Laney LC15R

I think mine is 2004/2005.I have the often criticised H&H Invader speaker.This has been covered well by other reviews. I dont mind the reverb, its subtle, again I have a zoom GU2.1 so I almost just need power really.However the big plus is the extension cabinet facility which the LC15 does not have.No bloody headphone Jack stops it from a full 10.Lets get serious about these amps, for people who need more headroom etc there are other options notably the LC30R.I dont even know how to use the effects loop.The bright switch is marginal, unlike the bright switches on a Marshall, but to criticise it for this is like complaining that Jessica Biel wore a red lycra micro skirt and not a lime green one.At this wattage and with a 10" speaker it has limits, so lets judge it accordingly.

I have a Cort KX5, I use it for everything.Fixed bridge so it has limits. It aint noisy, it is however an amp that likes to get hot.Clean as a whistle, overdrive may not be to everyones liking, but I use a zoom GU2.1 which negates all that to a point.I rarely use the amp 'as is.' I manage to get a very clean tone out of mine.As others have noted it works well with effects units.It will not sound like a JCM800 no matter what you do, so if thats what you are expecting, you will be disapointed, however spend another grand or so and you can fix that problem.I.e, if you want a Marshall, buy one and dont be disapointed with other makers little tube amps for not sounding like fully fledged Marshall amp monsters.For what it is, a full 10.

Reliable yes, but it does get hot.

Cant say as it has been reliable I have not had to use them. I bought this in London and its with me in NZ now, so I hope I never have to either. I am going to self repair the output transformer as I have just started to get wavering volume with the new Laney GS2x12 closed back with 70/80 celestions.I think this is where I need to upgrade, then maybe the valves which are original.

Been playing 20 years, have owned a Marshall VS100 stack, a crappy roland (actually people lov em) a few guitars and pedals. They are $995.00 over here in NZ, so I hope I never have to replace it, although I would love to.I like the fact I have uprated it by adding the Laney GS212 and its now all the amp I will ever need.Its clean, its loud, there is no extraneous noise whatsoever.When I uprate the tubes and the output transformer, it will be an absolute beast.By the way with the Laney 2x12, it looks very professional, the covering is similar and the increase in sound quality makes you play even better.Much Much better than the Marshall in my opinion, the size for starters and in a small practise environment i.e your own bedroom or similar you can just use the original combo. Add the 2x12 in your stage gig and you will have no problems with your fellow musicians or the audience.If you need further grunt or distortion, sure there are plenty of options. I think people get 'involved' with this amp and cant help but nuturing it from a little 10" Invader, with standard tubes to some stage monster with all of the original tone and to be honest, thats no bad thing...and to many its the only way to have a relationship with your gear is to do it this way, others might find buying a 100w marshall and leaving it standard for years and thats fine too.

15w tube amp
equipped with 10' celestion speaker
2xEL84 3xECC83
spring reverb
very light
effect loop
extension speaker 8\16 ohm jack
what else?!

i use with a lefty cort x11 with 2humb and 1 single coil,with a lefty mexican strat and with a dano dc59 and sound very gooooood with each guitar
i play blues\psychedelic rock with my band (we make our own songs) and it suites perfectly with this kind of music
the things i liked at first was the clean channel,far better than a lot of fender...very warm and nice and it break up very beautifull
the dirty channel is good too,but at high volumes (and thath's what i like about this amp!)
the only "problem" i s the speaker thats hasn't bass and sound boxed..for this reason i bought a epiphone valve junior extension cabinet...and the sound becomes far better than after...
now it has more bass and at high volumes sounds awesome!
i use with a big muff,a(i'm gonna buy a graphic fuzz or a fuzz face) dano chiken salad and a vox v847 wah
i use the muff or on the clean channel or the dirty with gain not very high and sounds goooooooood
this amp is awesome for blues and classic rock...
do you know acdc's highway to hell,back in black or tnt?
on the dirty channels you have the same sounds!
it's good for hendrix,srv,sabbath and zeps,too
15 watt are enough for playing with a drummer,but if you might be in bigger stage,like outdoor or i don't know you can mic
the reverb is good,too but i don't use it
i give it 9,not 10 becouse you might buy an extensional cabs for a awesome sound

i have it from 2 months and it's sound good
it a valve amp,you MUST be carefull!

--

for rock,blues it's perfect,but not for metal if you play without pedals

Mine is a brand new LC-15R, but dosen't have the same face plate as every other one I can find on line. And it dosen't have an "R" on it anywhere, but does have a reverb tank. Wierd.
I've been searching for the perfect, small, portable tube amp and have gone through quite a few; Creat, Pignose, Fender, Vox, Carvin and even a few S.S.; Tech 21, Randall. I think I have finally found a perfect combo for my needs. Not that it's perfect in every way, but perfect for what it does.
This little 10"-15 watt amp sports a 3-AX7A 2 EL-84 setup, but not in typical class A but AB. The AB powered 15 watts is much less powerful than my EL-84 class A amps. Line out, effects loop, reverb, handle, power cord, etc. Everything amyone could want in a tube combo. And this model features the highest qulity Celestion speaker that they have ever offered in this amp.

I play many guitars through this amp. Fenders, Gibsons, both electric and acoustic. It sounds just like the sound I've been searching for! I find myself having to crank this little guy up more than I thought I would, but the tone holds on fairly well. The cleans, with modest volumes, are pretty sweet. Not Fender 100-clean-watts sweet, but nice and warm. Being a Laney, as this thing starts to break up, my smile grows a little bigger with each increase. This amp will produce more gain than I'll ever need which is nuts considering its a little box with a 10" speaker...but it will. This amp would be just fine without a "Gain" pot. All you have to do is keep increasing the volume, and the overdrive curve is very controllable. I'm a Roots Rock/Rock and Roll guitarist...sometimes I needs chorusy cleans and sometimes I need that first stage of breakup sound. I've got pedals for the rest. This amp does my musical style justice. Again, for what this amp is, it does it's thing perfectly! Even the cheap, overseas reverb sounds convincing and holds it's own.

