M
MGSchindel
New member
Every now and then, quite infrequently, the guitar world is blessed with an “instant classic” product of some type. Occasionally a great new product so perfectly fills a niche as to make us all wonder where it’s been for the last 20 years, and we realize we wouldn’t want to be without it going forward.
Enter the Landry LS100. In short, the LS100 is a hand-built, very limited production, premium 100w EL34-based high-gain channel-switching head, with separate tone controls, reverb, and effects loop, built one at a time by Bill Landry himself, in St. Louis, Missouri. Bill has a simple and grand mission statement – to make the amp most every rocker wanted in the 80s and 90s in the first place, the amp that didn't exist. To be honest, I feel marshall really screwed its client base when the JCM900 4100 was NOT a high-quality, high-gain, all tube, upgraded variant of its JCM800 predecessor, as they had advertized it to be. So Bill Landry simply set out to make one for himself, and he did it, all on his own, with no prior amp-building experience whatsoever. This amp is a solid answer to every poor soul who modded their basic older marshall, or went to rack gear or even solid state amps, merely to get such seemingly basic features listed above, all in one package. And I think he’s nailed it. I’ve been beating on this amp for weeks now both in and out of the studio with some fellow rock and metal musicians, and with a variety of cabs and speakers, so that I’d be well-versed in the amp and properly founded in my early conclusions.
This LS100 is a fantastic amp! I am the proud owner of unit #12. I instantly found some solid, vintage marshally tones, of the medium and high gain variety, and without wasting any time, I wanted to compare the tone, power, gain, eq range, and play-feel to some of its channel-switching competitors feature-wise, and to some of my old favorite standby amps. We’re not talking lightweights, we’re talking my modded SLO, old 2203 JMPs, 2555, Bogner XTC 101B, Mesa MK IV and Recto, custom big-name modded Marshall 1959s, and others. The Landry easily hangs with the big boys, even stands out for what it does specifically that the others don’t in some cases. And I didn’t go looking for Fender cleans or Vox chime.
For starters, the Landry is oddly “unique” inasmuch as it sounds more like an “idealized modded high-gain hand-wired plexi” but as if it were already recorded onto an album, right out of the gate. It’s more of an idealized hot-rodded reality than most actual modded 60’s and 70’s super leads I’ve played, owned, or heard, albeit clearer, brighter, slightly crunchier, and a little less warm. It has a softer attack reminiscent of late 60’s amps rather than the tighter-feeling, edgier 70's metalfaces. It has so many plexi-like characteristics and great tone, but in its high-gain voicing! As you’d expect with a hand-wired amp built on turret board, it is not grainy, gritty, scratchy or ice-picky like some marshall master volume amps can be. It sounds precisely like what you’d want if you were, say, a George Lynch type, and wanted your 1959 slp to kick arse with or without pedals, and with a master volume, and to have a pile of other great features you could use live, like a great clean tone. I also think the Landry has the most recognizably “marshallesque” voicing and character of any boutique “high gain” amp I’ve plugged into that didn’t actually have a marshall logo on it and a pile of some tech’s mods inside. For my tastes, this amp has a fuller, punchier, smoother, less bright character than many of the big-name modded marshalls I’ve owned over the years, and a spongier, smoother, more vintage feel to the low end that bounces great with greenback reissues or V30s.
Noteworthy accomplishments that really impressed me about the LS100 before I ever even started comparing it tonally to other amps are: 1) The high-quality components, layout and circuitry lend themselves to a professional, polished sound and a very quiet amp. I’m a stickler for that. I like the output tranny and the power supply filtering. Compare this amp to, say, a marshall DSL100 JCM 2000 and you will hear all kinds of low-volume junk and hum bleeding thru your speakers the minute you take off the standby. The Landry, by contrast, is as impressively quiet as my SLO and my older 2203s, and is a smidge quieter than my Bogner 101B. Even its preamp circuit is quieter than some other boutique amps at the same gain levels; 2) the reverb is wonderful, extremely lush, and bears an excellent range that can be turned way down to be subtle, no noise or bleed etc either; 3) The clean channel is wonderfully spanky, punchy, etc and is very satisfyingly balanced with a great range. It sounds perfectly like whatever guitar and pickups you plug into it. It ain’t no 68 100w slp on the cleans, but it’s as close as a channel switcher’s gonna get; 4) the switches, knobs chassis, tolex, and overall assembly feel and look solid and are very good quality, very comparable to other amps in this class… it even has the identical tolex covering to the Bogner head shell.
The Landry is LOUD. Totally hangs with the others. But it also sounds GREAT at low volumes, nice and thick and full, better at reasonable or lower volumes than some of the others. The master volume is terrific!
