Laney LC15

Basic amp. See other review.
BTW: I play traditional brit metal such as Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Led Zepplin, Deep Purple and some blues.

Being a computer engineer I had the ultimate of digital setups. Various FX boxes such as POD, VAMP2, GX700, Digitech... thru Marshall 20/20 valve poweramp into celestion 1912 Marshall cabs. No matter what I did I couldnt find a tone that really gripped me. In despair I researched into the valve amp world to see if my answer was there. Before making my choice on a big amp I came across this little Laney in the local paper ads for #90. I picked it up and low and behold my guitar playing came ALIVE. My first valve amp experience. I ended up not being able to stomach the sound coming out of my big setup at all. This amp can do metal stuff with gain on 10 but the gain just wasnt quite there for that style. Still, it sounded so warm it was great!

I picked up a Marshall Guvnor 2 pedal (after trying load of crap Boss pedals) and with a small boost from that, my Laney now compresses and sustains for days with total clarity. Can easily do my brit metal stuff beautifully with bags of spare gain. A very fat hot-rod Marshall sound.

I checked out the valves after a few weeks of use and realised one of the poweramp valves was dead. The amp still sounds very loud and clear! I am a bit concerned about its lifespan though after reading other reviews here.

n/a

After experiencing this amp I sold all my digital rig and bought a Marshall DSL50 valve head. The other day me and my buddy were jamming at my house - me thru the Marshall and him thru the Laney. After tweaking the Marshall for a while I said "Hey, why dont you play thru the Marshall for a while!". No kidding, the tone out of the Laney was so FAAATTTTT and pure, it walked all over the Marshall. Obviously the Marshall would kill it at band volume but for home use, I find I'm playing the Laney just as much as I do the Marshall.
If this amp had an FX loop or reverb i'd change the valves and speaker and keep it forever. Unfortunatly it doesnt, so I'm going to pick up a second hand LC30 and mod that.
The only other thing I can say is whereas the Marshall can do modern metal (scooped mid and hi sizzle) the Laney cant really do that. But the tone it does have: pure, fat and british is just totalling inspiring. A nice transparent boost pedal such as Marshall BluesBreakerII or GuvnorII transforms this amp into a monster - essential for gain applications.

I cannot recommend this amp enough and am now very curious about how Laney heads would compare to my DSL50... as for all the digital modelling, I wasted 6 playing years on that weedy sounding rubbish.

Only 1 channel, so it's totally "pedal friendly" (analogue pedals, not digital. NEVER digital!). But, be forewarned; only 1 channel.

I'm putting a pair of Hot Seymour Duncan P-90's through it on my Fernandes Native. Plus an all MXR pedal scheme (noisegate>compressor>octavefuzz>tremelo). And I LOVE this amp! I have the best tone on the friggin' block! Maybe in all of Las Vegas! Kinda Hendrix' "Purple Haze" meets Thurogood's "Born to Be Bad". I can't stop playing this setup! I've always dreamed of this tone in my head. Now I have it, and it's SO satisfying!

Never one problem. Ever.

This is perhaps the best tube amp you'll find under $200 used. Don't let the watts (15) fool you. Everyone I play this for is amazed at how loud this little thing is. I put a "speaker off & out" modification on mine, so you can disconnect the 10" celestion greenback I upgrade to & run this through a 4 x 12 (or any other multi speaker cab) and it sounds fantastic doing it. Nothing sounds quite like a tube amp being pushed all out (w/ just the right amount of preamp gain). And c'mon, 100 watts is just too damn much these days. Nobody's doing the "Wall of Marshalls" thing anymore. That died when Nirvana killed hair metal. By the time you get 100 watts (or even 50) to sound their best, the volume level is damn near unbearable. When this little puppy sounds it's best, it's volume is still a very workable stage level, without starting the "dick-off" over who can be the loudest! (Besides, the drummer should always win that one!) If you can find one of these for under $200, buy it! I also highly recommend putting the "line out" through a Hughes & Kettner "Red Box" speaker cabinet simulator. It sounds so much like a SM57 balls deep in 4 x 12 celestions, it's the perfect home studio setup. Top it off w/ the slightest room reverb in the mix, and it's dripping in sweet tube saturation glory. I'll say it again: I LOVE this amp!

