Laney AOR 50 Head

excellent amp,sounds an hell of a lot better than I thought!!!
2 channels with separate EQ and lots of gain and TONE

This amp's has a power amp distortion very similar to a Marshall JCM 800. Excellent. It also has an high-gain preamp.
For people who think it's 'muddy' distortion,there's a very simple solution: buy a Boss GE-7 ,connect it to the jack input,and lower the bass frequencies. The distortion will go from mud,to tight CHUGGA metal mayhem.
Crank this amp up,and it will roar with amazing distortion.
If I am right, Vinnie Moore also used these babies in his first record!

For an late 80's amp it has quite good features with an effects loop and bass, mid, and brightness boosters on every channel. It has two footswitchable channels AOR for overdrive and clean for clean and crunch when the preamp is turned up. This amp is rated at 50 watts but it far exceeds it through a 4/12 stack. It has impudence selectors on the back from 4ohms to 18ohms. It does a great clean sound through a single coil pick up and a good heavy sound through the AOR channel.

Being a valve amp it sounds allot better at higher volumes the clean sound is good and bright through single coil pickups with careful adjustments of the eq and with the distortion its hectic it produces a full metal tone at high volumes with a double coil pickup and also is great for in betweens such as classic rock. Perfect for most situations.
I use it with a 4/12 h/h cab and i love the sound.

I've had no problems with it. It must be reliable to still be alive and well all this time.

Never had an issue

This amp is great especially for the price i payed.

I believe mine to be made in 1986 or so. Cannot really tell with the labelling on it's insides. This amp is not terribly versatile. You get great gain with the High input and adequite clean on the Low input. The low input is a bit quieter than the high input but since they really aren't switchable there should be no issues. It is a single channel, master volume head. It does have an effects loop. No headphone jack but who would buy this monster for it? I suppose I wish there was a way either via an A/B box or some other method of toggling between the High and Low inputs but you can't always get what you want so tough shit. Thems the breaks.

This thing is varied only ini that, on the high input you can get somewhere between a nice, creamy crunch to a hard pressing, mud-like distortion. I never use the AOR channel (you activate the additional preamp 12ax7 by pulling one of the preamp knobs). I have yet to turn the clean (low) input up enough to get distortion out of it. I usually run the amp through the Low input connected to my Boss SD-1 (Super Overdrive)and get the sweetes breakup of anything I have ever owned this way. Since I started using the SD-1 runnign it clean, I have found the High input too muddy for me. Maybe I'm just getting old. The amp does fit my style well. I play punk and you only need so many different sounds from an amp with this music anyway. I play a Peavey Jack Daniels with 2 custom Peavey Hummers. The bridge p/u is a bit trebbly nad noisy at times but the neck p/u is kind of Tele like. I like it anyway. The amp creates little noise but this always depends on the quality and age of the tubes in it.

It broke almost a month into ownership. I thought I had fried the output tranny but it turned out to be simpler and a phase inverter was thrown in as well as a new biasing and power tubes. Other than that, this thing weighs a lot more than my Marshall 4x10 and seems to be built very well. My wife couldn't believe how old it was when I first bought it. It looks that good.

Never called Laney but I don;'t suppose they would support a product they haven't made or sold for over 20 years anyway.

I have been playing for 19 years and own quite a few stompboxes currentyl as well as some home recording gear. I have owned some other amps including Marshall, Laney, Peavey, Acoustic Research, etc. I love the power output. this is the loudest 50 watter I have ever heard. If it were stolen or broke, I would probably have it in my mind to by another if it could be found but, since I love trying out new gear, I would most likely end up with something different. No offense to the amp itself. I love the thing. It's just that is the way I am.

The amp is an 80's type. Not sure of actual production date. Features pretty much as listed by everyone else; single channel master volume head with footswitchable extra gain stage and no reverb (not that I'm bothered by that). VERY loud 50 watts. Non-adjustable FX loop. I have eard that it's a clone of the old Marshall Super Lead + the extra gain stage. Goddamn,it sounds like it is.........Versatility it isn't, but has all the features to create good TONE.

