Laney LC15R

Hi! I've buyed this amp in June of 2004. I play blues/rock and this amp fits this style very well.
The most important features (or not) are: 1 channel, effects loop, speaker extension, ... but I didn't like the valves and speaker (Celestion tube 10) that this amp had. I changed these valves to JJ ECC83S, JJ EL84 and a Jensen C10Q speaker. More about this later...

I have an Ibanez GRX170 with 2 humbuckers and 1 single coil.
I've buyed this amp to play at home but 15W is too loud if your not alone in home. Hey, even my other 2 watts amp is loud to play at home !
I wanted to have 1 channel clean and 1 dirty so I've buyed an overdrive pedal, MXR ZW-44. I have the amp with the gain on 3 and volume at 8. This gives me a clean soud and when I click the overdrive pedal, it gives my a nice and hard overdrive sound. The distortion of the amp without the pedal is 100% but now I have more versatility and lower volume.

Now that I have changed valves and speaker I can give it a 10 because the valves shiped sounded harsh and the speaker (Celestion Tube 10) sound boxy. A sh*t ! Other way it deserved a 7 or 8.

Now my sound is more defined, open, clean and when I need it have a great distortion with my pedal or simply with the gain pushed.
Wonderful !

I will give a 9 because it sound great now but not by default :(

Read lot of people talking about heat issues that melted the base valves. I play this at home, but I think the heat it's normal and I don't think I will have problems like other people because now this amp is shipped with ceramic bases for the power tubes.
I haven't had problems with my amp but amps are not for kicking ! So I always have carefull when transporting and so...

I never needed them, so "No Opinion".

Well ... resuming: it's a great little (but loud) amp and it sound great for blues, rock and even hard rock. Not the 'newish' metal.
I love this amp now, but you MUST change tubes and speaker. Otherway it sounds a little bad.
It could have a channel switching but now I have an overdrive pedal and it's working very well with a good distortion.
If it were lost, maybe I try other amps but certainly I would buy another.
Again I will rate a 9 because it sounds good but I wasted more money to sound good.

Bought new Sep 2004, features the Celestion speaker so presume its a newish model, as previous models had the H&H speaker. Two inputs, bass, mid, treble, gain & reverb. Effects loop, speaker extension, line-out facility. 15 all-valve watts of tone/power. For home use I can get all the sounds I need, with my band, which plays rock (not metal) again, everything I want. Would be nice to switch between channels, but, thats why you have a memory - to remember your settings. As such, this is why I don`t give it the full 10 here.

Sounds - how can I describe it? I play a Gibson Les Paul Studio with a Classic 57 Plus in the bridge. For gigs, I use a Laney LH50 II, with a Marshall 1922 2 x12 cab with Vintage 30`s. Decided to use the little Laney last night at a band practice. Awesome. The others laughed at my new "toy" right up til I started playing. They soon shut up then. For a 15 watt amp, this baby cries & sings exactly how I want it to. We are a rock band with drums, bass & 2 guitars, I play rhythm. Well, at our usual practice volume, I set the bass on full, mid on 3, gain on 8 & volume on 5. This enabled me to keep up with a Marshall JCM 900, thru a 4 x 12, with volume on 5. I wasn`t miked up! Classic valve sounds, no scooped stuff here. I don`t think this amp would perform well for that, but as I don`t play that type of music - do I care? Think AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, Hanoi Rocks - that is the sound I need in my band. That is the sound this amp delivers with ease. Easily full marks here.

Only had it 2 weeks, mainly home use, but will practice with my band with it as it saves lugging loads of gear around.
After practice it was barely warm. I`ve heard of some amps being hot enough to fry an egg on, not mine. I wouldn`t gig with it, as personally, I don`t like miked up amps, I prefer the volume to come from the amp - probably why I`m deaf as a post! IMHO this amp would need miking up for gigs. Certainly, if I were doing a 2 piece gig in a small venue I wouldn`t hesitate to use this, but I bought it purely for practice purposes. Can`t really give an opinion here due to it being relatively new.

Haven`t had to deal with Laney EVER. Can`t give any opinion here.

