as everyone knows..i always scour 2nd hand stores for interesting buys......
and as fate would have it i wondered into my local music store to get some strings ....and found a traded in laney cub 10 , all tube amp on the shelf........ i tried it and bought it for just less than 2K ...... and yes it was an impulse buy.but i do have a personal rule that allows myself to treat myself to anything at about 2 K or less if i'm interested ........ so it just fell within my "buy now on an impulse " rule
i initially thought it would make a cool bedroom/rehearsal studio amp for me.........
so let me tell you my impressions:
is this the amp of my dreams?? hell NO .....
is this the best value for money ?? hell YES ......
lets just say this amp at 1st glance i dismissed as a toy.......... till i plugged it in...... then it impressed me no end ............
and yes maybe having no expectations is a good thing ........but i was surprised at what i heard.........
so is it versatile ? i think not....... i think this is a one trick pony amp......... with one amazingly good sound and if that one sounds works for you then it's game on .......and yes it works for me........
does it sound great on all guitars.......... no , well not in my test.... with my strat it's pure heaven .....tube tone i love ...which is that clean tone but surrounded by a halo of breakup , basically a bluesy /country rock type tone.......
with my ES175 jazz guitar it sucked......... no other words.......
with my Ltd Ec100QM it sounded better than the jazz guitar but still very wooly .......
so i guess the amp likes single coils ......... cos with the strat it's instant chemistry but i would not use it with the other guitars.......
overdrive? well the rock fans will be dissapointed cos the amp i got even when i crank the gain full and volume up it does not give that fat rock overdive but more a bluesy breakup ...but that is with the strat ........ maybe it needs hi impedence pups to really rock out ........
looks? it's a way cool vintage look with only tone/volume /gain and a hi and lo input ........
tone control....... like i said earlier it's a one "sound" amp cos the sound just darkens or lightens with the tone control very subtle......
is it loud ? wow yes it is........ i would say it could rival a blues junior ........ cos when i bought it i tested it in a huge room (at open plan shop) and it was too loud for the shop .........
10" speaker? i was always afraid a 10" would have no fatness........ but there is a deep bottom end to the sound..i didn't expect ..amazing and it cuts thru the mix very nicely .......... but again for fender tones where i want a tight lower mid bass string not a fat boomy one like i do for my jazz guitar ......... this amp delivers........
with the stock speaker i thought Laney were clever in that they come stock with a celestion tube 10 speaker (only 94 db) but 30W so even at full crank (where the amp sound best ........) the speaker never distorts as the amp is 10W and the speaker can handle 30W so no speaker 'farting " at full 10 on volume and gain
however the stock speaker could be improved on in my mind .........and taste ..... so i will up grade to get a higher db rating hence more volume and also hopefully more "presence" to the sound ..
tubes i believe by reading what online reports say where not skimped upon (ruby tubes were used if i got it right) and are quite a good quality in stock model.....but everyone says change out the speaker ......
here are the specs from the laney site
Power RMS 10 watts RMS
Inputs Hi & Lo
Equalisation Tone
Preamp Valves 2 x ECC83
Output Valves 2 x 6V6GT
Class Class A/B
Reverb No
Footswitch No
FX Loop(s) No
Impedance 8 Ohm
Drivers 10 inch Celestion Driver
Weight 8.25 Kg
Dimensions Width 365mm x Height 355mm x Depth 220mm
Channel Controls Tone, Volume & Gain
portability....... wow just check out the weight a mere 8.2 kg ........ and it's the size of a roland cube with 10" as in super compact and light
which i love........
and yes i wish it had onboard reverb ...but no worries it just means an extra pedal........
so i have even taken it to my gig at sun city , and tonight i will try it out ....... at te sound check this afternoon it was loud enough without being mic'd up with the volume on 7 and the gain between 5 and 6 so tonight is experimental time........ maybe when the venue fills up it will need be cranked more or mighr not cope........ then i can always mic it up but we'll see, anyway my old rig is standing there so if it does not work i'll just switch it off and plug back into the guitar processor ........
so yes i'm a happy camper cos i found a bargain basement deal that seems i will have fun with .......
and NO like i said earlier this does not mean i don't want that princeton still.......... cos as much as i rave about this little demon of an amp....... i'm not comparing it to top end amps, but do always like the cheapie that comes to the party and performs well , and all this for under 2 K ...
