Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead Head

50 watts head with 4x12ax7 pre and 2xEL34 powertubes.
Very basic features: EQ for bass, mids, treble and presence.
Has a preamp volume and master. One line out jack at the back side.
Low gain and high gain inputs.
Maybe I am in the wrong category for this amp, as there seem to be numerous different versions of AOR Laney amps with varying technical features. Mine appears to be the simplest of all.
The EQ pots can be pulled for a "boost" function - in fact it seems more that the pots rather diminish their frequency ranges when they are not pulled. In other words: You won't really hear what the amp can do unless you pull them all (at least bass and mids).
The downside of the pull function is that once the pots are pulled they do not longer serve as tone-controls: They only do their boost function as if all controls are turned up to the maximum and nothing about the tone can be adjusted any more.

As some other people have mentioned, the AOR PTL is basically a clone of the old Marshall 87 50 watts plexi head, one of the best-sounding amps ever built (in my opinion). Its tone is quite near to the original. It even looks quite a bit like late-70ies Marshalls.
The low input produces brilliant clean tones, the high one gives a harmonic and creamy distortion sound. Quite mellow, nothing like the aggressive scratching of JCM 900 or the bite of a JCM 800.
Take a strat with the the neck PU switched on, turn the gain all the way up, and it will sound like Malmsteen. In my ears, it doesn't quite sound like a Heavy Metal 80ies amp - although it was meant to be one - but rather like a vintage 60ies head with some more gain. The PTL is a bit noisy on higher gain settings, but that is bearable with the preamp not set to more than 12 o'clock.
It responds dynamically to the pick attack and the volume pot of the guitar, so that even in the high gain "channel" you can get different tones merely from input alterations.
There is but one problem: Once the EQ pots are pulled (and you have to do that), the EQ is set fixed to that tone. If you want to do anything about the tone then, you need an additional EQ as a stomp box. I use a Marshall Shredmaster distortion, for it has quite effective tone controls and can even reduce amp gain if desired.
The combination of the two is perfect for my sound (7oies hardrock / bluesrock / psychedelic) .

All covered up in very solid black plastic-leather and its edges are coated with black rubber. It isn't a beauty, but definetely made for to be taken on the road. No cooling slots above the tubes, only at the back, so fluids are unlikely to get in (good feature !)
The circuitry inside is on PC boards (unlike the 1987 Marshall) and all inner components seem to be well made and fixed. It never failed in years.

I never had to deal with the company.

Simply a good and versatile amp. Some even call it a tone monster. I recommend it.

year: ? about the first half of the '80s

Feats:

- 4x12AX7
- 2xEL34 (50W) head
- LOUD, especially for a 50-watter

- lo & hi inputs
- FX loop
- one channel with footswitchable gain (in the practice it works like clean/dirty)

controls:

- presence
- lo, mid, high EQ (all 3 with boost, w push/pull pots)
- master volume
- preamp gain 1
- preamp gain 2 (boost with push/pull pot)

It's a one-channel very British sounding tube head, primarily for rock (HI input) . Through the LO input the amp sounds clean and neutral enough to accept external preamps. If you fiddle with the active (pull for BOOST) EQ controls you can dial clean tones with character and spice. The clean channel is brilliant for stompboxes. Don't suspect Fender Twin-like shine. It's just clean and nice with plenty of headroom.

If you like RAW '80s EL34 Marshall tone (think JCM800 with mod as other users have stated before) you may love its sound. If you use the HI input, with a footswitch you can get a pretty usable very dirty / slightly dirty (NOT clean but most of the time does the job pretty well) option for live applications. Don't be fooled it's NOT a true channel switching option: you play the same discrete channel with switching full or less juice.

It has more options than most of the one-channel amps. It's not in the same league with a Mesa Road King for example but compared to other purist's amps in its class it is pretty versatile.

