And it begins. soldano SLO (50 watt clone)

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After a few initial problems with suppliers etc and questionability of trustworthyness and also quality i've finally got this moving properly

Ordered all the PCBs, resistors,caps,LDRS& switches


I have absolutely no idea how long this project is going to take but im really looking forward to delving into it.

My dad will be doing the majority of the electrical work as he is very experienced in working with high voltages and soldering very finely.

So yeah really all i'm doing is planning the project sourcing all of the parts and also doing a lot of research about any possible problems,layout,mods etc

Currently im planning on using O'netics transformers for this as they're meant to be the most accurate replica of a real SLO but i am also looking into other brands INGO seems very appealing if i want to do it on a bit more of a tighter budget but i think i will splash out for the O'netics in the end.

Next up is the chasis and wires and also some pots. Again i'm thinking clarostat but i may cheap out on the pots depnding on how much difference they actually make (this is being researched currently)

[MrBump]

Very interesting - keep us updated, I'd like to see how it goes...

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I shall post an update everytime something new happens with the project. I think the main thing that is going to restrict the build is the fact that my dad works every hour under the sun so i will only be able to work on it with him once a week if hes feeling up to it!

[Dmoney]

it doesn't make a huge amount of difference. I have the clarostats. They are nice, but the difference in price is quite a lot.
I built the 100watt clone but something was always wrong with it. It ended up getting close to being ok, then ended up and JPF Amps for ages and nothing could be found that was causing the problem. It was like a ticking sound from inside the PT was getting amplified through the amp. sounded horrible, but no amount of filtering or anything got rid of it. believe me, we tried EVERYTHING.

I have a headshell for the C3 chassis going spare. I'd love to build a working one but It's a lot of money to throw away if something weird like that happens. Maybe again in future. I might build a Decatone since I've got a contact for that.

In the next few weeks however I should have this working...


It's going to be a 20watt 6V6 Avenger. Based on my Avenger. only without DC heat on V1 & V2. I'll use DC Elevated AC instead. Going to add a pentode/triode switch too if I can figure out where the best place to put the switch is.

[MrBump]

I love the idea of building something like that, but given only one in 4 of my pedal builds has worked, I should probably leave well alone.

:(

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Aye it is a lot of money to be throwing away if it doesnt work right thankfully i have a few people who know there stuff with electronics and amps more specifically.

I managed to get a great deal on what i've got currently just by asking around. I have also found a lot of places here in the uk to get parts and if i go with the Ingo transformers & choke thats quite a big saving especially as they're coming from europe too.

I will most likely be going with the C3 chasis as the weber one is a bit cack in comparison so i will probably get in touch about that headshell when i get closer to completion to see if you still have it. Is it tolexed already or did you get it without?

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I love the idea of building something like that, but given only one in 4 of my pedal builds has worked, I should probably leave well alone.

:(

There is quite a lot of help at hand especially with the SLO clone forums theres some guys on there that really know there stuff (thanks dmoney for pointing me in the right direction)

[Dmoney]

Aye it is a lot of money to be throwing away if it doesnt work right thankfully i have a few people who know there stuff with electronics and amps more specifically.

I managed to get a great deal on what i've got currently just by asking around. I have also found a lot of places here in the uk to get parts and if i go with the Ingo transformers & choke thats quite a big saving especially as they're coming from europe too.

I will most likely be going with the C3 chasis as the weber one is a bit cack in comparison so i will probably get in touch about that headshell when i get closer to completion to see if you still have it. Is it tolexed already or did you get it without?

It's covered. Its orange with chrome corners and black grills. The only thing it doesn't have any more are feet and chassis bolts, I used them for something else.

I built the amp really well. Problem solving it got to the point where I'd have to rebuild the all the PCB's or order the transformers again, and It would have just cost too much at the time. I had great help trying to find out what was wrong. If I built another I'm sure it would work fine, I'd use the C3 boards rather than the Smash ones though.

Here are some photos of my build.

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Very nicely done.

Did you use the onetics transformers?

Do you still have this build or did you just scr@p it all?

[Dmoney]

I did use the O'netics.
I even emailed Bud Purvine about the problem I had. He suggested it might be leaking EMI from the PT and gave me a test to do involving a true RMS meter and some coiled wire. It didn't really find anything. He was going to ask Mike Fortin I think if he had any advice.
He did tell me the O'netics are over spec'd enough so that if you melted your output valves both transformers should still work fine.

I think I just had some bad luck with it.

My amp is mostly scr@pped. The chassis now has more bits of powder coat scr@pped off because I worked through the whole noise reduction thread on the sloclone forums, which mostly involves altering the grounding scheme (that isn't on the pcb). The sockets have been used in other things, so have the pots, jacks. All that is left is the choke, and the power and preamp PCB. I could write a book based on all the tests I did to it. I think I just had some bad luck though.

Plus, If I did build another from scratch, I would still have paid less than getting a real SLO, and I wouldn't have had to get it via sound control, who I refuse to do get anything from. Since they are the only soldano importers in the UK that pretty much means I won't be getting another soldano product any time soon. So, I don't feel that bad about it. Great learning curve, and It's led to me building other things (that totally work).

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I did use the O'netics.
I even emailed Bud Purvine about the problem I had. He suggested it might be leaking EMI from the PT and gave me a test to do involving a true RMS meter and some coiled wire. It didn't really find anything. He was going to ask Mike Fortin I think if he had any advice.
He did tell me the O'netics are over spec'd enough so that if you melted your output valves both transformers should still work fine.

I think I just had some bad luck with it.

My amp is mostly scr@pped. The chassis now has more bits of powder coat scr@pped off because I worked through the whole noise reduction thread on the sloclone forums, which mostly involves altering the grounding scheme (that isn't on the pcb). The sockets have been used in other things, so have the pots, jacks. All that is left is the choke, and the power and preamp PCB. I could write a book based on all the tests I did to it. I think I just had some bad luck though.

Plus, If I did build another from scratch, I would still have paid less than getting a real SLO, and I wouldn't have had to get it via sound control, who I refuse to do get anything from. Since they are the only soldano importers in the UK that pretty much means I won't be getting another soldano product any time soon. So, I don't feel that bad about it. Great learning curve, and It's led to me building other things (that totally work).

is the chasis missing powdercoating on the outside or just internally?

It is a very hard amp to fault find with though it seems there are numerous threads on various problems.

Did you just do the stock build with the depth & haynes mod? or did you go with elevated heaters?

[Dmoney]

It's mostly scratched off on the inside. Nothing shoulder washers wouldn't fix.
I'll have to check it for scratches on the outside. It might have been knocked or something.

I did use elevated heaters. But i tried it with and without while trying to find the source of the ticking sound. I have used Elevated heaters in another amp to reduce noise and it had a really good effect.

that 6V6 build will have elevated heaters.

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The first of many packages has finally arrived. :D

[Dmoney]

nice.
when I got mine bits they came with the transformers and 3 of the mains filter caps had huge dents in them. glad you've avoided that!

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Yet yeah  noticed that on the blog I got all of this quite cheap from someone on the slo clone forum. The transformers etc should be on there way son hopefully