I don't know why it took me so long to try out Laney's combos. My main amp for the past 6 years has been a Laney TT20 tube head. This head gives me "my" sound. It has worked flawlessly for me until recently. I was retubbing it for the third time since getting it six years ago, and after installing the new tubes, I couldn't get any output. It is in the shop as I write this. But I do believe in Laney's quality 100%. Have they had problems with some models? Sure, who hasen't? I've owned some real crap from Fender and Carvin also. Not bad products just a bad apple in the basket. I do trust Laney to either repair a know problem, or remove a problem product from the market. Hot tube amps without a backup, are you crazy! I really don't like Laney's 100mA fuse that blows when your tubes are dying. You can hear when the tubes are about shot, and that size fuse is a bugger to find. I've had to hunt this fuse down twice now.

Laney direct is a pain in the ass. But the network of dealers is pretty easy to deal with. They are Brits after all...they'll take our money, but don't really care how we feel or what's wrong with our product. Okay, maybe that is a little harsh. Their website is pretty crappy.

I bought this brand new off of ebay from a Laney Dealer. Again, this LC-15 has a completely different faceplate than any others that I've seen...maybe Canadian model or something. The price was good, and I feel I got a whole lot of bang for my buck(s). I'd replace this in a heartbeat with the same amp. It is the least "boxy" sounding small combo I've ever played through. I've always been a Blues Jr. fan (until they moved production to Mexico!), but Fender and Carvin's small amps sound, well, SMALL! Vox's AC-15 has am almost perfect "small combo" tone and sound. The Laney isn't quite up to par with VOX but mainly due to a 10" speaker vs. a 12er. An amp in this price range isn't really a keepsake. I'm sure the thing will fart out in a few years, but for now, with the price I paid, I feel I"ve found my perfect combo.
I've been playing for 27 years and have been through all the phases. I own many different guitars and like to find the qualities in each one. I don't swap out pickups anymore (so all my guitars sound the same). These days, I'm really into hearing the unique differences in each one of my girls. I've always been a Laney fan because they seems to produce amps that really let your style and the distinct tones of each instrument shine through. I'm a traditional rock guitarist in that I have an analog pedel board, I play older guitars, and I own (with this combo) five low-watt tube amps. I love this thing plugged into my '70s Fender 2x12 cab which is also great for breaking in that crispy new Celestion speaker!
I do wish it was class A only for a little more volume, but it's tone is unique because it's not just another EL-84 class A combo. Set the Gain at 3 and the volume at 7-8, and you're in the sweet spot. Well, my sweetspot anyway. Give one of these little sleepers a try, and I think, if you know what you are after, this little guy will impress you.
The bottom line: If I could find a combo that sounded just like my Laney TT20H head, I'd be tickled. Well, I did!

I bought the amp second hand from one guy on a forum. The features are pretty basic: 1 channel, 3 band EQ, gain and volume knobs, parallel FX loop (the fact that it's parallel makes it great in my opinion. A switch to toggle the FX loop on/off would have made it perfect), external speaker connection jack, line out jack (I think it doesn't work, or maybe I didn't know how to properly use it), hi and lo guitar input jacks, bright switch, Celestion tube 10 speaker.
Power - 15 W - it's loud enough for my needs. I tested it in open space with the gain at about 4 and volume at 10 and, I could barely stay next to it. I used in a rehearsal room, and, using an extension cabinet it could stand up to the drummer at moderate volume settings. I usually play it in my flat, with volume up to 2, gain up to 2 and a marshall jackhammer for distorted sounds in front of it. If I want overdrive from the amp, i set the volume very very low. It's LOUD. The fact that it only has one channel doesn't bother me too much because it is really dinamic. If I turn the gain as hi as 4-5 and I play softly with the pick or with my fingers I still get decent clean sounds. If I hit it harder it rocks. The only thing that I wish it had is a way to switch the FX loop on and off.

Let me describe the sounds:
I use a Epiphone Les Paul Custom (everything stock) and sometimes a Marshall JackHammer between the guitar and amp. Very rarely, I place a Digitech Digidelay in the FX loop. I have no mods on the amp so far - it's all stock. I am planning to have a friend of mine modify the overdrive, and I will post a review if the change will be relevant. My styles are: blues, jazz (the amp is perfect for dark jazzy tones), 70's rock, 80's rock, thrash - the most extreme being something like Pantera.

If the volume is about 5/10 and gain about 4/10 you get a nice personal tone that lets the guitar shine through. I also plugged a Fender American Standard Stratocaster and it sounded amazing.
The gain:
1. Clean: When turned up to 2, using HI input, the sound is pretty clean - very bluesy, but a little muddy (very jazzy if you like - it's not bat, but not for Metallica like clean-tones). If I engage the bright switch the sound changes drastically. I get very crisp cleans - think the Another Brick in the Wall Pt2 solo. From gain 4 and up, the bright switch doesn't affect the tone anymore.
2. Blues: Between 2 and 4 you get very nice blues overdrive tones (I think this is the part where the amp really shines),
3. Crunch: between 4 and 6 you get decent - crunchy 70's hard rock tones (if I boost the mids I get pretty close to Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild tone).
4. Metal: Between 6 and 10 you should get crunchier tones (80's rock - even metal - there is plenty of gain). However the overdrive sounds really crappy when the gain is turned past 6/10. It's really harsh, without upper mids, and with very "pungent" highs. It sounds like smelling burning phosphorus. So, I don't really use this setting.

The EQ:
I don't know if it's the amp or the guitar, or both, but the tone is really muddy and dark - like having the tone knob on the guitar turned down very low. So I keep the bass at 2 - 3, hi at 6 - 7 and mids depending on music the style that I want to play. Mids up get very nice Ac/Dc ish tones, Pink Floyd - Time, Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild. Mids scooped get very nice standard rock sounds (Black Sabbath, Maiden, Metallica etc.) With these settings I manage to make it sound pretty bearable. However, when turning the volume up, the "dark sound" problem starts to be not so intolerable, so I turn the bass up and hi down.

It is not noisy at all.
Let me tell you how I use it: I usually play at home, with volume turned down very low (maximum 2 out of 10), using a Marshall Jackhammer with gain at maximum 5/10 - 6/10 for creamy stuff - and very rarely a Digitech Digidelay in the FX loop. For crunchy sounds I use the Marshall Jackhammer on the OD setting in front of it. If I want to get steamy metal sounds (Whitesnake - 1987, Metallica, Pantera, Anathema - Sleepless etc) with lots of harmonics and squeals, I put the Jackhammer on distortion setting, the amp on clean WITH the BRIGHT switch on. Without the bright switch on it sounds reeeeaaalllyyy muddy.