There is a healthy amount of dirt there for any styles from classic rock to nu-metal (with the footnote that an AOR doesn't go THAT deep than a Recto) and it's always pretty defined. Basically (consider it's a hi-mid pusher EL34 amp) it is a bright sounding head so always keep your presence and high pots under confident control. I use it for modern metal (think Helmet, Prong, Pantera) and it does the job pretty well. With suitable stompboxes and preamps through the LO input someone can use it for pop or jazz. Well, I'm not that someone.


Compared to my most -favourite JCM900 SL-X, the AOR covers a thinner sonical spectrum. The SL-X sounds wider and thicker, it fills more sonical territory in the mix. In the studio the ProTube Lead may sound a littlebit thin because it doesn't have such strong punch in the low-mid/low frequency as the SL-X has. But onstage it shines: with its defined and clear tone the AOR delivers every note you play to the audience, without crossing other components in the mix (bass, vox, etc). Well, it is not an amp for the wishy-washy guitarist. You should play clear and defined through this one.

9 out of 10 because in the same league the SL-X sounds 10% better.

Extremely reliable, multiple times. My most reliable unit by far, it proved itself even more reliable than my old Jim Dunlop Hendrix Special wah. The AOR was approx. 20 years old when I bought and since that date it's on the road. Think: over a thousand gigful of bumping around in Europe and still no signs of problems. Considering building quality and carftmanship it is far more superior than my beloved Marshall SL-X that had to be checked all over and re-soldered to make it as reliable as it's now.

Them Laney guys always answered all my questions quickly and properly concerning AOR and numerous other older stuff, and gave good and useful tips. I consider them to be a pretty supportive company.

After 15 years on the road and several amps (different kinds of old Marshalls and Laneys) stompboxes (BOSS, Rocktron, Jim Dunlop) and guitars (different brands of Les Pauls, Fender, Squier, Ibanez, Warmoth) I have my exact needs and what I need onstage is confidence in the first place and this little Laney never turns me down. The AOR is proven to be an extremely good touring amp for me. I give a fat ten because it has the best price/value ratio among the amps I've ever played, owned, looked at, heard or burned out. It's a modded Marshall for the sound, Engl for the building quality and reliability, Dodge Charger for the looks and cheepo solid state practice amp for the price. Buying this Laney is among the best 5 ideas I've every had.

About being stolen? Someone tried that once three years ago in a festival mess but I noticed him and he changed his mind after all. I'm still amazed how a JH1S Cry Baby wah pedal can impress everyone and change people's minds. I believe in a mere week he could walk acceptable again.

Well, always keep a Cry Baby at hand. Or a Dallas Arbiter for better flight control.

I am a little bit confused about the actual categorization of this amp, as there are some other divisions here on this site dealing with "Laney AOR" or "Laney Pro Tube" or "Pro Tube Lead" combos and heads. I have already placed a description of my amp a couple of years ago, maybe in a wrong department ...
Mine is a single-channel 50-watts head amp, with preamp and master volume. Has a low and a high input and presence, highs, lows and mids adjustable with boost function (pull/push knobs) .
Apart from a line in it has no features other than voltage and impedance selectors.
It has 4x12AX7-type preamp tubes and two EL-34 in the poweramp.

Wonderful if you like it.
Just as most of the other users/owners state here, it is capable of creating hardly more than one sound. Old-fashioned "vintage"-type tube sound for rock players who like to control most of the amp`s range by means of the volume control of the guitar.
The low input is definitely for clean playing, only with both preamp and master volume at max it gets a little dirty/crunchy.
By comparison the high input "channel" offers a tremedous amount of more gain and volume (I figure about 25 dB more), so that even at lowest preamp settings you`ll already hear some distortion.
Then, the amp is getting insanely loud very quickly and the boost really "kicks ass". There is one peculiarity about the boost function: Once it is activated, the controls themselves do no longer work: Turning them back and forth obviously doesn`t change anything, so you simply either have to love the massively punching bass and mids response or push them back in again.
As far as I`m concerned, I pull them all, run the master at about half, the preamp a little lower, get a fairly clean sound by turning the guitar`s volume pot halfway back and a beautifully singing lead overdrive with a simple gain/treble-booster pedal in front of the amp.
The overall character of sound has more to share with old non-master-volume Marshalls and Laneys than with the more aggressive JCM800-type of sound. Although it stems from the 80ies, it sounds entirely like early 70ies Hardrock (maybe Blackmore, Deep Purple "Made in Japan").