I'm using a '92 Les Paul Standard (stock, awesome), an Ibanez Rocket Roll (Series 1) and a few other guitars with this, mostly the Les Paul.
I play mainly rock, but careful adjustment can get a wide variety of sounds from this amp. That really is the key with any good valve amp - the careful adjustment of EQ's and gain to find the "sweet spot" or the tone you're after.
The "normal" channel is Rock City. Think Angus Young, Boston, Rainbow, Sabbath - all these and more are available from the first channel.
The AOR (Advanced Overdrive Response) Channel is voiced in a similar way, but with the extra gain compression is higher and there seems to be more headroom at higher volumes.
Noise is minimal through both channels alone.
I usually use a boost pedal, or my Boss Metalzone with the gain rolled all the way off on the pedal to make the amp really breathe fire.
I know, I know - Boss Metalzone? It is a terrible pedal on it's own but using it purely as a volume boost it seems to work really well with the Laney, I can adjust the mids on the pedal to boost frequencys before the amp, a little Brian May-ish in sound. Loads of attack and "crunch".

When I first bought this amp 10 years ago I knew sod all about valve amps. So I blew it up every other week and eventually left it to one side for years.
Then about a year ago I fished it out, dusted it off and hey, good as new.
Not even had to re-tube it yet, although I might soon, just for the hell of it.

A lot of people seem to knock Laney support. Why?? I downloaded the manual for this amp from their website in .pdf format- over 10 years after it's production!
I have bothered them with stupid technical questions frequently and they have always replied in a timely and professional manner.
Can't beat as far as I'm concerned.

I want another one.

Late 80's Valve (EL34) head. Basically a single channel head but with a switchable additional gain stage. You can set the relative volumes of each stage, and they are similarly voiced. Bass, mid and treble each have a pull boost. All the tone controls offer considerable range; a good deal more than an equivalent JCM800. The channel 2 offers a very JCM800-esque crunch, up to a fair amount of gain. The AOR channel switches in an additional valve stage, and offer loads of gain. This channel sings, but is pretty noisy. You need a footswitch to click to channel 2 between songs here. Forget about a Fender-type clean sound; at best it can manage a Marshall slight grit, but with a little more brightness. The amp isn't really suited to clean... There's an effects loop and voltage and impedance switching on the rear. There is a high and low sensitivity input, and I may modify my amp to switch between them as there is a tonal difference. It doesn't get a high score here because it's a fairly basic amp. However, it really is well thought out as a Rock amp and has exactly the kind of features I need.

I'm using an 80's strat with Fender humbuckers. It's dog's dinner and the stickers are actually holding it together, but I love it! I play rock of all styles. I use a 300W Marshall 4be12. In a previous life my gigging set up was a 100W Plexi, 2 greenback 4be12s and a Les Paul, so all sounds must be compared to this!
Let's get this straight, the Laney is no poor man's Marshall; it is a great Amp. However, it is very Marshall voiced. On channel 2 with the gain at 8, it crunches in a very similar style to my Plexi, although I used to use a Rat pedal with the plexi to achieve this. The Laney is a loud amp, and this channel really starts to sing at drummer volumes. It is massively musical and nicely open. Backing off the guitar volume cleans it up nicely.

The AOR channel is very much like a tweaked JCM800, but with more gain. Avoid maxing the gain or you lose the tonal character, but in the 5-8 region produces fantastic lead tones. Sustain is great and it still cleans up on the volume knob. I'm really impressed with this amp; It has a great range of rock tones and huge harmonics. The tone controls provide a number of different voices and the pull boost on each add further tonal variety. The bass boost in particular is a monster! Make sure you get a footswitch (any basic make/ break type will work) as switching between 1 & 2 will give you gain and volume boost for solos whilst retaining the voicing. Just what I need! The amp also works great with a decent overdrive pedal; the rat really makes it sing, which means you can provide a different voice. This is useful to produce a modern metal tone using channel 2.

It ain't getting a 10, that's just silly and spoils this site's objectivity! It's a high 8, with the noise being the difference to a 9. I really do rate this amp and don't miss my plexi at all!

