Laney HC50R Hard Core

pretty much straight forward with 2 channels clean and overdrive w/ reverb. ext,speaker and a effects loop in the back that doesnt have send or return levels so my effects seem to just feed back when i plug em in there. so i just go right in the front.1x 12 inch speaker

i gotta admit i bought this amp thinking that laney was a real great company because tony iommi and others i like used lany and even though they all had tube powerd laneys i thought they were probly able to make a decent sounding solid state amp,WELL i was a little pissed at this thing because every setting{ on overdrive channel} sounded kind of thin and removed any trace of my guitars tone the clean channel was ok i guess and probably the best if i put a little bit of comp and overdrive and what ever else on it.it seemd to keep most of my strats tone and not get too tinny like the OD channel. but overall i cant beleive how much this thing feeds back its bananas i cant really get up to a regular basement band jam level without it screaming at me,and ive tryed les pauls and other single coil or mixed humbker guitars and they all feedback on this thing

i havent owned it long enough to know but im sure i wont keep it too long. but its surely built solid with a metal grill and a good wooden case,closed back and good corners and rubber feet

DOES NOT APPLY

WELL,ITS OK FOR THE HOUSE AND JUST DICKING AROUND,BUT IM NOT GONNA KEEP IT BUT MAYBE ITS SOMEONE ELSES CUP OF TEA. I LIKE MY FENDER TWIN OR MARSHALL JTM30 1X12 COMBO OR EVEN A PEAVEY CLASSIC 50/50 POWER AMP THOSE ARE A REAL GREAT RIG IF YOU USE EFFECTS PROCCESORS JUST GO guitar,processor,power amp and your choice of speaker AND IT CAN HANDLE ALMOST ANYBODYS KIND OF MUSIC AND THERES NO FEED BACK.

It doesn't do a whole lot, and amps really don't need to. That's why we have effect pedals and synths. But powerful sound is important to an amplifer, and this one doesn't stack up (no pun intended) to other amps (including other Laneys).

It is a good house amp, at 50W. I've always liked solid-state better, because: A. It WILL exceed tube technology in the future, if it hasn't already; B. It runs a lot cooler; C. It's generally cheaper, and D: It's a lot easier to find. This is, obviously, a solid-state.

For the time we bought it (1997-8), my brother and I were enamored by what it could do. We had only been playing guitar for about a year (but bass for about four), and we weren't knowledgeable about gear (like I am today). Now, ten years later, I don't remember it sounding that great; especially compared to the new crop of modeling amps.

It does suit my musical styles - I'm largely ska-metal on guitar - to some degree. The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff helps a LOT.

I always liked the fact that it was built well. Laney built this, a lower-end combo amp, in England, and (presumably) under the same quality control guidelines as their higher-end stuff. I've dropped it countless times, and it works. It's been in my basement for five years, and I'm willing to wager that it still works perfectly.

I'd never gig with it, though, but that's because:
A. I don't gig much anymore.
B. I'm a bass player, and this does not work well with basses.

No need.

If it were stolen, I'd actually be kind of relieved to get rid of it - we're hurting for space in our house.

But I'm going to try dissecting it - maybe I can link up the preamp portion to my computer, and run Guitar Rig 2 with it.

Good for what it is, but I'm a better musician, and I need better tools.

I lied...I have at least one more note. I tried plugging my HC50 into a 4x12 cabinet. Instant increase in bass response! Overall much better tone! I am now of the conviction that what sucks about this amp is either the speaker driver or the cabinet design. The amp itself seems to be exonerated, at least a bit. Mine may have some promise after all...I'm now tempted to cannibalize it, putting the chassis into a small head-type enclosure and using the thing as a stack. Or maybe I just need a new driver. We shall see.

Lessons learned: Think outside the box (literally!). Try absolutely every option you can think of.

Please see the previous two episodes in my ongoing love-hate relationship with my HC50. All the same knobs and jacks are still there.

You know, I still can't really definitively tell whether I like the tone of this thing or not. Some days it's acceptable, others it "sucks ass, major ass," as my bandmate would say. What I CAN now say definitively, having lived with this puppy for five years and through three bands, is that my original opinion about the HC50's weak bass response was essentially correct. I'm surprised at all the reviews in the interim that have complained about the lack of treble in this amp...for me the treble and midrange are overwhelming that I now have to routinely play with the bass at 10 and the mid and treb at 5, and there's still little bottom end. My main guitar, a Lotus str@t (see review) sounds okay through it, I guess, and my Epi Les Paul, now on its second replacement lead pickup (it's had two Duncans,a JB and a '59) sounds way better than it did in 1999, but it's still not a *great* tone. Passable, not great.