Looks ugly, to be honest. All covered in black carved rubber which is but very resistant. Appears to be very solid and has never let me down on a performance so far.
Mine is about 20 years old (bought it used) and still looks like brandnew inside, no rust nor other signs of age on the transformers or elswhere. It gets very hot very quickly, but has no opening on top like lots of other amps have but only at the back. In my view, this is quite good to keep fluids (drinks !?) from getting inside.
Anyway, ever since an old Marshall 100 watts SLP blew its caps and tubes be hind me one night due to an extreme overload of current (thunderstorm with flashes and lightings outside) running into it, I never go anywhere without a backup.

Haven`t yet contacted them ...

Tons of tone ! This was made mostly for "classic" type of rock guitar playing and it is really good at that.
When you are looking or a completly brilliant, sparkling clean sound, get yourself a Fender amp. If you want an ultra high-gain saturated distortion, buy a Boogie. If you like to hear maybe Hendrix`s rhythm playing and Blackmore`s leads and you don`t bother to still have a little "brown" sort of clean tone, this is it !

As far as features go, it's kind of a one trick poney. You don't get switchable channels, switchable effects loops, built in FX or even a reverb tank. It has 2 inputs, high and low and the standard EQ. The one "trick" that it has is the ability to add a boost in any range of the EQ via the push-pull knobs on the front. It's 50 managable watts until you pull the knobs which turns it into a monster.

First and foremost, I want to state VERY clearly that this amp is geared for only a couple tones. It will not sound like a Fender in the low input "clean" channel and it will not sound like a Mesa in the higher gain input either. What this amp is made for is delivering vintage Marshall-esque tones from a great Plexi Superlead all the way up to JCM800 series. With that in mind, and if you enjoy that sound, I believe it to be one of the best sounding distorted amps you can buy. I have played a million Marshalls and I am very confident to say that when you close you eyes it sounds just like a sweet sounding Plexi. The tone is very heavy, but not in a metal sort of way. The best way I can describe it is like a big violin or cello. The trick is to drive it with an overdrive type pedal with the volume maxed and gain to a minimum for a super thick and heavy, yet sweet, lead tone.

The thing is probably older than I am, and it works perfectly. It's ugly as hell, torn to pieces, but I feel like it'll last forever. I wish I could give it a 10 but I'm sure it'll need some more tubes or something pretty soon due to it's age but I doubt that I'll ever encounter a "oh my God it just caught on fire" moment with it.

Please people, this amp is great at one thing and that is to play loud rocking stuff so don't expect to play a country or jazz gig. They build amps for that so just quit bitching about all the shortcomings of each brand of amplifier. Fender typically shines in the clean department, while Marshall rules the roost for everything else. This amp is built to sound and function like an older Marshall + FX loop + more gain. All in all it does exactly what I want it to do, which is give me a great dirty rhythm and lead tone. Not to mention you save about $1500 over a JCM800 or JCM2000.

Features?

Well, everybody wants something different. Some people like one channel, one sound simplicity, others prefer complex 3 channel high gain monsters, and want to be in delicate control of the sound.

You have to decide which kind of guitarist you are. If your the latter one, who likes lots of shiny knobs, channels, colorful LEDs, and enough preamp gain to drown out mistakes, look elsewhere.

If you are the kind of guitarist that wants a simple amp, but with all the features you need and none you dont, you may have just stumbled on the best amp for you.

