Laney AOR Pro Tube 100

I think mine is a 1985 or 86.The amp is versatile enough for me and the styles of music I play. {ROCK,JAZZY ROCK, HARD ROCK , & BLUES} 2 channels ,Effects loops. Controls: Presence, Bass (pull boost), Middle (pull boost), Treble (pull boost), Master Volume, Preamp Vol 2, Preamp Level 1, Preamp Vol 1 (pull boost). It have enough power for days & drummer's. I've use this amp on Stage , Studios & Home.ALL TUBE 4 EL-34's &4 12AX7's NO solid state. Tubed like a Marshall Plexi but not wired the same.

OK boy's & girls . Laney is not a cheap Marshall but it's own animal. [I have a Marshall Plexi] I picked the Laney because I did not want 2 Marshall sounding amps.Laney sounds like a Laney should by it's self.Fender is a Fender and so on. I played my 1976 Fender Stratocaster hard tail & My 1999 Gibson Les Paul standard through this amp and it liked the Les Paul a little more than the strat. I like to play Blues to Hard Rock so this Laney is all me. The clean it great for blues and the distortion for Hard Rock. [Not Metal.] You need a pedal for that.

I Would use it on a gig without a backup and did so.

I have not tried to contact Lyndon Laney.

I've been playing since 1979 . I have over 30 guitars & 12 Amps 1 Marshall Plexi, 3 Silver face Fender's, 4 Black face Fender's , 1 Music Man HD 130, 2 Teisco 72-R [All amps are TUBE.] & 1 Laney pro tube 100 aor. I got the Laney head & Laney 4x12 cab for $500 out of a Pawn Shop so if it were stolen or lost, I would buy one again. I have wanted a Laney back in the mid 1980's so here it is .Remember it is not a Marshall so if you want a Marshall buy one. If you want some thing different buy a Laney it is the best buck for a UK amp.

I think mine is a 1985 or 86.The amp is versatile enough for me and the styles of music I play. {ROCK,JAZZY ROCK, HARD ROCK , & BLUES} 2 channels ,Effects loops. Controls: Presence, Bass (pull boost), Middle (pull boost), Treble (pull boost), Master Volume, Preamp Vol 2, Preamp Level 1, Preamp Vol 1 (pull boost). It have enough power for days & drummer's. I've use this amp on Stage , Studios & Home.ALL TUBE 4 EL-34's &4 12AX7's NO solid state. Tubed like a Marshall Plexi but not wired the same.

OK boy's & girls . Laney is not a cheap Marshall but it's own animal. [I have a Marshall Plexi] I picked the Laney because I did not want 2 Marshall sounding amps.Laney sounds like a Laney should by it's self.Fender is a Fender and so on. I played my 1976 Fender Stratocaster hard tail & My 1999 Gibson Les Paul standard through this amp and it liked the Les Paul a little more than the strat. I like to play Blues to Hard Rock so this Laney is all me. The clean it great for blues and the distortion for Hard Rock. [Not Metal.] You need a pedal for that.

I Would use it on a gig without a backup and did so.

I have not tried to contact Lyndon Laney.

I've been playing since 1979 . I have over 30 guitars & 12 Amps 1 Marshall Plexi, 3 Silver face Fender's, 4 Black face Fender's , 1 Music Man HD 130, 2 Teisco 72-R [All amps are TUBE.] & 1 Laney pro tube 100 aor. I got the Laney head & Laney 4x12 cab for $500 out of a Pawn Shop so if it were stolen or lost, I would buy one again. I have wanted a Laney back in the mid 1980's so here it is .Remember it is not a Marshall so if you want a Marshall buy one. If you want some thing different buy a Laney it is the best buck for a UK amp.

I think mine is a 1985 or 86.The amp is versatile enough for me and the styles of music I play. {ROCK,JAZZY ROCK, HARD ROCK , & BLUES} 2 channels ,Effects loops. Controls: Presence, Bass (pull boost), Middle (pull boost), Treble (pull boost), Master Volume, Preamp Vol 2, Preamp Level 1, Preamp Vol 1 (pull boost). It have enough power for days & drummer's. I've use this amp on Stage , Studios & Home.ALL TUBE 4 EL-34's &4 12AX7's NO solid state. Tubed like a Marshall Plexi but not wired the same.