The best thing about this amp is its pure, great, unadulterated TONE at any volume. It has a wonderful voicing that puts a slightly modern, refined high-gain spin on the “rodded plexi” sound. It is particularly sweet with the treble knob way down and the master way up. The amp breathes beautifully and has great marshally dynamics, smoldering mids, and tasty bloom. It sounds like a really GOOD marshall, very clear with no scratchiness or harshness. I think this amp sounds less compressed and more open and interesting than some of its pricier high-gain competitors, and certainly sounds way more like a great modded marshall than most others. “Stiff” and “Sterile” are not in its vocabulary. The Landry loves pedals too, and did very well being set at lower gain and pushed with the Keeley-modded Boss sd-1, TS808 mod plus, Xotic BB, and OCD . The LS100 has tons of bass but sounds much tighter with the bass kept lower and the amp’s optional resonance knob turned up. I also like the tonal range of the mid and bass knobs. The presence works great too, sweet and clear without harshness or brittleness.
One caution: Knob control and restraint are necessary. The knobs are very effective, and their range can exceed “user-friendly” or “fool-proof”. This is not an amp where you just dime everything and go. Too much bass really IS too much bass, for example. The amp will tell YOU where to put the knobs.
In summary, this amp is excellent quality, is bestially powerful, rugged, flexible, and sounds fantastic. The LS100 has a whole pile of clean to medium-gain to high-gain sounds with its plexi-like, smooth qualities, and useable, highly-desirable user-friendly features for gigging. I love this amp! The LS100 sounds as good or better and plays as well as or better than many of the reputable, expensive channel-switching amps in production today. I don't have any other amp that makes the same sweet, cool, smooth lead tones this amp can make. It's a 100 watter but with warm lead tones like your favorite 50 watter if you choose to so dial it..
I think my initial impression of this amp remains accurate….This is the best marshall that marshall never made. Marshall doesn’t make a modern amp that sounds as good or is made as well, with these features and components, and this level of ruggedness and simplicity, right now. People who really like modded older-marshall tones but need channel switching and wish they had reverb and an effects loop might just pick this amp over some other more uniquely-voiced boutique channel-switching all tube amps out there, after a comparative demo, specifically because of how it is voiced.
If you love smooth, rodded marshall tones, and even the brown sound, especially in the context of 80s and 90s heavy rock, and are a tube tone junkie, you owe it to yourself to hear and play this amp in person, alongside whatever you’re playing on currently. You won't get the tone out of your head. This amp has promptly found its way into my top handful of favorite amps, and I play it often.
Here’s the owner and builder of this amp, Bill Landry himself, with a guitar, a cord, a kiss of delay, and the amp. Sounds better than the actual album, doesn’t it? See what I mean? He’s a quiet, private, humble, brilliant man, and I’m going to embarrass him here just a little, to further everyone’s exposure to his excellent invention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF46owjZtg
Enter the Landry LS100. In short, the LS100 is a hand-built, very limited production, premium 100w EL34-based high-gain channel-switching head, with separate tone controls, reverb, and effects loop, built one at a time by Bill Landry himself, in St. Louis, Missouri. Bill has a simple and grand mission statement – to make the amp most every rocker wanted in the 80s and 90s in the first place, the amp that didn't exist. To be honest, I feel marshall really screwed its client base when the JCM900 4100 was NOT a high-quality, high-gain, all tube, upgraded variant of its JCM800 predecessor, as they had advertized it to be. So Bill Landry simply set out to make one for himself, and he did it, all on his own, with no prior amp-building experience whatsoever. This amp is a solid answer to every poor soul who modded their basic older marshall, or went to rack gear or even solid state amps, merely to get such seemingly basic features listed above, all in one package. And I think he’s nailed it. I’ve been beating on this amp for weeks now both in and out of the studio with some fellow rock and metal musicians, and with a variety of cabs and speakers, so that I’d be well-versed in the amp and properly founded in my early conclusions.
This LS100 is a fantastic amp! I am the proud owner of unit #12. I instantly found some solid, vintage marshally tones, of the medium and high gain variety, and without wasting any time, I wanted to compare the tone, power, gain, eq range, and play-feel to some of its channel-switching competitors feature-wise, and to some of my old favorite standby amps. We’re not talking lightweights, we’re talking my modded SLO, old 2203 JMPs, 2555, Bogner XTC 101B, Mesa MK IV and Recto, custom big-name modded Marshall 1959s, and others. The Landry easily hangs with the big boys, even stands out for what it does specifically that the others don’t in some cases. And I didn’t go looking for Fender cleans or Vox chime.
