MFNAKD... C3 SLO-100 minus 50

syscokid

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My Final New Amp Kit Day, ha ha! Uhm... maybe!

I'm a little late on the Soldano SLO-100 bandwagon, but it is an amp that's been haunting me for about 30 years, thanks to me witnessing Warren Haynes's beginning days with The Allman Brothers, and then a few years later... Gov't Mule. Ok, I can't personally justify a 100+ watt amp and over $4K to have one. The new Soldano SLO-30 at $2,700 is with striking distance but.... I recently learned of a highly reputable amp kit vendor that specializes on the iconic SLO-100. Besides the fact that I have way too many amps, I decided that this was the time and "fulfillment of curiosity", to experience the possibilities of coming close to the greatest amp in our Milky Way.

I present y'all with the C3 Amps 50W SLO Complete Kit... (Pic heavy...):

With the exception of the trannies, all the components are stuffed in that beautiful chassis. Tolex color is called Burgundy Boa:
IMG_2601.JPG


This is about 18 lbs of trannies. The PT alone is about 10 lbs. FWIW, power tube plate voltage should be a hair under 500 volts:
IMG_2607.JPG

Nice extra touches on the hardware:
IMG_2608.JPG

Expensive little boogers:
IMG_2612.JPG

Extremely robust and detailed PCB's:
IMG_2614.JPG

IMG_2615.JPG



Parts are expertly separated, categorized, and labeled:
IMG_2616.JPG

IMG_2620.JPG

The chassis bolt's threaded inserts is permanently welded in:
IMG_2621.JPG

Last look of the Virgin chassis:
IMG_2626.JPG
 
My Final New Amp Kit Day, ha ha! Uhm... maybe!

I'm a little late on the Soldano SLO-100 bandwagon, but it is an amp that's been haunting me for about 30 years, thanks to me witnessing Warren Haynes's beginning days with The Allman Brothers, and then a few years later... Gov't Mule. Ok, I can't personally justify a 100+ watt amp and over $4K to have one. The new Soldano SLO-30 at $2,700 is with striking distance but.... I recently learned of a highly reputable amp kit vendor that specializes on the iconic SLO-100. Besides the fact that I have way too many amps, I decided that this was the time and "fulfillment of curiosity", to experience the possibilities of coming close to the greatest amp in our Milky Way.

I present y'all with the C3 Amps 50W SLO Complete Kit... (Pic heavy...):

With the exception of the trannies, all the components are stuffed in that beautiful chassis. Tolex color is called Burgundy Boa:
View attachment 57717


This is about 18 lbs of trannies. The PT alone is about 10 lbs. FWIW, power tube plate voltage should be a hair under 500 volts:
View attachment 57718

Nice extra touches on the hardware:
View attachment 57719

Expensive little boogers:
View attachment 57720

Extremely robust and detailed PCB's:
View attachment 57721

View attachment 57722



Parts are expertly separated, categorized, and labeled:
View attachment 57723

View attachment 57724

The chassis bolt's threaded inserts is permanently welded in:
View attachment 57725

Last look of the Virgin chassis:
View attachment 57726

Purple snake skin is KEY to the tone.
 
My Final New Amp Kit Day, ha ha! Uhm... maybe!

I'm a little late on the Soldano SLO-100 bandwagon, but it is an amp that's been haunting me for about 30 years, thanks to me witnessing Warren Haynes's beginning days with The Allman Brothers, and then a few years later... Gov't Mule. Ok, I can't personally justify a 100+ watt amp and over $4K to have one. The new Soldano SLO-30 at $2,700 is with striking distance but.... I recently learned of a highly reputable amp kit vendor that specializes on the iconic SLO-100. Besides the fact that I have way too many amps, I decided that this was the time and "fulfillment of curiosity", to experience the possibilities of coming close to the greatest amp in our Milky Way.