This was made in the 1980's for sure. People were modding their marshalls like crazy back then to give them more gain, effects loops, ect to fit the changing styles. This amp, was like a modded marshall right out of the box, and priced well below the price of a Marshall + Modding charges. Laney was really on top of it, they knew what the people wanted, unfortunately, they never could put a "Marshall" tag on the front of it, so they were ignored or overlooked for the most part. Still are, thats why they are so cheap now. Not because they suck, but because only 1 out of 10 guitarists has ever seen a Laney.

This is basically a 1 channel amp that pretends its a 2 channel amp. Its got the standard HARD rockin EL34 crunch, and then you can activate the AOR channel, which activates another preamp tube into the cascading (where the signal is boosted by a preamp tube, into another preamp tube, where its boosted into another, ect, and there will be several in the chain) preamp, for a BIG boost in drippy gain. This "channel" can be dialed in louder than the standard channel so it makes a perfect boost for solos.

This is getting kinda lengthy, so I'll just list the other features:
[]ALL TUBE circuit, NO clipping diodes! takes four EL34's and four 12AX7's
[]Unlike most vintage marshalls, there IS an EFFECTS LOOP!
[]100w of EL34 punch and crunch
[]Footswitch takes a standard 1/4" stereo jack, not some obscure, hard to find, or factory-order only bullshit connector, so you can make a footswitch pretty easy, or use another amp's footswitch for it. (I actually use my old Peavey Classic 30's footswitch, works perfect)
[]very versitle gain and volume knobs. Confusing at first, but once you got it. . .hehe. . .you'll like it.
[]Active EQ, quite controllable, the boosts are CRAZY!!!
[]High and Low impedence imputs.
[]2 Parallel speaker out jacks, with switchable 4-8-16 ohms handling.
[]Mains Voltage selector switch (130,220,120,240,110,230)
[]Fixed Bias, Just toss some hot matched quad of Winged C's or JJs and you're in buisness! Dont fret about all that bias bullshit, thats for weenie amps that have to be tweaked for tone! To get a great tone out of this, you just switch the power "on". Im not kidding, im using some worn out Sovteks (2 are microphonic) and the preamp tubes are mystery tubes, but that didnt stop it from having the best tone Ive ever heard the other night when I played live.

The Bass, Mid, and Treble knobs are push pull knobs, when you pull them out you get a BIG HUGE boost in that frequency. Totally bitchin, especially the "bass" one. . . . .if you havent tried it yet. . .hehe. . .I think you'll be impressed.

There is another push pull knob on the board, which is the Preamp 1 Volume knob, that activates the AOR channel, the gain boost. Also switchable by the footswitch, but if you dont have one, you just yank on that knob and there you go!

I give it a 10 here, because its got everything you need and nothing you dont. If you need to sound like Paul Gilbert, just play like him, and it will come out. Steve Vai, you can milk it out of here. Van Halen? sure, if you got chops. ACDC? does that the best, just make sure your hittin chords and youve got ACDC.

This is primarily a hard rock amp. By hard rock, I mean classic rock all the way up to 80's rock (these were used by Warren DeMartini of Ratt during the live concerts, as well as Vinnie Moore. George Lynch used them for a while too.)

Its tone, when cranked, its extremely Marshally, with a bit of a Vox AC30 texture. I really love it. Marshalls seem a little rough to me, the Laney seems to have that same overdriven EL34 crunch but without the ripping high end. Its got a very controlled, musical, and twangy high end. All in all, it sounds like a Laney, which have a pretty distinct tone, but most people dont know what that is.

It can be a bit noisy, but thats probably because its 20 years old and the Caps are original and havent been changed. It would probably sound alot better with new caps, thats on my to-do list: Get Laney Re-capped and Re-tubed.

It sounds great cranked up, even with worn out caps and cheap mystery crap Sovtek tubes.

If you want a tight, Brutal metal overdrive, look elsewhere. This is for the hard rocker that wants to bang out some chords and have a good time, because its rather loose sounding, which is nice for laid back, good times hard rocking. Music is about feelin good and not worrying about your tone and having your amp properly biased and having the EQ set just so, trying amp after amp untill you go mad because you dont know what amp to get and theyre all so stupidly expensive.

