For blues rock legend Warren Haynes, his Soldano SLO100 amplifier required modifications to better fit his musical style.
Anyone who has listened to Warren’s work—whether with Gov’t Mule, his solo projects, or his time with The Allman Brothers Band—knows that he is an incredibly expressive musician. This level of expression naturally extends to his tone and gear, which he meticulously tailors to suit his needs. While the player is key, it’s essential for someone of Haynes’ caliber to have their equipment customized.
In a recent interview on the Sweetwater Soundcheck podcast, Warren revealed that his preferred Soldano amps were modified by Michael Soldano, the founder of Soldano Custom Amplification. Haynes explained (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“I’ve been using SLO 100s since 1989, and they were all modified by Mike Soldano to give more low-end and low-mid-range at a low preamp gain. The amps were originally designed to add bottom-end and low-mids as the preamp gain increased.”
However, Haynes wasn’t a fan of the original design. “When I spoke to Mike Soldano in 1989, I said, ‘I don’t want all that preamp gain.’ He asked me where I had my preamp set, and I said, ‘Around two and a half or three.’ And he said, ‘Okay, I got it.’”
As a respected figure in the guitar world at the time, it was clear that Soldano would assist Haynes in achieving his ideal sound. Warren continued:
“It was the same concept—he put a switch in so I could choose between both settings. Once I tried the modification, I never used it the original way.”
Warren has since been collaborating with Soldano on a new signature amp. Similar to his recent signature Gibson Les Paul, the process has been gradual, as Haynes has very specific preferences.
Delving further into the details, Haynes shared that the new Soldano signature amp will feature the same modification, but with an advanced twist. “The new amp we’ve been working on now has the same mod, but it’s a knob that’s variable. This allows you to control how much of the mod you want to incorporate, which is really cool.”
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