Lab Series L7

Acquired: Late-November 2007 off eBay.

I am not certain of the age of this L7. All I know it was built between 1979 and 1983. Designed by Robert Moog for NORLIN in the mid/late 1970's, the Lab Series range included quality transistor tops and combos marketed under the brand name Lab Series. Despite their high quality, poor marketing and unfamiliar branding resulted in disappointing sales and the range was short-lived. For whatever reason Norlin chose not to use the brand-names of Gibson and/or Moog, both of which were part of the Norlin Group at the time. One very high profile user was B B King who continued to use his L7 into the 21st Century.

The L7 has two input channels; the clean channel has treble, middle and bass controls together with a pre-amp volume [gain] pot. The second channel has a pre-amp volume, treble, middle and bass, spring reverb, a compressor, a "multifilter" control and a two-knob midrange parametric.

There is an effects loop on the rear amp panel together with a jack socket which connects the integral 4x10s or the cabinet of your choice. Note that the output impedance is fixed at 8 ohms.

It was the sound of the Lab Series that impressed back in the late 1970's when I saw one demonstrated by Dave Roberts of Norlin UK. He was doing a double-header, promoting the new Lab Series amp and the Gibson RD77 Series of guitars. Remember them? A morphed Firebird body with a traditional Gibbo big jazz box neck and headstock. Yuckkk. It was an aesthetic disaster and sales confirmed guitarists' dislike of the RD which limped on a little longer than the Lab Series.

Clean the L7 sounded superb but it could dirty up quite impressively in a crunchy valve-like way rather than the usual harsh tranny clipping. In either mode was more than capable of shifting serious quantities of air. Frankly it did things that a tranny amp wasn't supposed to - this was the Lab Series. And I wanted one. But at over 400 it was wholly out of the question.

So what does it sound like? NOT like a transistor amp, that's for sure! It has a warmth that belies its solid state design and it responds to the player's picking touch much like a quality valve amp. Overdrive pedals add grit where needed and overall it is very hard to believe this amp is over 25 years old. I suspect this amp sounds as much like a valve amp as contemporary modeling amps but without the potentially clinical sound quality. Another case of analogue still being superior to digital, in my book. It can sound crap but that is down to how the tone stacks are used. I reckon I am almost there as far as the blues sweet spot is concerned which is something to which that many a tranny amp could merely aspire.

Despite its age the L7 is amazingly quiet - but loud. Little discernable mains hum. A real pro job.

Reviews of the Lab Series generally remark upon their incredible durability and ruggedness together with significant over-achievement of their specs. The 100 watt amps are capable of delivering 150w into the specified load. An over-rated output transformer deserves much credit for their electro-mechanical integrity although one cannot neglect the skill and ingenuity of Robert Moog's design team. If any cliche applies to the Lab Series it is "ahead of its time". Overlooked and under-marketed - yet another major gaffe amongst far too many by Norlin - it wasn't until later years that guitarists came to recognize the true virtues of these amps.

The previous owner had no problems with this amp. I remain optimistic that the deserved reputation of the Lab Series will apply to this amp too.

Norlin is dead. LAB SERIES as a brand is dead. This amp lives and any skilled tech will keep it that way.

I waited nearly thirty years to get one and you know what? I wasn't disappointed. It delivered what I expected. Putting it alongside a Hiwatt DR103 into a 2x12 cabinet in an A/B test did not embarrass the Lab. It sounded different but still sweet and gutsy. It is weighty and solid. All in all a most inspiring package.

I had one small repair to undertake before the L7 went public. The top part of the partial rear baffle was missing, exposing amp capacitors and the output transformer. A plywood replacement was made, painted matt black and fitted.

This amp should more than cope with the mix of rock, blues and soul we perform. It handles my pedalbaord very well which comprises:

Boss TU-2>>Monte Allums CS-3>>Blubber wah>>Allums BD-H2O>>Allums SD-808>>ProCo Rat2>>Boss CH-1>>Boss DD3.

Strat or Les Paul, the combination of pedalboard and L7 does not obliterate the original voice of the guitar. This is a case where memory does not play tricks. The L7 sounded great in 1979 and sounds equally good in the 21st Century. I consider myself lucky to own it - at last!

