Hi RJ. Yeah, the SLO and the x99. the 99 has some mojo in there FOR SURE! The x88 just has the look that makes me nostalgic. But I've I'm being objective, the SLO and 99 are tops... I think.
@@BigHairyGuitars That's what I heard. The fullness of the sound was the difference for me. The SLO was the fullest and the 99 was second. It seems like the 99 is a little more versatile and easier to get a chimy clean tone out of.
@@BigHairyGuitars Nice Video! I had a GREAT tall rack.. W/3 pres , Soldano, CAE, and Bogner Fish, all controlled by my bradshaw foot controller .....I'd love to still have it....
@@timpierceguitar hi Tim! Your rack must’ve been glorious! I just read that the producer who recorded Trixter’s first album rented guitars and your rack to get tones on their first album (early 90’s). That’s a great 3 preamps!!!
The Wicked Sensation riff @9:55 really shows how the SLO has that little extra "bloom" in the notes. The racks are great, but the big amp has just that little extra schnizzle. Great vid Michael.
@@toom6087 I just watched that whole video. The only amp that appears to be switched on and plugged in is a plexi in the top right corner of the video. Then at the end he thanks Bruno Engl and Marshall Amps.
@@KnockAndAskToday "Yes that's the plexi here, but back in the days at a time without internet, this video gave me this information : Georges was playing the Soldano SLO with Lynch Mob. And I discovered he played this amp from 1990 to 1994. Then he played the Bogner Ecstasy. I met George two times in 2012 : in Switzerland at a master class and in Florida during a cruise. As he loves to talk about gear, we talked during hours at the bar and... I had the confirmation. :) OK it was long to explain, so I understand your answer. I'm not blind, the 2 SLO we can see here are no powered of course. But this is George's studio...
@@toom6087 All good Alex, I was wasn't trying to wind you up. We all just know he loves gear and will switch back to his old faithful at a moments notice. The tones shown in that video don't have the same "cut" as the album tones.
Fun video to watch and listen. I have owned many Soldano models over the years. I currently have an Atomic 16 1X12 combo and an SLO. I’ve had my SLO for about 14 years now. I gig it almost exclusively. Lots of guys go gain crazy on them, it can do so much more. Remember both Clapton and Knophler used one. So they are pretty versatile in my opinion.
Wow,what a cool demo! For me the best one is the soldano/caswell ,not only because of his huge sound, but also of the midi capabilities and of having the possibility to store presets. that's fantastic! What do we want more! Mike should bring them back on market!
I just have to appreciate what is in that amp rack at the moment... Soldano 100, Friedman, Kemper, Revv... and that is just the LEFT side of the rack!! On the right, SO much purple awesomeness!!!
Awesome Video. Former SLO-100 owner. I found a deal on an SP-77 a few years ago. Had Mike do some minor tweaks to my liking. He made the clean channel which could only do clean go into SLO Crunch territory which I love.. #2 . I wanted actually less gain on the lead channel which was not very usable for anything else like riffs and chords .So he removed a stage and refined from there.. Now both channels are way more flexible and both channels stay in the same phase if they are switching and sound absolutely killer . Still has that “hey look at me” quality
The x99 caswell is insane! I would love to hear all those pre amps with the H&H v800! Not too many videos with that poweramp let alone with the Voltron stack of Soldano preamps!
SOLDANO just makes really great stuff, I had a hotrod plus and a regular hot rod, very cool, my amp tech was thoroughly impressed by both of em and hes an old school marshall/fender guy.
Yikes!! Early Christmas! Great shootout as usual! I was thinking the other week that it would be killer if in the future you could somehow muster all of the main rigs from Steve Lukather back to back in a shootout. From Rivera modded Fender/Marshall, to Mesa Mark IIc+, Soldando X88R, CAE 3+SE, Rivera Bonehead, Bogner Ecstacy 101B...etc... and whatever it’s in between. Just a pipe dream, but a dream none the less! Again, excellent content Michael!
