Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Brow on July 08, 2012, 11:16:35 PM
-
Hey guys.
Some of you may've seen Tony's NGD thread where he said we've done a trade: he got my LTD EC401 and I got this:
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/Browsif/Guitars/100_4096.jpg)
It's Tonys most recently made clone of a Soldano SLO with the 'Depth' mod.
We weren't able to crank it up too much today due to Tony living in an apartment block full of whingers and I didn't want to get him evicted :D
I tried Tonys own clone a few months ago and the tones available on the Normal/Clean channel in Crunch mode have haunted me ever since! It's been the only amp I've played since getting my Splawn a few years ago that's made me feel like my Quick Rod was missing something.
I'll have to post back in more detail about the sound tomorrow night after I've had chance to put the amp through it's paces.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/Browsif/Guitars/100_4095.jpg)
Cheers!
-
Very cool. Can't wait to get more info!
-
I don't know about the sound but it sure is beautiful !
-
Tasty stuff - I was wondering who snagged that ;)
-
You're lucky I didn't have the cash available for this. I still need to try one out! A mate of mine from Carlisle bought one, so I need to meet up with him and give it a good run through!
-
nice
bet it's a tone monster
and looks like my white zambelli hyperdrive :D
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/270364_2236970571952_4753470_n.jpg)
(http://images.orkut.com/orkut/photos/PQAAAO6Esql8XboMSMFixrkZM5IGKA2I4Tye5iMIS2ZJvOjqEGPQ-cNXpZu7814q21qJ0P3h18LOuJWHxDt6Mugju4cAm1T1UBN1HGECukoWqDNlJtsO3z1SVKLC.jpg)
-
very nice :)
-
Come on Brow! Do some clips or i'll have to post the ones I did with it before you picked it up!
It really does look right at home with the Splawn though.
-
Congratulations !!!! Can't wait to hear what you think of it cranked.
-
Seen as though Brow just told me that he wont record clips for a while.
http://soundcloud.com/diy-audio
heres a couple of the exact amp recorded at less thank talking levels. Totally different style wise to what Brow would provide though...
-
Cheers guys!
Ok, back from cranking it up for a bit. Well, 2 on the volumes anyway :lol:
Through my Zilla Fatboy oversized 2x12 with V30 the tone can be described as 'full'. It's a very full sound, bass needs cranking compared to Mid and Treble in order to round out the top end a little but other than that it's great.
Whereas my Splawn is more compressed and slightly smoother overall, the SLO is a bit brasher, not quite as tight and dry feeling as the Splawn but still a joy to play. Alot of people don't like the Splawns because of this but it seems to work for me.
The normal channel in clean mode is perfectly useable, nothing outstanding but good enough for what I need. I'd say it may be ever so slightly more useful than the cleans on the Splawn, but the fact it's a more open type of tone probably helps this. The normal channel in Crunch mode though is what really does it for me (so to speak) :lol:
The main thing that jumped out at me when I 1st tried Tonys own SLO was this Crunch mode. A lower gain crunchy OD tone is 1 thing I really miss when using my Quick Rod, and the SLO provides it in spades. I've found that by cranking the gain of the crunch mode and hitting it with a Tubescreamer, I can get close to Gary Moores sound on the Blues Alive album, which is good as it's a tone I've always liked (even managed the 30 second held sustained note he does). Without the OD to boost it this crunch mode gives a great 70s hard rock style crunch that cleans up really well from the volume control. To give an idea of levels of gain this channel has: with the gain at 10/11 in crunch mode and with a Strat with vintage style pickups the tone is very reminicent of Richie Blackmores tone on 'Since You've Been Gone' by Rainbow. The gain level went up (obviously) when I switched to my LP with Mules but it still wasn't what you'd call high gain.
The lead channel though is what most people use these amps for and it doesnt disappoint in anyway. With the gain at 3/11 it's about as much gain as I'd ever need for the 70s Rock stuff I tend to play. 80s stuff could do with a bit more, but nothing OTT. This isn't an amp you need to peg the gain at 11/11 to get alot of distortion from.
It's a very clear, articulate sounding amp that I think will pair up very well with my Splawn on recordings as each fill in something that the other is slightly missing.
All in all I'm extremely happy with the amp and am also in awe at just how great these amps are to say Tony builds them in his kitchen :D That's a compliment by the way!