OK boy's & girls . Laney is not a cheap Marshall but it's own animal. [I have a Marshall Plexi] I picked the Laney because I did not want 2 Marshall sounding amps.Laney sounds like a Laney should by it's self.Fender is a Fender and so on. I played my 1976 Fender Stratocaster hard tail & My 1999 Gibson Les Paul standard through this amp and it liked the Les Paul a little more than the strat. I like to play Blues to Hard Rock so this Laney is all me. The clean it great for blues and the distortion for Hard Rock. [Not Metal.] You need a pedal for that.

I Would use it on a gig without a backup and did so.

I have not tried to contact Lyndon Laney.

I've been playing since 1979 . I have over 30 guitars & 12 Amps 1 Marshall Plexi, 3 Silver face Fender's, 4 Black face Fender's , 1 Music Man HD 130, 2 Teisco 72-R [All amps are TUBE.] & 1 Laney pro tube 100 aor. I got the Laney head & Laney 4x12 cab for $500 out of a Pawn Shop so if it were stolen or lost, I would buy one again. I have wanted a Laney back in the mid 1980's so here it is .Remember it is not a Marshall so if you want a Marshall buy one. If you want some thing different buy a Laney it is the best buck for a UK amp.

I believe mine is a 1985 low serial number.This amp is versatile enough for me and the styles of music I play.[Rock , Jazzy Rock , Blues , Hard Rock , etc.] Controls: Presence, Bass (pull boost), Middle (pull boost), Treble (pull boost), Master Volume, Preamp Vol 2, Preamp Level 1, Preamp Vol 1 (pull boost). The effects loops
works great. No headphone jack. The Laney has all the features I'll ever use. I've use this amp on stage and rehearsal studios and home.
At 100 watts of power it is loud enough. All tube like a Plexi Marshall. But this is Hot-Rodded out of the box from Laney. No solid state or stereo.

1976 Fender Stratocaster hard tail & 1999 Gibson Les Paul standard all stock no mods. It suit my music style [Rock, Jazzy Rock, Blues, Hard Rock, etc.]This Laney likes the Les Paul a little more than the strat.This Laney can sound good clean and great distorted but I play Hard Rock so I don't need any pedals to drive the tubes harder like metal.I like the Laney because it dose not sound like a Marshall it sounds like a Laney should.I have a Plexi Marshall for that sound. This Laney has all the variety I need to play clean or distorted.

Designed and engineered by a Laney team with 42 years of experience in the ???business of tone???. I think so.

I think my Laney is out of warranty but I believe Lyndon Laney would help if someone needed it

I've been playing since 1979. I have over 30 vintage guitars all stock no mods. 12 amps 1 plexi Marshall ,4 Black face Fenders , 3 silver face Fenders ,2 Teisco R-72 [tube] ,1 Music man HD-130,and 1 Laney pro tube lead aor 100 watt.I like this amp a lot for it's sound and price. $500 for Laney pro tube lead aor 100 watt & Laney cab 4x12. That's one Marshall cab. Tony Iommi play nothing but Laney. This Laney is not a cheap Marshall but a amplifier on it's own so it has it's own sound .Please do not buy one thinking it sounds like a Marshall because it is not! It is a Laney.

Mine is a Laney AOR Pro Tube 100 head. I think an 8 woukd be a fair rating for my standards. Controls: Presence, Bass (pull boost), Middle (pull boost), Treble (pull boost), Master Volume, Preamp Vol 2, Preamp Level 1, Preamp Vol 1 (pull boost). Im saying an 8 because I dont like the sound of the AOR/ boost channel, which is'nt even really a channel, but an additional preamp.