Got this LAB L7 for free last week along with a Fender Deluxe 90 DSP. They wanted them gone and i was too happy to fly out the door of the house to go and get them.

Regular features for me with a Mid,Presence(which is the multifilter)

It has a commpresor which i havent really messed with as of yet. Two Channel 1 has very good cleans and yourin for a real surprise on channel #2

I have a few(3) Marshall tube amps and have never been a Fan of Solid State amps

That evening i put a power cord on the Lab series L7 that some dog had to have chewed on i quess as a regular toy because it was really chewed up from start to finish

I turned the amp on and got the guitar ready to plug in. I was pluged into my Vintage 30 4x12" Celestion cab and got ready to play

WOW! I will never say bad things about a Solid State amp again as this is one incredible tone machine

It sounds somewhat like a Mesa Boogie Mark III. It has the frequency control that makes this amp go any where you want it to go. SRV territory as close as your going to get to his tone

Just an unbelievable depth and clean that i have never heard on anything but a tube amp. This may sound crazy but if there was a fire in my house i would leave the Marshall 2204 and JTM-45'S GZ34 amps. I would grab this amp first

If you find one dont hesitate to buy it. You too will be dumb founded by what you hear

I have been building all kinds of tube amps for just under 30 years off and on. My reality has been altered by the experience of running across this LAB Series L7 amp

Its solid and well made. Better than the cheap crap for thousands of dollars today

Once you hear it and look at the inside board you will see a masterpiece of work

It will outlast us all

Dont care. I repair and build amps so thats not a concern for me
http://www.triodeamplification.com

Like i said before if there was a fire in my house i would grab this amp first. Plain and simple

If it were stolen i would hunt down the thief and blow his ears out with a single chord

I LOVE THIS AMP!
two channels with hi/lo inputs on each. three band eq on both channels, with a sweepable mid on the high gain channel. Toggle "bright" switches on both channels. Also has a knob that sayd "multifilter" This kind of works to control the presence of the high gain but really it seems to have an effect on the over-harmonics of the distortion. Both channels feed into a post stage amplifier with a compresser that can be toggled on off. This is a really great feature because the compressor is chained inbetween the volume control for the post stage and the actual amplification circuit - this lets you turn the master WAY up and turn the compression threshold way down (note: there is only threshold control) and you get to play with the most crazy feedback you ever heard anywhere, and you don't have to blow the windows out, or your eardrums. BUT with 100 watts and four 10s you can blow out your ears and windows no problem. Still, it can be easily overpowered at a gig by a somewhat meatier 4x12 cabinet.

I like the effects loop feature. It is well planned out and sits after the preamp and associated eq features in the signal chain. I have never used the reverb control but there is a footswitch to controll the massive spring reverb tank. I think the spring sound on my L7 is not as sweet sounding as say an old fender reverb amp, and as of yet I the only way I get reverb on the clean channel is by cranking volume on the distorted side...that brings me to the only major downfall of this amp is that it has no channel controlling footswitch. To switch n the fly you must get an a/b channel switch box.

Well it ain't no mesa triple rectifier or anything that crazy but as far as solid state clean tone it runs whisper quiet on the clean channel. Also, I play an old strat with single coils and the coil buzz sounds less harsh through both channels of this amp.
You can get that fender amp bell-clean-tone, you know the one where the plucking of each string is the audible equivalent of biting into the freshest, juiciest food item of your choice. AC-30 owners eat your hearts out. 1/8th the price, no tubes to change and all the great sound. well almost as good...still no freaking tubes.

As for a crunch, this amp is it! No comparison in the amplifier world as far as I can tell unless you want to spend some major bucks on gear. I especially like having a sweepable mid to control distortion harmonics. If you sunscribe to the phill specter wall of sound theory of the wall of sound, you can keep enforcing that wall by adding extra paired mono tracks panned hard L/R and as you lay down more and more you sweep through the mid range. It gives you the most awe inspiring crunchiness you will ever experience.

Never, I mean never broke of its own accord. I have dropped it down flights of stairs, out of cars and tourbusses - you don't need no stinking hard case for it it will stay safe...you can't break it. Any time that it has succomed to the punishment I've given it has been my fault, like when I spilt an entire pitcher of beer down the fron pannel and iot shorted out...my bad. A towel, hair dryer and a spare fuse and it was up in no time. I have done plenty of gigs without a backup...just now I bring a fuse a towel and a hairdryer. No, really.

