Soldano Amplifier Clone Build

I first knew I wanted a SLO-100 when I found out one of my guitar idols, Jun Senoue (you did see the bit on Retro gaming right?) was a prominent user. Well it turns out they're kinda pricey, so I built one! Turns out there's a great community of builders too, even with their own forum. Of course many of my other heroes have used them too - Nuno, EVH... and anyone who uses a Mesa Rectifier or Peavey 5150 is using a derived circuit with that oh so important 39k cathode resistor. However it's FAR too loud so I don't play it as much as I'd like too, but it is a wicked monster of an amp.

I took various photo's throughout the build, but to start I had to get the parts. I got the base kit from https://guitar-electronics.eu/, and ordered the other parts from Mouser, eBay, and the occasional other supplier. The transformers are by InMadOut, a popular choice among builders.

Sadly, I didn't think to take any pictures when populating the PCBs, which I had done before the transformers or chassis even arrived. Here's my first picture of everything together ahead of building it.

First up was fitting the valve bases.

Then doing the heater wiring.

Adding the screen grid stoppers, and wiring the mains transformer.

Adding the choke and wiring in the PSU board.

Finally adding the main board and wiring it up.

After all that work, the SLOClone was done! I was very lucky that at the first power-up, I biased it and the amp just worked. I was actually somewhat disappointed I wasn't going to need to fault find the amp! That first strum was killer though - me and my dad had earache for weeks!

Here are some more completed pictures.

A long time later, I finally got around to fitting it into a Cabinet. This is a re-used Cabinet from another trashed amplifier.