I am currently in two bands: My pet project is a Hard Rock/ Metal band all originals, and the other is a Jazz/ Blues and rock cover band. My two guitars: Fender American Standard Stratocaster, Maple neck and fret board, Dimarzio Super Distortion Bridge and neck with the stock single coil in the middle position; My other guitar: Gibson 67 Flying V, Ebony fret board, Dimarzio Super Distortion Bridge and a Gibson 496R ceramic in the neck. Needless to say I prefer the strat. This amp blows away any new Marshall and believe me I've owned most of them. The AOR settings is where I notice some noise. I dont like the stock gain of the AOR channel period and the distortion doesnt cut it enough by itself. The AOR gets way too fizzy way too quick. The streight up plain High channel is where the sweet tones lay. I use the regular channel with a Tube Screamer in front of the amp and it's to die for. My settings: Pres: 4, Bass: 4 boosted, Mid: 4.25 boosted, Treb: 9.75 boosted, Master: 4-6, Pre 2: 5, Pre Lev 1: 10, Pre Vol 1: 10. This gives a nice light distortion or a nice clean on the middle single coil of my Strat. Then I push it with the Tube Screamer: Gain: 9 o clock, Tone: 3 o clock, Level: 3 o clock. Stays nice and articulate, but kicks you in the face with FAT and ripping distortion. Although the preamp 1 controls on the amp affect the AOR channel, they also seem to cut or add High end to the main channel, so they stay on 10 at all times to simulate a 6 knob master volume head. I think I am going to dump the AOR circut, and bypass the low input into it's own seperate Master and preamp controls.

I have giged with this amp for four years and never had a major problem. Only one time did the Volume drop and that was due to some bad Svetlana Power Tubes. I have been using the same JJ EL34's for the last couple of years and so far so good.

Tried to get the schematic for this amp, but they sent me the wrong one.

I have been playing for 15 years. In my first band I bought a Laney GC80 combo and it sounded like the best thing I had ever heard at the time. I have tried many Marshall's: TSL, DSL, Vintage Modern, all of them sound great by themselves, but once you put them into a full band setting the fall short of dog vomit. The JCM 900 SLX I actually loved, but it's overpriced like all other marshall's. A few years ago I remembered how much I loved my long gone solid state Laney GC80, then I looked at several AOR's on ebay and then bought one. Overall I am not disappointed. If it were lost or stolen, I would skin the bastard who did it alive. I would probebly try an older Pr Tube Master Volume head or get another just like it. I am stuck on this amp. Other bands offer to let us use their equipment (Marshall DSL, Mesa etc.), but I say no thanks I prefer my own tone VS thin solid state tube hybrid crap.

I play mostly '60s-'80s blues rock/metal, '70s-'80s progressive, and '80s-'90s alternative, but I do a little of everything in the spectrum from blues to rock to jazz, with the exception of country. The Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 100W is simply the best amp (factoring value in the equation) that I have found for the styles that I play.

Single channel with two footswitchable preamp stages and two inputs, plus pull-pot tone boosts for bass, mids, and treble...presence, master volume, decent effects loop, standby switch. All of the features are very useful. When I bought it I wished it had an onboard reverb, but I added a Line 6 Verbzilla to the effects loop which sounds phenomenal.

I use the amp for everything from practice to gigging. Too little power is never a problem. I just started running it through an Avatar G212H with two Celestion Vintage 30s. This may be a perfect match.

I give this amp a "9" rating in this category because it does what is designed to do extremely well, though it isn't the most versatile amp.

This amp really does the classic Marshall sounds beautifully, plus it gets fairly brutal for an '80s vintage amp. I sometimes put an SD-1 pedal in front of it if the onboard overdrive isn't enough (it usually is). The AOR preamp stage and the tone boosts add a great deal of gain and richness... a BIG sound. It has so much headroom that it is pretty easy to keep it clean too - just limit the preamp and input levels - as long as you don't need massive clean volume. It's not quite a Fender Twin, but it will do a lovely and useable clean tone.

I've done a fair amount of fiddling with selection and placement order of the preamp tubes which has taken a sound that started out really good, and has made it exactly the sound I want. I've ended up with Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 in valve 1 (extra AOR stage) and valve 2 (normal first stage) and Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V3 and V4. I also changed out the power tubes from the Mesa EL34s (Svetlanas) that it came with to Groove Tubes (checked to see if rebiasing was necessary and it wasn't). However, I just switched back to the original Svetlanas which sound better to me with the preamp tube mix I'm using, and I think I have settled on a great tube set up.

I'm playing a Guild S-100 (Duncan JB and '59), Epiphone Elite Les Paul Standard (Gibson 498 and 490), and Fender Eric Clapton Strat (with active mid boost) into it, and they all sound soooo good!