What a gift for Christmas ! Thank you for sharing the reality. I own an old SLO100 (boa skin as George Lynch, not modded at all) and the SP77 preamp (USA) from the 90's. What we can hear in this video is exactly what I can hear when I'm playing these monsters in front of me shredding. This is what I call a high fidelity youtube channel Michael ! I played the Caswell a long time ago, so far away that I didn't remember its sound. I really prefer the SLO100 for its low end. I use the SP77 with a Marshall 9200 power amp loaded with 5881 tubes. So I can play wet/dry/wet. FX with the SP77 (so I use an Xotic stereo custom line mixer between the pre and the power amp) and no FX in the SLO because the loop of this amp is very intolerant. Of course, I'm talking about the old SLO, not the new 2020' one made by Boutique Amps, and witch has a new buffered loop. The only delay I've found to work well with the loop of the old SLO100 is the MojoHandFX Recoil. If I want to play a Boss Dm-2w in, I need a Skrydstrup PL-1 (line mixer) into the loop. Witch cab do you prefer for the Soldano sound ? I've tried many 4x12, Boogies, Marshall, Engl, Friedman, Matamp, Diezel, etc. The best is the 4x12 V30 by Bogner, the one made for the Ecstasy (maybe the same you have in the studio?). As it is warm, it suits perfect with the aggressive Soldano extra bite thing.... Just my humble opinion.
God, my dreaming room, I think I want to be you... : ) : ) : ) Michael, Many thanks for yours video... You take on your personal time for us and many thanks for that. Always a pleasure to listen all this dreaming gear.
They need to outlaw these amps because if I had them I'd be in some serious trouble the kind of trouble I like but not the kind of trouble the law likes I believe the new Soldano amp I believe it's a 50-watt maybe is real close to the SLO 100 and reasonably priced heard one about a month ago another lawbreaker some of the coolest amps ever made digging all the rack ones also that modified Japanese 1 sounds great too I wonder if those are up there in the high price range or if you can even find one anyway great sounds
those pickups in that Friedman sound pretty damn hot too bro!!!! great sounds hail from the SLO100. all the way from 80s Clapton to the heaviest of the heavy!!!!! ohh yea, and all the midrange you want!!!!
I am building a SLO clone out of a 70ies plexi copy ( point to point el34) . I’ve made a lucky mistake with the clean/ crunch channel and omitted a 470k resister in the signal chain which caused more gain on the clean crunch channel. This actually sounds really good. It doesn’t have the huge distortion of the lead channel but sounds really more like a hotrod Marshall . I’ll keep that as an option on a switch
that's simply because the SLO Power amp has been designed specifically for the preamp by the man himself. The other preamps are going through a poweramp from a different amp builder. So, the SLO sounds better goes without saying
Loved all of them in the dirt! Something about the articulate, yet meaty nature of soldanos is unmatched. I was partial to the x88r on the clean though actually. It felt more warm to me, I guess? More natural. It was probably a difference in the settings, but the clean from the x88r was just mouth-watering. Great demo!
Michael Many thanks for doing all of these great videos on the old preamps I’ve owned many them The one I shouldn’t have sold was the Soldano/ Castell X-99 No telling what there worth now? When you get a chance please do a video on the much overlooked Yamaha DG-1000 ( probably Alan Holdsworth s favorite and I think he had a lot to do in its development) A truly great pre that hold its own against or excels against many of the pres you’ve presented A new pre that you should present is the Black Widow Audio Designs MGP-1A Analog high voltage plate 4 12ax7 midi ‘ It’s quite remarkable A true milestone in engineering Once again many thanks for all the time and effort that you have put in doing these videos Kindest regards Michael
Hey man. Great vid as usual. I would love to see you slave that SLO 100 via a Suhr RL or other load box then into the 2150. I was able to play Mick Mars rig once and it is still the most massive thing I have ever heard!!! If you haven’t done it thank me later.
I don’t know where this guy came from but he’s one of the most tasteful players I’ve heard in a long time he’s fast he’s clean and he’s very fluent with his playing. I’m very jealous.😊
Great review of the all 3 soldano preamps!!...And Thanks!!...it is funny but to me the worst sounding unit is the X88...the best the cashwell...but the 88 is priced 3 times over the 77 ....funny!!
