Inside the Suhr PT15 - and my opinion vs SLO30

[@hearpalhere]

Great playing man, really tearing it up in the intro but in the later sections too! I love that you show the inside of the amp - no where near enough people do that.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Glad you like it, I think it’s worth while.

[@jlbaxe]

Just got the SLO 100R this past Friday. It now has a master volume and depth mod. No problem balancing out clean and crunch.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Nice, I live between the crunch and gain channels so the clean thing doesn’t bother me at all - great amp!

[@jlbaxe]

@@user-qr7ee2cp4y I had an amp I bought and didn’t like. My rep let me return it, full value towards the SLO 100R that took some sting out off it. Ended up getting the X88IR first 🤦‍♂️

[@jerrymckenzie1858]

Don't forget that Sweetwater has only been carrying Suhr products for a few months, so comparing sales numbers may be a bit skewed.

[@kmjansen]

Does Sweetwater even advertise units sold on its public website, or is OP assuming number of reviews equals units sold?

[@oldguyjammin9732]

That’s fair, and I was wrong about the number of HK 40s… 63! That thing sold very well. Even if it’s only been a few months, a great amp should sell well. Another thing I’ll check is to see how flooded the used market is. Are people hanging on to them, or dumping them.

[@kmjansen]

@@oldguyjammin9732 I watched a few of your jams tonight because I enjoy them so much. Cheers

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@kmjansen - ha ha, that’s awesome! Thank you very much :-)

[@RobertChafe-bz6ft]

Please don’t try to give technical information - IE the regulator is for….the transistors are…the bias resistor is clearly marked…etc. Everything you said related to technical info while inspecting the inside of the amp was not completely accurate or just plain wrong.

[@therealdealblues]

Wow, your comments are totally different than my experience with the PT15. Channel 1 is crystal clean. It’s based on the Suhr Bella. Great pedal platform. Can get a spanky with the bright switch for a more Fender Blackface sound. Turning the gain knob up does make it fatter sounding. You don’t get crunch from it unless you are cranking the master volume way up. The channel volumes and the master all have a symbiotic relationship in the way it was designed. It won’t sound correct unless you have them dialed correctly with each other which is something I had to play with. It generally performs best with the channel volumes at 4-5 and then the master volume to taste but it really sounds best when pushed to at least 3-4 on the master. I have no problem getting a lower gain crunch and keeping it thick sounding. Sounded about 95% the same as my old Marshall Plexi, EVH 100w and DSL100 I sold. Channel 3 I don’t have any problem putting a Klon in front of and getting a singing lead tone without it sounding compressed at all. It doesn’t sing like the Soldano without the Klon though. The gain is more hot rodded Marshall than the liquidy Soldano. For me the Soldano was just un-gigable live as I needed pure clean, crunch and lead and the inability to footswitch between clean and crunch on the SLO30 and the volume drop on the clean channel even if you could is too much of an issue for me and it doesn’t get clean enough with the volume knob in the crunch setting. I’d consider the SLO30 with the Mesa head track switcher as the SLO30 is a fun amp but I’d need a separate clean amp to switch with and being more expensive than the PT15 makes it kind of impractical. Glad you got to try the PT15 though and that you enjoy the SLO so much.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Apparently I didn’t spend enough time with it, I found it necessary to adjust the EQ a bit between channel 2/3, and never could get a real ‘clean’, clean tone…? Strange. Wish I still had it to try your settings. Nice amp for sure and a quality build. Thanks for chiming in :-)

[@bobclapper2672]

BadAss ! Loved that intro

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Thanks Bob \m/

[@rickycompton2610]

Great review, Soldano make killer amps!!!

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Yes they do!

[@roncollins6259]

Great analysis! Somehow you made it easy to understand, even for someone who knows very little. If you hapoen to be familiar with a Peavy Bravo (my favorite practace amp by fare for metal) I would love to know if their is anything you would do to improve a already monster gain amp! Excluding the obvious speaker change. Lol

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Well, what is it you don’t care for? Not real familiar with the Bravo - in fact, I’ve never heard of it!?!?! I’ll check it out, but what do you think needs improving?

[@roncollins6259]

@oldguyjammin9732 I highly suggest anyone looking for a super loud,low power el 84 rock amp to check them out. You can find them around 400 bucks on reverb etc... It's the precursor to the 6105. I was hoping you had some magical voodoo to just make it "better" LOL. If I could change anything, I prefer el 34s over the stock tube's. The only low power amp that comes close in my opinion is the Orange OR 15. The Orange is better.

[@jayzapico3574]

Components designated "U" are integrated circuits.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Good call, and you’re right. How about that screwy little one by the input jack?

[@jthair1]

The Soldano sounds wonderful. What speaker are you using in that Friedman cab?

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Thanks, but I assure you, it sounds much BETTER than you heard here :-) I have that cab loaded with a G12M Creamback. When I think of the $$ spent on other amps…

[@jthair1]

@oldguyjammin9732 I have this amp also in purple for about a year plus and it still brings a smile to my face. Truly is one of the great amps built in recent years. Very organic and just tube heaven.

[@danmills8521]

I absolutely love my SLO30! I bought it with a Mesa Mk7, already own a Mk4, and a few other tube amps and the SLO 30 is my favorite. It is voiced perfectly, has so much rich character and dynamic sparkle even better when switching channels via the Soldano foot switch that little transition has a character like every amp does and the slo30 is by far the smoothest when switching. It can also get super nasty like brown sound on steroids! I adore the slo30 very much. They really did a fantastic job when they designed it!

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@jthair1 - right!? No ear fatigue, or ‘sweet spots’… it’s just all good, everywhere.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@danmills8521 - I’ve had a few Mesas too, and a JVM205 thinking that maybe bigger is better, but this is hands down the best amp I’ve ever owned ~ with ZERO ear fatigue. After playing for a while, some amps I’d need to turn down but with the SLO I just want to keep turning it up \m/

[@shredaintdead9323]

Cool vid but curious why you didnt compare the pt15 to the astro instead? The astro is really the amp most similar to the pt15. Slo30 is great but nothing like the pt. The astro is like the best of both worlds. Great clean, crunch, rythmn and searing lead tones with the multiple channels and gain modes.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

I had the Astro in for a bit but returned it, feeling like the SLO had much more depth and thickness. Just comparing two reputable amps. I also don’t care for IRs or too much button pushing, galaxies, moons, etc \m/

[@marcosbrun7376]

Did you get a Soldano SLO30 cheaper than a Suhr PT15 non IR? That is nice!

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Suhr did! Like $700 cheaper \m/

[@chasebeavers]

Speaker wire isn't shielded...

[@oldguyjammin9732]

No, I don’t think so. I goofed a bit on that Feedback wire, it runs in parallel to the actual signal wire, but regardless the output transformer leads connect to the impedance selector and then a thin little wire goes over to the output jacks, lol. Kind of defeats super thiccck speaker cables unless you’re covering a lot of distance. Not a big deal apparently \m/

[@chasebeavers]

@@oldguyjammin9732 I meant in general, you said speaker wire is shielded. It is not.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@chasebeavers - Gotcha, guess I mushed up shielded guitar cables with speaker cables made from basically the same, but heavier materials. It was more the small gauge that caught my attention.

[@Macmax7077]

That on the Soldano is not a good clean...

[@oldguyjammin9732]

I think it’s pretty good, not much headroom but much cleaner than the PT15 or even most Marshalls imo. What do you not like about?