Lab Series L5

Lots of nice stuff. Bass control, midrange EQ with frequency and boost-cut controls, treble control, and multifilter (1000 to 5000 hz boost) control. Copressor, reverb, channel volume plus master volume controls. Very veratile, and very loud. I play everything through it including Martin D-35, Gibson L6-S, Peavey Predatore, etc.

I play acoustic folk to rock as I do mostly recording these days. The L5 is one of the quietest amps noise-wise I've ever heard. The distortion, which I rarely use is produced by a special circuit. I also have a Korg G3 effects processor and the L5 sounds the same to me.

Virtually indestructible. Physically it has a plywood case, not particle board, with metal corner protectors. Electrically the power amp can handle 200, but is limited to 100 watts by the size of the power supply. Has 4 internal fuses. My amp had one blown fuse caused by one blown diode but yet it worked fine.

I contacted Gibson who promptly sent me a photocopied schematic and parts list for free. Otherwise nothing available.

I'm 50 and have played guitar for 35 years, and I've played through as well as repaired Gibson, Fender, Sears Slivertone, Marshall, even Giulietti amps. The L5 is as good as any of them. I only wish it were lighter, but hoisting a Fender twin is no easier.

See my earlier posting

See my earlier posting

After receiving several questions about the scheme and list of components, I decided to scan them and make them accessible over the internet at the following URL: http://members.xoom.com/holmo/Labscheme.zip (1.82 Mb) They are (after unzipping) in 150 dpi JPEG-format and cover not only the L5, but also the L7, L9 and L11 models.

See my earlier posting

guys ...guys...guys....and ... gals....these are great amps... i have had marshall 75 super lesd, #2100 high gain, fender ,twin, m-80, ultimate chorus, blues deville, hot rod deville, peavey classic 50, 30 , silver tone twin 12, laney..the list goes on ...$ for $ these are the most versitle amps you can get i have 3 L-5S and one L-7, run a rat distortion and a wells eq threw the effects loop and you can get just about anytone you want, now iam not saying it will beat a saldono crunch or twin clean BUT it will come damn close for both... will the marshall have a good clean and good crunch or the twin have a good crunch and good clean i dont think so, the marshall crunch is awesom but the clean on alot of marshalls suck, the twin has great clean but the crunch sucks...trust me if you play country to jazz to heavey meatal this one amp will do them alll..

i use a 57 reissiue strat, 88 tele, lea paul and 62 reiissue strat all sound great...

like i said i have 3 of them and i probably only need one for the rest of my life.....beer, kicked over, these things are durible...

sorry long gone BUT can be fixed by most amp techs...

i will NOT use any other amp period........i would bank my house on my tone....evertime i gig somebody comes up and says what amp are you useing, never herd of that ...great sounding...

this thing was made in the late 70's by norlin industries...for gibson i gather. this shit heap is quite versitile, kinda like a use it as a amp..or a chaeap pa. its got a couple channels and an effects loop no headphone jack and more f'n knobs than really needed. it has everything you really need.....and some other shit thown in for good measure.

i use a 67 es345, a 73 les paul deluxe,and a gretsh sparklejet '59. it is very versitle...leave it a the studio..and rock...very quite...it makes good clean tones but the distortion is kinda goofy...plays nice at low volumes. bb king use these things...i was floored when i saw it on stage.heard kings x used them as well...considered selling it then... i stopped putting out my cigs on it

this is the proverbial brick shithouse. gig with it..it wants to play. use it as a stool...also a great beer holder. broke it once. it transit the circut breaker on/off snapped. had it re-wired...works like a charm.

pay your local amp guy...he needs the $$$. norlin is gone.

if you see one...buy it. put a tv on it....use it as a ottoman. you wiil not regret the tone vs. $$. exellent buy.

Bought new in 1978. Played everything from country to metal and all point in between. 2 channel 2X12 100watts. Effects loop. Reverb. Parametic EQ. No channel switching.

Good smooth distortion with a Les Paul. OK with a Telecaster but a little noisy. Never used the clean channel.Some unique sounds w/ the para EQ but you'll never get a tube sound.

20 years and it's never failed and i've really tortured this amp. I've even dropped it off my front porch in the snow - twice!

never had a problem

My only complaint is the weight. I definitely got my moneys worth. I hear these things go for $50-$100. If you see one, pick it up for a backup amp. You can't go wrong.

A super compressor and reverb unit, with a guitar amp attached! 2X12" generic speakers. With a JBL it sounds a lot better. Actually a pretty cool amp considering it's a transistor amp from the era that gave transistor amps a bad name. Late '70's? Parametric midrange control helps achieve sounds from constipated, to slightly relieved constipation. I've had a couple of these, over the years. I got this one for $150 just to keep around as a spare utility amp. The compressor releases into the reverb in a really cool and unique way.

Sounds best with a Squire strat, clean, with enough compression to get sustain. Will also de-shrill a Telecaster with the same setup. Forget the distortion. Won't sing, won't grind. The low input on these is hotter than the high input. ??

This one looks like it was rescued out of the town dump. Green stuff is growing on it. The speaker cloth is gone. I'm surprised that speakers haven't been knocked in, they're totally unprotected. There was a piece of carpet padding stuffed between the back panel and the amp chassis, I guess to quiet a rattle. Can't have helped the heat disipation! Has band stencils, or maybe gang signs, tagging, whatever, on it. It's been around, that's for sure! I'd say this is one abused amp! Must be reliable, everything still works perfectly, despite the dump odor!