Totally love you for doing this, in a brotherly way of course. Just be aware of your preamp/ DAW levels Michael. I understand how extremely difficult it is to keep everything balanced when switching, especially as a one man show, but I detected a bit of clipping and found I had to adjust my headphone volumes, to re-balance your extreme toneful awesomeness.
Michael, Good vid, playing sounds good. You always have all the gear I've always wanted especially the Soldano/Caswell X99. I remember going into the Blue Guitar in San Diego and seeing a lightly used Soldano/Caswell X99 sitting in the rack, I was such a regular pest at that store I plugged in and played on it for about an hour, I wanted it so bad but way out of my budget. Good video. I have one complaint though. You need to connect a midi foot controller and change presets in real time while you are playing through the X99 in order to show the true beauty brilliance and magic of such an iconic and rare piece of musical history. Unlike many units that have a gap or a pause when switching from preset to preset, the X99 was designed to not have an interuption of your guitar signal when switching presets. You need to show us all that, so get that thing back and hook up some midi to it and lets see you play through the X99 the way it was meant to be used because that purple box is an instrument in its own right and a very rare one at that.
Hey Mike, Merry Christmas! I'm a big fan of your work and i love this channel. One of my all time favorite records is Bad Boy Live, and i worship JS. I was wondering if you could maybe make a video about him, his playing, his tone and stuff. Thank you!!!
There is something about the head that has that little extra something. They all have the same circuit so I assume it is the 5881 tubes in the head vs the KT88s in the VHT?
X 88r the Lukather solo sound from 1988 till 1992. It’s all over Totos Seventh One (combined with Lukes Tyler guitar). Lukes first solo record from 1989. And the Los Lobotomy’s 1989 record.
Awesome. Does yours have the mods? I THINK mine was the first to include them. Tighter Bass response and a bit kore modern gain on CH 3. Can’t wait to see your vid.
Love your videos! I've GOT to have a VHT 2150 one day... I need to watch this again to decide which preamp. There's something to like about the all! 😎👍 Cheers - Luther
Hello Michael, I just bought the Bigh Hairy Cab-pack, seems to be REALLY good! Which IR do you use when you are doing the Soldano SLO-100, X99, X88r, SP77 Shootout!? Thanks for your fantastic achievements, love your work! Regards, Niklas
@@BigHairyGuitars Great! Looking forward to that. Also, the IRs that are already in the pack are great, such a fin clarity and presence. Thanks for your fantastic work!
I just bought the usa version SP-77 and also a modded japanese version SP-77. Wich sounds awesome! The usa version has the old soldano china made tubes. It sounds ok but it needs a tube swap i think Wich brand tubes are the best for the usa SP-77? Thanks
Ok, you realize that you are completely INSANE!!! This is GREAT!!!!! LOL! :) OK, I just watched it.....I was quite surprised how "similar" each one was, and I felt like it was more splitting hairs to tell the differences.....but I may feel differently if I was in the room. Michael, did you have a preference coming out of that?
Nice video ! Thank you very much ! sp77 has a pure tube sound, very nasty, very dynamic, very natural but less thick than the others, less rich. But excellent for the price! x99 on channel 3 is beefier in the midrange than the x88 with the same settings. But less saturated and less nasty. Maybe less dynamic too? It would have been necessary to turn up the mids of X88 to compare. In crunch it is a shame to have modified this channel because it gives complete satisfaction at high volume. At low volume it is flat and it lacks life or it is blurry, dirty, it depends on the poweramp. But channel 2 on the X88 gives a very beefy and very rich and thick sound when played loudly. It is very dependent on the poweramp. It takes the right combination. With a mesaboogie poweramp it's very interesting. Not as good with Fryette for my taste. Less alive. Clean channel of X99 is even worse than the X88, too bad but its midrange frequencies on channel 3 are interesting. To sum up, in my ears, the X99 is more focused on the rich and thick mids and the X88 has a wider sound in frequencies with thinner mids (for channel 3). The Friedman mod is not interesting in my opinion because it's a crunch channel and you have to think it like that.
There will never be a video more Soldano-ier than this
😊
Only "The Foss" speaks with words like Soldano-ier.....