I`ve been playing since 1982. I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio with Classic 57 Plus pickup in the bridge, a Gibson Melody Maker, a Fender Mexican Strat with Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck pickup in the bridge. Amp-wise, a Laney LH50 II that I bought earlier this year, with a Marshall 1922 cab fitted with Celestion Vintage 30`s. No effects! I like the tone to be as near as what comes from the guitar as possible.Previously I`ve had Fender amps & Marshall amps, but they were always "near but not quite". When I got the Laney head earlier this year I new I`d found what I wanted soundwise. I thenchecked out reviews of the LC15R on this site & began the search for one. I`d heard the Marshall DSL 201 ( no longer made) but it wasn`t as full bodied to my ears. Also costs considerably more,#350 in the shop in which I saw it.
I have to say that for what I bought it for, the LC15R does the job perfectly, and I would definately but another should anything happen to it. I might have an old-fashioned attitude to sound,but forget the new "modelling" amps and buy one of these - let your playing create the sound you hear.

the laney lc15r has all the things it really needs a standby and maybe a headphone jack would be nice to but with line out ,effects loop, reverb footswitch jack ,and speaker ext. in the back and high or low inputs and the reg gain vol bass mid treble and brite switch up front its everything ya need to have ya self a pretty good time and find some useful sounds with. the factory dude who answers emails is a nice ole boy he said all he could say for sure is mine was made before april 99. i use it at home mostly and some times carry it some where ta play it has plenty a power and great drive all the gain i need.

man i hate ta go on here and just amen everybody and say the same old stuff but goodness sakes ya'll they are great lil amps . i use gibson's ,the es 135 with classic 57s is really great with this amp and a les paul with burstbuckers sounds good also ,my son plays strats they work in this lil pup as well.i play older rock an blues and some country lil a this an lil o that and this thing does em all real good,and it does em with the 10 inch speaker it's the first amp with a ten i've hugged up to and then ya plug it inta a 12 inch celestion and ur cookin with CHARCOLE brother i can't get enough of it ya'll.

man ya don't gig a tube amp without some backup do ya
?i got mine off ebay and after about 3 weeks it pulled over.. but was jus the output tubes and the fuse, it looked like the tubes had never been changed and the dude i got it from said he beleived it was just like it was when new nuttin been changed or maintained. also they could a got bounced at ups it was packed fairly well but u no they can get ruff anyhow i like ta keep some tubes round and theys other lil amps round here if i needed one a while.

only wrote back and forth with the email guy but like i said hes a ok thats all im qualified ta say ya'll.

ya'll i been playin a good while i started out round 1967 playin bass and kinda jus worked my way over ta guitar. i gotta blues jr, 2 line 6s that got here by tradin stuff round , a peavey classic 20 my son kidnapped,i just sold a epiphone galaxie 10 and a peavey classic 30 all economic attemps at finding tone for a non rich player and out a those in my mind only the classic 20 comes close to the laney.i love about this amp the way u can make it clean or dirty with ur fingers or ur guitar vol knobs hell it don;t even need 2 channels.if it were stolen man i would want another one yes i would today.in closin i;ll say i am not one ta roll along with the crowd but as far as these lil laney's go i'll have ta boogie along with the other cats and dolls who have discovered real sweet tone without tearin a big o hole in the ass of their ole faded jeans thank ya'll good o boys for ya'lls reveiws which along with these amps class A operation status gave me the cajunas ta throw down 2 hundred and 2 dollers without hearin this lil sweetie thankie thankie thankie

I love this amp. Its perfect for home use and for small gigs. The speaker was a bit muddy and boxy so I replaced it with a Jensen P15R. This amp is simply brilliant and gorgeous

It doesnt have anything very fancy, only the usual gain, treble middle and bass controls, but for home practice this is all I need. I have had to gig with it at a 200 capacity venue and it rose to the challenge. I couldnt really stand with my back to it and thrash away, but hey, it sure sounded good and thats the main thing. Loved my pedals too! I use a Fulldrive 2 from Fulltone, a vintage VOX wah and a couple of old BOSS pedals. The amp loved them all and they loved it :)

I mianly use this for practicing, but I play beatles/Who/Small Faces/ SRV kind of stuff, blues Rock and a bit of country. This amp fits all.

Brilliant. I replaced the speaker with a Jensen as above, but this amp sounds great. Warm, well rounded and thick. If you play heavy metal and want an amp with a whole bunch of effects then take a look around in some shops for something else. All-Valve probably isnt the way forward for ya. Maybe try the Marshal DFX range. Dont bother with the Orange Crush 15R. That thing is dreadful. This is a perfect practice amp and useful for falling back on if your Matchless packs up :)

I use an old Tele Custom and a Vintage SG. This amp works well with them both and complements the tone of both intruments.

No issues. I know I'll need to replace the vlaves after about a year but that just maintainence really.

Not dealt with them

I couldnt give it more praise. If it got stolen I'd buy another one quicker than you can say 'bugger'.

Highly versitile great sounding amp

My LC15 R is one of the new models with a celestion 10" speaker. It's a beautiful little amp, well put together. Even though this amp has only one channel, it is very versatile. You can dial in an extensive range of gain and tones using the gain, bright switch, and tone controls. I will be using this amp to record in my home studio.