I present y'all with the C3 Amps 50W SLO Complete Kit... (Pic heavy...):

With the exception of the trannies, all the components are stuffed in that beautiful chassis. Tolex color is called Burgundy Boa:
View attachment 57717


This is about 18 lbs of trannies. The PT alone is about 10 lbs. FWIW, power tube plate voltage should be a hair under 500 volts:
View attachment 57718

Nice extra touches on the hardware:
View attachment 57719

Expensive little boogers:
View attachment 57720

Extremely robust and detailed PCB's:
View attachment 57721

View attachment 57722



Parts are expertly separated, categorized, and labeled:
View attachment 57723

View attachment 57724

The chassis bolt's threaded inserts is permanently welded in:
View attachment 57725

Last look of the Virgin chassis:
View attachment 57726

OK
I'll give some advice here.
The copper solder pads should be cleaned with an eraser before soldering.
And there is a certain type of eraser you should use.
The copper should be cleaned shiny bright and all the oxide removed from the solder pads before soldering.

The copper pad should be gleaming bright UN-oxidized metal before soldering the part in.
Solder does not flow onto oxidized copper....this results in a poor connection.

It's this type of eraser. It's called an "art gum eraser" or "white gum eraser."
After cleaning the board, blow out the holes / poke out the holes with air to remove the dust.

1612214060173.png
 
OK
I'll give some advice here.
The copper solder pads should be cleaned with an eraser before soldering.
And there is a certain type of eraser you should use.
The copper should be cleaned shiny bright and all the oxide removed from the solder pads before soldering.

The copper pad should be gleaming bright UN-oxidized metal before soldering the part in.
Solder does not flow onto oxidized copper....this results in a poor connection.

It's this type of eraser. It's called an "art gum eraser" or "white gum eraser."
After cleaning the board, blow out the holes / poke out the holes with air to remove the dust.

View attachment 57821
Thanks, AMS. In the C3 Amps website, the description of the PCB's are described as "Milspec FR4 board with 3 oz Copper traces & Silver Plated Pads with Clear Solder Mask". Would the Silver Plated Pads need to be cleaned like you suggested? And what is meant by "with Clear Solder Mask"?
 
With the exception of the trannies
This is about 18 lbs of trannies

There he goes again with all his trannies...

This project does look rather splendid. Snakeskin can be, almost always is, crass, but that casing looks really cool.

Appears like a high quality kit, and with Sysco's skills it's gonna end up great - certainly added to my watch list.
 
Thank you, 67plexi... :cheers:. This picture clearly shows Mike Soldano's creative and anal wiring layout and technique. This is what most SLO-Clone builders strive for. The bar is set very high... :ohno:

My SLO amp kit will have radial filter caps at the power supply board instead of those old but beautiful Mallory axials. The bias pot will be located at the rear chassis wall instead of it being on the preamp board.
20210202_093549.jpg
 
Thanks, AMS. In the C3 Amps website, the description of the PCB's are described as "Milspec FR4 board with 3 oz Copper traces & Silver Plated Pads with Clear Solder Mask". Would the Silver Plated Pads need to be cleaned like you suggested? And what is meant by "with Clear Solder Mask"?

Greg, clear solder mask just means the material they used to coat the bare copper traces (where you don’t want solder, hence the term solder mask) is clear. Here’s some pics of a milspec board I did for work back around 1992. The solder mask is just one of the “layers” in the artwork used to fabricate a PCB. The silver shiny areas are masked off so that when the solder mask material is applied, they are covered, since that is where you do want solder. Notice that the color of the traces are not copper color like your PCB on the left.

736D9C42-397F-43DB-8E24-98113B29BEFE.jpeg8482FDEC-06C0-46E5-B93D-09C85E1E57F0.jpeg
 
Greg, clear solder mask just means the material they used to coat the bare copper traces (where you don’t want solder, hence the term solder mask) is clear. Here’s some pics of a milspec board I did for work back around 1992. The solder mask is just one of the “layers” in the artwork used to fabricate a PCB. The silver shiny areas are masked off so that when the solder mask material is applied, they are covered, since that is where you do want solder. Notice that the color of the traces are not copper color like your PCB on the left.

View attachment 57878View attachment 57879
Nice! Thank you mucho... (y)
 
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