Phil hodson
Well-known member
It seems that last year quite a few people got the urge to build a Soldano. And I was no different. My board turned up at the same time as at least two builds were getting posted on here. So it must have been something in the air that made everyone make the same decision at the same time!
I managed to stumble across AA Electronics completely by accident. And loved the look of their PCB’s. I had a niggle in the back of my head that I wanted a higher gain amp after building my Trinity 18w custom plexi. And weirdly before even thinking about it I purchased one of their SLO100 boards
Unlike my Trinity build this is purely the PCB, a layout, BOM and a schematic. That’s it. After the purchase I wondered what I had let myself in for!
Due to build from members like @jjjimi84 i managed to find Rob at C3 amps. And the rest is history!
The parts were easy to find mainly from Mouser which was great being from Canada, the only issue being that the spec of the power diodes used had changed and the legs were too thick to fit through the PCB so I had to do some filing and shape the ends. It worked. Phew.
Rob supplied the iron and gave me a great set of O’Netics. He also supplied the chassis and the knobs and the amazing head cabinet too.
The PCB went together well. I chose the relay option which is how they are made now. Instead of the LDR’s.
The transformers and connections took a few explanations from Rob but we got there in the end. I certainly learned a lot!!
Help from Andrea at AA was exactly what I needed too. He helped me with a few issues I had.
This was certainly meant for someone with amp building experience but I liked testing myself. Maybe Andrea and Rob didn’t though
The off board wiring from the PCB was a bit of a pain. There was a lot and not much room to work with. Chapeau to everyone who managed to make a SLO build look good. With straight wires and good angles. There are plenty of A+ builds out there.
After I had rectified my stupid mistake (missed some important info from the layout!) it was time to fire it up.
First Impressions. It’s loud! Maybe a 50w would have been better but wow it sounds amazing.
The clean is crisp and has the added option of a bright switch. And also a crunch too if needed.
With a light chorus it sounds amazing. JC120 style.
The overdrive channel is pure crunch. Exactly what I was after. The foot switch works to swap between the two. And it also has an effects loop.
I need more time to dial in some tones but at the moment I’m just pleased it worked! Finally. It took a long time to complete due to normal things getting in the way. But like a lot of things I have done on here I learned a lot and that’s exactly what makes doing things like this interesting. It’s always good to push yourself. And I didn’t blow the amp, my house or even myself up! So it’s a win win.
Can’t wait to get more time on it and put it to its test.
Plenty of pics to follow.
I managed to stumble across AA Electronics completely by accident. And loved the look of their PCB’s. I had a niggle in the back of my head that I wanted a higher gain amp after building my Trinity 18w custom plexi. And weirdly before even thinking about it I purchased one of their SLO100 boards
Unlike my Trinity build this is purely the PCB, a layout, BOM and a schematic. That’s it. After the purchase I wondered what I had let myself in for!
Due to build from members like @jjjimi84 i managed to find Rob at C3 amps. And the rest is history!
The parts were easy to find mainly from Mouser which was great being from Canada, the only issue being that the spec of the power diodes used had changed and the legs were too thick to fit through the PCB so I had to do some filing and shape the ends. It worked. Phew.
Rob supplied the iron and gave me a great set of O’Netics. He also supplied the chassis and the knobs and the amazing head cabinet too.
The PCB went together well. I chose the relay option which is how they are made now. Instead of the LDR’s.
The transformers and connections took a few explanations from Rob but we got there in the end. I certainly learned a lot!!
Help from Andrea at AA was exactly what I needed too. He helped me with a few issues I had.
This was certainly meant for someone with amp building experience but I liked testing myself. Maybe Andrea and Rob didn’t though
The off board wiring from the PCB was a bit of a pain. There was a lot and not much room to work with. Chapeau to everyone who managed to make a SLO build look good. With straight wires and good angles. There are plenty of A+ builds out there.
After I had rectified my stupid mistake (missed some important info from the layout!) it was time to fire it up.
First Impressions. It’s loud! Maybe a 50w would have been better
but wow it sounds amazing.The clean is crisp and has the added option of a bright switch. And also a crunch too if needed.
With a light chorus it sounds amazing. JC120 style.
The overdrive channel is pure crunch. Exactly what I was after. The foot switch works to swap between the two. And it also has an effects loop.
I need more time to dial in some tones but at the moment I’m just pleased it worked! Finally. It took a long time to complete due to normal things getting in the way. But like a lot of things I have done on here I learned a lot and that’s exactly what makes doing things like this interesting. It’s always good to push yourself. And I didn’t blow the amp, my house or even myself up! So it’s a win win.
Can’t wait to get more time on it and put it to its test.
Plenty of pics to follow.
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