@@KnockAndAskToday "mate, we Soldano'd it so hard in the 80's"
Caswell and SP77 are needed in AXE-FX :D
@@nevermind2407 The Caswell is in there (Solo 99 Models) but I'd love the 77 too!
All I want for Christmas is everything Mike Soldano ever soldered.
You keep on bringing every single piece of gear I ever dreamed of! This is by far my favorite YT guitar channel now! Thank u!
Love em all, I’m digging the SLO100 and x99 most
Hi RJ. Yeah, the SLO and the x99. the 99 has some mojo in there FOR SURE! The x88 just has the look that makes me nostalgic. But I've I'm being objective, the SLO and 99 are tops... I think.
@@BigHairyGuitars That's what I heard. The fullness of the sound was the difference for me. The SLO was the fullest and the 99 was second. It seems like the 99 is a little more versatile and easier to get a chimy clean tone out of.
@@BigHairyGuitars Nice Video! I had a GREAT tall rack.. W/3 pres , Soldano, CAE, and Bogner Fish, all controlled by my bradshaw foot controller .....I'd love to still have it....
@@timpierceguitar hi Tim! Your rack must’ve been glorious! I just read that the producer who recorded Trixter’s first album rented guitars and your rack to get tones on their first album (early 90’s). That’s a great 3 preamps!!!
The Wicked Sensation riff @9:55 really shows how the SLO has that little extra "bloom" in the notes. The racks are great, but the big amp has just that little extra schnizzle. Great vid Michael.
I've always thought rackmount preamps tonally sit somewhere in between amps and pedals.
Then you never played a Langner into a killer poweramp😢
Wicked Sensation is a great choice to play through these glorious units.
Right on!
The day I decided to buy a SLO is the day I saw this on VHS : ua-cam.com/video/DfU-JGmiX_Q/v-deo.html
@@toom6087 I just watched that whole video. The only amp that appears to be switched on and plugged in is a plexi in the top right corner of the video. Then at the end he thanks Bruno Engl and Marshall Amps.
@@KnockAndAskToday "Yes that's the plexi here, but back in the days at a time without internet, this video gave me this information : Georges was playing the Soldano SLO with Lynch Mob. And I discovered he played this amp from 1990 to 1994. Then he played the Bogner Ecstasy. I met George two times in 2012 : in Switzerland at a master class and in Florida during a cruise. As he loves to talk about gear, we talked during hours at the bar and... I had the confirmation. :) OK it was long to explain, so I understand your answer. I'm not blind, the 2 SLO we can see here are no powered of course. But this is George's studio...
@@toom6087 All good Alex, I was wasn't trying to wind you up. We all just know he loves gear and will switch back to his old faithful at a moments notice. The tones shown in that video don't have the same "cut" as the album tones.
They all have they're place, and all sound good. I'm still into rack gear, I wish
all companies would make them.
Fun video to watch and listen. I have owned many Soldano models over the years. I currently have an Atomic 16 1X12 combo and an SLO. I’ve had my SLO for about 14 years now. I gig it almost exclusively. Lots of guys go gain crazy on them, it can do so much more. Remember both Clapton and Knophler used one. So they are pretty versatile in my opinion.
Wow,what a cool demo!
For me the best one is the soldano/caswell ,not only because of his huge sound,
but also of the midi capabilities and of having the possibility to store presets. that's fantastic!
What do we want more! Mike should bring them back on market!
Love this! Huge thank you to you and Michael Toren for doing this. Merry Christmas!
I just have to appreciate what is in that amp rack at the moment... Soldano 100, Friedman, Kemper, Revv... and that is just the LEFT side of the rack!! On the right, SO much purple awesomeness!!!
Awesome Video. Former SLO-100 owner. I found a deal on an SP-77 a few years ago. Had Mike do some minor tweaks to my liking. He made the clean channel which could only do clean go into SLO Crunch territory which I love.. #2 . I wanted actually less gain on the lead channel which was not very usable for anything else like riffs and chords .So he removed a stage and refined from there.. Now both channels are way more flexible and both channels stay in the same phase if they are switching and sound absolutely killer . Still has that “hey look at me” quality
The x99 caswell is insane! I would love to hear all those pre amps with the H&H v800! Not too many videos with that poweramp let alone with the Voltron stack of Soldano preamps!