Simple simple dials, if you don't understand become a drummer. Being able to add or remove the top sparkle with the bright button is great.

Very usable and beautiful english clean/crunch sounds, not too hot for squeely distortion on it's own but a pedal pushes things up nicely. It is a little noisy but not bad considering it is all valves. the volume knob is not particuarly subtle at high gain but again if you are using a pedal to provide most of the overdrive it is more reponsive

no problems at all on the reliability front. If you are in a place with really ancient electric supply you may find volume swells and dives mysteriously.

i like it and will one day buy a big lc50 (tony iommi like me uses laneys and SGs and if they're good enuf for the sabbath they are good enough for me) it kicks the poo out of transistor practice amps because of it's honeylicious golden valve tones. bargain. Dont waste the same money on a rubishy Park!

Bought it in 98 took it back, it was already broken in a week.
Got a fender instead, much better. If it breaks right away take it back & ask for something else.
Features were about average.

Good sounding for a small package. Broke down, it sounds very quiet, almost like silence.

Broke Down, won't buy Laney again. If they can't make a low powered tube amp the doesn't break down, then am I gonna trust them to build a big one?

Dealer gladly exchanged/store credit.

Sounds great, Breaks down.
I've bad mouthed Laney ever since.
Mean old bastard that I am.
If it breaks down, I have no use for it, nor the company that made it.
Any pro will say the same.

I noticed that the other reviews said something about the tubes needing replacing. Well, this came with Sovtek's, so I guess Laney have updated the range. Pretty simple interface, from left to right there is: HI input, LO input, bright switch, gain control, bass EQ, middle EQ, treble EQ, volume, and Power switch. On the back there is a Line Out. Apparrently, this comes straight out of the pre-amp, suggesting that it could be modded to make an FX loop. Given that this is meant to be a simple amp, and it does everything it sets out to do, I think it's pretty decent!

I use this amp with an Ibanez RG 470, which I have modified to give different sound using a push-pull volume pot. I rarely use effects with this amp, but when I do, I use a Marshall compressor --> ProCo Turbo Rat --> Boss Me-30.
When I first turned on this amp, It was very impressive. Using my rythm pickup, I managed to get (to my ears anyway) that exact "Sunshine of Your Love" sound! Be warned - to get a good sound, the EQ needs to be set quite delicately, I normally turn all EQs to 0, and then turn them all up to their sweet spots in turn. The other thing is, this amp conveys your playing style very well, if you play sharp, it'll blow off your head, f you play gently or fluently, it will sound jangly and subtle. Also note that if you play shit, it'll sound, err... shit! DO NOT BE UNDER THE ILLUSION THIS WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER PLAYER!
As for the effects, well the compression doesn't seem to have much of an effect given the natural sparkle sound of the amp. I also read reviews complaining about the amp being used for heavy stuff. Setting the gain to about 4, putting on the bright switch and EQing the Rat / amp correctly, I managed to get the "grind" of Metallica's distortion and I managed to get the sound from the chorus of Placebo's "Passive Aggressive". The Rat doesn't sustain much though! But the gain on the amp will do blues at best. Notice also, I use a shit FX pedal, yet for some odd reason it sounds really nice with the amp when using modulation effects with it. But then, I don't overdo my effects like most...
The amp however is very trebly. This is superb for clean playing, I've never heard anything as nice for clean rythm, but I will probably invest in a new speaker, to give it extra "kick".
Very impressive, but due to that speaker, I'll give it a 9.

All I have to say is FUCK YOU LANEY! I got this as a christmas present, only I couldn't play it because one of the valves were loose. It'd play for two minutes, then completely screw up! I managed to get the valve back in; after a few days I tried to wiggle it and it seemed to click into place!

