Soldano has unveiled the SLO Plus – a new pedal amp that aims to place both channels of the firm's legendary SLO-100 guitar amp into a single stompbox.
Primed for pedalboards and the live environment, the pedal's Overdrive and Normal channels – which are sonically lifted from the amp – come with comprehensive controls and a side-mounted Deep button, bringing all the fun of the amp into a much smaller housing.
Of those controls, there are Master and Preamp dials for both channels, augmented by a “perfectly tuned, amp-like” three-band EQ and a Presence control. The Deep button is on hand to provide “a little extra punch in the low end”, according to head honcho Mike Soldano.
It promises to pack the same tonal punch as the amp proper. As Soldano says, “It's everything the SLO is, all in a pedal”, meaning it isn't trying to do anything else other than provide a more portable version of a beloved high-gain amp. No frills, just tone.
Back in 2022, the firm dropped its first SLO pedal, featuring just the Overdrive channel of the amp. Now it’s offering “double the versatility” for a mere $40 more.
This new-found emphasis on its stompbox inventory sees Soldano reacting to the changing amp market, as many big-name players and gigging musicians trade tube amps for amp modelers and pedal amps.
Recognizing that there is great appeal in streamlined setups, Soldano aims to have sway in what is a hugely competitive market with the SLO Plus, saying: “Whether leaning on its cleans, overdrive, or both, the SLO Plus makes a fantastic preamp when running into a power amplifier or Impulse Response loader.”
Released in 1987, the Soldano Super Lead Overdrive 100-watt head was quickly adopted by Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe), Warren de Martini (Ratt), and Howard Leese (Heart). Today, profiled versions of the amp can be found on many modelers. That goes a long way to showing how, four decades on, players still adore what it can do.
As time has gone on, its Normal channel has won over the hearts of non-metal greats too, with Eric Claton, Mark Knopfler, and Gary Moore among those to make its clean tones sing. As such, this could very much now be the hard rock pedal amp to beat.
“A lot of players use their pedalboard for tone-shaping, and then their amp is a stand-alone vehicle for all these pedals,” Soldano said of the first SLO pedal, which it has now one-upped. “We wanted to give the pedal user a full amp sound in a pedal.”
The Soldano SLO Plus is available now for $269.99.
Head to Soldano to learn more.
