Laney GH50L Head

Purchased new in Oct, 05. Two EL34 pwr tubes, single channel, master volume w/switchable gain boost. It has every feature I need, simple straight forward. Perfect for a player whom gets his tonal varieties from his volume knowb and a pedal or two. I use this amp in a band rehearsal warehouse, put volume on about 4 and it rips with plenty of power to be heard above bass and drums. It is so hard to find a simple, straight forward amp with one channel. Kudos to them for making one. Everyone else if jumping on the three channel or more bandwagon....too much signal dilution for me...

I use a PRS custom 24, which brings out a great heavy tone for heavy riffing, and cleans up pretty good after cutting the volume know to 5. It is not noisy at all for me, even after applying tons of clean boost before going into the front of amp. The clean channel distorted for me at higher volumes, but I think my pickups tend to make it do that too, could probably get nice clean tones with the right pickups in guitar. The distortion was the best part of this amp. There are tons of gain possibilites with the switchable gain boost. I think it had a little bit better, more usable gain than my Marshall JCM 2000. But the leads didn't sound as nice and tonal and 'tubey' as they do on the jcm 2000.

Seems to be constructed well enough, but wouldn't gig without a backup. Thier distributers are hard to contact, so I hope it never has any issues.

The music store I bought it from was great, but it seems that contact with the distributor or manufacturer may be a little more difficult. I look forward to them proving me wrong if that is not the case....

Been playing 20 years, own marshall, prs, parker, schecter. I would certainly replace this if it broke. It is a GREAT deal, costs half as much as my JMC 2000 and still holds its own. The best value out there for a player that loves tube tone and doesn't need tons of bells and whistles......

One eq for the cruch and distortion channel it's not enough for me, very
good fx loop and 4,8,16 ohm mode for cabinet. Solid chassis. Best feature: the switch for bias 6l6 or el34.

My own has the 6l6 tubes on power section, nice sound but too modern for my, i swap with 2 el34 tesla, now the sound it's amazing!! I owned many expensives amps like mesa rectifier, jcm 900, 800, 2000 tsl, peavy 5150,
and NO OTHER AMP SOUND LIKE THIS ONE!!!! Very loud, crisp, definite with
a real british tone. You can play from blues to metal, i play rock blues and this amp is the holy grail! Nothing to say anymore.

Never a problem in 2 years.

As said before the sound is incredible, it lacks another eq and master volume on distortion channel because the jump from crunch to dist channel has a gap of volume, but i think the amp must have a good sound, the features are secondary and this cheap amp have the best sound i've heared by now.

early 90's model
versatile enough for metal and hardcore
one channel...more like two with the gain boost...like a crunch and ultra setting.
50 tube watts is plenty...can really get the power tubes workng at gigging levels...perfect.
i use it in a hardcore band...2 guitars, bass,vocals, and drums...cuts through just fine.


switchable bias...effing sweet...resonance switch...even sweeter...

using it with a les paul with stock pickups and a jackson with a distortion trembucker...this amp was made for heavy music!!!....it can nail the As I Lay Dying sound perfectly...the most BRUTAL distortion i've heard from a "no-name" amp...sure laney's well known...but man...this is one heck of an amp.

had it for 2 months...no problems thus far and it's over 12 years old...

this i smy first true tube amp...i owned a marshall avt150 before this...but man...the distortion is everything i could ever ask for and more...and the versatility with tube swaps...i love this amp...if i lost it i'd get another(hard though...not many u.s. laney dealers left)


if you see one of these puppys pick it up!!

Der Laney Vollroehrenverstaerker GH50L (=50 Watt-aber sehr laut) Head besitzt die standardm??igen Regler: Presence,Bass,Middle,Treble,Gain und ein Mastervolume. Dazu gibts noch einen Resonance-Schalter. Das Topteil besitzt lediglich einen Kanal der allerdings noch durch einen Drive-Regler und Schalter zus?tzlich geboosted werden.

