Laney LA60C

See previous, just updating after using it for almost a year. The XLR input doesn't have any eq controls, so I assume you need separate effects box to really tweak you sound. Would be nice for me if the built in effects mentioned could be used here on this channel. The XLR channel only has a volume control. It is also the same channel as the LINE IN channel for a CD/Tape player. Although I still haven't used it yet this way, it might make it more difficult to do a background track and run a voice mic into the amp at the same time. (I just might need to buy an effects box, i.e. para acoustic DI, etc.) (If you know about these things I'd love to hear from you). I'm very happy with the other channel and the effects it has for the acoustic guitar, easy to use, effective. The CD's played through it sound great. It seems to work well as a mini PA of sorts for guitar and voice, I used it on the front porch of an outdoor sing-along with the XLR channel miked for voice and the guitar plugged in. Sounded nice. I would have liked it more if I could have used the built-in reverb on the voice channel. I might just need to get fancier with an extra effects box. As an acoustic guitar amp it is very good. Lots of features, nice sound, smooth, clean, but I am assuming they either didn't intend to be used to mic the voice, or that one would want one's own controls over a voice mic. Really, I'd rate it 8.5 because of this, but it is probably more a mistake on my part not getting a mini-PA system instead.

I now use a Taylor 510ce, (see my review). I use no effects whatsover. Sounds really nice. In fact, the effects don't help my Taylor, and tend to make it sound like a differnt guitar. Warm, rich, full, clear, very clean through the Laney with no effects, pretty concise as to the guitar without amplification. Careful to use only as much volume as you need, maybe it is the Taylor being a much more senstive instrument than my previous Ovation 1861, but if the volume is too high and I whack it, it can really jump out and grab you, especially with that horn tweeter being as clear as it is. My Ovation with John Pearse Phos-bronze strings always sounded quite mellow, even when strummed like crazy, and it wasn't as senstive to the volume level of the Laney. The Ovation-Laney combination gave a pretty good punch and nice round sound when equalized as mentioned previously. I get a much wider specturm of sound from my Taylor, and the Baggs Dual Source pickup is much more senstive than my Ovation pickup as well. If I really strum it hard and bright, and the volume is up too much, watch out front row pews. On a different note, I have my Baggs DS set so most of the bass response comes from the internal condenser mic. When the band is playing full volume, that bass response overlaps with the bass player in the band, so I have to work extra to cut through at that setting, sometimes good, but other times, I just dial off the mic, and the brighter sound can cut through from just the under-the-saddle transducer. Sounds great with no mic dialed in. Or when I am accompanying a soloist at lower volumes, I can dial the mic in way high to get a fabulous, "airy," bassy, warm, full bodied tone. Works well with the Laney's 12" speaker. I expected the Laney to be really bassy and able to give a boomy sound with the 12", which is not so. It is warm, but seems more full than bassy, always more a midrange bass sound, but full and clean. Sometimes I think bassy-boomy might be nice. It might be possible on the Laney with a more bass-centered guitar, I haven't had one to try with it.

I have dragged this around a bit, and it has a tendency to fall over if you accelerate too fast in the car, I guess it is top heavy. It looks like things shake around on it, and it has slammed into the floor of the car a couple time times, but it always works like a charm. It is not built like old amps, i.e. the Laney knobs are a rubbery plastic, and you can more or less see through the gaps between the controls and speaker housing, which is actually kind of interesting, but, for all the bumping and the occasional drop it has had onto its back in the car (made me cringe, twice, you'd think I'd learn), it has always worked perfeclty. The amp is housed in a very heavy duty plywood shell with a leather-looking covering and brass coners protectors, so it is not cheap stuff, either, mind you, I'm just saying it is tougher than it looks.

Same as before, but I haven't had to deal with them since I bought the amp. They were great at helping out when I was looking to buy.

Overall rating drops jsut slightly. I like it as an acoustic amp. Not totally sure it is designed for a portable PA with everything built in, like I said, may need an effects box for a vocal mic to mix with a background track. Otherwise, I'm content, does the job well for making my guitar sound like my guitar. I'm curious, though, with my Taylor, the volume has a lot to do with the tone quality. Turn it up too high and the horn seems to take over, so it is too sharp. Not sure if it my ears, the size of the room not being huge, or a very lively guitar and pickup that is causing the amp to over respond at high volumes. The ovation seemed o.k. with the volume up, but it had a duller sound than the Taylor to begin with. I also expected the 12" speaker to be bassy in attitude, but it doesn't get boomy, even with the bass eq turned up, it does increase the bass reponse but stays sort of midrangey. (Hard to explain). Maybe it is because the guitars I have tried on it aren't boomy in nature. A little boominess might be nice now and then.