Ummmm, I thought this branch of the parent company (gibson, I think) is long since defunct so no I have no idea

The only thing better than one is two! If you want to have real fun, try using stereo effects through two. it's the most fun you can have while getting evicted. Trust me.

My amp is a 1979. I was at a thrift store and saw it in the corner, one end of the top handle was dangling off and the speaker jack was plugged into the reverb foot pedal input. The knuckleheads at the thrift store gave me a 50 cent microphone to plug into it and try it...I put the speaker jack where it was supposed to be and fired it up but it was dead. It had four nice CTS 50 watt 10" speakers in it so i bought it for the speakers figuring the amp was blown. They sold it to me for 50 bucks. Got it home, opened it up and found that the washer from the dangling end of the top handle had fallen into the electronics and had blown the main output fuse. I replaced the fuse and she fired up strong and everything worked perfectly. You'd think the thrift store personnel would have the brains to check a fuse, wouldn't ya? God Bless em. Features: the thing that matters most to me is the sound quality which is excellent and actually VERY tube sounding and,in fact, BETTER sounding than a lot of tube amp brands out there. Listen to BB King...he uses one....did you know that was a solid state Lab Series amp? This amp sounds better than my 1970's Fender Super Reverb...I LOVE the tremendous variability of tones you can get messing with the controls. Reverb sounds good, the CTS speakers are very impressive...sound as good as Jensens even though they are ceramics and not alnicos. It's easy to use, no channel switching, 2 seperate channels, one without verb. TONS of power.
The only reason these amps don't go for 1000 bucks on Ebay is because of the tube amp snobbery attitude. YEAH, MOST solid state amps suck...but THIS one doesn't! THIS one is loud, sweet, toneful, durable, versatile, and unique. Like I said....it sounds better than my 1975 Fender Super Reverb. The only thing it WON'T do is the SRV type of singing distortion when you turn it up all the way....if you want that, go buy an old Super and sound like every other SRV clone, yawn. You can get that sound with the right pedal if you really want to. Compressor is cool, frequency dial is awesome for getting tons of tones.

Using Fenders and Ibanez FP77. This amp will do anything a Fender tube amp will do and more except for the SRV overdrive thing. If you want a clean amp...this one is for you. It runs quiet without buzz, will get a nice slightly distorted BB King tone when pushed but you won't get Hendrix sounds out of it. The master volume works about as well as the Fender master volume amps of the 1970's which is to say...kinda harsh and obnoxious and useless when you try to push it to max distortion.

Amazingly well designed by Bob Moog. These amps are legendarily durable and trustworthy. The internal layout looks like a freaking work of art !! It's so simple and nice inside that there's not much to go wrong !! HUGE Transformer, smart, logical layout, impressive engineering !!

Dunno...never had a prob.

I've been playing for 30 years. I own 2 vintage Deluxe reverbs, a vintage Super Reverb, a 1965 Vox AC50, an Acoustic 134, and a Fender PA 100 currently along with this Lab Series L7.
I've owned and sold a dozen Fender tweed amps, a Dumble, 20 blackface Fenders, a dozen Marshall JMP and JCM heads, Acoustics, Gibsons, Vox's, Ampegs, Supros, etc and endless Harmony, Univox, Magnavox, and other weird anf offbrand tube and solid state amps.The Lab Series stacks up well against most of the stuff i own and have owned. I have a fetish for equipment !! I bought my stupid Dumble head for 400 bucks off of a famous player who got tired of it....I didn't like it either and sold it for 750 bucks !!! Now the stupid things are like 15000 bucks !!! That's kinda rediculous. I have a friend who sold a 1959 Gibson flamed sunburst in 1965 for 150 bucks though so i don't feel TOO bad!

This amp was found in a dumpster with all the speakers blown, it took some time getting out because of the weight. After looking into the head and finding out if it could be repaired, I was amazed that only a fuse was blown and a wire to the reverb unit needed soldering. I
completley cut the head away from the bottom speaker cabinet that was bad and used the head only to set on a slant ampeg 4x12 vintage 30 cabinet. The results was amazing, from this set up. There is plenty of power to play large clubs and small if needed. The lab series L-7 head is incrediable.