I read a lot of reviews here that states "Built like a brick sh!thouse; will outlast me!". I work in the electronics industry and as such I know the difference between a heavy amp in a nice wooden box, and a solidly built one! Let's get this straight, Laney amps are NOT THAT WELL MADE!!!!

I bought mine secondhand, but I think it had barely been switched on in it's 16 years. I changed all the valves as a matter of course. It had an intermittent distortion on note decay when the signal was all but zero (if you let a note really hang on, right at the death you'd get a tone like a fuzzbox with a weak battery). I took the view that replacing all the capacitors was a wise precaution. Taking the thing apart revealed some poor build strategies:
1) The wiring is not organised into looms, so signal and power are very close together.
2) Wiring goes from point to point with minimal slack (if a wire breaks, you'd struggle to re-make it but would have to remove and replace it. Poor electronic build practice)
3) There were numerous burnt wires caused by clumsy soldering
4) The biggy. The wiring to the PCB should be organised down one side so it's possible to flip the board over for repairs. It isn't so it's a major job to replace a component.
5) There were loads of splashes of solder inside the chassis
6) The soldering is extremely poor - more below.

Lifting the PCB revealed that 2 wires had come adrift from the Power capacitors. This caused the problem, but could have killed me! They had come adrift because of extremely poor soldering.

I have thoroughly gone over all the connections, and the amp is fine now. At some point I will re-wire it properly and I suspect the noise will reduce, and the sound score will become a 9!

I strongly advise you get a good amp repairer to check your Laney over and ensure it is safe; a chunk of 400V up your earth could spoil your whole day!

Low score, because this could kill you, or at best ruin your impression of this otherwise great amp.

Actually very good. I haven't told them about this problem, and am undecided as to whether I will. Will it help Laney to know about this issue on a 16 year old amp? Maybe...

I did ask for information regarding the schematic, and I got just what I needed by e-mail within a few hours.

Couldn't really ask for more. Again, no 10s, because they didn't deliver the schematic by hand, fix my amp and do my ironing...

I've been playing 22 years and have lots of gigging experience. I've had a few years off, but my appreciation of tone hasn't changed. I tried one of these back in the early 90s and loved it, but circumstance stopped me buying it (If I remember, I fell in love with the guitar I used to test it and spent my cash on that instead!). I had a list of amps I was looking for secondhand, but wanted to go for a Laney simply because I've had so many marshalls (Jubilee, JCM800, JCM900, Plexi etc) and wanted to be a bit different. I tried the TSL Marshall, but wasn't that impressed (it had loads of features I didn't need, but the crunch channel didn't really grab me), and would have gone for a MKIII boogie, but #lots of course.

I can't help giggling here, but I paid #70 for this thing and re-valved it for #50. I'm getting fantastic tones from it, and could have bought 3 fully valved Laneys for one secondhand plexi!!

If I see another one, I'll buy it without second thought. That way I can devote my time to seeking out the thieving herbert and inserting hot EL34s into various orifices.

Still no 10s, but a 9 simply because these tones for #70? Rude not to!

* This is the Laney AOR50 Series II amplifier *

This amp is basically a hot-rodded Marshall Plexi 50 that you can switch in more gain channel (the AOR channel). The Laney AOR50 is handmade in England and uses a PC board with good components.

Two channels: The 'light' channel can get sounds from clean but bitey to a '70s master volume amplifier sound. The 'heavy' channel switches in a couple of ICs to 'diode-clip' the signal giving a typical late 80's metal sound. The heavy channel sounds buzzy, compressed, and distorted with just a strat plugged directly in.

This amp is a high gain amp similar to the JCM900 in sound, but this amplifier is not JCM900 wannabe. This amplifier is based directly on the classic Plexi 50 watt Marshall amplifier, and allows a high gain to be switched in (as opposed to be forced to use the buzzy IC gain all the time as in the JCM900).

The amp has a high and low input for two channels that are footswitchable. The controls presence, bass, mid, treb, and then a set of master volume and channel gain for each of the two channels. The bass and mid pull out for expanded ranges, and the volumes of the two channels also pull out for bright boost.
It also has line out, support for any cabnets from 4 to 16 ohms (using jacks and no switch), and an IC regulated FX loop.