Thats why I like this amp. Its always ready to go, I just plug in and ROCK, I dont worry about my tone too much, because it has 1 general sound, which is a GREAT one. I like it alot more than my JSX, which is too complicated and just doesnt have the good vibes that this one does.

One thing I must mention about the sound, its THE most clear souding amp ive ever tried. Everything you do WILL be picked up and WILL be amplified LOUD! This is an EXCELLENT feature because it forces you to be a better player. Too many players hide behind their amp switching and patches and delay pedals. This thing wont allow mistakes, and after playing and practicing on it, you will make less and less mistakes, your picking will become more accurate and paced.

This thing is totally reliable. Its 20 years old and it hasn't died yet, hasnt even tried.

This thing wont break down. I ran it at the store without a cabinet plugged into it at the store for about 20 seconds until I realized the cab wasnt plugged in. Doing that on most JCM 2000s would have toasted the output transformer, and within seconds killed have the circuitboard. Not the Laney, it took it like a soldier, kept on working perfectly.

I wouldnt hesitate to gig with this without a backup (and I have!) I have no doubt in my mind that it will fire up when I hit the switch.

I haven't contacted them, but I've heard theyre quite helpful and respond quickly to emails

I'll be 18 next month, and ive been playing 3 years. Most people would regard that as novice or beginner, but I soak up guitar gear info like a sponge, I like to try anything and everything, and get a good grasp of whats good out there, and what isnt, whats a true workhorse, and whats just overmarketed crap, ect. Ive got a very good knowledge base of amps and how to get certain tones.

Im a weirdo and new rock and all this emo/alternative horseshit doesnt interest me. Im a 100% hard rock fan, I like all the 70's and 80's stuff, and thats the stuff I play on guitar. I like strats, Charvels, and Ibanez RG's with floyd roses, HSH dimarzio configs, and brightly colored and impressive paint jobs. Im pretty fond of Les Pauls and Teles too, but. . .I like those in the more traditional sense, not so 80's. Im a big Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai fan, I like to play alot of that style of music as well. Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Led Zeppelin, T-Rex, Whitesnake, Dokken, Dio, Ozzy, Alice Cooper, David Lee Roth solo stuff(really cool) Emerson Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull, those are just a few of my favorites.

Personally, I think this amp is my soul mate. Ive been though about 5 tube amps in my 3 year guitar carrer (Gibson GA-5T, Peavey Classic 30, Modded Marshall Plexi, Peavey JSX, and this, the Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 100w.) I actually traded the Classic 30 for this amp at Guitar Center, which had a price on it for $350. I traded straight up, no cash exchange, I just walked out with the better amp!

I have the JSX still (sold the Marshall for it)and I got the JSX in March, thinking it was the coolest thing Ive heard. But June came along, and I found this, and I was blown away. It sounded great, and I was in denial for a while, I didnt want to belive that this cheap thing beat my JSX, since I just dropped a fortune on my JSX, but . . .truth will provail, and I love my Laney, and I like my JSX less and less. I think I will sell my JSX (which is a killer amp, I just prefer the rugged simplicity of the laney) soon and get something 6L6 powered so I can have some 6L6 tones to go with my EL34 tones.

Im totally happy with it, and the sonofabitch only costs $300 off ebay! If it got stolen, I would be heartbroken, but. . .its only a $300 loss, I can get another. . .*snap* like that. I write down all my serial numbers of all my gear, as well as when I got it (and when I sold it, if applicable) so I could file a police report if it needed to. . but . . bah nevermind its not gonna happen, I watch my stuff like a hawk, I try not to let it out of my sight. But. . .this is a crazy world and crazy stuff happens. . .so who knows.

If you have the means, try it. I think it could easily be the ugliest amp ive ever seen, but the tones. . . man. . .its the inner beauty that counts.

