thodrekr's Reviews
2 reviews Back to thodrekr's Equipboard
91
The JCM 800 of the Laney line
I've owned this amp for over 2 years and not once has it let me down. I own the 6 knob version of this head and it sounds beautiful. The 6 knob "lower gain" version that I have is a single channel amp with a low and a high sensitivity input. There are push-pull bass, middle and treble knobs that give you a boost in volume for that selected range. They also seem to change the frequency of the channel being boosted, similar to what you can find on Laney's Ironheart line The master volume and preamp volume (basically the gain) give you lots of flexibility from clean to crunch. With an attenuator, you can crank up both to max and have a beautiful crunch at "Bedroom" levels. It is very comparable to a Marshall JCM 800 with regards to the tones that can be achieved on it's own. If you like using pedals though, this amp is for you. Never have I used an amp that sounds so good with overdrive / distortion pedals. For example, using the MXR ZW-44 in the effects loop really gives a powerful kick that sends the tone into that loud mid-range zone and, yes, it sounds very much like Zakk Wylde's tone (depending on the guitar and cab you use of course). For blues, it can hold it's own without any help. On the down side, this amp is not great for clarity. I find it to be naturally loose, which is fine, but it can get quite muddy without assistance in the studio. I use this when I want to do something "Low gain" and bluesy or if I want a crunch tone for rock. If you want to find one of these to buy, your best bet is to go online to eBay, Amazon or any local online classified sites because they are getting harder and harder to find. This head is very hard to beat if you want a JCM 800 style sound without breaking the bank. If you love pedals and the British sound, you'll love this head. Here is a link to a sound trial that I had made when I first got it. https://youtu.be/DgnRX1wr3FY
41031
thorough review! be careful with those push pull pots, they are board mounted
91
Good to know. Thanks!
91
One of the highest quality low-wattage heads out there.
After using this amp to record for over a year, I can easily say that it's flexibility and tonal characteristics continue to amaze me. The cabinet emulation feature is decent but it's true potential shines when connected to a cab and mic'd. You can get high gain metal tones that will melt the faces of death metal fans and also get clear and well defined rock / hard rock tones that could suit many styles. I personally find it's "crunch" zone (gain knob between 7 and 10 o'clock) to be a little lacking in depth, but you can reinforce it with the ISF knob to the "British" side. The clean tone on this amp is pristine and evenly balanced. I don't find that it works well with overdrive or distortion pedals, however, I don't find them to be necessary with this amp. If there was anything I could add to this head, it would be a "Presence" dial and a gain dial to the clean channel but that's just to have 100% control over super-fine details for the studio. These features can be found on it's higher-watt cousins. All in all, it is my go-to amp for my studio work when doing hard rock and metal tracks because of it's solid tonal character, studio versatility and ability to retain clarity without fancy modification, eq's or pedals. This machine is a cut above.