Also, having been in three bands with this amp, I will go on record and say that 1) it is indeed loud, and 2) loudness by itself is not what counts, as I've found out. Even with a pretty hefty volume, I've found that the HC50 gets lost in the din of the two Marshall JCM stacks my Floorian mates use. The bassless tone just does not cut through. If I turn it up, it just gets piercing, but it doesn't help. I dunno if I'm just doing something wrong. In my other band, in which I handle lead guitar with no competition (our singer plays acoustic through the PA) it fares considerably better.

As to the clean and dirty sounds...Clean is okay. Crunch is okay. Nothing spectacular but usable. I've decided that the Clean breakup at higher volumes is sometimes useful for lightly overdriven sounds. It'll never fool anyone into thinking glass and hot electrodes, but it does come in handy for those occasional Graham Coxon-style angular rhythm chords.

Bottom line: I think this amp was designed and voiced for solitary playing; ie as a practice type amp, or single-guitar band situations (I'm guessing garage, punk, etc). Mix it in with other loud instruments and you can forget it. If you've moved beyond thrashing with your buds after school, if you're actually to the point of playing actual gigs, get a stage amp. A 2x12 or something. I probably will soon. I have a craving for a Peavey, for some reason.

One major problem that has cropped up occasionally. There is some kind of intermittancy related to the effects loop jacks in back, so as the amp more or less cuts out completely after you've plugged into them and then unplugged. Some wiggling will help, but you get no sound at all save for some weak fuzzy noise of your guitar trying to get through if you bang on your strings real loud, like a distortion pedal with an almost depleted battery. Then the problem goes away. A ground short, most likely. This has been a major headache a couple of times, as we Floorian people had a Lexicon rack processor hooked up to it. (I now use my bandmate's Fender Stage 100 [?] DSP onstage until I get my hands on something better myself.)

Other than that, no complaints about reliability. Physically, mechanically, everything's holding up nicely.

Never used.

Okay, this is my final statement on the HC50. I have had it for about five years now, so I've had plenty of time to get to know it. When I bought it I was still a bedroom music-nerd, and although I wasn't necessarily pleased with the sound once I got it home (it sounded terrific on the sales floor at Sam Ash! what happened?) it wasn't involved in any mission-critical work. It was all still just personal amusement, essentially. Then I joined my first band. It was nice to at least have an amp--the first time I ever played with a band I didn't, and had to go direct into the board which sucked ass, major ass--but I began to realize just how unsuited the HC50 was to a semi-pro, gigging application. And not just from the user's pov, because in that band I was on bass and our guitarist was using it, so I could (or couldn't as it were) hear it from a distance. Now that I *am* using it myself in a band context, I find myself frustrated more often than not. It's the old feeling: it does works, but it doesn't work *well* for what I do. Onstage it just gets lost, on recordings it sounds okay only with heavy EQ. But it's not designed for either app, people. I don't even think it's particularly outstanding as a practice amp.

My recommendation: if you're a younger rock-oriented player who above all else wants a cheap and loud amp with a decent distortion channel, the HC50 might be a good choice as long as having a flexible tone isn't critical and you don't spend too much on it. But be warned: as you grow and develop as a guitarist, you WILL outgrow this amp, rather sooner than later. Those who have progressed to working-guitarist status aren't going to find much here to be impressed with, but they will probably not be looking at one of these anyway. For myself, I will probably look at things like Peaveys and the newer Kustoms for my next amp (not to mention that I will also try to find a 4x12 cab for my vintage Kustom head, see review).

And that's all I have to say on the subject.

Please visit my bands' websites:
http://www.floorian.com
http://www.twiggyandfrollywog.com (the first three soundclips here feature my Lotus str@t played through my miked HC50)

Pretty basic amp, clean and crunch and the option of adding reverb is ok. Haven't got my FX loop to work so I don't rate that too much. Hi and Low inputs are nice to have too.

Use Jackson Stealth with bridge humbucker and two singles. Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura style. Not too bad with the noise, although I do rely on the noise reduction on my Zoom box. Clean is quite good actually, but the crunch is apalling, need to use external effects to get a decent distortion for the style of music I play.

It's extremely solid, can take a bashing without the slightest signs of scarring. Very reliable, never had any problems with it.