This should be flagged as porn.
Better rack than anything in porn.
❤
Gear porn
😁
SOLDANO just makes really great stuff, I had a hotrod plus and a regular hot rod, very cool, my amp tech was thoroughly impressed by both of em and hes an old school marshall/fender guy.
I got my SLO in 2008 along with a Lucky 13, love em both!!! Play thru them all the time!!!
03:15 River of Love - Lynch Mob 🤘
05:53 Fool for Your Loving - Whitesnake 🤘
Yikes!! Early Christmas! Great shootout as usual! I was thinking the other week that it would be killer if in the future you could somehow muster all of the main rigs from Steve Lukather back to back in a shootout. From Rivera modded Fender/Marshall, to Mesa Mark IIc+, Soldando X88R, CAE 3+SE, Rivera Bonehead, Bogner Ecstacy 101B...etc... and whatever it’s in between. Just a pipe dream, but a dream none the less!
Again, excellent content Michael!
Hi Jorge, Hard to find Mark IIc+ for reasonable $ anymore!
Think Luke used Mark 3
What a gift for Christmas ! Thank you for sharing the reality. I own an old SLO100 (boa skin as George Lynch, not modded at all) and the SP77 preamp (USA) from the 90's. What we can hear in this video is exactly what I can hear when I'm playing these monsters in front of me shredding. This is what I call a high fidelity youtube channel Michael !
I played the Caswell a long time ago, so far away that I didn't remember its sound. I really prefer the SLO100 for its low end. I use the SP77 with a Marshall 9200 power amp loaded with 5881 tubes. So I can play wet/dry/wet. FX with the SP77 (so I use an Xotic stereo custom line mixer between the pre and the power amp) and no FX in the SLO because the loop of this amp is very intolerant. Of course, I'm talking about the old SLO, not the new 2020' one made by Boutique Amps, and witch has a new buffered loop. The only delay I've found to work well with the loop of the old SLO100 is the MojoHandFX Recoil. If I want to play a Boss Dm-2w in, I need a Skrydstrup PL-1 (line mixer) into the loop.
Witch cab do you prefer for the Soldano sound ? I've tried many 4x12, Boogies, Marshall, Engl, Friedman, Matamp, Diezel, etc. The best is the 4x12 V30 by Bogner, the one made for the Ecstasy (maybe the same you have in the studio?). As it is warm, it suits perfect with the aggressive Soldano extra bite thing.... Just my humble opinion.
the Bogner is great. The Marshall with Greenbacks is fantastic too. It's currently my favorite cab, so I'd have to go with that for now.
God, my dreaming room, I think I want to be you... : ) : ) : )
Michael, Many thanks for yours video... You take on your personal time for us and many thanks for that.
Always a pleasure to listen all this dreaming gear.
hah! Thanks gibson
All sounded good. The SLO sounds the meanest.
I agree
Soldano SLO 100 and Gibson 335 Gold. WTF... Beautiful combination (with Vahlbruch delay for me).
I need nothing more. Cheers!
The Caswell mod is what Prince used. Very powerful tones.
Would have been interesting to have a Synergy SLO in the mix as well. :)
Yeah! See how close it comes and what channel it closest resembles.....
Amen
Also a “Hot Rod” head....
I was at the limit of how much I could squeeze into a video. haha
I was at the limit of how much I could squeeze into my room.
You have the most legit/tasty guitar rack gear taste....ever 🤘
I wish the Synergy was also in the mix. I’m really interested in it but there’s a lack of head to head with the SLO out there.
Please make a Kemper profile pack of that Caswell. Sounds AMAZING.
The amp smokes the racks. It has an openness to the gain. Something more going on there.