Leider ist der Amp kein Stereo-Top, was ich sehr schade finde, besonderst im Bezug auf meine Box

Ich benutze eine Ibanez Rg 2620 Prestige und das Top geht in eine selten gewordene Syrincs 4x12 "Guitar Made" Stereobox.

Das Top liefert wirklich einen qualitativ hochwertigen Cleansound. Das sollte ein Einkanaler f?r ?ber 600 Euro auch leisten. Der Overdrive Sound ist durchaus warm, satt in der Verzerrung und dabei klar definiert.

Allerdings geht nur eines von beiden. Entweder man moechte den Amp clean nutzen oder man dreht den Gainregler hoch und hat einen Crunchsound, der ?ber den Fussschalter gepushed werden kann, so dass man eine h?rtere Verzerrung erh?lt. Mit "clean" ist es dann aber aus.

Auf der Laney Page wird gesagt, dass der Amp auch im Metalbereich gut abschneidet und bei erh?ter Lautst?rke an Zerrung zunimmt. Meiner Meinung nach, ist dass nicht ganz der Fall. So laut, dass mir der Amp genug abrockt, konnte ich ihn nie aufdrehen. Daf?r ist er aber auch wirklich nicht konzipiert, auch wenn es der Hersteller behauptet.

Ac/Dc, Black Sabbath und Nirvana Fans, d?rften ihre wahre Freude haben. Hier brilliert der Amp

ABER!!!

Der Amp hat meiner Meinung nach seine wahre Bestimmung an ganz anderer Stelle.

Jeder besitzer eines Vox Tonelab, eines Boss GT-5/6/8 oder eines Pod XT Live hat hier ein Topteil, das genau auf diese Geraete zugeschnitten ist. KEIN MENSCH haengt so einen Apparat vor einen Mesa Boogie oder Matchless Amp.
Die wissen schon wie man Rockt. Aber der brilliante Clean Kanal ist genau das womit so ein Multieffektgeraet arbeitet kann. Somit wird der einseitige Verst?rker zu einem genialen Partner in jeder Livesituation, der die Vielseitigkeit der besseren (300Euro+) Effektger?te entsprechend nutzen und wiedergeben kann.

Ich hab allerdings gelesen, dass einige Bodentreter unbedingt mit der Return Buchse verbunden werden m?ssen, "otherwise your Sound kills you" wie so oft nachzulesen war.

Mein Gitarrenlehrer hat mir erzaehlt, dass ihm mal das Topteil w?rend eines Gigs, von der Box kippte und auf den Boden krachte und das w?rend das Teil lief. Einige Roehrenverst?rker rauchen schon ab, wenn mann sie ,w?rend die Roehren gluehen, schuettelt.
Der Verst?rker lief danach ohne Ver?nderung weiter.

Mit meinem hab ich das zwar noch nicht gemacht, aber er hat mir noch nie Probleme gemacht in all den Jahren

Abschlie?end ist also zu sagen, dass der Amp alles andere als vielseitig ist, aber die Sound die er bietet sind ausgezeichnet. Wenn man einen vern?nftgen Bodentreter davor h?ngt, ist er eine gute Wahl f?r den Proberaum und die B?hne.

Ich habe mich eine ganze Weile nach einem passenden Topteil f?r mich umgesehen. Ich spiele in die Richung Punk, Alternative, Emo... irgendwas in die Richtung eben... ;) Fest stand f?r mich: es muss ein R?hrentopteil sein - der Sound ist einfach um einiges fetter als bei Transe, au?erdem musste der Preis stimmen. So bin ich schlie?lich auf den Laney gekommen und bin inzwischen sehr zufrieden damit!
Das gute St?ck hat mit seinen 50 Watt nen ganz sch?nen Bumms und kommt ganz gut gegen das Marshall JCM-2000 DSL (100W) von meinem Mit-Gitarristen an, wenngleich sich die Sounds nat?rlich wesentlich unterscheiden (was viel Einstellungsarbeit erfordert um die beiden "kompatibel" zu machen).
Das GH50L hat nur einen Kanal, daf?r aber einen zuschaltbaren Distortion-'Kanal' - so wird das Teil quasi zum 1 1/2 - Kanaler. F?r schnelle Rockmusik ist das eigentlich perfekt: nicht zuviel Schnick-Schnack und ein klarer bis kratziger (Gain) Clean und ein wunderbar dreckiger Distortion! ?ber einen Effekt Loop verf?gt das GH50L nat?rlich auf (mit Regler an der R?ckseite), diesen habe ich jedoch noch nicht gebraucht!