For starters, the Landry is oddly “unique” inasmuch as it sounds more like an “idealized modded high-gain hand-wired plexi” but as if it were already recorded onto an album, right out of the gate. It’s more of an idealized hot-rodded reality than most actual modded 60’s and 70’s super leads I’ve played, owned, or heard, albeit clearer, brighter, slightly crunchier, and a little less warm. It has a softer attack reminiscent of late 60’s amps rather than the tighter-feeling, edgier 70's metalfaces. It has so many plexi-like characteristics and great tone, but in its high-gain voicing! As you’d expect with a hand-wired amp built on turret board, it is not grainy, gritty, scratchy or ice-picky like some marshall master volume amps can be. It sounds precisely like what you’d want if you were, say, a George Lynch type, and wanted your 1959 slp to kick arse with or without pedals, and with a master volume, and to have a pile of other great features you could use live, like a great clean tone. I also think the Landry has the most recognizably “marshallesque” voicing and character of any boutique “high gain” amp I’ve plugged into that didn’t actually have a marshall logo on it and a pile of some tech’s mods inside. For my tastes, this amp has a fuller, punchier, smoother, less bright character than many of the big-name modded marshalls I’ve owned over the years, and a spongier, smoother, more vintage feel to the low end that bounces great with greenback reissues or V30s.
Noteworthy accomplishments that really impressed me about the LS100 before I ever even started comparing it tonally to other amps are: 1) The high-quality components, layout and circuitry lend themselves to a professional, polished sound and a very quiet amp. I’m a stickler for that. I like the output tranny and the power supply filtering. Compare this amp to, say, a marshall DSL100 JCM 2000 and you will hear all kinds of low-volume junk and hum bleeding thru your speakers the minute you take off the standby. The Landry, by contrast, is as impressively quiet as my SLO and my older 2203s, and is a smidge quieter than my Bogner 101B. Even its preamp circuit is quieter than some other boutique amps at the same gain levels; 2) the reverb is wonderful, extremely lush, and bears an excellent range that can be turned way down to be subtle, no noise or bleed etc either; 3) The clean channel is wonderfully spanky, punchy, etc and is very satisfyingly balanced with a great range. It sounds perfectly like whatever guitar and pickups you plug into it. It ain’t no 68 100w slp on the cleans, but it’s as close as a channel switcher’s gonna get; 4) the switches, knobs chassis, tolex, and overall assembly feel and look solid and are very good quality, very comparable to other amps in this class… it even has the identical tolex covering to the Bogner head shell.
The Landry is LOUD. Totally hangs with the others. But it also sounds GREAT at low volumes, nice and thick and full, better at reasonable or lower volumes than some of the others. The master volume is terrific!
The best thing about this amp is its pure, great, unadulterated TONE at any volume. It has a wonderful voicing that puts a slightly modern, refined high-gain spin on the “rodded plexi” sound. It is particularly sweet with the treble knob way down and the master way up. The amp breathes beautifully and has great marshally dynamics, smoldering mids, and tasty bloom. It sounds like a really GOOD marshall, very clear with no scratchiness or harshness. I think this amp sounds less compressed and more open and interesting than some of its pricier high-gain competitors, and certainly sounds way more like a great modded marshall than most others. “Stiff” and “Sterile” are not in its vocabulary. The Landry loves pedals too, and did very well being set at lower gain and pushed with the Keeley-modded Boss sd-1, TS808 mod plus, Xotic BB, and OCD . The LS100 has tons of bass but sounds much tighter with the bass kept lower and the amp’s optional resonance knob turned up. I also like the tonal range of the mid and bass knobs. The presence works great too, sweet and clear without harshness or brittleness.
One caution: Knob control and restraint are necessary. The knobs are very effective, and their range can exceed “user-friendly” or “fool-proof”. This is not an amp where you just dime everything and go. Too much bass really IS too much bass, for example. The amp will tell YOU where to put the knobs.
In summary, this amp is excellent quality, is bestially powerful, rugged, flexible, and sounds fantastic. The LS100 has a whole pile of clean to medium-gain to high-gain sounds with its plexi-like, smooth qualities, and useable, highly-desirable user-friendly features for gigging. I love this amp! The LS100 sounds as good or better and plays as well as or better than many of the reputable, expensive channel-switching amps in production today. I don't have any other amp that makes the same sweet, cool, smooth lead tones this amp can make. It's a 100 watter but with warm lead tones like your favorite 50 watter if you choose to so dial it..
I think my initial impression of this amp remains accurate….This is the best marshall that marshall never made. Marshall doesn’t make a modern amp that sounds as good or is made as well, with these features and components, and this level of ruggedness and simplicity, right now. People who really like modded older-marshall tones but need channel switching and wish they had reverb and an effects loop might just pick this amp over some other more uniquely-voiced boutique channel-switching all tube amps out there, after a comparative demo, specifically because of how it is voiced.
If you love smooth, rodded marshall tones, and even the brown sound, especially in the context of 80s and 90s heavy rock, and are a tube tone junkie, you owe it to yourself to hear and play this amp in person, alongside whatever you’re playing on currently. You won't get the tone out of your head. This amp has promptly found its way into my top handful of favorite amps, and I play it often.
Here’s the owner and builder of this amp, Bill Landry himself, with a guitar, a cord, a kiss of delay, and the amp. Sounds better than the actual album, doesn’t it? See what I mean? He’s a quiet, private, humble, brilliant man, and I’m going to embarrass him here just a little, to further everyone’s exposure to his excellent invention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF46owjZtg