In conclusion, the combination Epi LP custom + Marshall Jackhammer + Laney LC15R makes playing every style of music you can think of playable. Some styles (overdriven blues, clean blues, clean rock ballads, jazz, mild distorted hard rock, funk) sound really pro, others (hard rock, metal) - where I have to use the Jackhammer - sound not so pro. Because my favourite style is hard rock, I will take the Laney to a technician to see if he can modify it to sound cool at higher gain. That's why it only gets a 7. If I wanted it just for blues, I would have given it a 9 (considering the price - about 220 Euros)

I used to practice with a band, having it plugged into external 4x12' cabinet. The sound was huge. However it had a couple of moments when I changed the guitar from hi to lo input and it just died. After 10 mins it was back "online". I heard that it has some sort of automatic fuse, and sometimes it's normal to act like that. I'm not good at this things, so I don't know what to say ... I would gig without a backup, but I'd be very careful when I plug in/out my guitar.

I've been playing it for about 7 months. It was not new when I bought it, and I heard that everything in it was stock (even the tubes). I haven't had any permanent damage with any component.

Haven't dealt with Laney customer support. I don't think we have such a thing here in Romania

I've been playing for 8 years at an amateur level. Haven't gigged in my life, but I can play decently around camp fires and at friends' parties. I once played 3 songs at a wedding together with a bassist and a guitarist. I attempted to have a band. We did some rehearsals, but it didn't work out. For 7 years I've had a cheap Stratocaster copy, a Roytek 10W amp, and a Zoom 505II as my only electrical gear. It sucked balls, but for my level was almost ok. I then had an old tube radio turned into a guitar amp (copy of Soldano SLO100) but didn't like it and sold it. Now I play an Epi LP Custom through a Marshall Jackhammer into this Laney. Sometimes I plug a Chinese Drive bass straight into the amp (sounds really good for home recordings). I am pretty satisfied with the amp. In conjunction with the Jackhammer it allows me to play all the styles that I want. However, I want to ditch the Jackhammer and use only amp drive. This is not possible, because at gain settings higher than 4/10 the amp distortion sucks donkey balls. However, I want it modded to have this problem solved.

Bottom line is that it is great value for the money - in my country, Romania, I think it's the best value for the money. The rating would have been 9 or 10 if I had only wanted to play blues with it

Bought Second-hand from my local guitar shop - I was after a small tube amp (probably smaller than 15w) and this was the closest thing in the shop. I took a gamble cause I wanted something there and then - I would normally do my homework, first - but it sounded nice in the shop.

It has an older H/H driver but has an extension cab output (which was another feature I wanted). Bass, Middle and Treble pots with, obviously a gain pot and a master volume. There's a high and low input jack and a 'bright' switch which has a minimal effect on the sound. There is also a solid-state reverb, controlled by a footswitch, which is really very pronounced when turned up high.
There is a parallel effects loop. All in all, a nice set of features whilst keeping that basic, down-to-earth feel.

This is used as a practice amp but would easily be sufficient to cut-through in a club. Very load for a 15 watter, methinks, but the master volume pot can adjust it to all environments.

I'm using this with two H/H guitars - a nice Gordon-Smith G60 and an old, battered 1980's VOX Standard 24 with high-output DiMarzios. The G60 has tap-able Pups and is the most versatile (non-modelling) guitar that I've ever heard.

The amp would sit in the middle of the sonic spectrum, not ultra- clean or high distortion (although I've not tried it with a distortion pre-amp, yet). I don't mean that it is mediocre, though. What i mean is that it's very versatile - i play everything from jazzy, ambient stuff right up to heavy rock and it can produce all that.

High gain settings can be a bit noisy - especially of course in conjunction with single coils but no more than any other amplifier.

The overdriven sound is bright and defined - like walking on gravel rather than the 'crump' of deep snow, and the just-breaking-up tones of the gain pot at around 4 or 5 are excellent. I'd like a little more definition in the bass but a changed speaker (or using a cab) would solve this. The amp's reaction to playing style really is fantastic - you can easily change the gain considerably by strength of pick-attack but the natural compression of the amp controls the subsequent volume change - this is definately the outstanding character feature of the Laney LC15R in my opinion. The tone stack is good and versatile but to honest I have found my perfect tone which I rarely mess with. (If you're interested, it's Gain at 6, Bass at 7, Middle at 5, Treble at 8 and reverb, if used, at 4). At these settings I can control all the tones I need from my guitar.

The effect loop (like them or hate them) does the job very well and definitely helps the pre-amp do it's job without time-based effects getting in the way.

It seems to my ears that it can take a while for it to warm up properly - maybe an hour or so - I'm not sure why this would be unless the power tubes are taking that long when I play at low Master volume (but surely the master volume is after the power amp section?) Anyway, when it is fully warmed-up, it developes a new side to it's character - an organic, woody sound with a little 'sag' - very nice indeed - which makes me reluctant to switch it off and the main reason that I haven't changed the stock valves, yet.

Another small minus point really and that is that when I play a bottom e or lower, the decay has a slight glassiness to it - but I'm sure that this is the tubes so I'm not taking points off. So only the poor speaker takes away from top marks here.

Well, the jury's out here - I got it home from the shop and it didn't work! (I treated it properly, I swear!) The shop was great about it and they took it back so their amp guy could take a look - I had checked the fuses. It turned out to by dried-out solder near the power xformer. To be honest, this shows that the internal bits can be serviced easily and given the age of the amp, I didn't mind a bit.
Mine doesn't get too hot, as others have said happens.

Emailed Laney with the problem and symptoms mentioned above and got a reply within 24 hours. Very impressed indeed.

A like the idea of having lots of gear but to be honest the thought of a simple guitar and amp partnership appeals even more - natural tone through native instrument sound and playing technique. My normal signal path is therefore my Gordon-Smith G60 > a Crybaby Wah > Laney LC15R with a Chorus and Delay in the effects loop. That's it. I also have a solid state Marshall (MDFX30?) which I use for super-clean sounds if needed (rarely).
Occasionally, when recording, I run straight into a Line6 sound card and use Guitar Rig or the Line 6 modelling software because it's easier than micing up an amp but you don't get the tone that the Laney (or most other tube amps) can give.
Better tone than any solid state at the same price (though less features) - a great amp.

Class A/B valve amp. 3 x ECC83 pre amp valves, 2 EL84 output valves, Celestion Tube 10 speaker. Single channel amp with accutronics reverb unit.