Can't comment on Customer support!

Great little amp, out of it's league for this price range! If you are looking for a practice amp, and you have a few more quid to spare, get this! It will improve your ears and playing, and could probably get you signed. I imagine it's loud enough for small venues. COmparing it to a Marshall 30W GRCD or something, it can get just as loud, sounds better, and the gain on it is musical, that Marshall sounded like a Chainsaw on steroids let loose on a flock of seagulls!
BOTTOM LINE: If you are a begginer guitarist, or strapped for cash but looking for something nice to play through, you cannot go wrong with this! I don't think it could handle big gigs very well, but it could handle practicing with ease, and this amp would give any begginer a kick in the right direction, I cannot stress how satisfying it is for me to finally hear my months of guitar playing make such a nice sound through this. I cannot stress how important it is, especially for a beginner, to be able to hear yourself play, and to sound good! If you play well, then a tube amp is a must, as otherwise you will not sound as good as you play, your amp will not be working as hard as you are!

THIS AMP IS VERY BASIC BUT IT IS EFFECTIVE FOR A 15 WATT AMP . SETTING THE GAIN ON 7 THE PERFECT STRAT DRIVE SOUND IS ACHIEVED

THE AMP SOUNDS GOOD INITIALLY BUT I HOOKED IT UP TO SEVERAL OTHER SPEAKERS AND FOUND IT IS AWSOME WITH A 12IN. EVM. THAT ONE MAKES EVERYTHING SOUND BUT ITSSTRAT HEAVEN LIKE THAT. THE 10IN FROM LANEY IS A LITTLE CONSTIPATED,LOUD ENOUGH FOR A SMALL GIG WITH A12IN SPEAKER

IVE GOT MARSHALLS + FENDERS +AMPEGS BUT FOR CONTROLABLE GAIN ITS A WINNER. i HAD A SMALL BOOGIE ,WITH A12 IT SOUNDS BETTER

'99 or 2000, 15 watts, 1x10", all tube. Not sure about the class A or B thing, though. Most people say class A, but I've been told EL84s doesn't necessarily mean class A, and on Laney's website it says nothing about class A. It's the sound that matters, anyway. I love the size and wattage - I never need more than 15 watts, whether it's for practice, gigging or rehearsal. High wattage only makes power amp overdrive a pain in the ears. More feature-wise, it's got one channel, gain and volume controls, three knob EQ, bright switch, line out jack, no reverb, no FX loop, no fancy crap. Perfect for me. The LC15R model has an ext speaker jack and reverb, which is really nice, but I don't use much reverb anyway. The Hi and Low input jacks is a nice feature - plugging your humbucker equipped axe into Hi gives way too much gain, but through Low it's perfect. I'm probably going to replace the speaker (probably with a Jensen C10Q) and the tubes (probably with NOS from Watford Valves) to improve the sound, but I have no complaints about the stock components yet. Nice silver panel, but a real jewel instead of an LED and a vintage style power switch would look great.

I've used this amp almost exclusively for home practice, but will definitely use it for recording in the future. I mostly play my MIM '72 Telecaster Custom through this amp, with the volume around 7-8 and the gain at a low setting, to get a really nice power amp crunch, which this amp does really well at 15 watts. Unfortunately it gets a bit noisy at those high volume levels. A tube replacement will probably clean up somewhat. The preamp distortion you get by cranking the gain is not very good in my opinion, and I only make use of it if I want to practice at lower volumes an overdriven sound. Clean sounds are very good, though, and will probably improve upon that with new tubes and a new speaker.

I've had no problems so far. No boutique/tank feel, though. For instance, the tubes rattle a bit. But I haven't messed with any components yet, so I can't comment much in this department.

Never dealt with them, never needed.