Ich spiele das Laney ?ber eine Marshall Silver Jubilee 25/50 4x12er Box (16 Ohm) und habe einen wundervollen Sound! :)
Momentan spiele ich ein Strat-Modell (3x Single Coil) aus dem Hause Stagg und einen Flying V (2x Humbucker) Nachbau der selben Firma.
?ber die Strat bringt das Laney bei einem Gain von ca. 3/10 einen leicht-kratzigen, aber immernoch sehr sch?nen Clean (auf jeden Fall warm) und liefert im Distortion die gew?nschten Verzerr-Sounds. Diese klingen ?ber die V um einiges b?ser - fast Metallig! :)
Alles in allem ist der Distortion relativ Basslastig und das Ger?t r?hrt recht britisch, aber ist meines Erachtens nach perfekt f?r jede Art von schneller (und lauter!) Rockmusik!
Nimmt man den Gain v?llig heraus, so ist der Sound wunderbar glockig und clean, also kann damit nicht nur b?se Musik machen...

Ich habe das Ger?t schon eine Weile und es hat mich bis jetzt nicht einmal im Stich gelassen... Ich denke man kann sich wirklich auf das Teil verlassen!

Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob es in Deutschland einen Costumer-Service gibt, Laney sitzen ja in GB... Ich kann hierzu leider nicht viel sagen!

Kaufen! :)
Ich denke das GH50L ist in der unteren Preisklasse mit eines der Besten (Neupreis liegt bei ca. 630 Euro) und perfekt als erstes Topteil, aber auch f?r fortgeschrittene Gitarristen eine Alternative. Gitarrenvirtuose Paul Gilbert spielt die 100W Version des Tops!!! Wer also nicht das Geld f?r ein Orange hat, der sollte sich das Laney besorgen. Wer mehr auf den amerikanischen Sound steht w?re vielleicht mit einem Marshall besser bedient, aber h?tte bestimmt genauso Spa? am Laney! ;)
Ich denke ich habe mit dem Laney einen sehr guten Griff gemacht, den ich jederzeit wieder tun w?rde! :)

Fair amount of features compared to most marshalls but less than 5150's or rectos. Not a bad thing, just less. I haven't used the fx loop much so I can't comment on it. I play the 80's metal type of tones and some edgy blues-ish tones and of course, clean. I mostly record with a medium budget pc based system and I use any fx through the console.

I mostly use stock strats with bridge humbuckers added. It suits my style well. I've owned or played many types of amps but the main ones used were a Gallien Krueger 250 ML which I still have, a hard wired 50 watt marshall clone called Max Butler from the late 70's, A vintage 1967 sunn 50 watt head (a clean only tube amp) and a Marshall DSL 100. I'm not going to compare it to the GK or the Butler because the GK is solid state and nobody's ever heared the Butler. In comparison to the Marshall DSL 100 the Laney is FAR better for the cleans and slight distortion tones, they are just bright enough and full bodied, very "class A" vintage tube sounding, either using the guitars volume or the amp settings to achieve it. If you like your middle distortion and clean range this amp so completely conquers the DSL 100 which has dull middle tones with no sustain or pick attack. The metal tones of both are similar, the laney's high gain to me sounds more like real tube gain and not as fuzzbox as the DSL. I realize the cab makes a LOT of difference, I used a Marshall 1960a 4_12 for the comparison. If you're wealthy and like the Nickleback sort of high gain tone and not much else, the DSL is fine. If you like quality middle and clean tones along with a very, VERY comparable high gain tone (better IMHO) at about half the price, get the Laney. I have not only played both extensively but listened to them on many recorded tracks, a far better way to really hear an amps tone. I have yet to try different power tubes in the Laney but I like having the option. I think this amp, even if it were twice the cash instead of half, is more versitile, natural sounding, and at least as well built as the DSL 100. I would like to try it with a Hotplate to hear the sound, so if anyone has, let me know what you think. I don't give 10's ON SOUND and wish nobody did. Unless you are talking about a Matchless or Bogner or some other Five grand boutique or vintage collecters amp. Tens on sound destroy the objective curve of this forum.