This head was made in 1984 according to a label on the chasis marked inspected by : etc .
This is the 100 watt Master Volume version with 4x EC83,4X EL-34 Tubes.
Controls are Presence, Bass,Mid,Treble (all pull-for boost)Master Volume,Preamp Volume with high and low sensitivity inputs.
This version is not as High-Gain as the ones with 2 preamp stages,but is more than brutal enough for most hard-rock/classic rock.(see below)
This is by FAR the MOST VERSATILE amp I have tried ever (see below).
It has an effects loop,and impedance selector as well as a voltage selector should I travel overseas with it.

Right off the bat, I must dispell a few myths about these amps. Ive seen several reviews posted, here and elsewhere,about this not being an amp for clean tones. Rubbish.If you plug into the low sensitivity input and keep the preamp gain at low levels,these is easily as clean or cleaner than,any Bassman,Hi-Watt or Vox amp out there. Perfect example-for giggles I today plugged in an acoustic with a Fishman Piezo pickup arrangement. SIMPLY WONDERFUL. With the e.q.'s wide range of controls and pull-boosts,you can tweak a nice,airy,acoustic tone-one that seems to attenuate that brittle,biting piezo sound a great deal. This is now my prefered method for recording acoustic guitar-that's right-an '80's,high-gain metal amp for ACOUSTIC guitars lmao! With an electric -in my case a Mike Kelly Patriot with P.A.F. type pups,you can get an incredibly warm,rich clean sound for those times when you just want to play mellow.
Switch over to the high-sensitivity input,spin the preamp volume knob over to around 8-10,and you've nailed the classic tones of Jimmy Page,Tonni Iommi,Slash,Randy Rhodes-all of em DEAD ON! Classic Plexi tones to searing death-metal,it;s yours depending on how you set your e.q. and the type of guitar/pickups u use.Need volume-it's there in spades.Few things (other than my Brooklyn-born wife's screams of TURN THAT DOWN DAMNIT!) will EVER be able to drown this out. Got a drummer that thinks hes John Bonham re-incarnate?No Prolemo.
And those pull-boosts on the e.q.? Especially the bass knob? Pull that one at your own risk when at high-gain settings.
Got neighbors of the "hip=hop/jungle music/rap"-playing variety that have to bass-thump the crap out of everything at high volume? Problem solved.You will not hear a peep out of them again. EVER.This beast shuts them down like the hammer of the GODS. Fire this thing up at O dark-thirty,when they are sleeping off the malt-liquor.
End of discussion.

100% reliable,as long as you maintain it and replace the tubes once a year or so.The head enclosure is built like a tank.This head has 2 times been ENTIRELY SUBMERGED in water when my home was flooded after hurricanes. Dried it out,plugged it in,fired it up.No problem-pissed off neighbors as far as the eye can see. Name me one-ONE manufacturer that can make that claim.
The only thing Im thinking about altering is to perhaps make a different front panel for the head that has an open front with a grill,this to allow better cooling air flow since this thing puts out enough heat to no longer need a fireplace.

Never needed it.But they did provide me with a Manual for it when I asked for one out of curiousity.

Been playing for over 20 years. This has been my only tube head for about the last 18 years or so,I dont plan to ever replace it. If it gets destroyed or stolen,you will be seeing me on CNN-in police custody and shackles.
Never a good practice to go without a backup. Since these are so hard to locate in decent condition,I am holding out for Alan Busch's Plexi clones from Arlin Music as a backup.
This amp does every single thing I need it to ,tone-wise.
I use it with a Madison 4x12" cabinet loaded with Madison Symphony speakers.
If you can find one of these,grab it and hold onto it (or donate it to me:)~!) Learn to experiment with ALL of it;s features and settings and it will reward you with tones you have never known you could achieve from a single amp.