N/A

38+ years experience. I've had 'em all, goes for guitars too. Presently also have a Polytone, Hughs&Kettner Attax 40, Crate gx-40c. This is around 'cause ya gotta have a 2X12, just in case. I'm giving it a 10 overall, because for $150, it couldn't be beat (and somebody has definitely tried to beat THIS amp to death, and failed)!

Too many knobs, and of plastic too. I always was afraid that they'd come off during hauling it during a gig. Same knobs as on my Moog Prodigy, for what it's worth. Enough power though, but too big and certainly too heavy.

I used a really shitty Les Paul imitation at first, with DiMarzio humbuckers though. Later I changed to a real Gibson and fitted it with the same DiMarzio's. If it ever sounded great it was thanks to the guitar, not to this amp. Never could get a decent sound out of it, especially during rehearsel in our 'rehearsel-closet'. It was just too loud.

It let me down only once. It gave out a strange vacuum-cleaner type of sound - the kind you would expect from a tube-amp with faulty tubes. It was repaired by my dealer within two days. Never did get the cause...

Only dealt with my dealer.

In 1978, when I bought it, I had played with a rockband for about a year and desperatly needed a more powerfull amp than my 30watt Ibanez transistor combo. I used this one for four years, then traded it in for a Legend A-30. Never really liked it the Lab.

This amp was made around '77. It has a very classic tone on both channels. It has 2 channels, non-switching, has a preamp out and a power amp in, which I use for an effects loop. It has a bright switch on both channels, has two inputs for each channel, has low mid bass for both channels, has a parametric EQ for the distortion channel, a multifilter and reverb for the distortion channel, but I never had the reverb work. Something really cool is the compressor, really good for the solos. It has two 12 inch speakers, at 100W. It's really loud, I have never needed to put the volume past 4.

I use it with a shitty Jay Turser Strat copy, but it's good for the classic sound that I play (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc.), I personally like the distortion that comes out of it, really unique and hard to describe. The clean channel is always clean no matter how loud you put it up to. Like I said the distorion is killer but indescribable.

This thing is heavy, and very tough. The reverb didn't work when I got it, I don't know if it's broken or taken out.

Norlin went out of business a long time ago, and Gibson has "limited information".

This is a great amp, and for 50 bucks was a steal. The lo and Hi channels provide great versitlity.

the lab has 4 inputs, low and high, i like the low on channel 2, it has reverb,treble, bass, a parametric eq, distortion, compreser, and bright switch, the distortion is fair but i use an older rat and older ts9 tubescreamer and can get just about any tone i want, my compresser has not worked from the time i got it, 100 watts it will push some air. i even ran a 4-12 with it no problem.

i use a 73 strat, a 86 strat and a ibanez as-50 semi hollow body with humbuckers, the 73 has emgs and the 86 is original, i play rock, country, blues and jazz , and the amp does them all quite well, i have a pedal board and it is fairly quite, like i said the distortion fair but the clean is as good as a twin or roland jc120, i dont crank it past 3 to 4 on vol. becauce i like to hear everybody else play as well, but at home i wanted to see what it would do.

i have not had this amp very long, but so far giging it has never failed once, it took me about 2 years just to find it, i do take a back up head when i gig just becauce i play with many different bands, they count on you being there, mind, body and, GEAR..and yea SOUL.. to is a must...but so far the other head just sits and stays warm, but no matter what amp i had i would take a back up..

norlan company who made the lab as well as the legand line of amps went out of biz. around the early 80s but the scematic is on the back of the amp so i would imagine no problem..

i have been playing for 27 years.. i have had hiwatt, marshall, fender, musicman, huges and ketner and sivertone and then some.... and if this amp was stolen i would look another two years to find another, you cant beat the sound but it is an older amp out of production so?? i do wish it had an extra speaker output, you have to unplug the ones that are in it to go to another cabnet but 2-12 is enough for me, as far as tube or solid state.. a good guitarist can make anything sound good, i sound just the same on my copy les paul and no name flat top as i do my 73 strat or 67 martin d-41...

Very nicely featured with most of the things you basically need from a guitar amp. (Except vibrato.) It's NAD-style ability to separate between Pre- and Poweramp sections is very useful in many situations, e.g. for the use of effects or connecting it to the line input of a more powerful poweramp or recording equipment.

LOUD! But also musical. Though a transistorised amp it produces a wide range of sounds depending on how you set the controls, especially the sweeepable midrange and the built-in compressor that really adds that final edge to solos. As I have also used it with my Vox Continental II and Farfisa Compact organs I must say this gizmo is good for more than guitar amplification. In my opinion it could work well also for bass amplification whilst practising at home or in a small rehaearsal studio. You could also use it for basses live if you line it to the PA (which is quite usual) as it is the 2 12" loudspeakers that mainly limits the bassoutput.

Never dealt with the moog company that constructed this piece of art, but they supplied the scheme and list of components so any skilled electronics repairman can check it out and fix it.

Had it for 13 years and it just keeps on running. No problems, not even a fuse blown. If it was stolen it would be like losing an old friend and I would definitley like another one or maybe a Vox AC-50 (if I could find one for a reasonable price).