The AOR50 uses four 12AX7s and two EL34s: seeing them in there peeked my interest of this amp at a local music shop, as I recognised it to be a clone of the greatest amplifier Marshall ever built: the model 1987 Plexi 50. Except for the three ICs used (two to regulate the ultra-high gain you can switch in, one for the FX loop management), this amplifier is a true all-tube quality amp (unlike the JCM900 which masquerades as a Marshall with its 1/4-watt rated resistors and cheapo mounted PC boards that are more computer than guitar amp).

This amplifier only has what you need on it (reverb would be nice).

I found this amplifier to be rather versitile and quite capable of being a toney amp.

With a standard single coil strat, I was able to get a 'vintage' late '60s sound on the non-ridiculous gain channel. I could get a nice loud bitey cleaner tone with great sustain. Adjusting the gain upto 75% gave me a 70s hard rock sound (AC/DC like). In the non-AOR gain channel, you could get tone and the distortion was true tube and not artificial sounding (like a early 70s Marshall).

The hot channel (AOR channel) is that wet, saturated, harmonicy and buzzy sound of late '80s metal. While you dont need a pedal to jam on it, I would use a TS-808 type pedal (as I do) to hotten up the sound and reduce the built-in gain on the amp. Otherwise, the hot channel has the sound that will immediately make you sound like you are a late '80s metalhead. You can get a much better Metallica sound on the lower gain channel with a light distortion pedal. Such gain as the AOR channel is is nearly comical by todays standards. The non-AOR channel and a typical distortion pedal sounds much better.

The amp is 14 years old and looks showroom new, and all of the components appear to be rock solid and rated well over the minimum specs.

While I have not owned this one for years, someone did for the last 14 years. For every one of these working and playing out every night, I bet there are 100 JCM900s sitting in a landfill somewhere.

No idea. The laney website seems to be always down (what does that mean?).
This amplfier is simple enough to get fixed anywhere, and this amplifier is worth it.

Paul Gilbert has always been a Laney amp fan: like other Laney amps, this one is a shredders amplifier. This is NOT a JCM900 wannabe. Classic rock players should not overlook this amp: you dont have to use the ultra-high gain.

I took it apart to service it and was shocked to see how well made it was, and it had the cleanest wiring I have ever seen in a tube amplfier (I know because I build tube amps). As a tube amp builder, I am impressed.

I would buy another of these if mine was lost. They seem to be very well built (mine is a '90 model). If you are looking at one of these, snatch it up now! You will not find a better amp for the money. You get classic rock sounds to speed metal. Unlike the JCM900, you are stuck with the buzzy distortion (fake sounding IC distortion). The natural sound of this amplifier is just tubes, capacitors, resistors. The user has the option to switch in the pukey-sounding IC-gain in or out.

Not a real versatile amp, but if you wanna ROCK, hire a Laney ! these things have a single purpose, and they do it well.

I no longer have the amp, I traded it off to obtain equipment that had a superior clean tone, ie, 60's Fender Twin and Tele, but I used it thru a Peavey straight front 4x12 cab loaded w/ Randall Jaguars, mostly I played a "lawsuit" Korina Explorer w/ EMG 81 in the bridge and the rest unhooked, and it POSITIVELY SCREAMED ! ! ! GEEZUZ, I got a LOT of comments on my guitar sound. I think it was the only rig I have ever owned ( been playing since about 1973) that had non guitar player talking about the BIG guitar sound,, INCREDIBLE,, but no clean tones to speak of. i dont even know why the amp includes clean tones, they are pointless. High Gain Rock and Roll or skip it.

never broke. I replaced tubes oce in 2 years of gigging cuz I felt guilty leavin the old ones in too long. We flipped the van in a ditch one night, and the Laney went across the highway at high speed. scuffed her up good, but made sure the tubes were tight in the sockets and was back to that glorious tone !

never dealt with em, dont know if Id want to, anyone that would replace this amp with the subsequent versions wouldnt be very easy for me to be nice to.

I wondered about my sanity when I paid 300 for the head, it didnt have "marshall" on it, after all, so it couldnt be good, right ??? WRONG ! I will NEVER own a MArshall again. My Laney was specifically an AOR50 Series II head, and I would seek one of those if I ever went back to a half stack again. Currently using a Carvin XV112E Combo, and its cool, but never will be the same.

