools Amp Farm! Just Kidding.....

Moshwitz, I like your setup and your song on your profile. There were some folks looking for a heavy guitarist recently, I dont know if you saw it or not. Heres a link to a thread and then look at bandinquire

http://forum.bandmix.com/viewtopic.php?t=5239


They sound more like an 80s hairband but who knows until you check it out.

Thanks for the headsup on the Engl

Sup?

thanks for the comps bro I had alot of fun doing that tune,
that song is an older one I recorded with my digitech 2120's, I did it before i had the Engl or renovated my mixing room. I'll probably re-record it and all my older stuff now that i have a worthy environment in which to work.

The Engl is such a killer amp bro I don't even miss my Mesa's or Vht's

I am mixing an EP right now that i use the Engl on , the band is called LYCHESIS, I joined as a kinda stunt guitarist but i am starting to have some fun

you can scope us out here
http://www.myspace.com/lychesis

On the song that plays, we are both playing rhythm and there are 3 solos, I do the 2nd and 3rd(outro) solo's.

I didn't mix that one yet and have to retrack with the Engl, bill did a rough mix,and threw it up to have something posted, but I'm getting to it the bassist put some BS vids of me up too

Thanks for the Heads up on the band looking,,I read it before,,,it seems too much BS and drama for me. I was gonna post but it wasn't worth the time ,,Hell i hardly ever post,,just read alot


Catch ya round
MOSH ON
DAVE

I own a SLO-100 with Warren Haynes Modifications and it is truly a tremendous Amp...I highly reccommend Soldano to any guitar player who wants the best in Tone, Sound, quality and volume (the volume knob goes to 11)....I have a Hamer California Elite 80's and a Don Grosh 2004 Retro Classic....BOTH guitars sound great thru the Soldano....I noticed that the Soldano SLO 100 has what is called String Articulation when hitting chords, especially power chords....it isn't just Blah blah....you can hear every string in the power chord....I have have numerous Marshall and other 100 watt Amps over the years...but NONE come close to a SLO-100.....some sound good and are great....but Soldano is Tremendous and I am sure once you play on one and do some riffing...you will notice the difference....I am listed under Tennessee Musicians as Chaska...you will see a few photos of me and my SLO-100.....my advice is GET ONE ASAP[/img]