Laney AOR A-5012 Series II 112 Combo

1991. It is not particularly versatile, compared, say with a good modeling amp. It sounds like what it is--a British rock amp. Channel switch is fine, might use the effects loop. It has plenty of power for most gigs, no problem. I had a 30 watt Laney AOR, and did not have quite enough head room. This guy has plenty of everything (for its age/era).

It sounds like a British rock amp. You have enough headroom to set the clean channel ear-hurting loud and still play clean blues vamps. It won't sound as sweet as a Twin, but that is not what it is. It is very similar to a mid 1980s JCM 800 50 watt combo in terms of volume, gain and headroom.

The overdrive channel gain goes way beyond any JCM 800 I ever heard. I can set the preamp as low as 9 o'clock and get smooth controllable feedback and plenty of bite. A lot more gain is possible, though it compresses/saturates a great deal, rather than staying real crunchy. As such, it doesn't sound really modern like a triple rectifier or the equivalent. With the AOR channel gain cranked, it is sort of like an old Boogie (Santana grade-sustain) crossed with a Marshall (eq and response). If you need to rock, and can do it with these types of sounds, these things will do the job very nicely.

It gets along very well with my humbucking and Phat Cat Gibsons. It does not especially like a telecaster, though you can get vintage British Vox-ish sounds, ala Kinks and Who by turning the guitar down a bit.

I believe the speaker has been replaced with some cheap dog. I plugged it into my 2 VC30 Avatar bottom and it ripped severely. I am sure a 4-12 or two would thunder like bitch farts, were one so inclined.

I just got it, and it was a sick puppy, always cutting out, hissing and spitting. My amp guru and friend Tim Houser advised me to clean the tube sockets (thanks always, Hawkman). I did that and it works perfectly now. Like my earlier Laney 30 watt AOR, the reverb is DOA. I think I'll plug my reverb unit into the effects loop rather than worry about fixing the factory unit.

Me not know

I have had lots of gear over many years of playing. I am a blues and rock player, mostly, and I get what I want from a variety of guitars and amps, depending on my mood. This is a handy and useful and portable rock amp that I got for a great price, not necessarily better or worse than any other comparable amp (e.g., Marshall or HiWatt). I can use the sounds it makes; whether or not it is your cup of tea is for you to decide.

Laney (AOR) A-5012 Series II, made in UK at around 88-90. 50W all tube combo.
EL34 tubes. Two channels clean and AOR, single 12" speaker. Push pull knobs,
high and low input, AOR channel switch, AOR channel preamp volume, AOR channel
master volume, AOR channel bright switch, clean channel preamp volume, clean
channel master volume, clean channel bright switch, treble, middle, bass,
boost switch, deep bass switch, presence, reverb and stand by. Back cover:
preamp output, effect loop return and send, footswitch, power switch. I didn't
give 10 to features because "drive" pot would be nice to have. And yes, this
amp is extremely loud, enough for stage.

Laney AOR is all-rounder. I use this amp with Ibanez RX series guitar (h/s/h).
Clean sound is perfect for pure electric blues (BB King etc), but as well
it is suitable for even more rotten style like T-model Ford or aggressive
blues like some of John Mayall's production. I don't use alot AOR channel,
but when I use, I usually play some texas blues or blues based rock for
example ZZtop (Mescalero, Deguello), AC/DC (B.Scott period), Led Zeppelin
(III/IV), etc. Sometimes I play with Marshall BB2 effect pedal (through the
clean channel) because that sound is softer than AOR and it's easy to adjust
drive in BB2.

High quality from UK, hard stuff. No problems with this Laney.

When I bought this amp (used) I didn't get any documentation with it.
I e-mailed to Laney support and under an one hour they replyed with
pdf-documentation attached. That documentations wasn't A-5012 original docs,
but anyway very helpful in my case. Good support services. Thanks to Roger H.

I've been playing 5 years with this Laney. Not much complain, well, this amp
is very compact package but it is quite heavy. And it's too loud for home
practicing.