Before I bought this I had for a long time been looking into the 10-20 watts amp category. Played the Orange AD15 (loved it but decided it was way too expensive), a '79 Champ (too small and bad value) and a '82 Champ II (also too expensive and wimpy), but jumped on this because of the great price at a 50% discount. I also have a '82 Music Man 112RD-50 that I use for rehearsing and gigging, and these two amps complement each other very well. There's not a whole lot of "mojo" in this brand new Laney, but is sounds great, especially with the master cranked, and is a real winner in the Bang for the Buck category. With new tubes and a new speaker it could be a serious smoker! If it were stolen or lost, I'd consider it again, but not unless I find it at the same great price. I also recommend the LC15R for you who want reverb and other bells and whistles. Bear in mind the reliability problems others have reported though.

15 watts, all tube, simple controls, preamp output.

Overall, for the price, this is the best deal on a tube amp out there. Replace the speaker and tubes, and yer set. This amp excels at clean to slighty dirty sounds and is great for recording. It's definately a UK sounding amp, and if you dig that tone you'll like the Laney.

Reliability is this amps only downfall. Tubes should *never* be mounted underneath a circutboard--tubes heat up, circutboards/components fry...you get the idea.

Vox, HiWatt, Marshall, and even Crate figured this out years ago. Perhaps this will change in future versions of the LC15. If it does, the LC15 (and Laney)would be the best. No foolin'.

Also, someone at Laney got spastic with the hot glue gun (huffing glue fumes?).

I spent 2 hours removing glue from the board and componentry--thats not cool. Glue has it's place--but not on a circut board.

My experience with Customer Support wasnt good. No response to emails or the phone message I left. Bummer.

Sounds awesome, but expect some problems too. I suggest playing a few of them at the store before you buy, making sure to let them warm up for a while first. If you get a good one, you won't be sorry.

Not many features. 3 band Eq, volume, gain, bright switch, preamp out. One channel ,no reverb, no effects loop (the LC15R has both of these if you need those features), no standby switch. It has a few more features than the Fender Pro Junior, which was another similar amp I was considering. Three 12AX7/ECC83s for the premap stage, two EL84s for power tubes. Class A tube amp. Very loud for 15 watts.

Best sound I've heard from any amp I've ever owned. Smooth, glassy clean sound even at lower volume/gain and a tremendously useful range at overdriven sounds at higher gain. I use a lot of pickups - a Parker P-38 (single coils, humbucker, piezo), two Strats with Lace Sensors (all four colors), a Lace guitar (Lace Holy Grails), a DeArmond JetStar (humbuckers), a Danelectro Hodad (lipstick pickups), and a Route 101 Solimar (hot rails, single coil). The only time there is any significant noise is using very low output pickups like the lipstick pickups at higher gain. There is some noise using conventional single coils, but that's normal. This amp has improved the sound of my guitars signifiacntly, and it's powerful enough for any gig that I would get. The previous owner had replaced the tubes and the speaker (Carvin speaker), so I'm not sure if a stock LC15 would sound as good, but this sounds exceptional. Suitable for anything unless you need a Marshall stack.

I would never use anything without a backup. If you want reliability, you don't get a tube amp. If you want a reliable tube amp, you don't get a class A (they run hotter). From previous reviews, it would seem that you might want to avoid Laneys also. That having been said, I've had no problems, nor had the previous owner.

They apparently don't have a US distributor at the moment. The Web site is so-so, and I couldn't even find an email address. I hope that this doesn't break.

I've been playing about two years seriously, although I also played as a teenager. My guitars are listed above, and I use a Johnson J-Station (the amp simulations sound great through the Laney), and a few overdrive/distortion pedals. I also have a few small solid state amps ranging from a Fender Mini Twin (1 watt) to a Fender Amp Can (15 watts). I would replace the Laney with the same thing if I could find it. The things I dislike would be common to all tube amps - they are heavy and expensive, and tubes are inherently unreliable.