Simple set up and very easy to use. To my ears the three band EQ doesn't have that much range but the brightness switch is great.

I use this with a Les Paul Standard and a G&L Legacy - Great for Hendrix, Chili Peppers, AC/DC, Zeppelin - even Husker Du with the right pedal.

Straight out of the box the amp certainly does deliver plenty of volume. I use a couple of effects pedals that allow me to ???channel switch??? between various levels of gain and distortion.

Having read a few reviews I became intrigued about upgrading valves and speaker. I bought the Celestion G10 upgrade kit from Watford Valves and the change has been dramatic.

Changing stock TAD ECC83s for Harma STRs really tightened the pre amp gain response. With the stock valves the gain would sound OK up to about 6 or 7 but then get really mushy after that. With the Harma valves the gain response is smooth, focused and usable all the way to 10!

Upgrading the output valves has been a revelation at higher volumes. With the pre amp gain turned down, the Harma E84Ls deliver great, creamy overdrive with plenty of headroom. I had always previously had to dial in a bit of pre amp gain to get that overdrive sound at higher volumes but with the Harma upgrades you can balance the pre amp and output valves perfectly depending on required volume and drive levels ??? the way it should be!

Changing the stock Tube 10 for the Celestion G10 is the icing on the cake. It brightens the sound and delivers real punch. Great for ballsey chord sequences ??? think AC/DCs You shook me all night long.

Before the upgrades I???d give the LC15R a 7 for sound, afterwards a worthy 9.

I???ve had this amp for over a year. It did develop a 60 cycle hum after four months or so that I put down to capacitor issues. I sent the amp back to the shop for repair under warranty and it has been solid ever since.

This is a 2007 model so all previous overheating issues seem to have been resolved. Even after a couple of hours the front panel feels only lukewarm to the touch.

Amp is nice and quiet too. Only really makes a noise with single coil PUPs at higher volumes but that's a PUP issue.

Had my amp repaired no questions asked. A courier arrived at my door within a couple of days, the amp was picked up and returned to me two weeks later good as new, again by courier, all FOC.

I also sent email to Tech support regarding changing speaker and had a response back the next day.

A great little amp with bags of potential. In stock form it???s a bit of a wild man ??? loud and snarling but with the upgrades it becomes a real thoroughbred.

Ideal for classic rock and blues ??? add a distortion pedal and it nails heavier sounds too.

I also own an original JCM800 combo but that is just too loud for anything other than playing live. The Laney is perfect for home use and can easily be miked up to PA or jacked direct into speaker cabinet for live work.

full tube with 3 pre amp tubes and 2 final tubes

excellent sound with very nice clean sound and nice bluesy distortion..
i play metal with a lot of bass and treble (and no middle)_SCOOPED sound and i put a full tube pre amp pedal and the sound is PERFECT! the ideal sound for me..the sound is very flexible

i have this 1 and a half year and all are OK!

i would prefer 2 year waranty

LC15R Silver Anniversaty model. The cab is covered with silver Tolex cloth. Tester label inside says it was made in 1998. Usual features for this amp.
Have replaced the H+H Invader speaker with a heavier duty Celestion G10. Have replaced the stock valves with 3 vintage Phillips ECC83 and 2 Mullard EL84.
Used for practice at home and jamming at work.

Used with a Strat.
The Celestion G10 speaker gives much better lows than did the stock H+H. Changing the stock valves for vintage English/USA valves improves the smoothness and harmonics - you could easily hear the improvement straight away.

I have taken it apart and noticed that while the ECC83 valve sockets were all ok, the plastic EL84 valve sockets were discoloured and starting to melt. Possible reliability problems for the future.
Also, compared to my old WEM 14watt amp, the 2 transformers are very small - one being tiny. A few times it has lost volume for a short period, but then it came back. This is a sign of overheating, but which actual component is overheating is not clear at present.

A good sounding amp, but some of the components have been selected down to a cost, rather than up to a standard. Ceramic valve sockets - just a few pence more, and standing off the circuit board by 5mm would have cured the valve socket overheating/melting issue.

I bought this amp new in July 2006.Features have been listed before(I
read the heck out these reviews after stumbling across this amp while
buying an Epiphone Dot Studio at a local music store.),but I believe I
saw a "1997" sticker on the H/H speaker.One channel,effects loop,bright
switch,line out(underused in my case),speaker out(Yum!),wickedly versa-
tile gain knob.And,oh yeah,TUBES.And for what it is,it has plenty of
power.15 watts 3 unlabeled 12AX7s and 2 Sovtek EL84s.

TUBES,I said!Can you hear me NOW? Excellent sounds.A tad "girthy" for
chicken-pickin',but I like it.Blues,rock,reggae,rock,vague jazz ram-
blings,did I mention rock?,country,you get the idea.
It broke up early and none to pretty with the stock preamp tubes,but
I eventually fixed that.Plays OK with my '83 Strat(Select single coil
replacement p/u's),likes most pedals and loves the Alnico V's in the
same Dot Studio that some bored music store guy(bless his heart,as we
say Down Here)first plugged it into before I even knew that Laney pro-
ducts were available 'round these parts.Not to noisy.Glassy and asser-
tive,it demands that I play better. It Rules!

I play mostly around the house(sigh),so it is somewhat babied. I use
a small fan with it and always let it warm up.I would carry a back-up
for any situation involving tubes.
Has never given me any problems,but(props all around),as per these
reviews,I spoil it.It's mutual.

Never dealt with them.I waited until the one year warranty expired be-
fore I started swapping preamp tubes.

I've been playing on and off(mostly off) since 1979.My other amps are
a Behringer GM110 (not to bad,really) and a mid-seventies master volume
Twin Reverb desperately in need of new power tubes,biasing and some cap
work.However,it turns out that there were several RCA and GE (stock?!!)
12AX7A and 12AT7 preamp TUBES(I said!) in the Twin that turned this amp
into a beautiful tone maker.Over the years I've played or owned a var-
iety of Fender,Sears and Marshall tube and Vox and Peavey tranny gear.
The only amp that really interested me besides this one was a Peavey
Delta Blues(15" speaker,whoomp)which was twice the price.I found the
Fender Blues Jr. to be more expensive (I paid 279.00$ USD - nobody a-
round here knows how good these products are!!)and lacking in tone
and features.
I plan to buy another one whether I "lose" this one or not! A bigger
speaker would be nice,but hey,it has a perfectly good speaker out
(Yum).This amp is an excellent value and an inspirational product

Already covered many times

It's a simple Class A/B valve amp. Mine had the standard HH speaker in it, i replaced it with a Jensen... little improvement. I changed all the valves after 2 years og gigging the OE Sovtek's, Harma's from Watford Valves went there, big improvement!!