I use two seperate guitars with this amp depending on songs. I use a gibson les paul standard 68 model for rock and heavier sounds and a Dean EVO 1999 with open humbuckers for souther rock and blues sound.
Only amp ajustment nessary for switching between guitars are the master gain and volume control, and the midrange.I also use a boss blues driver with the Gibson on the clean channel for a high end marshall tube sound. Even though I have a double stack ATV150 marshall
I really like the lab L-7 head with these two guitars.

since I've built this lab amp I have had great responce and no break-downs, and it has been under a lot of playing time.Some newer amps I've owned has failed with-in several months of hard playing! I really think I have a winner here with this lab L-7 head.

No warranty.......never had no repairs by company

I've been playing now as a second job for 43 years I have had one song recorded in 1986 by ace studios in Tennessee. I write songs and send them in to publishing compinies when ever I think I have a good one.
I also own a-lot of P.A. gear but too much to list. I would try and
replace each and every item of music gear I have only because it took years to get the right sounds I was looking for. The only thing I dis-like is the weight of the amps which I can over come. Yes I have compared the sound I was looking for in other amps and guitars, and the only one came close was an old fender twin and a laney tube head
that I owned years before the marshall and lab series, but the fender and the laney both give me a-lot of problems.

This amp cost me about #150 (used) in Curly Music in Liverpool (1983). I bought it coz I impressed by the fact that Allan Holdsworth endorsed them in guitar magazines. I was in a hard rock band at the time. It took me AGES to get used to it. I'm VERY fussy about tone and it didn't really work for me. HOWEVER: one day I had a brainwave. I reversed the roles of the volume and master volume. I cranked the master up full and used the volume as the 'master'. THEN I played through an Ibanez Sonic Distortion. OMG!!! This is the sound of the GODS! I have, without doubt, the greatest guitar sound I have ever heard IMHO. I will never use another amp. This is the kiddie! This amp shakes trees on 3 when set up this way. The best ever.

See above.
I use a Kramer Striker with Seymour Duncan and Floyd Rose trem.
This amp does it all, but you gotta learn how to play it like an instrument. Don't expect to be blown away within weeks - expect at least MONTHS to come to terms with it.

I can depend on this amp. I have had it repaired ONCE and the cost was minimal.

N/A

I've been playing since 1971 (I was 11!). I also play Ibanez Purple Haze, Hofner President, Gibson Firebird, Telecaster.

This is a heavy amp but I'm a hunky guy and can handle it!

If you see one, BUY IT! If you wanna write to me on this or any subject, I'm happy with that. Check out YAHOO SNAILSONGS if you wanna hear my music (I've gone mellow and introspective in my old age!).

I bought mine in 1978 (s/n 1956). It has two channels and some pretty good freq adjustments. I found this to be a pretty straight forward amp and I was impressed by the fact that it was made by Gibson. I have been using this amp pretty much continously since I bought it.

I play a 1971 Gibson SG standard through my L7. I love this amp! I have never had a need to buy another. I have played it with six or seven different bands now and it ALLWAYS gets it share of attention. Most the time I get comments like: "Damn, that sucker is loud!" I love the compressor and I like the full range of sound possiblities you can get out of this amp. This amp is the perfect amp to run effects through. Every pedal or gizmo I have put through it sounds great.

This amp is rugged! You just about need a fork lift to get it around but it never quits. Mine has never broken down. My reverb quit on me once back in "93".I took it out and found corrosion around the input/output RCA plugs, I also found that the springs used for the reverb effect had sagged a bit. I cleaned the connectors and clipped two rings off the springs and re-soldered it to the terminals and BAMM back in service.

Don't need customer support if it never breaks down!!!!

I have been playing guitar since I was 8 or 9. Did a gig on a radio in Puerto Rico when I was 10 (x-mas music).I also own an Ovation acoustic, Strat and a Les Paul and several other guitars but I seem to always be playing my SG. When something is good I tend to stick to it. My SG and MY L7 are the best music instruments I own. What I like the most about my L7 is it's ballsy attitude. With the volume up med/high, you can feel the power of the amp without playing a note. It feels like it wants to jump the second you play a note, Then it does!!! The one thing I do not like is it's weight. This is a heavy amp for a small size. But compare all its virtues with it's weight and I would gladly tote this on my shoulders anywhere.