In front of the amp I put a Fender tuner, Boss compression/sustainer, Boss SD-1, and Crybaby Classic. In the effects loop I run a Boss noise gate, a Boss Super Chorus, Boss Flanger, and Boss DD-3, and a Line 6 Verbzilla (a really nice pedal).

The amp is pretty much noise-free in low gain settings, but high gain adds some low level background noise (this got a bit better with the EH preamp tubes in place). The noise gate in the effects loop cleans this up nicely, at the expense of a little bit of volume, though turning up the master gets the volume back without a noticable of tonal quality.

On it's own it's get's a nine. With some tweeking of tubes and signal processing, it sounds like a 10.

It is a tank. No problems.

I've contacted Laney in the UK for schematics and some advice and they have been very responsive and helpful. Considering that it is out of warranty and I'm not the original owner, that's pretty good.

I've been playing for twenty years, and I have never been happier with an amp. Granted, it has taken some experimentation to get it dialed in, but the final result is phenomenal. If you want a classic Marshall sound that gets a bigger sound and is more versatile than a JCM800, and you only want to pay $400 (as opposed to $2,000) get a used Laney AOR.

Late 80s AOR Pro Tube 100, I just bought it last night.

I mostly play metal and rock stuffs, but I wanted to simplify. Since I didn't have enough money to get another Mesa after mine was stolen (Mark Series, I don't believe in that Recto $%^&) I thought I'd see what my local guitar monger had for used gear. he had this single channel laney and was willing to let me have it for $175 out the door with a matching cab if i submitted my ibanez sz. I thought that sounded like a great deal...blah blah blah, I'm rambling, sorry...

100w Tube Power
One Channel
Two Gain Stages (2 preamp, like an Orange Crush series, but not tiny...or orange...or solid state)
3 band EQ with push/pull boosts
Master Volume and Presence
Built Like a tank

Even with just the few hours I've had with it, I've gotten an ungodly range of sounds!

This guitar is odd, I wish the mid frequency was a bit lower on the spectrum, but it could just be that I haven't gotten to crank it yet. Not very noisy at all, medium gain beast. I've only played it at the store and in my living room, but so far it sounds fantastic, I swear i'll write another review when i get out of the honeymoon phase...

but with simple twists of the knobs and changing the pickup selections on my standard Flying V, i've gotten NWOBHM sounds like early priest, saxon and adrian smith's live tone, pulled a Hives/Early Stones low gain grit, a great deep bluesey Ritchie Blackmore "Highway Star" solo sound, Angus and Malcolm Crunch, and proto punk stooges/MC5 mayhem!

I need to buy a battery so I can do the whole clean boost thing with my tube screamer, i'm anxious to see what else I can do with it!

The cab is very dry sounding and really pushes the mids and handles the lows well

Don't know yet, but it's well over 40 lbs, so it'll either shatter into a thousand pieces or fall through the earth til it hits australia

You can get discontinued manuals in pdf format!! who the hell else does that??

They sent me back an email within a day when I asked about the model...very helpful.

This is my 3rd half stack and it's well on the way to beating out my Mark IV as the favorite. I'm playing a Gibson V and a Mexican Tele through it right now and they both sound great. I'd like to see how it does for metal, but even if it doesn't, the clean is so good I can just get a really nice pedal for those scenarios. This really was a sweet buy for dirt ass cheap. The only thing I don't like so far is that I haven't figured out the whole footswitch dealy, switches preamps? Converts one to master volume? i dunno, whatever. My fault, not the amp's.

If it were stolen I'd simply walk up to the chode doing it and beat their ass, I doubt they'd get far considering the thing weighs a metric ton anyway...

by far, the best bang for the buck I've ever got.

Oh, and about the SZ, it was a kickass beautiful guitar, but it just wasn't for me, but I'd reccommend it to anyone, very very versatile. The feel was just too odd for me.

PLEASE SOMEONE SEND ME SOME SUGGUESTED SETTINGS AND APPLICATIONS!!!