Feeling a little flush i replaced the speaker with a Celestion G10 Vintage... The amp is totally transformed into a complete beast!

Clean tones are fuller and more defined, crunch sounds have more low end, and it's controlled low end, not the mushy type.

Another few years of gigging an i replaced the output tubes with some Harma Cryo versions. The low end is the same quality but the top end has a bit more presence, me likey!

see the reverb issue below.

Reverb died all of a sudden, phoned Laney and they sent me one Free of Charge.... the amp was 8 years old and had been gigged 3 nights a week! it was always kept in a purpose built flightcase though.

it was my main 'small' amp for 10 years, i love it... I had one at college, then sold it, only to find the exact same one in a music shop some 6 months later, so i bought it back!!

Sadly it's not getting anymore use due to the arrival of a Matamp First Lady.... but i've not sold it..!

tasty tasty tubes :D not sure when this amp was made. bought secondhand from a pawn shop for the meagre price of ??140. this amp isnt incredibly versatile. 6 knobs - gain, bass middle treble volume and reverb. i spose the reverb is ok. after about 5 or 6 it can get seriously weird, which some think is cool, some not so. i pretty much exclusively play SRV n cleaner hendrix sort of stuff, n jazzy chromaticism, n id say this suits me. a simple amp for a complex style of playing :P 15 watts for me is just fine. allows me to get power amp OD while keeping friendly neighbours... might possibly want channel switching, but tbh, i wud probs use my bd-2 anyway even if it was there. overall, pretty nice :D

trust me, with the right stuff this amp can sound phenomenally thick n creamy, almost 'dumble' like (well, not THAT good), n that sort of sound is pretty much exclusively what i leave it on, and what i think it does best. i use a fender lite ash telecaster, strung with 12s or 13s (whether im giggin or not ;-) ) either straight in or via a keeley BD-2 and a 72 jen super crybaby. this amp will inevitably need mic'ing up in any sitch other than a rehearsal, personally, i use the line out into my laney linebacker 65 bass. sounds nice n BIG like that :D as much as i like this amp, it sometimes leaves something to be desired... nicer rock OD please?

this amp works like a dream. well. a pretty kooky dream. the way i have it it hasnt done anything bad to me yet. but i let a mates band use it once. he used an epi zakk wylde into the low input. its never been the same since. an alarming tendency to cut in and out on the low developed. also, like many solid state amps, this can crap out when too much gain is shoved in. less so than u wud imagine... once when recording the amp decided to sulk n wudnt work. but over a yr have the tubes lasted :D

never dealt with them, so no opinion.

with this annoying cocky demeanour u might have guessed i am 16. been playing maybe 8 or 9 years. played with richard hawley! YEH. as well as my LA tele, own an old vintage v100, a shitty squier copy, a jay turser acoustic and a manuel rodriguez classical, a laney linebacker n a broken hohner hr30r, a keeley BD-2, a jen super crybaby, n a 94 dunlop crybaby. if 'twas stolen wud buy a vc30 to dry my tears :D i bought this pretty much on a whim. got bored of the shit ass marshall mg30. love the tone i sometimes get from this amp. hate the fact its not a bit more powerful for cleans. overall, rather good.

Great for a range of styles, sounds good clean right up to dirty rock and early punk. All features have been mentioned previous, i havent much call for the bright switch and never use low input, reverb is ok just to add a touch. Definately get the LC15 R as the regular doesn't have ext cab socket which u need! if i'd had more money i would have bought a 2 channel amp, but this does fine if you have stomp boxes. I use it mainly for practice/ jamming.

As i said before only one channel so if your just using the amp you are limited to dirty, crunchy or clean depending on what you dial in. The great thing is with this and other tube amps is you can use your guitars tone and vol controls to change the sounds, back of the vol and this little amp cleans up a little which is cool and something you cant do properly with solid state. I find small amps very harsh when turned up loud, and even with the upgraded jensen speaker this is no different, it goes v loud and is a bit of a headache. However if you get a gig or have the chance plug it into a speaker cab and this thing changes into a fat tone monster that you can really crank up. Stick and o/d or distortion pedal in front and push the tubes for some wailing solos. Def a 9 or 10 with a cab!

This was bought second hand and went wrong the day i got it. It was my first tube amp so i was a bit stumped. I tried replacigng the HT fuse which commonly goes with this amp but i think i used slightly the wrong value ( i didnt realise at the time)and they kept blowing. I took it to a repair guy and he said it was prob the power amp transformer and he changed it for ??60. It worked fine and then went again so i bought some fuses (the correct ones this time) and it worked fine. Ive replaced the power tubes once since ive had and it and its been nearly 2 years. It does run v hot and i would prob rig up a fan behind it or turn it upside down for a long loud gig.

Never dealt with laney but they have a good website, and the net is full of advice for repairs etc.

Been playing about 8-9 years this is my first tube amp, ive had marshall valvestate before which is ok but doesnt compare. When you get a tube amp you realise that is a real amp. I play mainly les paul copies like epiphones. If it were lost or stolen i'd prob get the new small laney tube amp they bought out or an epiphone one. If i had the money and massive house with no one for miles i'd get a marshall jubilee. dream on!

LC15 R is great first tube amp, but experienced players will get alot from it as well.

Mine is from the earlier series made probably around 2001-2002. The previous owner already put a Jensen P10R inside. I suppose this is a big upgrade as the stock HH speaker was truely the weak link
in the Laney LC50 I had some time ago.

Anyway, the 3-band EQ here is VERY ineffective. The bright switch works fine at lower gain settings. Its effectiveness depends A LOT on the guitar you use. So does the hi/lo input which is one great feature. I don't use the FX loop as I prefer my time FX in front of this LC15 (and the LC50) unlike other amps I had in the past. I think that's because their loops are parallel which is a stupid idea IMO (you can't have a more than 50% wet sound).

The reverb is decent if kept within reason. If you like loads of reverb then you need a pedal since anything above 6 sounds strange here.