They need to outlaw these amps because if I had them I'd be in some serious trouble the kind of trouble I like but not the kind of trouble the law likes I believe the new Soldano amp I believe it's a 50-watt maybe is real close to the SLO 100 and reasonably priced heard one about a month ago another lawbreaker some of the coolest amps ever made digging all the rack ones also that modified Japanese 1 sounds great too I wonder if those are up there in the high price range or if you can even find one anyway great sounds
What was that gold Gibson was that a 335 or a 339 that sounded killer -good chops bro
You might as well sell everything else you have you have every tone and sound you need with these Soldano s but I know how that goes
This caswell is very special. Best boy in the collection (except the real deal SLO100 with that wonderful extra ooooummph).
those pickups in that Friedman sound pretty damn hot too bro!!!! great sounds hail from the SLO100. all the way from 80s Clapton to the heaviest of the heavy!!!!! ohh yea, and all the midrange you want!!!!
That SLO-100s hi gain tone is my dream tone, nothing tops that liquidy goodness 😂🙌🙌
Dude that gold top!! Love the X88 that thing crushes
They all sound great!
I am building a SLO clone out of a 70ies plexi copy ( point to point el34) . I’ve made a lucky mistake with the clean/ crunch channel and omitted a 470k resister in the signal chain which caused more gain on the clean crunch channel. This actually sounds really good. It doesn’t have the huge distortion of the lead channel but sounds really more like a hotrod Marshall . I’ll keep that as an option on a switch
In every comparison with the SLO, the SLO was the winner, IMHO.
that's simply because the SLO Power amp has been designed specifically for the preamp by the man himself. The other preamps are going through a poweramp from a different amp builder. So, the SLO sounds better goes without saying
Loved all of them in the dirt! Something about the articulate, yet meaty nature of soldanos is unmatched. I was partial to the x88r on the clean though actually. It felt more warm to me, I guess? More natural. It was probably a difference in the settings, but the clean from the x88r was just mouth-watering. Great demo!
Michael
Many thanks for doing all of these great videos on the old preamps
I’ve owned many them
The one I shouldn’t have sold was the Soldano/ Castell X-99
No telling what there worth now?
When you get a chance please do a video on the much overlooked
Yamaha DG-1000 ( probably Alan Holdsworth s favorite and I think he had a lot to do in its development)
A truly great pre that hold its own against or excels against many of the pres you’ve presented
A new pre that you should present is the Black Widow Audio Designs MGP-1A
Analog high voltage plate 4 12ax7 midi ‘
It’s quite remarkable
A true milestone in engineering
Once again many thanks for all the time and effort that you have put in doing these videos
Kindest regards
Michael
Been wanting and waiting to see a x99 soldano/Caswell on this channel for a long time. Thank you Michael and happy holidays to you good sir!
LOVE ALL YOUR VIDEOS AND THE CHANNEL AS A WHOLE AL WAYS LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR STUFF !!!!!!!!
Mike used to mod the Japanese preamps. If you asked him nicely.
Thanks Michael. What a fantastic demo. Love my SLO. Any chance of a separate play-through of the X99?
Awesome video man!! Love the Soldano stuff, great chops man!! Love your channel! Thanks🇨🇦🤘🎸
Would be great if you could make NAM captures from all these preamps!
I have to give this video a like before I even watch it! You can really read my mind and wishlist!!!
Hey man. Great vid as usual. I would love to see you slave that SLO 100 via a Suhr RL or other load box then into the 2150. I was able to play Mick Mars rig once and it is still the most massive thing I have ever heard!!! If you haven’t done it thank me later.
They all sound so GOOD. The SLO head is particularly awesome 😎
This is nuts! Always a huge fan of Soldano for life, the sound in my head!
Thank you michael! i'm just in a soldano phase right now...
and of COURSE you played River On Love!
ソルダーノ一番好き
音像がしっかりしつつ、歪みも十分、バイト感もある。
サイコー
This day has come!
Dude...you and your videos are killer !!!!
Great video as always!
I thought the 77(USA) sounded best of the pre-amps but there’s nothing like the amp! Nice nod to Only the Children by Toto!
18:47 "Jet City Woman" by Queensryche: GLORIOUS!
