Laney Amps

Does anyone have any experience of their current gear? Some of their stuff seems remarkable well priced. The VC30 range in particular are far cheaper than the equivalent Class A valve amps from people like Vox and Orange. There must be a reason surely - you get what you pays for in the world, but It would be nice to think they really were a genuine bargain

Sorry about replying to my own post but it's the only way to stop it dissapearing! :D

Surely SOMEONE has had some experience of Laney combos?? C'mon guys!

[font=trebuchet ms]I don't see them this side of the pond, but I suggest you should try one out for yourself. Vox and Marshall prices carry a heavy 'coolness' premium based on their popularity. Laney used to make good amps. You'll need to see for yourself if they still do.[/font]

I am biased - I'm a brummie (as in from Birmingham) as were Laney amps originally. Two famous Brummies used to play them - Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath (who I don't particulalry rate) and Jimmy Page of Zep (who I do). I've had a good look over the spec of the VC amps and they look to be as close to a Vox as you'll get without paying silly money. Another question though - I was interested in buying the VC15 (15 Watt) as I primarily want a practise amp for use at home but the music store I'm going to buy off have £100 of the VC30 making it only £20 (about $35) more expensive than the VC15. How much louder is a 30 watt to a 15? I live in a fairly old house with thick walls but I don't want to freak the neighbours too much. Would it still be usable or should I stick with the 15?

[font=trebuchet ms]Search the GT archives, and you'll find many learned dissertations on the subject of power vs. loudness. I wrote some of 'em. :D

Doubling the power into the same speaker will produce a barely perceptible increase in the Sound Pressure Level. SPL is expressed in logarithmic units, in this instance an increase of 3 dB. If one speaker is more efficient than the other, this could contribute more than the power difference. If the 15 Watt amp has a speaker rated at 96 dB SPL at 1 Watt (the standard comparison), and the 30 Watt amp is driving a speaker rated at 92 dB SPL, then the 15 Watt amp will be slightly louder than the 30 Watt amp, until both amps are driven flat-out, and then they would become about equal.

More important would be any difference in sound quality. One amp may have more pleasing tone than the other. The loudness difference should not be an issue.[/font]

Originally Posted by: Lordathestrings[font=trebuchet ms]Doubling the power into the same speaker will produce a barely perceptible increase in the Sound Pressure Level. SPL is expressed in logarithmic units, in this instance an increase of 3 dB. If one speaker is more efficient than the other, this could contribute more than the power difference. If the 15 Watt amp has a speaker rated at 96 dB SPL at 1 Watt (the standard comparison), and the 30 Watt amp is driving a speaker rated at 92 dB SPL, then the 15 Watt amp will be slightly louder than the 30 Watt amp, until both amps are driven flat-out, and then they would become about equal.[/font]

i just had a flashback to my live sound class...

I used to have a very old Laney "mighty 50" in the 80s. It sounded quite nice but was very prone to breaking. I think it spent more time being fixed than working. Mind you that was 20 years ago !

Thanks for the responses guys. BTW Happy Birthday Lordathestrings - Watcha doin' answering my dumb questions when you should be out enjoying a few beers! :D

Just in case you prefer answering questions to drinking beer, here's a birthday present for you:

The Laney VC30 range has 3 combos with different speaker combinations.
This is from their site (www.laney.co.uk):

"The VC30 is available in a number of different speaker options - the VC30-112 - which houses 1 x 12" Custom designed 35 watt driver, the VC30-210 which houses a pair of 10" Custom designed 35 watt drivers and the VC30-212 which is the classic retro option which features a pair of 12" Custom designed 35 watt drivers. To complement the VC30 range of amplifier there are a range of dedicated extension cabinets in a couple of differing speaker options to give the player the opportunity to mix and match speaker complement to get that ultimate classic tones".


What's going on here guys - Should I concern myself with whether it's got 10" or 12" speakers or whether its got one or two? Sorry if it's a dumb ass question but the last amp I bought was an AC30 and you didn't get a choice - you got two and they were blue! :confused:

[font=trebuchet ms]I didn't get the day of - I'm still at the lab.

As for the options:
Get out from behind that keyboard and go plug in to some of these! You ears make the choice, not the spec sheets.[/font]

[font=trebuchet ms]OK, I'm home after a truly execrable day at work. I have a quart of my favourite black'n'tan in hand (no mere pints for this day!), and I've had a look at the VC amps on the Laney website.

Like I said, go bathe your ears in what these wee buggers have to offer. Even 5 Wattts can be loud enough to upset the nieghbors, so don't get sucked into that 'size matters' BS. The 30 Watt job may give you a bit more clean headroom before it distorts, but if you like the overdriven sound (EL84's, oh yeah!) then the 15 Watt amp may be a better choice.[/font]

Thanks, hope your birthday got better! it was late at night when I posted my question (UK time) so discussion on the forum was the only option rather than visitng a music store. The crazy thing is, nobody locally stocks Laney (or at least not all the cab options) - Amazing as they are made (or at least distributed - these days I imagine they are made in Korea or China) by Headstock in Halesowen about 3 miles from where I live! I'm going to have to buy via mail order thus the questions. I know it's difficult as I imagine even two 30 watt valve amps from different manufacturers can 'sound' more or less powerful to the other. On the cab options I'm guessing 10" speakers have a brighter tone and 12" have a fuller creamier tone? What the advantage of 2 speakers over 1 is though I've no idea. I'm going to be putting an Epiphone Sheraton through the amp so would I be better exentuating its full humbucker tone with 12"'s or getting a bit of lift with 10"'s (blues styles playing) -

.......or should I just buy the 2x12" cab and get a 2x10" extension cab :D