I use a broad range of guitars, including strats, SGs, Ibanez musician. Single coils and HBs. This amp is usable on almost all styles of music except nu metal, which could be easily remedied by throwing a tube screamer or other aggressive overdrive in front of it. It's no noisier than other tube amps. The clean channel doesn't exactly clean up all the way, but that too could be taken care of by changing out the stock tubes for a set of JJs. I stumbled onto this amp at a local store and was blown away by its outstanding class-A tube tone. Bought it after playing through it for about three minutes. I feel like I got a Hot Rod Deville for half the price. The sweet, sweet harmonics are just beautiful.

It's a well-made amp in a sturdy cabinet. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a gig, either miced up or pushing a 4x12 cab.

Never had to speak to the Laney folks, but I hear they are responsive.

I've been playing for about 25 years. I own many amps, including Mesa, Marshall, Randall, Crate, Sunn, Yamaha and Peavey. If my LC15 R was stolen, I'd replace it without thought. I love its tone, I love that it is low-powered class A, I love it's good looks. The only thing I would change about it would be to build it with a 12 in it instead of a 10, but since it has the sp out jack, even that is just nit-picking.

I am updating my previous review from 2001 (further down the page) so I am not going to give any details, it's already covered many times.

As good as the stock amp sounds, I do recommend changing the tubes. 'JJ ECC83S's are highly recommended, adding a little extra colour to the basic sound of the amplifier, somewhat deeper bass and sharper highs, though staying very sweet. As of late 2003, Sovtek EL84s are good reliable tubes, and good value for money. JJ EL84s are also highly recommended by others I know of with the same amp, though I have not tried them yet myself.

Clearly a speaker upgrade from the original HH Invader is recommended by many people (though the amp is now shipped with a Celestion Tube 10). Jensen C10Q or P10R are often recommended choices. When played through a good 12" speaker, I find the amp is a real joy.

My LC15R has been extensively gigged (130+) over the last three years and I have never had a problem. True, there were some issues with early models, but those issues were fixed many years ago. I did have to resolder the EL84 tube sockets to the PCB, but that was entirely due to rough handling on my part while changing tubes (BE CAREFUL, new tubes can be a very tight).

No comment - I have never had to deal with Laney.

I have been playing for 16 years(?), semi-full time profession for three years (rock, pop, blues, and a little jazz). Overall sound quality is great, and can be even further improved. Reliability has been exceptionally good for me, even with the large number of gigs it has done and some pretty rough handling at times.

I will continue to highly recommend this amp. It's great for recording, great live, and very portable.

Made in 2002 I believe. Hi and Lo inputs, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume and Reverb controls on chicken heads. It has a bright push button control that adds some presence. It has FX send and return, line out and ext speaker (8-16 Ohms) on the back panel. It also has a footswitch socket for the reverb but Laney don't see fit to supply the actual footswitch itself.

It has 3 pre-amp and 2 power-amp valves and delivers 15 watts through a 10inch HH Invader speaker (more about that later).

I use this amp for rehearsals, jamming around and contemplative doodling. It is compact, lightweight and it didn't wack my budget too severely. It also goes to gigs as a backup to a Marshall 601 with a 2 x 12 ext Marshall/Celestion cabinet which gives great voice to the Laney too.

The power is ample (and some) for smaller pub-like venues. The cabinet is robust.

Patrick Eggle and a Strat with FL Gold P/U. The Eggle has an active tone which compensates for no 2nd channel. The Strat is to be modified with a 25dB boost and I am confident that either guitar will sound silky smooth to damn angry through this little monster with little effort.

In Star Trek terms, this amp would sell to Klingon rockers!

Noise is acceptable for a tube amp, recording shouldn't present a big challenge.

The draw back is the speaker, sorry guys. I paid out for a Jensen P10-R which said goodbye to the boxiness and hello to a formidable tone that Fender Twin owners need to beware of especially when they are side by side in smaller venues where big amps can fall on their rumps when used inconsideratly. Less is more and this amp proves the point if tone is what you are wanting.

I would give it 7 with the HH speaker and 10 with the Jensen. If you can get one, a Celestian Vintage 10 would be a good choice too, I suspect.

Reliability and dependability are down to you the owner because it's you that uses or abuses it. If it's going to break down within the first few weeks of use then look to Laney if your conscience is clear. I have had mine just under a year with no problems.

Just remember, throw your leads etc in a bag or box and not in the back of the cab. If the reverb lead is yanked it will pull out the phono connector requiring the chassis to be removed in order to push it back in. A few inches of Duck Tape will secure the lead semi-permanently.

I haven't had to call on Laney, so I can't rate them. Standard warrenty.