Never dealt with them

I'd get Laney again, but possibly a TF320 - I would never recommend this range. I think an amp within this price range should be able to compete with an equivalent Peavy but it's left in the dark

1997 HC50R; Had it since early 1999.
Not very versatile - very one-sided to punk rock and skate music.
2 channels; clean and dirty; foot-switchable, 1 effects loop, headphone jack.

It could look classier. Looks too much like a meat-headed, beginner's amp. Nonetheless, I use all the features except the cabinet extension and headphone jack (c'mon, really, who uses headphones? - the sound sucks).

I use the amp for all sorts of music. It's powerful enough, only because I go through the PA via a mic.

I'm using an Ibanez RX-60 with 2 single coils at the neck and middle and a humbucker at the bridge (my friend calls it the "shredder" - 'nuff said). The clean channel is pretty good, but could have a little more body in it. Good for funk and percussive lead/rhythm.

The dirty channel is nothing short of crap and gets really noisy with the gain turned up (sqealy and hard). It also lacks a lot of bass. I find myself turning the treble way down and the bass way up! It really only suits puck rock stuff (not metal - it's too weak for that). You're probably best off using this channel at lower gains for styles with light distortion.

I run a couple of Boss single effects through and the quality is good.

Never had a real problem. Sometimes I get an occasional rattle from a relative frequency of some note I play and a couple of times the sound cut out with the effects loop. Otherwise I FULLY TRUST this amp.

My laney footswitch stuffed up and they replaced it under warranty for free (1 year warranty). I could access the manual on the laney website at http://www.laney.co.uk

Otherwise I haven't really dealt with them.

I've been playing pretty full-on for over 5 years. I own a Boss digital reverb/delay and chorus and a Yamaha FG-401 steel string acoustic. I have a PRS Santana SE on the way. (I can explain - I'm a uni student and I have a small budget). If it were loss I'd get a laney Tube-Fusion - for a just a few more hundred bucks you get much more!
The HC50R is a bit of a let-down for a Laney. It's a good beginner's amp and its value holds with its price. I pretty much bought it because I was on a budget (still am) and I desparately needed an amp - It's one of the best in its price range though.

If you're just starting out and you can't spend too much, then this is a pretty good buy. But if you've got the money or you're heading to a more "professional" environment, please go for something else.

The bottom line fo this amp, is not bad for the buck. 50 watts, 2 channels with seperate eq's and reverb for a little over two hundred dollars.

Clean channel is good enough for the bedroom, but don't ever take this one to a gig. The sealed back makes the bottom-end in clean and distortion over-bearing. The distortion is thin and unnatural sounding, and I would advise not even switching to it unless necessary. Doesn't sound so horrible overall with some type of effect unit run to it.(Ex. Digitech RP series)

One of the most solidly buil amps ever made. I've dropped my twice, pretty hard, and never had problems.

Never dealt with them.

I've had this amp in my bedroom for five years, and for the price it's not bad. It's is the loudest amp you'll ever hear in this price range, but you don't really want to hear it more than once.

Feel free to read all the other posts for features.

After having this for 5 and a half years, i realize this thing sounds AWFUL. The clean channel does not allow much treble into the mix, and sounds muddy. The crunch channel sounds even worse. I usually use the clean channel and run a pre-amp into it. That sounds REALLY bad at high volumes. It sounds fuzzy and waaaay too bassy. It's just really really bad. I thought it was great when i bought it in 8th grade. Funny how things change.

It is very reliable, if you want that good old awful tone.

Never had a problem

I bought this amp about 5 1/2 years ago and thought it was teriffic. After playing through some friend's amps and in guitar stores since then, i realize this is terrible, terrible tone. Just say no kids. I heavily recommend that you DO NOT buy this amp!

Effects Loop (Usefull), Reverb (OK), Distortion (rubbish), Headphone Jack, 2 inputs, No Lone Out, Just One Master volume, no gain. This amp has more than enough power for me (occasional gigging, but mostly used at home).

I use a strat copy, and love a clean sound, so this amp suits my style of playing. Occasionaly I would like to use distortion but the built in distortion here is not up to the job.

Well it has never broken down on me yet. Have used it at gigs without any backup.

NotYet

I've had this amp for about 3 years. If stolen I would probably try and get something with valves. Basically if you want a decent practice amp that can be used for occassional gigging, this is worth a look.

go to over all rating

When i got this amp i thought it was the world
then i joined a band
still thought it was ok
then i got gigs
oh my god
this thing sucks so much
i was told it was "great for practice and gigging"
the clean channel breaks up after bout 5
and the distortion is thin and it squeels
this was the dumbest decision i have ever made
please if you are a serious player dont buy this amp
you will be so very dissapointed