Bought in October 1998. Made probably in the same year. Features: 15 Watts, single channel, three ECC83/two EL84 tubes, controls: gain, bass, middle, treble, volume. No standby switch; lo and hi inputs. Line out without compensation (not very usable for DI purposes when playing live). A 10" HH speaker. I saw it at a music store and when I tried it, I was amazed at the volume it produced despite its low wattage. I play in several bands ranging klezmer/balkan/punk with a lot of acoustic instruments so I don't need a hundred-watter. The only thing I would change would be a 12" speaker to get a little more bass. Otherwise, the little beast is all I need. It does that "British" sound, and with mids cranked, it can cut through a drums/double bass/accordion/saxophone/ trumpet/mandolin/viola band even without a PA. Recently, my other band drafted a drummer. She rocks, and I had to get a more powerful amp to be heard. But I will keep the LC15 for other gigs and for events where I can't use a car and have to actually carry it with my poor hands. Bottom line: bonehead-simple, but in a good way. Makes you concentrate more on playing and less on tweaking, is lightweight and portable and still has power enough (at least for me in most applications). Rate it 8, because it would be a killer with an 12" speaker.

I use it with humbucker-equipped guitars mostly (a Gibson LP Studio, The Hawk, Epi Flying V and three of my specials), and occasionally a Japanese Squier Strat. I have mentioned some of my styles above, and I also play in a jazzy/folk/rock band. The amp covers all my bases - I mostly set the gain at 3-4 to get a very slight crunch (depending on the guitar, of course - the Hawk and Studio get about 3 whereas those specials with DiMarzios get 4), volume must be at least 3 to get a serious tone (and when miked) or more (when playing without PA). Then I add some crunch with Marshall Jackhammer (on the Classic Crunch setting as described in the manual), Bluesbreaker II or Danelectro Dady O. Generally, I add rather volume than gobs of distortion with the pedals to keep it "legible" within the band. When I don't bother to lug pedals, I set the gain to 5-6 and crank the volume and then control the tone with the guitar's volume pot. It works. I don't like the extreme gain settings (basically anything past 7) because they tend to get mushy. Rate it 8, because of the high-gain mush and because the volume pot does not operate evenly - there is no sound between positions 1 and about 1 3/4, then there is a volume jump so it is not very easy to get a really quiet but decent sound, which is sometimes needed.

Well, I have had this for more than two years, and I have had no backup for almost all of that time. There was a period when one of the power tube sockets had a bad contact or something and wouldn't turn on, but that improved after I had changed the tubes, so it may have been a bad tube. I had to change the power tubes once, and the manual said that this is possible the DIY way. That is true. Now the manual also said that you possibly don't even have to use matched tubes, but then the sound will be worse. Well, that is true, and you can do it only if you want your amp to sound like a fart after a Sunday dinner. I did it, and the sound was so horrible that I ended up installing back the original tubes. Then I got a matched pair of Yugoslavian EL84s and the sound was much better, almost as good as new. I didn't have the bias adjusted for reasons too boring to explain, and maybe the sound would be better if I did, but as is, the amp works great. This fall I started fancying another amp, so checking out this database, I read some horrible stories on this amp's reliability. I must have been very lucky because it still kicks ass, and I have been dragging it along on trains, sitting on it in subway on my way to rehearsals, shaking it in the trunks of my friends' cars and so on. I rate it 9 because of the tube problems. Otherwise, it has been great.

N/A. Never dealt with them. The warranty is, I think, 1 year.

Been playing for 12+ years now. The other amp that I was after this fall turned to be a George Dennis VA30 Mighty Mouse in the end. I will review that one later on. Now if I lost my Laney in whichever way, I would definitely go for it again. Maybe I would try the LC15R option with reverb and some more features, and maybe I would have a bigger cabinet built to house the chassis and a 12" speaker, maybe Celestion Blue. I also like Fender Pro Junior, which has the same power rating, is about as frill-free and has a 12" speaker, but is more than twice the price here in my country. Bottom line: it is very portable (I don't drive), has a good all-tube sound and power enough for most pub gigs (plus you can always mike it for larger venues with PA), and mine is very dependable. Great value for the money I paid (it is under $250).