Very nice features for a gigging musician, 2 Channels, 60 Watts, chorus, reverb, XLR in/line in for phono plugs (tape or CD), active and passive guitar inputs, Bass, paramid, and treble knobs. Line in and Line out, so can be used to plug into a main PA, or can be used to link up with other amps for special stereo effects, (so I'm told).
About all I could want. I use this in church(es) as we get invited to perform, and during worship. Very easy to carry, it can't be even close to the 45 pounds it is suppose to weigh. I'd say more like 30, which is a nice surprise, because I thought I'd break my back lugging it around, but I liked the features. Very Good, clean, distortion free power, I never turn it up farther than 4, and that's battling against a Gibson LesPaul plugged into some huge 400 watt amplifier (mind you he never turn it up past 2), an electric bass with a 50 watt Peavey, and a drummer, and all the vocalists. We're Petecostal, if that gives you any idea of the volume we're needing to play over and above all the singing, clapping, and prasing God people do during services. The Laney handles it nicely. The amp has a 12" (!) speaker, and a horn tweeter, so it is very full, and clear as a bell.

I have an Ovation 1861, and it has a passive under-the-saddle pickup with an onboard active eq and volume control (I never go above 4 on the either the guitar or the amp volume). I don't even use the Ovation eq when running it with the Laney. It sounds very natural without it, it needed only a tiny bass boost on the amp, no treble adjustment, and a cut in the mid frequency to sound extemely natural. I plug it into the passive input,which is very sensitive, but the active seems not very sensitive, but I'm not sure, I don't really have active electronics. The Ovation plugged in tends to have a lot of mid-range, so the paramid cut/boost was great. You can choose which frequency on the dial to cut or boost, but the amp only cut or boost one spot in the mid range, so you might want to try it out before you buy it to see if it suits you. Also, the treble, bass, and paramid controls on the amp are EXTREMELY sensitive, so turn them very little at first, or else it is hard to find the sound you like. On the other hand, the reverb and chorus knobs are not very senstive at all, so I had to them one way or the other to get the desried effects, but they are very nice effects. This amp is so clean and reproduces so concisely that it makes me hear things in the guitar I haven't heard before. It changes the way I play and gives me more ideas of what I can do, a nice surprise. I play mostly rhythm guitar, chording, and fingerstyle, contemporary Christian, blues gospel, and sothern gospel, and this amp works well with all of them. It works really well with the band, and it sounds fabulous with just the guitar alone Not real boomy, (but that may be the guitar), but extremely concise. I have noticed that once the bass in the band gets going, I have to turn up a bit, since it seems to overlap some of the low end frequencies on the guitar, but I'm not sure if this is the guitar's fault, the amp's fault, or just a fact of life playing an acoustic guitar against an electic bass. I'll be getting a Taylor 510 CE (special order with a Baggs DS), hopefully soon, and I fully anticipate it should sound great, and will probably help to cut through a little better, and I believe it will sound fantastic through the Laney. I'll try to let you all know when it finally arrives. Something really cool about the amp is that when you have the CD plugged in for a back ground track, or just any CD, and you play the guitar, the sound is so well mixed that the guitar sounds like it was already mixed into the recording. I haven't tried using the mic at the same time as the CD yet.

I've had the amp about a month, and it has been used about three times a week for church. Not really sure how well it will hold up over time, but I got a 3 year warranty for some reason, instead of the regular 1 year. Not sure if it is promo deal, just a card came with it saying I could get it exteneded for free. Seems good. No problems so far.

Excellent. Not sure why people have posted that they have had problems contacting Laney here in the U.S., becuase everytime time I have, (I had a ton of questions before I bought the amp, because I bought it sight unseen) they respond almost instantaneously over e-mail, and usually I get right in with the phone, and if not, they call back right away. I'd be happy to forward the contact info I have if anyone needs it.

Overall, a wonderful acosutic amp, loads of features, easy to carry, and a big, clean, very accurate sound. I don't own any other, this is the first I bought. I have tried a lot, Crate was o.k., but a little dull sounding. Trace Elliot was great, and I was very impressed, but the price was out of this world. If the Laney got lost or stolen, I'd probably buy another one. Never know with new technology coming along so fast, I'd shop around again, but it would defintiely be my first standard. I didn't find anyone who carried Laney and Trace Elliot together, I'd love to put them side by side and compare. The Trace I thought was more sensitive, and needed no eq adjustments at all, but had less low end sound, and the Laney was very clear, had minimal adjsutments eq-wise to get the sound I wanted, with a touch more fullness to the sound. Perhaps because of the bigger speakers Laney uses, and the Trace I tried was a 30 watt. But for the price, features, and great sound, the Laney couldn't be beat.