It seems dependable, Of comparable quality to just about any modern manufactured amp for the masses. I have amps from the 60's, 70's and 80's because I really take care of them.

Hope I never have to find out.

I've been playing for more than 30 years, I would like to try a Fender Prosonic to see if I like it. If someone stole the Laney I guess I'd throw a little hissy tantrum, kick the wall breaking my toe and generaly make a completely pathetic, whiney ass of myself. Then I'd calm down and fix the hole in the wall, suffer some mild embarasment and get another. Just like the rest of you guys.

Well if you got this far down in the reviews you already know what going on here.

as for sound on cleaner side of this amp,im probably not the most qualified but.NICE.WOULD BE A GOOD DISCRIPTION,very flexible.OK now on to the dirty ch,thats why im writting this review.ive been looking for a amp for about a year when i ran into the laney,actually in that year i had a Laney AOR,Peavey ULTRA,SOLDANO,marshall 2204,dsl 50,artist 30,ashdown fallen angel,marshall 8100,andFINALLY LANEY GH 50 L.I admit the trial and error of amps on ebay was a challenge but well worth it,if your looking for that WARREN DEMARTINI/GEORGE LYNCH SOUND.THATS ALL IM REALLY QUALLIFIED TO REVIEW ON,BUY ONE,W/EL 34S ITS THE ONLY WAY TO GO

ONLY HAD IT A MONTH

I BOUGHT IT FROM NICK HE SAID IT WAS GOOD

Not sure when it was made....Mid 90's? I bought it used at guitar center and got a great deal. Essentially this is a one channel amp. It has a jack for a footswitch, which I assume is meant to be used for selecting the extra gain stage. The EQ controls are passive and need fiddling with based upon the weather....it IS all tube. Ohyeah...it also has a real neat biasing switch so you can go from 5881s to EL34s and back!

Currently I play in a hardcore band and wanted something different from the usual Boogie/Marshall sounds. My set up live is as follows: 1986 BC RICH NJ Warlock with a single EMG81 and Kahler bridge straight into the high gain input on the front. Presence set at 2, Treble at 8, Mid at 4, Bass at 10, BOTH Gain stages pegged at 10 and the master volume at about 3 or 4. The overdrive is very natural and warm, like a retubed and modded 5150, but it could use some more beef on the bottom end. With FOUR gain stages it can be a bit noisy, so I might have to put a hush pedal between myself and the input.

Overall it is a very versatile amp. I have mananged to get Plexi, JCM800, Soldano Hotrod50, Fender clean, and a bunch more out of it tone wise. I will have to update later as I am about to retube it with something other than the Sovtek 5881s and mismatched preamp tubes that it came with.

It rides from VA to Baltimore every week and some other places during the week in the trunk of my Mustang and sees about 5-6 hours of hot loud operation everyweek and has yet to fail me. I have no problem using it as an only amp at gigs. Not having pulled the chasis out of the cabinet I can not comment upon the construction internally, but from what I can see this thing is built almost as tough as a Peavey.

I have yet to call or email them so I can't say yet.

If this were stolen, I am not sure if I would go search out another one, but it would be missed. I love the biting midrange crunch, but wish for more bottom end roll over. I do wish it had a drive/clean 2 ch set up as it makes it easier to mute the amp live rather than turning guitar volume down, which still mean LOTS of high gain white noise.