Gain goes up to hard rock. No metal possible without an additional pedal. Most distortion/OD pedals work fine in front.
I had good luck with the original Guv'nor, a Zoom PD01, Zoom HL01 (at low levels) and a Tech21 GT2.
I had bad luck with most fuzz pedals (fuzz factory, DHA Ge fuzz, Big Muff and DOD FX52). I suspect the LC15 doesn't have enough clean headroom for those but what do I know ...

Any gain above 7.5 gets muddy. Hard rock is only feasible using a HB guitar into the Hi input. A SC guitar into the Lo input yields medium rock gain at best.

The actual sound is more geared towards blues/blues rock than modern rock. Harmonics jump out on demand and your usual tube sag/compression happens at higher levels. A very "wet" sounding amp if that rings a bell. More "creamy" than "focussed". Fat, loose low end, not tight sounding.

I for one wouldn't play funk (or SRV) on this amp as it does not deliver those sounds all that well. I've heard and owned amps that deliver better defined cleans.
I wouldn't play punk or metal on this one either as it is too loose sounding. Remember none does it all. This one was made for BLUES - BLUES ROCK !

I used it several times with my previous (loud) band when the JCM2000 TSL was being serviced. It was not loud enough as one could expect. Moreover, after half an hour with volume on 9-10 and gain on 5-7 it always ran dangerously hot. I'm sure it would have broken quickly. Hopefully the band split even before the half-stack came back haha ... :))

I didn't experience the cabinet rattling others are talking about, even with volume on 10. The amp is surprisingly quiet even at full throttle (the exact opposite of my LC50).

I do plan however to install a small AC fan for cooling the transformer. You never know and I would be very sad if this little fella died because of overheating.
It has somewhat grown on me ...

I keep this amp for practising in my basement and the occasional "different" gig, like some jazz jams I did already and where it behaved very well. I doubt I'll ever replace it provided it doesn't break ...
Knock on wood ...

I wouldn't suggest it for gigging with a rock band because you might have to run at levels where it probably gets dammaged quickly. That's been my experience anyway ...
It might work for pub gigs with a civilized drummer though.

Over here the LC15(R) is the cheapest all tube amp one can find and frankly I don't see it being inferior to the Blues Jr. fro instance. Hence buying a LC15 becomes pretty much a no brainer if you're shopping for an inexpensive, lightweight, low wattage all tube amp that delivers blues oriented sounds.
I'm 40 and been playin all kinds of original music (from pop to electro to metal) for some 20 years.

It has EVERYTHING you can possibly desire - read on.

I sometimes use it just as a pre-amp for one of my other tube amps !

Or sometimes I plug my THD Univalve into it's power section ...

Sometimes I link it with my Fender Deluxe Reverb or Gibson GA15RV !

It is not exactly 10, but it is a good 9 thanks to huge versatility
of the whole design.

I didn't change the valves but mine sound great so I must be lucky
(it is easy to replace them - buy CRYOGENIC variety like JJ or Harma).

I did replace the speaker but wouldn't claim that the original HH was very bad - the new Jensen is better (?90).

I play latino-blues-jazz and I played zillion concerts live with it and even with a drummer and 2 LOUD conga player it was able to cut through, while NO modelling amp can survive the stage test !

In short, everybody should have one and I bring it always as a spare yet it ends often as the main amp !!! so I use my other more expensive amps less and save money on expensive valves :-)

Yes it deserves 9.5. if you can play and can upgrade tubes.

No problem in 6 years.

No idea.

As a second stage amp that is often my first one and that weighs nothing and sounds fabulous and is very versatile I give it 10.

In reality it is at the 7-9 value point when you compare it to THD Univalve =10 (THD requires perfect guitar and expensive speakers).

I play since 1960, play mainly a Strat and LP and have only the best tube amps: THD Univalve for all situation, '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb for clean stage sounds, Trace-Elliott designed Gibson GA15RV class A bluesy combo ... and this small back-up Laney LC15R that in all small gigs or Big stage gigs I use as a main amp. Recenty in the open space gig in June I played again Laney (no risk if somebody spills beer) and it went through the PA and sounded fabulous.

GREAT VALUE for money - your best bet as a small amp and back-up.

Price: 170 used, delivered.
It's an old one w/o reverb or a speaker out and has the hh invader speaker. All seems stock or at least the tubes are that same as stock.

It's pretty good over all but the cab vibrates so much that it goes back through the tubes and out the speaker as a high pithed squelching type sound. (in layman's terms)
I have a few mods in mind to make this usable and would like to buy another hh invader speaker if anyone still has a working one. email me at curtman2000@comcast.net

Looks like it runs hot but seems to have been fine. I see no indication on the board that heat has had any effect on it.

na

Seems like a good amp to work with and mod.
I have been playing for 15 years, off and on and play sloppy rhythm on fenders
I got this cause the price was right and 5 watts (Epi VJ head) was too quiet to gig or jam with friends.

About 4yrs old and outwardly bog-standard,but at the back lurks a secret,what singles this one WAY!out from the crowd is a black box with 2 knobs fitted on the inside panel.IT is the totally fantastic roger alcock VINTAGE_VALVE unit! an original ef86 vox pre-amp valve unit with seperate vol.and 4 stage tone network that transform this amp into a messa-monster.Also a vintage celestion speaker .

Using the amp as a moniter fed by a pod xt-live into the vintage'unit then into a bose p.a.s.system via a red-box pro.The sound is awsome.On its own with a variax/fender custom,custom tele-e.m.g loaded and a 95.anniv.strat with j.b.hot noisless p/ups plugged in,it sings with the best.Valves are a mixture of premium ecc83's and boogie el84's.I absolutely LUV_IT.

GIG-IT for a living and it aint broke yet.If it did I would fix it as its a very simple circuit,might add a cooling fan to help it last.

N/A.

I have played 40+yrs,had one of the first ac30TB's,marshalls,kustom's(roll&pleat)fenders,H/H,Messa-boogie,session,yamaha's and this ranks with all of them.I would certainly get anather and definately fit the VINTAGE'unit as it will improve any valve amp.

all you need for blues and classic rock, not enough gain for metal but reverb and fx loop help versitility.

Awsome lead sound when pushed, say gain and master volume on 7 and the clean sounds with lots of reverb are outstanding. the speaker lets it down a bit at higher volumes though, and the construction of the cab means it rattles too. it may be cheap but for most styles it will blow away any digital modeling amp.