This review is a slight correction. I wrote a review for this amp and listed it under the AOR Pro Tube 50, which I later found out is a combo amp and what I own is not a combo! Read my other review and this review to see all of the features.

I am going to re-nig on the "great for metal" comment that I made on combo review, unless metal for you is Scorpions, Judas Priest and the likes. This Amp is still about the most amazing amp I have ever owned or played! One stomp box that is in my line up is a Boss Metal Zone. I have tried a bunch of different distortion boxes and always hated them but the Zone is pretty cool and now the AOR 50 can sound like a hot-rodded Boogie. The only thing I am not nuts about is it's a little loud and would love to find a 30 watt head to go with this. Great clean channel to boot but you can't switch from the dirt to the clean channel and get a clean sound without stopping and fiddling some of the gain down a bit. If this had a third channel for ultra clean playing it would be the most sought after amp in the world, my opinion. I still can't believe Laneys aren't more popular??? Read some of the reviews for Marshall and others! Except for the old vintage stuff they pretty much suck or break down a lot. You can find used Laney's for $200.00. Don't pass one up.

It gets hot and I'm ready for it to blow but I don't think it's going to happen.

never called.

These are the shit!
I have owned at least 10 other big amps and played damn near every other amp out there. I think the only amp I haven't played on is a Hiwatt which I've really been dying to play on. Laney makes one fine amp so go and at least check one out.

I bought this amp just because it tube and was cheap $200....How could I go wrong? I have played through the finest amps ever made...Believe me..almost all of them except for some of the lesser known boutiques!!

I was not expecting much, but this amp has some sweet spots and potential with it's effects loop and like it better than many amps I have costing over 2 grand!!. You can dial in hair if you like but I prefer the Warren Haynes "Bad little Doggie" tone or AC/DC tone and this gets it with a paul and an effect module in the loop where you can eq and add other effects. I think the digital eq really helps this amp out alot...Make sure you have good tubes too...
I am successful financially now and can afford any amp I want and have many... but it has not always been that way..as I kinda missed my teenage years supporting my mom and family....
Anyway....This amp still shines with a 2-12 greenback cab. With the active tone pots you can dial in more bass to support a smaller cab and still sound like a 4-12. I do not like the tone when the treble or mid is pulled..as it gets noisy but the bass fills.
An effect module in the effect loop is mandatory to get the tone.
If you like Thin Lizzy, Bad co. Warren Haynes ,AC/DC tone..you can get it on a budget with this amp but only with tweaking.

No Problems

I have been playing many years and have always been known for tone. Getting the most tone for what I have. There is no one amp ..or guitar that will do it all but I could not believe a 200 dollar amp on ebay I would rather play now than my mint 1968 Marshall Plexi Stack with 4-12 greenback basketweaves.
This may be a passing fad but I like this amp as long as it is set up in moderation..full out it sounds like crap.
My settings are with a 2-12 greenback cab...presence 9 oclock..bass pulled 10 oclock ...pretty much everything not pulled and between 11 and 1 oclock...

You've heard of the 11 setting, this has a 12,
sustain for 3 weeks, really only has a few sounds though, like a very very souped up marshall.

15 years ago I used all Kramers using Duncan Distortion pickups, and going into a prehistoric 4-12 peavey cab, at all gains cranked this thing is really noisy on the gain-of-hell channel, but on the clean its super quient at full blast. The distortion, amazing is about the only word i have, smooth as a violin at full blast.

15 years and still blasting, travels very well, ( i saw it drop off a conveyor belt on flight to play in greece once, and it survived)same consistent sound every single time

I heard that laney is out of business, or they were bought or something..so I have no idea.

Been playing for 22 years (since i was 13), if lost or stolen I would try to find another one, I love the sound and 3 week long sustain and smoothness, i hate the hissing when my guitars vol is off, I originally wanted to get a souped-up marshall until i actually heard this in a store. Back then the Laneys were essentially what 80's metal players were looking for, an already souped-up marshall.