2 channel combo with mid sweep and multifilter. Replaced stock speakers with Peavey Black Widows. My L5 amp needs repair so I merged L7amp with L5 cabinet.

I am using a Fender deluxe strat with pickups wired in series playing everything from RnB to Jazz to alternative. My current setup is line out a peavey bandit 65 to channel 2 of the Lab series. The Peavey handles the channel switching, the Lab acts as reinforcement. The Lab gives you the studio sound live on stage. This amp changed the way preamp sections were designed for guitar amps. I`ve played many amps over 25 years this amp years ahead of it`s time.

My L5 was bought used in 1989 and it looks like I need a power supply.I got good years of service from this amp. it`s been down a year.

search the web there are few shops offering Lab series support

I have been playing for 25 years and I am building a collection of lab series.

Okay, none of the mod cons like headphones, effects loop or channel switcher, but it was made a quarter of a century ago. Anyway, it does all i need it to.

I found this old amp like a treasure chest in my school. No one used it, and on the back it had a label saying that it didn't work. I wanted to check if this was true. So i turned it on, and saw a red light. I had a quick tinker, and before long I had a huge, ballsy, mid-scooped but not muddy Metallica to Foo fighters tone. This amp is my baby, as I bought it from school a couple months later. Never blown up. Looks like it's been kicked in ym a multitude of players, but still looks cool. I gig it all the time. it rox.

Never blown up. Looks like it's been kicked in ym a multitude of players, but still looks cool. I gig it all the time. it rox.

never needed it. Could probably survive a nuclear winter cockroach stylee if it had to.

Rock and roll, baby. If ever you find one, buy it quick. You'll be gigging it in amillion years time. It's heirloom material

I bought my L7 new in 1978 along with my Les Paul Custom which cost $550. I still have both of them and they were made for each other. The L7 has 2 channels of input which was unique at the time. The clean channel has treble mid and base controls. The master channel also has reverb, optical compression (new thing in 77), multifilter (to sound acoustic), and center frequency adjustment on midrange. The adjustable midrange frequency and level are useful for removing any feedback while playing an acoustic guitar or electric at loud volume.
The L7 along with all of the Lab Series amps were designed by Dr Moog inventor of the synthesiser and staff. The Lab Series Amps were built by Norlin Industries which owned Gibson. I guess the Lab Series Amps didn't make enough money and so died from market forces. Norlin also made MOOG synthesisers from the early 70's until 1984.

The L7 was designed to amplify the Les Paul or any of the Gibson Hollow body humbucker electric guitars. BB King was one of the original endorsers. Don't try to use this Amp at Volume 11 for heavy Metal. It sounds very good for Blues, Jazz, Country Rock, some types of Rock. I just love the sound of it. It was the first solid state non-tube amp to have a FET in the preamp stage which creates even harmonics when over driven into distortion. You can do that at low volumes by turning up the pre-amp volume level above 7 while the Master volume level is below 5. This was to duplicate the sound of a distorted tube amp but of course it is not quite the same. I plug in a Zoom 505 multi-effects foot pedal between my guitar and the L7. I mainly use a little chorus. This has become my practice Amp for now. My practice guitar is a Carvin SC90S. My Les Paul has become a piece of collectable ART.

I never had a problem with this Amp which is now 25 years old. I have become very careful with it. I use it mainly as a practice amp at moderate volumes. I worry about the electrolytic capacitors eventually failing in it, which is what fails in an old solid state amplifier. When the capacitors in the power stage fail they short out the power transistors which then overload and burn up in flashes of light and smoke. It is bad to just store one of these older amps and never plug it in and turn it on. The electrolytic capacitors need to have voltage across them to survive over time. So use your Amp wisely.

Never had to use CS and it might be too late to try.

This amp has one problem, it is really heavy to move to and from a gig. I started playing electric guitar when I bought this amp 25 years ago. It has become a part of me, so if I lost it I would definitely replace it. My friends and family thought I was nuts for wasting money on this amp and guitar way back when I bought them. It was one of the best things I did. Instead of wasting your money on a new version of software, buy a well made musical instrument. Then play it.