This is starting to P**s me off now. for the first 10 months it was perfect, but then the output transformer went. to be fair the amp had seen some pretty loud practice sessions but no gigs. Last week however the same thing happened again after not very much use at all, and it's just out of waranty too. this seems to be a common problem so why have laney not sorted it???

prompt return under warranty last time, however since i'm being arsey about paying for a new transformer i'll reserve judgment this time. prompt replys to email enquiries though.

Iv'e been playing15yrs and this is the best sounding amp i've owned for the less extreme stuff. buy it for practice/ rehersals where you can keep the volume low- reliability wise I don't think you can run this amp loud for too long so giging is out of the question as far as i'm concerned.

I think the spec is covered in the various reviews below. I play within a blues/blues rock/hard rock domain and use this amp at home, where I have a small recording set up down in the basement. I don't gig anymore, but I often play with friends and for friends, so I bought this amp for the portability mainly, as my other amp is a home made point to point monster and not quite easy to cart around. This Laney is a single channel master volume amp, which I like, because I think that two channel amps don't respond as well in the low end in the overdrive channel. I also liked the fact that it's loud, very loud!

I play a Warmoth tele with Rio Grande pickups and an Ibanez S1540FM with stock pickups. Stock, the amp is decent, and for the price very good. All the juice in stock form is in all combinations of gain and volume between 3 and 6, to my ear at least. With the gain below 3 the amp sounds clean but impotent, and above six very gritty. So if you play blues the stock amp will probably deliver all the ground between the classics and SRV, for practice with a light handed drummer. If you need more gain for hard rock or more volume for a larger venue, an unpleasant grittiness/harshness in the high-end creeps in. With a pedal, such as a Tube Screamer, in front of it, things improve a bit, but not a lot. So, upgrades...

Phase 1. Out go the cheap TAD valves. Things improved a bit, but not a lot. I tried various combinations but 3 Mullard reissue GT12AX7M for the pre-amp and 2 EL84 (6BQ5 is the U.S. name for the tube)by JJ really stood out for better high end, more balls, and organic distortion. I didn't like the Sovtek and Electroharmonix equivalents for being quite harsh (mind that I only had the cheaper WB variety for the pre-amp). I finally settled with Harma valves (watfordvalves.com), which are also excellent (especially if you're on a budget), because the Mullrads really belong to ...the other amp.

Phase 2. Out goes the Celestion Tube 10. Not a bad speaker, but too generic and uninteresting with a flat high-end response and and a slightly muddy low-end. It was replaced with a Jensen C10Q. This made quite a lot of difference and added all the sparkle that was missing.

(watfordvalves.com had an offer of a set of Harma valves and the Jensen for 65 pounds (about 100 euro) plus shipping).

Phase 3. Still quite unhappy about the grittines mentioned above, although now improved a lot, I had the amp scoped. To cut a long story short, the main finding was that the cheap output tranformer used had a lot to do with all the unpleasantness above 6 on the amp. So, out it went. It was replaced by a high quality Sowter (sowter.co.uk) tranformer. This made the grit dissappear by 90%.

(The new transformer cost 70 pounds (105 Euro) plus shipping)

I realise that all this is expensive stuff. I bought this amp from Thomann for 329 euro and after all this it's gone up to about 600. This will bring you into Peavey Delta Blues and Fender Blues Junior territories. However, having played these amps, I could clearly see myself doing similar things to them. So, better to start with a cheaper platform for upgrades. There maybe some exceptions in this price range, perhaps the Laney LC30, but then we are mixing different types of amps.

Some guys here think that the cabinet is a disgrace. Well, I agree. If you're recording it is important, but unless you have a seriously flimpsy one it's fine for practice and rehearsal, I think. For recording I use external cabinets.

No problems so far.

Never needed it.

Stock spec will get a great little practice amp for the blues player, probably the best for the price. Upgrading it in a way similar to the one suggested above will get you an excellent versatile amp for blues, rock and hard rock players for up to small club levels, with tones to be found in amps costing seriously more money.

I play classic and hard rock and some blues. this amp is plenty versatile for all of the above, and then some. only one channel- the idea being it cleans up when you turn down the volume on your guitar.
has built in reverb (spring i think)and a jack for a footswitch. also has an effects loop, a line out and an extension jack to drive a half stack.
wish it had 2 channels.
use this amp to practice in my room. it has plenty of power for that. turn the gain and volume up to 5 and you will deafen yourself.
it is all tube-2 el84's and 2 ecc83/12ax7 preamp tubes and an ecc83/12ax7 phase splitter. class a/b

sounds amazing whatever you play through it. i play a strat and an epiphone les paul. both sound great. at low gain it shimmers and at higher gain it rocks. its pretty quiet as far as background noise is concerned. if you keep the gain around 4 and turn up the volume to 8 or 9 you get this amazing clapton style output tube distortion.

only had it 2 months.seems pretty solid.my only concern is that it gets so loud that the whole cab shakes.never broken down

never dealt with them

been playing 4 years.got a strat and a les paul and a cheap acoustic.if this amp was stolen i would go out and buy a new one straight away.i love everything about it.i was considering getting a hybrid amp like a marshall avt or a vox ad. glad i went with this.

gain, master, bass, mid, treble, hi lo inputs, extension out 8-16 (dunno how that works without an impedence mismatching which is bad for an output transformer). Single 10 inch speaker Celestion Red Label Tube 10.

Les Paul into Low input sounds fine but the cabinet is dreadful. It is such that the amp is unusable out of the box. I have just posted it back to the store I got it from. Vibrations on E string Ab and a creaking sound when muting and then strumming. Very bad, I tightened the chassis screws, checked baffle screws, speaker nuts, all tight. Nah this is either best left as a practice amp so as not to go too loud and vibrate the way too light cabinet, or else take out the chassis and build your own cabinet. I build cabinets and with this thing a rebuild is mandatory if you were going to try to use it professionally for performance or recording. The actual amp sounds are great, but the cab makes it unusable. It's also not very loud and if you go putting in Vintage Jensens you will lose another 4 db. The best bet is a Jensen Mod10/70 which will give 6db more than a Jensen C10Q - that's DOUBLE the volume. But anyway, good amp (8), bad cab (0).