This is an AOR Pro-Tube Lead 50W amp made in 1986 in England. 2 EL34 and 4 ECC83 tubes. Has effects loop. Very straightforward 1 channel amp. Hi and Lo inputs. 3 band EQ via knobs with pull boost on each (more about this later), presence, master volume and preamp volume. Some of these have 3 preamp knobs and some have one like mine. Power level is very good, way more than a 100W non-tube amp. Has everything I need but a good spring reverb would be nice..a 7 because of the missing reverb

Here's where the rubber meets the road. Tubes tubes tubes..you have to have excellent tubes in any valve amp, and excellent guitars. When I got this it had a decent but slightly weak sound with some sort of deformation on each note..especially on high strings..almost like string buzz. Sign of bad preamp tubes. Took them all out..two were good Sovteks..2 had no name at all, one was wrong application number (ECC88) and 1 had no printing at all but looked like the improper one internally. Pulled the 2 out and replaced them with some JJs I had on hand..BINGO. I should mention that the 2 EL34s are Mesa and appear to be excellent+.

Once that was done I tried numerous settings until I landed on the one that worked best with my 77' LP Custom, 59' Melody Maker and modified Godin with Fralin P90s. This is what works for me: Presence just above 8..Bass at 10 with boost pulled..Mid at 5 with boost pulled..Treble at just above 6 with boost pulled..Volume at 10 and I control it with guitar volume knob..Preamp boost at 10.

With this setup I can get a sound that is very elusive, all pickup selections on both guitars sound incredible. With the volume knobs on the guitars I can get anything from great clean blues through any step of driven blues(with exceptional sustain) to all out hard rock with forever sustain and easy to control feedback. At any time ALL notes are very articulate, no muddiness at all. Outstanding natural compression. This amp is the REAL DEAL. You have to be able to PLAY the guitar to use this amp to it's fullest..it won't cover for you. I plug straight into it with no effects (might get a reverb pedal later).

Low end to beat them all(your pant legs move with the pressure), leads that soar..sound that meets them all and beyond most of them. The best "secret" amp out there bar none. No wonder Tony Iommi used and uses these exclusively. But it's in no way limited to his signature sound.

Don't know yet but appears to built like bomb shelter. Others say it is unbreakable. I see no reason not to depend on it.

Never had contact

I started playing when the rocks were still soft and you had to step around the dinosaur crap. Doesn't mean I can't rock, I play all the way, use the drive on the amp to it's fullest and I don't hold back. Loud and low with screaming lead, make the crowd feel it on their chest. I love this amp. Took a chance buying it off of Ebay and won, won big. If you play anything from blues to the hardest 60s-70s rock (Cactus?) maybe even modern hard rock although you "might" need some..ugh..distortion, this is the baby. I've played almost every kind of amp you can imagine and owned a lot of them. None of them had anything on this amp. Marshall 800, 900, 2000..why spend the money. I bought this for 280 f*&%ing dollars!

Just remember..TUBES..use excellent TUBES and excellent guitars. This amp wants to scream and a Samick Strat copy just won't do it..know what I mean? If you need "distortion" buy a Marshall Valvestate or something.

If it was stolen I'd recover it after the funeral.

not much.50 watts.one channel.pull boost on the 3band eq.presence.very simple amp onces you understand the concept of the preamp knobs.

ok i dont know how much to emphasize this amp on others.i tried a jcm 900 for 3 times the price at guitar center.to be honest the laney sounded better with a tiny bit more gain.its very marshallesque.sounds awesome cranked.

no problems but iv only had it for 3 days.

no reason for it yet.

great amp if you are looking for a old school metallica type amp(the offspring-self esteem,metallica-killem all like).dont expect this amp to give you a variety of sounds its very straight foward.its one of those hit or miss type amps but i love it,cause its my style.and i only paid 300 shipped for a tube amp.

