Laney Linebacker L30 Bass Combo

I bought this amp new in 1993. It was made in 1992. I sold it ten years later, and it seems they are just about impossible to find. This is a marvellous sounding amp. Nice and warm, especially for a transistor amp. The sound is a very high quality.
The shafts for the knobs are steel, and that is a very good thing. Knobs can't be broken off.
The amp is not very loud, but that's about all I can say negative about it. The sound totally makes up for it.

I used this amp with active and passive basses and both sounded great. I had a Hughes & Kettner BATT, too, but with the sound quality of the L30, I didn't even need it unless I was recording.

With the metal screen grille and tough tolex cover, this amp was built to take the abuse of moving. Internally, it is tough too, because I had it at full volume a couple of times.

They are rare. Consider yourself lucky if you come across one. Not as punchy as a Peavey, but if you want smooth with just the right amount of gain, then try this out.

British made on 28th October 1992 (it says so on the label)
Single channel, Solid State, 30 watts RMS, 1 X 10" combo.
Front Panel (from left to right): Power switch; Status LED; Headphone socket; D.I. socket; Master volume; Bass; Middle; Treble; Gain; Input socket.
Rear Panel: mains lead (fixed). Sturdy Ply-wood construction and metal speaker grill.

Designed as a practice/recording amp: performs brilliantly. Has enough power and headroom to reproduce PROPER bass sounds at low volume levels. (I was, however, once forced to use it at a 250 capacity gig after being stitched-up by the headliner's engineer and it did the job adequately).

I use it with a Boss GE-7B equalizer and a Boss ME-5B multi FX. It produces all the sounds I need and everything works. As a practice amp it doesn't need any other features.

Used with a 70s Jazz and a Bass Collection active (P-J pickups).
I play hard rock, finger style and it covers all the tones (distorted, clean, bright, punchy, rumbling) about as well as any 30 watt amp could.

Had it nearly 14 years from new and never even had to change a fuse. Used mainly for practice but has been used as a monitor for gigs (and once as the main amp for a gig- see above)

Bomb-proof

Never had any problems with it so never had to use customer support. Came with a useful Owners Manual.

Been playing 24 years.

Compared this amp with a Marshall practice amp at the time: no competition, the Marshall was a wimp in comparison.

Never thought much of the larger Laney bass amps but they got it spot on with this amp: it's an absolute diamond.

I'd get another of these if it disappeared. I've never heard a better practice amp in this price range.