-
All in all I'm extremely happy with the amp and am also in awe at just how great these amps are to say Tony builds them in his kitchen :D That's a compliment by the way!
I'm glad you're digging it! And my kitchen worktop is the optimal height for working on comfortably for someone of my height! If you noticed also the coffee machine is placed exactly next to where I work :D and the fridge is right below me so I can just sit there for the entire day and i'm good :D
-
clips or bugera
-
there are clips. it sounds like a beast. I'm sure Tony will get em up later.
-
I already posted the clips :D they're just above Brows last post.
-
Just a bit of an update incase anyone is interested:
The house was empty last night so I took advantage and cranked the SLO a bit more, think I got it upto about 2.5 on the master, and it gets brighter as the amp gets louder. I turned the Treble and Presence down to about 3 and that more or less tamed it but there was still a little bit of shrillness if I played high up on the neck.
I tried the amp through my 1x12 with well worn in Celestion Classic Lead 80 speaker and really liked it. It was bright, but didn't have the shrillness to it that the sound had when through my larger 2x12 with V30s. So either my V30s aren't played in yet, which could well be the case, or they're just not right for my amps.
I'm now starting to think that a pair of V30s aren't the best fit for either this amp or my Splawn Quick Rod, so I'm looking into something I can replace 1 of the V30s with. Any suggestions?
-
V30s can be shill, as you've found out (I'm not a fan of them). Why not try your CL80 mixed with the V30 in your 2x12 to see if you like it.
-
V30s can be shill, as you've found out (I'm not a fan of them). Why not try your CL80 mixed with the V30 in your 2x12 to see if you like it.
I did think of that but I think my 2x12 has 2x 8ohm speakers in series for 16ohms load. The CL80 itself is 16ohms so I don't think I can match them up in the same cab can I?
-
you could run both cabs at once
-
To echo HTH, I'm not a fan of V30s either. They can be very harsh and fatiguing to listen too, although this will help you cut through a mix with a noisy band.
To be honest I'm always surprised they are so popular.
The marketing puff when they were launched is that they sounded exactly like an Alnico Blue (which wasn't in production), but with a ceramic magnet and 60W rating.......
-
I really like V30s... With the right amps. V30s and orange are a great match because orange amps have pretty rounded highs so it doesn't get to shrilland they compliment each other perfectly.Marshall's and laneys are also pretty good V30s, and Mesas are great too. But amps like Peaveys, Soldanos, splawn and fender... Or anything with big, cutting highs aren't good matches with V30s IMO. Especially Peaveys because they're both bright and loaded with mids. It creates a highs-and-mids-fest.
-
I quite like the v30/t75 combo with the SLO but I also like dual v30s too but I like really present tones as you can see from one of the clips I posted earlier in the thread.
My next cab will have legend V128s though.
-
I use WGS Green Berets(greenback clones) with my Soldano Avenger...
I also use a BK VHII at the bridge...
Sounds tits...
-
Thanks for the posts guys.
I think you're all right in what you're saying: both of my amps just have far too much mids for V30s to be a great speaker for them.
I'd not noticed it so much with the Splawn as it's a bit more compressed than the SLO so the shrill highs weren't as apparent. The SLO really brings them to the fore though and they're overbearing.
I use WGS Green Berets(greenback clones) with my Soldano Avenger...
I also use a BK VHII at the bridge...
Sounds tits...
Thanks for the suggestion but looking at their specs they only handle 25w each so a pair in a 2x12 won't have enough power handling for my 100w Quick Rod.
-
if money is not an issue try the scumbacks m75 or celestion lynchback...
-
if money is not an issue try the scumbacks m75 or celestion lynchback...
I'm not loaded by any means, and Scumbacks are out of my price range. Plus I'm in the UK and getting hold of them can be a PITA.
I've not heard of the lynchback though so I'll have a look at those.
Thanks!
-
How much playing time have you had on the V30s ? They take a long time to break in but they sound much better when they start to mellow.
-
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=874444&page=6
I don't know if the link still works but if it does here's a fair comparison...
-
How much playing time have you had on the V30s ? They take a long time to break in but they sound much better when they start to mellow.
Hi Richard.
I've had the cab about 2 years now I think. Although in that time I've not been in a regular band so they've not had that much use at band levels, although I do play pretty loudly at home when I can.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=874444&page=6
I don't know if the link still works but if it does here's a fair comparison...
Thanks for the link, I'll have a read through that :)