One Channel. THIS AMP RULES. If you like a ONE channel Amp - Pick up one of these. No JCM 800 ever sounded like this, Modded or not. The best sounding 100 watt amp I've ever heard (I've heard most). EL34's all the way TONE, TONE, TONE. Loud with great tube break-up

Tele's & Strat's w/Super Distortion pickups. I play Hard Rock/Punk Rock. The best sounding true gain you'll ever find. Not very clean. Buy a Fender if you want clean.

Built like a TANK!

Laney's tough to get a hold of in the states.

If you can find one of these - (BUY IT). The push/pull knobs are killer, I thought I'd hate them (well I was wrong). I would track one of these down in a second. I may even look for the 50 watt version.
Marshall has been lucky over the years that Laney hasn't kicked their ass all over the place with this series amp. The AOR series isn't the best looking Amp out there, but get over it & listen. I will most likely never own another Marshall again. When I can find these for a third of the price why would I? My Amp tech raves about his LAney's from the 70's. The AOR series is also Killer. The best deal in Tube Amplification, hands down.
enough.

Bought used on ebay. Was looking for the Marshall sound and guy's description sold me. I was not dissapointed. Amp was made in 1984. Initialled and dated by the builder at the time on chassis. It was definitely designed as a hair metal band amp. The AOR stands for "Advanced Overdrive Response" and they were not kidding (see sound section.) Features 4 12ax7 preamp tubes and 4 EL34 output tubes at 100 watts. Good solid tube retainers. Knobs are: Presence, Bass, Mid, Treble (eqs are all pull boost via pre tube #3)Master Vol, Preamp 1 Vol, Preamp 1 Gain, preamp 2 gain (pull for AOR boost, also footswitchable). Has effects loop, switchable 4/8/16 ohm speaker outs and switchable power in (good for a world tour.) The controls are not intuitive, hence the low rating, however the thing is increadibly versatile sound wise (ie clean to scream) and once you figure it out you will enter sonic heaven. It is not a 2 channel amp as some reviews have suggested, but has "high sensitivity" and "low sensitivity" inputs. The low sensitivity input bypasses a gain stage and lowers your input signal strength so is mainly only useful for clean sounds or slight OD. It is rediculously loud. I've yanked two of the power tubes out so it runs at 50 watts and it's still stupid loud!

I won't bore you with a list of my gear. I mainly use a two humbucker guitar and I can get any sound I can think of out of it. I've had this amp for about six months now. The clean is really good. It got much better (more headroom, more shimmer) when I retubed it with EH tubes. Most of the time I try to ride that tone somewhere between clean and overdrive so that playing dynamics influence the sound. Very responsive. My reverend OD box works great with the amp set clean. Even at Sabbath levels of overdrive every note in the chord is clear. I recently got a tube reverb unit and it sounds even better! I didn't think that was possible. The pull boost overdrive is more like a fuzz box (think hendrix) than a true boost. I find it usefull with pre amp 2 gain way down and it's volume knob cranked. Note: This boost sounds like crap (buzzy, thin- very 80's)in the idiot setting (all maxxed out). Note 2: you really don't need the boost! Also the mids/highs can actually be painfull if they are pulled out. I feel like I'm gushing so I'll stop. Can't give it a ten because somewhere there is a boutique amp maker with a better sound, but I havn't found him yet.

It looks like it was built for war. Really clean inside. Survived shipping by UPS from the midwest USA to northern ontario (if you've ever delt with UPS you know that means something). I've gigged with it once and use it almost daily for practice at high volume with no surprises or problems. I retubed it more for curiosity than need. Pretty sure the power tubes and 3 out of 4 pre amp tubes were original 20 years ago. The covers for the knobs are long gone. I would never gig without a backup but feel confident it would never let me down. The 1 non-origional tube had gone microphonic (pre amp 1 tube)not the amps fault.

Laney's web site is much better now. I downloaded the manual in PDF format, no problem. At this point it's out of their hands, so kudos just for having the manual available!

I try to be objective and critical but once in a while you stumble onto something great and this is it. Buy one used on ebay or from a pawn shop for peanuts and make Bogner owners cry.