Soldano SLO Mini SS 30

[6strang]

I picked up an SLO mini and have done quite a bit of reading about the unit specs and limitations online.

It is not intended to be used with a reactive load or tube type attenuator in the traditional fashion out of the speaker jack output tap. I believe that the unit could become damaged if used that way. However, the effects send (from the mini) is a line level signal that can be fed into an external amp effect return or another line level accepting device. I ran mine into a Line 6 Catalyst 100 effects return and it worked well. Also, I used ran it into the effects return of the Fryette Power Station PS2 with good results.

I wish that I would have had something like this when I started out playing, vs. the old Crate or Gorilla back in the day LOL. The tones are really pretty solid. This is coming from a tube and tone snob. It really is a cool SS amp. A keeper, in fact.

Don't expect it to sound like a $4000 SLO 100 head. It shares some tonal commonalities...at $250. Enjoy it for what it is, another fun music tool to jam out with.

 

[Moony]

Hello

Hi,

Thomas Blug (also an educated amp tech and engineer) has talked about similar issues with the Bogner Mini Ecstasy amp:

 

[Randy Van Sykes]

Little SLO mini clip, recorded this with a cellphone
Just noodling low volume, bit of effect in the loop.

 

[Chuckthetech]

Hi,

Thomas Blug (also an educated amp tech and engineer) has talked about similar issues with the Bogner Mini Ecstasy amp:

Thanks for the video, I haven't seen this video before, yep, don't connect it to any other grounded gear.
Just like I found out. I have also a Hotone Freeze B and no problem connecting to my reactive load.
The SLO Mini's speaker output is floating at 11.4 VDC. This is why they say in the manual don't connect the external load, only a speaker. I did read the manual first but I thought they were talking about a power soak. On the other side, I never knew an Audio tech that read a manual until something go wrong. I worked for 18 years as a professional audio repair Tech in The Bay area, repairing just about everything Audio Guy broke. My opinion is they kept costs down in the design of the power supply, output stage, and DC voltage on the 1/4 phone plug is a no-no.
Thanks again

 

[Xevyn]

Just got mine tonight and have it plugged into my Captor X and all seems good. Should I be worried about using it with my Captor X?

 

[Hammered]

I’ll wait until I get enough scratch for the 100.

There’s an SLO 30 for sale in my area and I’m really fighting the urge lol

 

[guitarman3001]

There’s an SLO 30 for sale in my area and I’m really fighting the urge lol

I'd buy one used for $150 or less but not more than that.

 

[Sirloin]

I'd buy one used for $150 or less but not more than that.

I think he’s talking about the SLO 30, not the Mini SLO

 

[Moony]

I'd buy one used for $150 or less but not more than that.

Haha, I also would buy a SLO 30 for 1000 bucks.

 

[guitarman3001]

I think he’s talking about the SLO 30, not the Mini SLO

Since this thread is about the slo mini 30 I thought that's the one he was talking about.

But if it's the regular SLO, yeah, I'd definitely buy one for $150. Might consider going a wee bit higher too......

 

[Chuckthetech]

Just got mine tonight and have it plugged into my Captor X and all seems good. Should I be worried about using it with my Captor X?

For now, I would only connect the send to your audio interface, sounds great. You don't know what the circuit looks like. If Captor X uses an isolation transformer somewhere in its circuit the DC won't get through to its output, that would be a plus.

 

[Moony]

What's interesting about the SLO Mini in comparison to the others eg Friedman BE Mini and Bogner Ecstasy Mini - there are the Friedman BE-OD (and Dirty Shirley and Smallbox) and Bogner Ecstasy (Blue and Red, big and mini size) pedals available.

But no Soldano SLO pedal from the Soldano/BAD brand.
And the Wampler SLOstortion is discontinued since a few years.

So I'm really curious if they will release a SLO pedal later.
If they do I would consider buying one.
The Friedman BE-OD pedal in front of a nice tube amp sounds better than the BE-OD Mini amp, so I guess it would be the same with a SLO pedal.