<b>Laney AOR Pro Tube 100 Head (1980's)</b>
<UL>
<LI> 100w all Tube circuitry (EL34/12AX7)
<LI> Presence, Low, Mid, High EQ controls
<LI> Boosts on Low, Mid, High EQ controls (via push-pull pots)
<LI> 2 Foot-switchable channels
<LI> FX Loop
<LI> Adjustable resistance dial on back for 4/8/16 Ohms
<LI> Dual speaker output
</UL>
<p>
<b>Comments:</b>
The amp is very versatile, thanks in part to the push/pull boosts on all the EQ's. It essentially doubles the tonal range you can achieve with this amp. I have 4x Groove-Tube E34LS (Hardness 4) tubes in power section and 4x Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 tubes in preamp. The 100 watts of power are enough to power everything I do from practice to gigging.
<p>
The preamp section is controlled by three knobs: Preamp 1 Level, Preamp 1 Volume, and Preamp 2 Volume. These three controls help you create a variety of different tones and overdrives <b>but however</b> they are not very intuitive to use and can cause you to have to sit and tweak for a while to find the tone you want.
<p>
I wish it had reverb, but that is very minor.
<p>
I built my own footswitch from a guitar-cable, a breakout box, and an electrical lamp switch. However, you can you any normal on/off footswitch (such as the Boss FS-1).

<b>Equipment</b>
<UL>
<LI>Gibson SG Special
<LI>Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
</UL>
<p>
I play alot of technical-metal/hardcore and pop-punk so I have a vast amount of different tones I like to use. I need a thick overdrive with a good amount of chunk to it for heavy palm muting, but I also need the right amount of crunch (in the mids, mostly) to be able to cut through the band and play alot of riff/lead stuff. This amp can achieve both, but it needs a little help at times.
<p>
The overdrive on this amp isn't too shabby by itself. The breakup in the power section is nice and the preamp tubes provide a decent amount of distortion to warrant good tone. Blues, Rock, Folk, and even some Punk players will be happy with it by itself. However, it doesn't have the right amount of thickness for my heavy palm-muting and such. That is why I use the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive to push the amp's overdrive even further.
<p>
I use the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive as a "clean boost", which is a very popular trick to get tube amps to really scream. The trick is to turn the Volume on the pedal all the way UP and turn down the Drive/Distortion almost all the way DOWN. This helps push the power tubes a bit more and brings out the great distortion and compression that can only be found in overdriven power tubes. This helps acheive the needed chunk for heavy palm muting. No matter what people say, the best distortion comes from overdriven power tubes. (This kind of trick is popular with the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and the variants of the Ibanez TubeScreamer.)
<p>
The amp has a very decent clean as well. I use Groove-Tube E34LS Power Tubes with a hardness of 4. This quality and hardness of tube stays clean and clear even when cranked. So I can get a nice, clear clean sound when needed. I sometimes use a Boss CS-3 Compression/Sustainer to help my clean sounds have some more punch, but it is not necessary.

This amp is very reliable in my opinion. I take care of this amp and it takes care of me. I changed the power tubes once when I started noticing my sound degrading and also change the preamp tubes just for the sake of replacing all tubes at once. However, this is normal wear-and-tear for a tube amp.
<p>
I use it for practice and shows and have never had any problems with it.

Laney's customer support is decent, but their website isn't complete.
<p>
The AOR manual they have posted on the website <b>is not the complete manual for this amp</b>. I e-mailed tech support asking if they had any more documentation on the amp and the support person got back to me within a day with a different AOR manual that included suggested settings and a small schematic of the amp. This manual was very helpful in understanding this amp's preamp section and finding the exact tone I wanted. If you buy, or already own this amp, I suggest you e-mail support and get a hold of this manual for it could truly help you improve your sound three-fold.

I have been playing for 8 years and have owned this amp for 2 years. It is the first and only tube amp head I have ever owned and I am happy with it. It takes some time to dial in and find the tone or overdrive you want, but once you get there it is great.
<p>
If it was every lost or stolen, I would probably step up and purchase a Marshall JCM900 or Peavey 5150.
<p>
I would recommend this amp for the person who is on a budget and/or is just buying their first guitar amp head. I bought this used for only about $200 and am able to dial in and create tones on par with the more expensive tube amps such as the JCM800 and JCM900 series which can cost up to $1000 (you can't beat that).
<p>
Don't spend $400+ on a new solid-state amp. Spend $200 on one of these and maybe $50 on a Boss SD-1 and you'll have a sound that is 10-times better than a solid-state amp for only half the price.
<p>
Versatile Tone + Decent Overdrive + Reliable Construction + Super-cheap Price = <b>8/10</b> Overall

Well, not too many. But, after years of using tons of rack stuff, I've moved backed to basics.