Just used it for an hour and it didn't break. The power tranny was pretty warm as was the output tranny also. I can't see that the output transformer is up to full speck for this amps output. I larger replacement just LOOKS necessary and if people are having trouble with these it comes as no surprise. The output tranny is a toy one suitable for about 8 watts RMS I would think.

I wanted to like this amp. It is definitely a great sounding amp. I may have recieved a defective one assembly wise but I doubt it. It looks more like a design for manufacturing cost rather than a well Researched and Designed product. I am not going to take another gamble on another as I was surprised at how quiet they are. Best in it's class by far, good sounds terribly inadequate cab.

I used the amp for home practice...and the only transport of it is between rooms...The transformer blew on me 1 year into use. but what a year it was! sadly the transformer would cost $300+ to import which is more than half the price of what I paid for the amp itself so I got myself another amp which i regret having bought now...

I read other forums and found out that this transformer problem with the LC15R is happening around the world. Maybe these are just a few isolated cases, but just think about this problem when you want to buy a LC15R.

excellent excellent. I dealt with Roger Hickman of Laney Technical support several times through email. He would reply my emails in less than an hour. can't get any better.

great amp with reliability issues. good value for money except the transformer part.

Described fully elsewhere

Good but not great. The clean sound is really quite disappointing - through any speaker. It is definitely muddy compared with the clean channel on my Marshall 9001 pre-amp. The problem is the pre-amp section of the Laney which has clearly be designed to a very modest price point. Once you turn the gain up and let things get a little dirty it sounds like a valve amp going into overdrive. Very bluesy. Push too far and it just becomes a mess. So there is a sweet spot in terms of the gain control that merits a '9' but it all degenerates to about a '5' either side of this. I would agree with others that a better speaker (I swapped for a Celestion Vintage 10) does improve things but its not world changing experience. The stock speaker is perfectly OK

I can't relate to the problems others have had. I have used it long and hard with no problems. Dangling the valves upside down has got to a be a bad idea long term so I'll give it 9

N/A

For the money this is hard (if not impossible to beat) but spend more and you'll get a better clean sound very easily

My amp was bought used from a local band who was closing shop. Apparently the guitarist had the Laney modified and it now sports electro-harmonix tubes all the way through. Not sure which year this amp was made, but it does look beat. It has a nice mechanical reverb unit which does really sound great. The only thing I miss is a headphone out socket like my solid state amp, but I didn't buy this to play soft.

I replaced the speaker with a Jensen, and it did make quite a significant difference. The stock speaker will do, but the replacement is better. This amp is made to be played loud. Playing it soft, with low gain makes it sound no different from any solid state 15w amp. Crank up the gain and master volume and it sounds huge and awesome. Slowly crank up the gain, and it starts overdriving so sweetly till you hit max gain, and it is all out brutal distortion.

I've never had a problem with noise, it is quite silent. This amp is ideal for the stuff I play which is hard rock, blues rock, etc.

Not sure how the stock amp sounds, but the one I have is highly modified, I see a big fat box screwed on to the inside of the chassis which I am told by the previous owner, is a couple of transformers to drive the new electro harmonix tubes. The amp really is loud, and can do a small gig / pub session at a pinch.

Not had a problem with this one. Of course, like all tube amps the tubes need to be replaced when the time comes, so I am prepared for that.

Never contacted them. Anyway my amp is nothing like the stock laney, so the company will probably scratch their collective heads while they wonder what to do with me.

I was torn between this Laney, a Fender blues jr, and a used Marshall which was offered to me by a local musician. In the end I bought this with no regrets. The Fender blues jr is heavy shit at 31 lbs, this is almost 10 lbs lighter and delivers even better sound and tone and actually sounds louder than the fender. The marshall was way out of my price range.

I've been playing with this Laney for a while now and I like it more and more every day. I find myself using the bright switch only occasionally these days, as I'd rather hear the raw tones from the guitar.

It's got good features - everything i would ever use! Only 1 channel, but u can just turn down the volume on ure guitar and play clean, then turn up and hit hard for dirt. I actually use a switchablu volume pot in a foot pedal to clean things up so i have something to stomp on! huge range of tones, will do most things really well from blues to metal. jazz tones are merely passable. Reverb footswitch does'nt come with it but i made one mysulf out of a switch, a bit of wood and some metal plate for like 90p, so im not complaining!

I'm playing 2 modified strats, one with 2 P90s (!), both wired so i can have pickups in series for humbucker sounds, both with heavy-ish strings. Sounded absolutely amazing straight off the shelf, it was nearly as loud as my friends 50 watt Marshall combo and sounded sweet. great sustain on full gain without being hars, but the best are the breakup tones - this amp sings!

Er, well after about two months it blew up...! No smoke, just explosion noises from it when i played a note. Well to be absolutely fair it sounded like a grand piano falling down a very long flight of concrete stairs. it was still under warranty, so the dealer packed it off to Laney. It came back, but now it sounded like a massively amplified bumblebee was numming along to all the low notes. On the low e string below the5th fret the guitar tone disappears completely!. so back to Laney it went. They still have it 5 weeks later.

well i havent been charged anything, and they did fix the first problem, but they kind of broke something else and cant fix it. It's still under warranty (a year is normally long enough to thrash it to make sure anything weedy blows and is replaced) but i'm kinda worried that it's gonna keep dying on me.

Amazing value for the tone, would be the best amp ever if it didnt blow up. If it were stolen, i would probably get another one bcos its the cheapest all valve amp (with reverb) out there and it sounds sublime, and I reckon i was a bit unlucky eith the one ive got. The chances of 2 blowing up...!

It is a 2004 class A/B full valve guitar amplifier with one chanell, with master, reverb, gain controls + 3 band equalizer. It has 5 valves, and it has a Celestion Tube 10 speaker. And it has 2 inputs(Hi/Lo) and a bright switch.

Im playing a custom Stratocaster with one piece mahogany body and Kinmans Woodstock plus pickups, and this boy sings great! I was a little suspicious abaout the lowest price in the class, but I'm satisfied as much as a baby when she gets her new toy. The amp is very versitale, but for a single coiled guitar for some hi-gain sounds i reccomend you to get some overdrive/distortion effect, I'm using a Marshall DriveMaster trough it and I can get tones from blues to trash metal.

I have it for 6 months, no problems, no services. I'll probably install a standby switch.

Never had job with these guys, hope i won't ever.

A great amp. This is a really big suprise cause you can crank him up to get the valves sing!