Uploaded October 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For modern metal tones we all want a clean power section…tight preamp distortion with a power amp to "make it loud"…
if the power amp starts saturating the low end gets a bit squishy, the thrashy palm mutes become less tight etc…undesirable.
But that's modern metal tones….what about other styles?
The power amp can have a huge influence on the tone once it gets into saturation (be it the PI, the power amp tubes or the transformer).
In this example I wanted to show you how the power amp of the SLO reacts and behaves at different volumes.
Usually the speaker/cab plays a HUGE factor as well (that's why those 1W amps still won't give you the same sound as a cranked 100W), as the speakers start to compress and eventually even distort, to eliminate that factor Iused the awesome Two Notes Torpedo Live with an IR of my speaker and adjusted its input level to be the same throughout the test, so what you're hearing is actually the effect of the saturating power amp ONLY (how much of that is PI, transformers, tubes etc differs from amp to amp, depending on the design…this example is an SLO100 with the loop-bypass-mod).
As you can hear there's also obviously a point of diminished returns when the distortion starts to sound unpleasant.
for reference: 3 is about "full metal band rehearsal volume"
Here are your marker points:
0:14 Master Volume:1
0:39 Master Volume:2
1:01 Master Volume:3
1:23 Master Volume:4
1:46 Master Volume:5
2:07 Master Volume:6
2:30 Master Volume:7
2:52 Master Volume:8
For modern metal tones we all want a clean power section…tight preamp distortion with a power amp to "make it loud"…
if the power amp starts saturating the low end gets a bit squishy, the thrashy palm mutes become less tight etc…undesirable.
But that's modern metal tones….what about other styles?
The power amp can have a huge influence on the tone once it gets into saturation (be it the PI, the power amp tubes or the transformer).
In this example I wanted to show you how the power amp of the SLO reacts and behaves at different volumes.
Usually the speaker/cab plays a HUGE factor as well (that's why those 1W amps still won't give you the same sound as a cranked 100W), as the speakers start to compress and eventually even distort, to eliminate that factor Iused the awesome Two Notes Torpedo Live with an IR of my speaker and adjusted its input level to be the same throughout the test, so what you're hearing is actually the effect of the saturating power amp ONLY (how much of that is PI, transformers, tubes etc differs from amp to amp, depending on the design…this example is an SLO100 with the loop-bypass-mod).
As you can hear there's also obviously a point of diminished returns when the distortion starts to sound unpleasant.
for reference: 3 is about "full metal band rehearsal volume"
Here are your marker points:
0:14 Master Volume:1
0:39 Master Volume:2
1:01 Master Volume:3
1:23 Master Volume:4
1:46 Master Volume:5
2:07 Master Volume:6
2:30 Master Volume:7
2:52 Master Volume:8
