Anybody got a Laney LA30BL?

  • Thread starter Thread starter VonBonfire
  • Start date Start date
V

VonBonfire

Well-known member
I was looking at some Laney pedals, and came across this amp. It'd be nice to have a mid power amp for a few of the smaller gigs (and not another Fender). 30 watts. Some say it has a JTM45 vibe, which would be kind of a nice change from the Twin as I have always been a fan of Marshall tones as well. I could carry it as a backup and plug it right into the Twin cab if needed. Even has separate outs for different ohm cabs. About a grand lightly used. It's been 30 years since I worked all summer to buy a RI Plexi, which was $950, so the idea dawned on me to sock away some gig tips for an amp later this year. The price seems reasonable I just don't want a hunk of junk. Any feedback would be great. Sure is a nice looking amp (pic from a reverb ad)....

1711894659222.png
 
VonBonfire said:
I was looking at some Laney pedals, and came across this amp. It'd be nice to have a mid power amp for a few of the smaller gigs (and not another Fender). 30 watts. Some say it has a JTM45 vibe, which would be kind of a nice change from the Twin as I have always been a fan of Marshall tones as well. I could carry it as a backup and plug it right into the Twin cab if needed. Even has separate outs for different ohm cabs. About a grand lightly used. It's been 30 years since I worked all summer to buy a RI Plexi, which was $950, so the idea dawned on me to sock away some gig tips for an amp later this year. The price seems reasonable I just don't want a hunk of junk. Any feedback would be great. Sure is a nice looking amp (pic from a reverb ad)....

View attachment 299949
Click to expand...
I flirted with one of these also. I think you may need a treblebooster to brighten it up
 


Here is a video of it. Sounds pretty bad to me, but it could just be Lord Voldermort dialing it poorly
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:


Here is a video of it. Sounds pretty bad to me, but it could just be Lord Voldermort dialing it poorly
Click to expand...

I don't like that guy's reviews. I did watch it previously, and most of the other ones I could find, but no one ever uses just a plain LP or strat in them and if they do they crank the gain up to chug levels so it's not really applicable to what I"m doing and so it's hard for me to get a realistic baseline. This would be for blues and soul oriented music so mostly edge of breakup and mild OD with a little bit of clean tone on a few numbers. I have heard it offers decent cleans and starts breaking up pretty fast but I have no real way to verify it.
 
I have the three watt version and have watched lots of demos of the 30 and 100/100MV. It can get a nice clean sound. It does tend to start breaking up early. It’s a non-master so it’ll be pretty loud for normal applications. Of course most people use these to get the Sabbath sound with a treble booster type of pedal. I see the 30 go for $800 or so pretty regularly.
 
Soundstorm said:
I have the three watt version and have watched lots of demos of the 30 and 100/100MV. It can get a nice clean sound. It does tend to start breaking up early. It’s a non-master so it’ll be pretty loud for normal applications. Of course most people use these to get the Sabbath sound with a treble booster type of pedal. I see the 30 go for $800 or so pretty regularly.
Click to expand...
I am coming from 100 watt Twins and high efficiency speakers. I know 30 watts still gets pretty loud but if I get a mild breakup early in the dial it would definitely benefit me on some of the gigs where I can't max out or at least get deep into the volume on a Twin. Something in the Deluxe Reverb range that isn't another dang deluxe.

A Twin is pretty anemic and can get kind of small and slightly fizzy with an OD box unless you can get it past 5 on the volume. I have actually been able to work up a usable sound with it but it'd be nice to have an amp that fits the bill a little better for the first time in my life. The price is attractive but I don't want a piece of junk either. How has your Laney held up?
 
VonBonfire said:
I am coming from 100 watt Twins and high efficiency speakers. I know 30 watts still gets pretty loud but if I get a mild breakup early in the dial it would definitely benefit me on some of the gigs where I can't max out or at least get deep into the volume on a Twin. Something in the Deluxe Reverb range that isn't another dang deluxe.

A Twin is pretty anemic and can get kind of small and slightly fizzy with an OD box unless you can get it past 5 on the volume. I have actually been able to work up a usable sound with it but it'd be nice to have an amp that fits the bill a little better for the first time in my life. The price is attractive but I don't want a piece of junk either. How has your Laney held up?
Click to expand...
Honestly I almost never use it unless I’m in the mood for the early Sabbath sound. I’ll probably never sell it because it’s just so damn cool though. 99.9% of the time I’m going for modern metal or maybe classic rock tones with my other amps though.
 
I did find an ok review of it by Andersons. Chappers demo'ed the amp and it did indeed have a nice clean tone to it.

Clean tone at 6:20
No real edge of breakup tones
Pretty nice drive at 10:20 or so but more than I would use for rhythm.



I like the layout cause it's simple and I'm stupid so I need that on the controls. Anyone else with feedback on this amp would be great. Even feedback on the build quality of their similar black country Laney stuff would be helpful.
 
I had one for a while. I liked it a lot, the thing loved my treble booster. on its own without a treble booster the distortion character is very fuzz like. but when i played it with a bass player and drummer (hard hitting drummer) i felt it didnt keep up all that well. could be user error though.

I recorded a clip, volume at about 6. without a treble booster in the first half, with treble booster on the other half of the clip.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top