The SLO with the Depth engaged is JUST PERFECT! Also this is great PH material...
synergy slo module is also absolute amazing
I don’t know where this guy came from but he’s one of the most tasteful players I’ve heard in a long time he’s fast he’s clean and he’s very fluent with his playing. I’m very jealous.😊
Great comparison! I think I heard some JetCity Woman in there too!😎🤘🏼
Hey man, i've got the X88R and the X99. Boy they are killers preamps! paired with VHT 2/50/2. Love 'em!!!
WOW! How'd you get your hands on a 99!?!
@@BigHairyGuitars A friend was selling it not far from where i live. it's the 220v version.
8:35 Only the childreeeeeeen yeee-aaaaaah! Love me some Toto
Not sure I am hearing the SOLDANAO tone from the pre-amps...close but not quite.....good tones yes.....
Always great, but this time is EPIC!!!
Thanks Mike and merry Christmas!
Woooooow soldano sp77 was the holy grail
The SP77 wasn’t supposed to hang in with its expensive siblings, but it more than did!
Man these are amazing !!soldano sp77!! And the Landau x88r what a fucking tone bro!!
Great review of the all 3 soldano preamps!!...And Thanks!!...it is funny but to me the worst sounding unit is the X88...the best the cashwell...but the 88 is priced 3 times over the 77 ....funny!!
Totally love you for doing this, in a brotherly way of course. Just be aware of your preamp/ DAW levels Michael. I understand how extremely difficult it is to keep everything balanced when switching, especially as a one man show, but I detected a bit of clipping and found I had to adjust my headphone volumes, to re-balance your extreme toneful awesomeness.
Between talking and recording, and video-ing, and then editing 90 minutes down to 20 minutes, there's always things that slip through the cracks.
@@BigHairyGuitars I might be wrong. Could be the Sennheiser HD650 Headphones are on the way out.
Love the SLO 100! Too much amp for me, but digging my SLO 30!!
Martin Barre and the Decatone . Beauty
Michael, Good vid, playing sounds good. You always have all the gear I've always wanted especially the Soldano/Caswell X99. I remember going into the Blue Guitar in San Diego and seeing a lightly used Soldano/Caswell X99 sitting in the rack, I was such a regular pest at that store I plugged in and played on it for about an hour, I wanted it so bad but way out of my budget. Good video. I have one complaint though. You need to connect a midi foot controller and change presets in real time while you are playing through the X99 in order to show the true beauty brilliance and magic of such an iconic and rare piece of musical history. Unlike many units that have a gap or a pause when switching from preset to preset, the X99 was designed to not have an interuption of your guitar signal when switching presets. You need to show us all that, so get that thing back and hook up some midi to it and lets see you play through the X99 the way it was meant to be used because that purple box is an instrument in its own right and a very rare one at that.
Awesome!Eighties Rock in four racks!🤟🏼
That 99 is killer
Especially Lynch Mob riff.
I'm going to have to watch this one with no pants on ... HaHa! Awesome video AGAIN! That's ALL the Soldanos Hell Yes!
Those soldano are god damned ferocious, good god!! Perfect amount of grind, yet remains nice and tight, focused and articulate. So bitchin.
Thanks for that!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family Mike!!!
This video was just killer! Makes me want a Soldano more than ever haha
No way dude. What a christmas surprise.
A review done with love! Very nice.
Hey Mike, Merry Christmas! I'm a big fan of your work and i love this channel. One of my all time favorite records is Bad Boy Live, and i worship JS. I was wondering if you could maybe make a video about him, his playing, his tone and stuff. Thank you!!!
Thats a lotta gain in one room!
There is something about the head that has that little extra something. They all have the same circuit so I assume it is the 5881 tubes in the head vs the KT88s in the VHT?
Absolutely.
Thank you for mentioning that!
Killer tone!! The SLO100 is a monster beast with a Les Paul
What an EPIC video! I had such a crush on the X99 when I was a teenager, but knew it was waaaay-way out of my league.
Sae here!
This is the best porn I've watched all year! Thanks Michael!
I never got the Soldano sound, but i get your enthusiasm. As always, enjoyable. Thx, Michael, and a Happy New Year.
X 88r the Lukather solo sound from 1988 till 1992.
It’s all over Totos Seventh One (combined with Lukes Tyler guitar).
Lukes first solo record from 1989.