I bought mine from Amen Corner Music at Binfield, Berks and they treat their customers very well so I can rate them highly. I can't give them less than 10 because they have supported me so well with stuff I've broken or needed since I've known them.

I've played for 30 years plus and own three good valve amps. The LC15R, a Marshall 601 with 2x12 cab and a Traynor Custom 40. Each amp has a time and place to be used which is the best comparison I can think of. They all play tranny amps out of town and I've heard plenty of them in my time.

The LC15R filled a niche. It doesn't come off too badly against my mate's Cornford Hurricane either and that's saying something.

If the LC15R was lost or stolen, I would buy another, but do a deal on a good speaker from the off.

I love it's all round versatility and how it can wipe smiles off the faces of "Big Amp" merchants. I hate unplugging it. I wish it had a reverb foot pedal, but what the hey!

I will deduct 3 points for the supplied speaker, although I believe they come with a low end Celestian unit now, but check it out. You can buy a 15 watt tranny amp for at least 100 GBP less than this so I think that Laney are just being weak-kneed not putting in a speaker to do the whole thing proper justice.

Single channel, with hi and lo inputs, 1x10 class-a valve amp with reverb. Bought it as a pracitce amp for upstairs at home and for slinging in the car for an impromptu jam when I don't have the need or time for a 100watt 2x12 and pedal board. Very loud little amp and perfect for what I use it for.

Fantastic. Spin the gain up to 6-7 and you have british marshall tube tone in abundance. Turn down the volume on your guitar and the tone cleans up nicely (so long as its a decent guitar). Pure blues territory.

Leave the gain fairly high and put an overdrive pedal (like my ibanez ts808) and it can shred and squeal like anything else.

Turn the gain down on the amp and you have a gorgeous square tone that suits a coil split strat and hendrix riffs down to the ground.

Never let me down in five years of use.

Never had to call on them.

I've been paying for 15 years, have played strats, prs and ibanez guitars through the amp. I also use an ibanez ts808 tubescreamer and a morely wah though it.

I do own other more powerful amps but this little fella is a fantastic practise or portable amp that gives beautiful tone without breaking you back or bank balance.

I think it was made in 98-00 but im not really sure as i bought it second hand.It is a 15 watter but it is very loud. It is all valve with 3 in the pre-amp and 2 in the power amp. I'm not sure what valves they come with but i have got them uprated. It only has one channel which is a bit of drawback but it does cover clean and dirt very well but is a bit of a problem if you want to keep the natural sound of the amp(i.e no pedals) you can't switch between loud and distorted and quiet and clean mid-song.One good thing is the fx loop but i dont use pedals they just thin my tone out too much.

I use a maverick chaos 1(and others) and i play just about ne thing except heavy metal( i know the maverick is a metal guitar but i buy guitars for playability and sound not looks) The amp is suited to more bintage overdrives and is not really a netal amp. Its sound can approach a Marshall if you push the mids and crank the gain. The clean sound is very good with both single coils and humbuckers, I have guitars with both.This is all round a good amp but if ya want metal look harder.oh yeah valves rule for natural distortion.

Aint stop working in a year. Feels robust . Just a tip dont gig without a backup. things happen.

Haven't dealt with them but they dont answer e-mails

ive been playin 2 years but im quite good#(head growing lol)i have quite a bit of gear so i wont bore you. i love the sounds of this amp i hate the fact there is only one channel but you can't have it all can you!!i bought it as my secopnd amp. and im never going back to solid state agen. valves rule. sorry if i've gone on a bit but i hope this will help you make a good decisuion. rock on!!!!!

All you really need: gain, volume, EQ, effects loop, bright ...
and all that in 11kgs package !

Fabulous for a 110 combo - I replaced the speaker with a Weber and it is slightly better, but even HH is fine.

I use this amp in all live shows of my blues-jazzy band and this serves as an amp for my GR-33 synth while the effects return input is used in a series either with my divine sounding THD Univalve or Gibson GA-15RV ... the latter is probably an ideal blues-jazz combination for any gig I can imagine ...

Laney per se deserves 9.2-9.5 for tone as compared to 10 that I'd give to THD Univalve or BiValve, or as compared to 9.7 of Trace Elliott designed Gibson GA-15RV, but given it costs only $230 and is only 11kgs I consider it the most useful piece of gear in my huge arsenal ... who needs POD after this ...

I use it in every concert and never had any problem whatsoever ...

Don't know.

The best light second tube combo you can possibly buy.

If you are gigging musician this is a MUST as it is very light and has a great tone and can and will act as a second amp on stage as a back up and also as a rehearsal amp and more ...

If you are pro- ... just go and buy one ...