and the nice thing is at this low cost , i can always use this as a practise amp , or sell it if i find i don't like it ....... and make my money back
and as fate would have it i wondered into my local music store to get some strings ....and found a traded in laney cub 10 , all tube amp on the shelf........ i tried it and bought it for just less than 2K ...... and yes it was an impulse buy.but i do have a personal rule that allows myself to treat myself to anything at about 2 K or less if i'm interested ........ so it just fell within my "buy now on an impulse " rule
i initially thought it would make a cool bedroom/rehearsal studio amp for me.........
so let me tell you my impressions:
is this the amp of my dreams?? hell NO .....
is this the best value for money ?? hell YES ......
lets just say this amp at 1st glance i dismissed as a toy.......... till i plugged it in...... then it impressed me no end ............
and yes maybe having no expectations is a good thing ........but i was surprised at what i heard.........
so is it versatile ? i think not....... i think this is a one trick pony amp......... with one amazingly good sound and if that one sounds works for you then it's game on .......and yes it works for me........
does it sound great on all guitars.......... no , well not in my test.... with my strat it's pure heaven .....tube tone i love ...which is that clean tone but surrounded by a halo of breakup , basically a bluesy /country rock type tone.......
with my ES175 jazz guitar it sucked......... no other words.......
with my Ltd Ec100QM it sounded better than the jazz guitar but still very wooly .......
so i guess the amp likes single coils ......... cos with the strat it's instant chemistry but i would not use it with the other guitars.......
overdrive? well the rock fans will be dissapointed cos the amp i got even when i crank the gain full and volume up it does not give that fat rock overdive but more a bluesy breakup ...but that is with the strat ........ maybe it needs hi impedence pups to really rock out ........
looks? it's a way cool vintage look with only tone/volume /gain and a hi and lo input ........
tone control....... like i said earlier it's a one "sound" amp cos the sound just darkens or lightens with the tone control very subtle......
is it loud ? wow yes it is........ i would say it could rival a blues junior ........ cos when i bought it i tested it in a huge room (at open plan shop) and it was too loud for the shop .........
10" speaker? i was always afraid a 10" would have no fatness........ but there is a deep bottom end to the sound..i didn't expect ..amazing and it cuts thru the mix very nicely .......... but again for fender tones where i want a tight lower mid bass string not a fat boomy one like i do for my jazz guitar ......... this amp delivers........
with the stock speaker i thought Laney were clever in that they come stock with a celestion tube 10 speaker (only 94 db) but 30W so even at full crank (where the amp sound best ........) the speaker never distorts as the amp is 10W and the speaker can handle 30W so no speaker 'farting " at full 10 on volume and gain
however the stock speaker could be improved on in my mind .........and taste ..... so i will up grade to get a higher db rating hence more volume and also hopefully more "presence" to the sound ..
tubes i believe by reading what online reports say where not skimped upon (ruby tubes were used if i got it right) and are quite a good quality in stock model.....but everyone says change out the speaker ......
here are the specs from the laney site
Power RMS 10 watts RMS
Inputs Hi & Lo
Equalisation Tone
Preamp Valves 2 x ECC83
Output Valves 2 x 6V6GT
Class Class A/B
Reverb No
Footswitch No
FX Loop(s) No
Impedance 8 Ohm
Drivers 10 inch Celestion Driver
Weight 8.25 Kg
Dimensions Width 365mm x Height 355mm x Depth 220mm
Channel Controls Tone, Volume & Gain
portability....... wow just check out the weight a mere 8.2 kg ........ and it's the size of a roland cube with 10" as in super compact and light
which i love........
and yes i wish it had onboard reverb ...but no worries it just means an extra pedal........
so i have even taken it to my gig at sun city , and tonight i will try it out ....... at te sound check this afternoon it was loud enough without being mic'd up with the volume on 7 and the gain between 5 and 6 so tonight is experimental time........ maybe when the venue fills up it will need be cranked more or mighr not cope........ then i can always mic it up but we'll see, anyway my old rig is standing there so if it does not work i'll just switch it off and plug back into the guitar processor ........
so yes i'm a happy camper cos i found a bargain basement deal that seems i will have fun with .......
and NO like i said earlier this does not mean i don't want that princeton still.......... cos as much as i rave about this little demon of an amp....... i'm not comparing it to top end amps, but do always like the cheapie that comes to the party and performs well , and all this for under 2 K ...
and the nice thing is at this low cost , i can always use this as a practise amp , or sell it if i find i don't like it ....... and make my money back