This is an update of my previous review (a year or so ago).
First of all,don't expect to use the boost as a second channel,because the difference in volume between switch on/off is just too much for live use.
Then,while using the the gain+boost,near max,the level out of the FX send is so high that most multi FX won't cope with it,For Instance the GT-6 I mentionned before is useless and will feedback like mad(no level-in knob on the crappy boss),I got an intellifex and it works ok on the limit.Great otherwise.
One last thing: this amp is definetely very loud.I bought a Marshall powerbreak for bedroom use,but even at the highest attenuation it is still too loud when all the gain+boost are used.
I'd like to see a genuine 2-channel version of this amp,Marshall would have another reason to worry...

i bought this amp in 2001, dont know when it was made. paid $1750 australian dollars for the head and the laney angled quad. also tried the Tony Iommi head thru this quad and it sounded like poo.
i play modern progressive rock, tool, cog, a perfect circle, and a bit of new metal, the amp is FANTASTIC at high volumes but make sure if you turn it up you are in a bigger room, because you wont be able to hear the tonal characteristics in a small room because it is so damn loud. im glad i bought a 50 watt head for this reason as power tube saturation is much easier to attain at lower volume levels (and dont we love power tube saturation!!)
it is a single channel head with a footswitchable gain stage, and it is possible to set the channel up so that without the extra gain stage engaged a clean sound can be obtained and the final gain stage can be used for distortion sounds. there is one problem with this which i will mention later.
it does have a fully equipped fx loop with thru, parralell and bypass modes s options. with the parralell mode there is an fx mix knob (which is a godsend.)there is no headphone jack, but then you dont buy a head and quad to use it with headphones, that would be silly now wouldnt it?
the head also has a resonance switch with tailors the head to certain cabs, in the case of mine, the switch in the on position offers more bass response. If you use distortion full time then this could be the amp of your dreams, but there is not enought headroom in the clean channel which means if you turn it up, even with the gain on zero, you will get some power amp distortion, but hey this is an all tube amp, and thats why i love it.
if it had an extra channel i.e. clean/lead then it would be perfect.

i use mostly a crappy korean humbucker in a washburn bt4 (the stock humbucker died and the guitar tech replaced it with crap.)
i hope to be upgrading to a les paul soon, and im sure i'll sound better with an lp anyway!
firstly: turn it up!!! it doesnt sound good until its at about 2.5 on the master volume, but once you hit that spot it is very warm, also its very fuzzy at lower volumes because your hearing all preamp, turn it up and you get a much fuller range of sounds and the nasty top end dissapears. on its own you can hear all of the imperfections in the tone (not that there are many) but jam with a drummer or play in a room full of people and your sound gets transformed into rock heaven. At higher gain you need other frequencies such as cymbals and room noise to block out the harsh frequencies, but once you do that you will be in heaven. the distortion can get as heavy as u like but it does get heaps of top end if you turn both gain knobs up too far.
i have the bass on full the treble on 2-3 and muck about with the mids and presence to mould your sound. gain is also a personal thing however the bigger the gain difference between the two modes the bigger the volume difference. if you have a very clean sound and a very distorted sound dialled in the volume difference between the two can be too much. i am currently looking for a pedal type tube preamp to use with it, because the volume difference is too much and unavoidable. the amp is quite limited but if you like what it does you will love it.

in the shop one of the power tubes was making a noise so they sent it away to be fixed, i think i might need some new tubes soon anyway, but otherwise there is not much to break, tho it is a tube head so be careful with it. would you drop a light globe?

havent dealt with laney, just through music city sydney. they use a crap freighting company so dont expect your goods in the same week but otherwise the customer service is great. all of my main musical purchases have been from there and it takes me 2 hours travel to get there!

overall i would give it an 8, its a great amp, somewhat limited but has all the characteristics of great tube tone.
i have a question for reviewers though: i have a boss metal zone pedal and i think it sucks. i want to find a tube preamp or some sort of distortion pedal that sounds like my amp. what do you reccomend???
basically what is the closest sounding pedal to the dirty sound of this amp?????
if you dont own one: buy it, you will be happy.