Used by Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and a generation of hard-rock players, Mike Soldano’s SLO-100 is one of the world’s most legendary tube amps. And now you can have the holy grail electric guitar tones of both its channels right there on your pedalboard with the SLO-Plus.
Expanding on the success of the SLO pedal, which was launched in 2022 to bring you all the cascading gain nourishment of the Super Lead Overdrive 100’s Overdrive channel, the SLO-Plus goes the whole hog, and includes the Normal channel as well.
That’s a lot of gain, a lot of warmth, and a lot of tone-shaping from a compact amp-in-a-box. And it’s considerably cheaper than forking out $3,999 for an SLO-100 Classic head.
But Soldano promises those same reference-quality tones, that super-saturated, warm, harmonically rich high-gain drive of the Overdrive channel, and the Normal channel where players can dial in the grand cru of boutique amp crunch.
It’s a bold promise and it is a testament to Mike Soldano’s original 1987 design that players still look to the SLO-100 as the benchmark for a high-gain tone that some might call the LA sound. Mick Mars was one of the first players to pick one up and add it to his backline for Mötley Crue. Ratt’s Warren DeMartini did likewise.
“The SLO Plus can go from a rich but aggressive distortion, through complex barking crunch tones, to stunningly responsive cleans with the tap of your toe,” says Soldano.
As you would expect, the control surface of the SLO Plus is much like a regular guitar amp. There are two footswitches. One engages/bypasses the pedal. The other switches between your Overdrive and Normal channels.
Each of the channels has its own master volume and preamp gain, while a three-band EQ and a Presence control serves both, filtering the output’s high-end.
There is also a Deep switch located on the side of the pedal for adding a little punch on the low-end. This Deep switch is, again, another feature that was inspired by the original amp, mimicking the effect of the SLO-100’s Depth control.
The SLO-Plus is available now, priced $269. You can get it in regular Soldano white or in Custom Purple for $299.
Some might be tempted to hold out for a snakeskin custom option but, come on, don't peak too soon; save that for when you’re ready to order your SLO-100 head from the custom shop.
For more details, head over to Soldano.