Playing a '76 Les Paul Standard (stock pick-ups)and a custom built Gordon Smith SG with EMGs. I play blues rock and metal type stuff mainly. As I said I stopped using all the Mesa and rack stuff (JMP-1/V-amp pro/Mesa 50-50/Alesis Quad thousands of other essentially un-necessary shit)and moved back to a monstrously cranked amp. I use a Boss Metal Master and an MXR Zakk wylde pedal both with the gain off, ie: just as a clean boost. This way I can alter the tone slightly if needed (mid response) and kick the overdrive into Orbit.

Blown it up about 4 times in nearly 10 years. And every time it was my fault not the amps.

Lots of people seem to be under the impression that Laney don't respond/don't have a Customer Support e-mail address. Bollocks. I have e-mailed them loads of times with lots of very stupid questions and they've always come back within the day. Manual is still on their site too. What more do you want?

I love everything about it. With this amp I come closer to getting a sound thats "me" rather than using generic equipment that only does that standard over-saturated nu-metal sound, which I think is shite. This amp does Kill 'em all, Slayer and Zakk Wylde with a boost and AC/DC/Free/Classic rock on the non- AOR Channel. With the AOR channel on and the bass boost on the sound is un mistakeably Tony Iommi on Master of Reality. Not suprising really as he is Laney's most famous endorsee. Using one of the pedals gives a boost and more focus for great tones. Touch sensitive and incredibly responsive to harmonics. If you want to rock - big time - stop looking for "versatility" and find the gear that makes your sound and play it loud.

Think this is early mid eighties. Not stunning to look at but built like a brick Sh*thouse..
Has 2 inputs. I use an American standard Strat and it has to go into the righthand input, the other input misses out one of the pre amp valves and doesn't give enough amplification from there with the strats rather weedy pickups.
Has an effects loop. clean channel, AOR (?) channel (Overdrive?) both have master volume.
To be honest the clean channel is best, set pre amp drive to around 3, LOVELY!!!!! then use an effects overdrive pedal in front. I don't like the AOR channel that much it's a bit fizzy. But that's because it doesn't suit my style and music. Has 3 Eq, /bass, mid and treble. Also you can pull the pots knobs to deepen the bass etc and this is VERY effective. LOUD amp..
I love this amp.

The clean sound is crisp almost Fenderish with the strat plugged in. Seriously loud.shed them with some switch cleaner. Be careful as it removes the painted logo's around the switches...
Now it's a lot quieter but cranked, of course its a bit noisy, it's an 80's valve amp......nothing to bad though.
Put a drive pedal in front and Jeez, you will love this amp. Rock never sounded more heavy. Will go from light blues to Paranoid with no problem.
ThAOL channel is not my cup of tea and I prefer the clean with some form of overdrive etc.
There is a footswitch connector on the rear, you apparently need Laney FS1 switch, but I'll never use it...you might want to try?
This is the best sounding amp I've played, nuff said
It will drown any heavy drummer out if required.......

Had no real problems apart from the dodgy connector from the jack socket at the back, no sound. Soon rectified with a cleanout.
Relaced one 12ax7 preamp valave as it seemed to "Honk" now and again and I traced it to that. Sounds fine now. Pots needed cleaning. No cooling fan, but it is built like a tank and I think it's good for another 20 years. Inside it's crude but simple and effective. Valves easy to get at.

Only emailed them about the footswitch and got same day reply. British company which deserves more attention I think. Seem to ake some nice new amps/combo's...

Been playing on and off for 20 odd years. Use a strat and Squier Tele. Both sound awesome thru it but use the righthand input for single coils. I would track donw another one if it got stolen cos it's such good value. check ebay for them. I love the sound and it's build, although not quality, it will never break. Bloody heavy though.
I have it plugged into a closed back 4X12 Cab and that is a quite scary combination.
Total cost for the amphead and cab was 300 quid, that is a REAL bargain.