And the Los Lobotomy’s 1989 record.
Yeah, I only learned a few weeks ago that The Seventh One had a lot of the Tyler.
@@BigHairyGuitars I think only two songs aren’t the Tyler.
Pamela and Anna.
They sound darker and slightly muffled.
I think those are his VA Robot.
@@jaycareaga9929 Yeah, Pamela is super warm. Fat Soldano midrange
Nice! I am digging the 88R here. Seems a little darker/Lee’s bitey than the others. Not too dissimilar to my Mezza Pre.
Hi Jeremy, I just got a Mezza per, can't wait to check it out!
Awesome. Does yours have the mods? I THINK mine was the first to include them. Tighter Bass response and a bit kore modern gain on CH 3.
Can’t wait to see your vid.
@@JeremyVarao not sure. It came from the factory. So, I’m guessing it’s the latest
Love your videos! I've GOT to have a VHT 2150 one day... I need to watch this again to decide which preamp. There's something to like about the all! 😎👍 Cheers - Luther
Great tones man.I’ve owned about 3 SP77 racks and regret not keeping at least 1☹️
Now profile those and lets hear how the Kemper compares.
Nice job
Thanks from Vegas
This series about 80’s rack is pure pornography.....
I had the X88R preamp and loved it. But I thing the SLO 100 sounds just a little bit better.
I've got the SLO and Sp77 MIJ and modified to SLO layout... Those pieces of gear scream as hell!!
Thank you so much Michael!! Can you please share what cab+speaker and mics you used?
Hello Michael,
I just bought the Bigh Hairy Cab-pack, seems to be REALLY good!
Which IR do you use when you are doing the Soldano SLO-100, X99, X88r, SP77 Shootout!?
Thanks for your fantastic achievements, love your work!
Regards,
Niklas
It's a new IR that I'll be adding to the pack very soon. You'll get an update email. Thanks!
@@BigHairyGuitars Great! Looking forward to that. Also, the IRs that are already in the pack are great, such a fin clarity and presence. Thanks for your fantastic work!
A Caswell?!?!!!!
I just bought the usa version SP-77 and also a modded japanese version SP-77. Wich sounds awesome! The usa version has the old soldano china made tubes. It sounds ok but it needs a tube swap i think
Wich brand tubes are the best for the usa SP-77?
Thanks
I love soldano ......i have a soldano atomic 16, its awesome
I dig all of ‘em. All of them. Dig it.
Ok, you realize that you are completely INSANE!!! This is GREAT!!!!! LOL! :) OK, I just watched it.....I was quite surprised how "similar" each one was, and I felt like it was more splitting hairs to tell the differences.....but I may feel differently if I was in the room. Michael, did you have a preference coming out of that?
Yeah. I think the SLO and the 99. Every time I plugged into the 99, I stopped thinking about amps, and just played.
@@BigHairyGuitars Ok, now how about a shootout between the SLO100 and the SLO30! I'm real curious about the 30....
The les Paul sounds absolutely killer 👍
Nice video ! Thank you very much ! sp77 has a pure tube sound, very nasty, very dynamic, very natural but less thick than the others, less rich. But excellent for the price! x99 on channel 3 is beefier in the midrange than the x88 with the same settings. But less saturated and less nasty. Maybe less dynamic too? It would have been necessary to turn up the mids of X88 to compare. In crunch it is a shame to have modified this channel because it gives complete satisfaction at high volume. At low volume it is flat and it lacks life or it is blurry, dirty, it depends on the poweramp. But channel 2 on the X88 gives a very beefy and very rich and thick sound when played loudly. It is very dependent on the poweramp. It takes the right combination. With a mesaboogie poweramp it's very interesting. Not as good with Fryette for my taste. Less alive. Clean channel of X99 is even worse than the X88, too bad but its midrange frequencies on channel 3 are interesting. To sum up, in my ears, the X99 is more focused on the rich and thick mids and the X88 has a wider sound in frequencies with thinner mids (for channel 3). The Friedman mod is not interesting in my opinion because it's a crunch channel and you have to think it like that.
Why don't you incorporate Supercharger g.t.o.?... Awesome and great meaty tones!