 

[Xevyn]

For now, I would only connect the send to your audio interface, sounds great. You don't know what the circuit looks like. If Captor X uses an isolation transformer somewhere in its circuit the DC won't get through to its output, that would be a plus.

Thanks! I sent off an email to support to see what their official stance is with the captor X but for now I will play it safe and use the send like you suggested. I guess I may need to also use a power amp plugin as well.

 

[Hammered]

I'd buy one used for $150 or less but not more than that.

Since this thread is about the slo mini 30 I thought that's the one he was talking about.

But if it's the regular SLO, yeah, I'd definitely buy one for $150. Might consider going a wee bit higher too......

Yeah I should’ve clarified I was talking about the full size SLO 30. Like I was saying trying to fight the urge

 

[Space Jazzer]

Remember folks, you are buying essentially a solid-state overdrive pedal and a crappy Class D SS poweramp in a cute little box with a famous brand logo.

I'd rather buy something like a H&K Ampman/Stompman or Quilter Superblock for this kind of money.

This is TGP. Objective rationale is blissfully absent from our financial decisions.

 

[Xevyn]

For now, I would only connect the send to your audio interface, sounds great. You don't know what the circuit looks like. If Captor X uses an isolation transformer somewhere in its circuit the DC won't get through to its output, that would be a plus.

@Chuckthetech - this morning I decided to also ask Two Notes for more info about the Captor X and while they didn't give any specifics they did point me to this FAQ article they have:

Can I use a Torpedo product with a transistor amplifier ?

support.two-notes.com

"This question actually raises a surprising issue. The fact is, this does not apply to all loadboxes that exists out there. Some loadboxes are designed in a way that makes them unsuitable for some amps. Some manufacturer actually do warn about this, and specifically say that their loadboxes shouldn't be used with solid state amps. So what makes the Torpedo loadboxes OK for use with any amp, while some other loadboxes aren't ? And why solid state amps in particular ?

The basic explanation is: these unsuitable loadboxes ground the sleeve of the speaker jack. Which results in a short-circuit between this point and the ground of the amp. And it's at this point that you may find a difference between solid state and tube amps.

Most tube amps use voltage feedback (if they use feedback at all), and have their output (the secondary winding of the output transformer) referenced directly to ground. This means that there is nothing to short-circuit, and this simple design works OK.

But some solid state amps uses other architectures, like current feedback, which inserts a resistor between the sleeve of the speaker jack and the ground of the amp. This resistor is then short-circuited by the unsuitable loadbox, resulting in an amplifier that don't work anymore."


Sounds like they have seen a few other SS amps that warn against using load boxes as well. I'm guessing this last bit that I have bolded above is what those Mini Amps do and it looks like Two Notes has designed the Captor/Captor X to handle that.

 

[Sirloin]

@Xevyn pretty sure the SD PowerStage is same.

 

[Xevyn]

@Xevyn pretty sure the SD PowerStage is same.

Yeah I think all those mini amps are the same.

 

[guitarman3001]

Yeah I think all those mini amps are the same.

Someone from, I think it was Diezel, posted earlier in the thread and said theirs is different. As I understood his posts, he made it sound like they are all different internally and just use the same box.

But if it turns out that all of them have the same amplifier/wiring/grounding/user manual/can't be connected to a load box/etc, the claim that they are all different and independently designed would seem to not be accurate.

Does anyone know if the other minis are the same way?

 

[tonedover]

WHY would anyone connect this to a load box, when THE INSTRUCTIONS say to not use the speaker jack, and use the send as a pre-amp when doing direct, is beyond me...

if not going direct, the master volume is good enough so that you dont NEED attenuation. its a solid state amp. there is no such thing as pushing the power tubes so, wth are you guys even doing?

and im not an EE or anything.... just a guy using common sense...