Laney Lionheart L5 Studio | Review

"The L5 Studio head would be so easy to recommend just on the strength of its tone and size alone, but the addition of the T-USB interface and impressive I/O capabilities make it impossible to pass up on in my opinion"
Laney Lionheart L5 Studio head & cab Review by Guitar Interactive Magazine. Reviewed in Issue 36 of Guitar Interactive Magazine by Tom Quayle read the review here bit.ly/LaneyL5_36
Subscribe to the free magazine here bit.ly/LaneyL5_36
Open your FREE copy of Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 36 here: bit.ly/LaneyL5_36 Featuring Joe Satriani and introducing Laurence Jones. All of this plus all of our regular features, including Live Sound, The Bassment, Making tracks, the Quiet Room, Tech Reviews, Lessons and a special EMG Pickup and Guitar Competition. All this amazing content, absolutely free! Click here to read your copy now bit.ly/LaneyL5_36

[@JammyGit]

Still THE best low wattage amp on the market by far !! If you have a good clean sound you have the best sound your pedals can possibly give you, and the clean sound on this amp sparkles. The drive channel is excellent too. From what I read, the Lionheart's clean channel was a nod to the Vox AC30 and the drive channel a nod to the Marshall Bluesbreaker, so you're getting Laney's tribute to them and you're almost getting 2 amps in 1 when you buy this. A big bonus in its favour is that it looks classy. I'm a scooterist and I love the look of the old classic scooters, and the colours & style of this reminds of an old Lambretta and the Lionheart L5 Studio and matching 1x12 speaker cab looks far more stylish in the living room than the typical black box look of most other amp designs available. Don't underestimate the power of 5 valve watts, my L5 Studio is very loud....in fact the 0.5 watt output is still pretty loud in a home use setting and when you turn the volume up to 8 or 9 you get that power amp saturation which is the reason we all buy valve amps, but most people who buy them never experience because they can never turn up the volume past 2 or 3. Because they buy 20 or 30 watt amps that are way too powerful for home use, which in my opinion is a waste. As is anything over 10 valve watts because you just can't crank the volume without upsetting the neighbours. Even 5 watts is pushing it, and in my experience, amps of 1 watt or 0.5 watt are perfect for cranking up at home. The only downside to this amp is the price. When I bought my L5 Studio & 1x12 cab a couple of years ago, it cost me roughly £750. You can buy the combo version, the L5-T for £200 cheaper although the combo has none of the extra features that the L5 Studio has on the back panel, like the audio interface, the USB functionality, speaker emulation, or the 0.5 watt output, which are great features if you want to use this amp for recording or cranking up the volume at home.....but even still, that extra £200 price makes it amongst the most expensive of the low wattage valve amps. If you don't want to use it for studio work and you have no neighbours that'll complain/phone the old Bill about the noise, you might be better off getting the L5 Combo. Sorry for the long comment, I got a bit carried away. 😆

[@willieduwe1]

Jammy Git mine died after 18 months kept,blowing fuses and plastic burning smell, havent yet found anyone in oz who wants to tackle fixing it

[@TheEchelon]

Or just get the head and a cheaper (non matching cabinet) to bring the costs down

[@dnipllr4057]

@@willieduwe1 what was theprob em? Have you got a refound.on repairs? This is ampmseems.so perfects i woild like to know if it has a seriois flaw. Thanks

[@TheWidowMaker.]

How would you compare the combo to the bb15 combo? There's hardly any reviews on the laney, I'm in a position where both cost the same.

[@deanmlshredder]

Nah. I've played through the l5 and it's a dud. The rivera venus 3 owns it by a mile. Bout the same price too. The supro amulet is killer too. Not as many bells and whistles but ot scales down to 1 watt.

[@idhott]

It has the glassiness of a British amp and the warmth of an American amp simultaneously. I’m really considering saving up for this amp.

[@Bourbon-Canted-Ky-Windage]

Laney is way ahead of the completion when it comes to recording. The pulse is only the beginning. The Ironheart IRT Studio USB and Lionheart L5 tube amps are fabulous for recording. The D.I outputs the unaffected, input signal on the left and the amped signal on the right. The amp signal is taken from the output transformer. Output tube glassy cleans to distortion! The competition takes the D.I signal from the preamp. That’s a monstrous, daylight and dark, difference! KUDOS to Laney!

[@marcelovejar8806]

P

[@anthonyfesta7010]

Do you have the L5? Does it take ambient Modulation pedals well? I know it will take some boost because it sounds like it needs it. I’m thinking on pulling the trigger on this rig. Do you recommend?

[@Bourbon-Canted-Ky-Windage]

@@anthonyfesta7010 I did. About cried when it left. The L20 is also awesome!. Takes pedals well and a great effects loop/

[@markschwartz1565]

Love my L5! Had it for about two years now and it's done everything I want and is capable of more.

[@mustyguitar]

i have a question, is it better to get l5 head or l5t-112 combo?

[@Stratblooz]

The look are reason enough to buy this amp , top class.

[@el_nestorvgc]

Your MAgazine is AMAZING aNd free!!! I used to be suscribed to a very well know Guitar Magazine but this is really nice. KEEP GOING ON DUDES, NICE JOB !!! and of course THANKS YOU ALL !!!

[@Gibson1976uk]

Just bought one, it's a great amp, if you like rock n blues and not that bothered about modern metal, it's the right one :)

[@Robstafarian]

This was a great demo, but why was the power amp drive not demonstrated? This is always good to have with a low wattage amp, but it is especially important for this amp.

[@sonofbulldozer]

Had one for about a month now and it really is an excellent amp .....XLR out for diect recording is amazing and is way better than the Hughes and Kettner red box system built in on the Tubemeister 18. This amp is also an excellent pedal platform too - another thing the hughes and kettner fails at. Would strongly recommend.

[@d77sauce]

sonofbulldozer thanks for this comment

[@lanthaniated1]

My L5 head sounds awesome, playing it thru a Celestion greenback in an over size Carlsbro cab. I've never looked back.

[@lukasvandewiel860]

Thanks a lot. Recorded with very decent sound quality, so that the listener can clearly here what the amp does. And you are really focused on demonstrating the various aspects of the amp, in stead of focused on how awesome you are, which makes you even more awesome. You might try the play samples on the different settings a bit more than just a one or two seconds, for all the small steps, such at 6:30-ish. The rest... niiiice

[@metallica3604]

Could not concentrate on tge amp due to the phenomenal playing. Is that a good thing?

[@ironman-vx1qs]

one of the better sounding el84 amps I've heard

[@highlights5397]

Thanks for a great video. It is so refreshing to hear someone that can really play and get the best tones out of the equipment they are demoing. Question: Is this head loud enough to play in a band situation -- say small club?

[@someweirdguy101]

Great sounding amp. AMAZING playing.

[@angusyoung9594]

Excellent review. You have a nice delivery and great playing. Loving this amp.

[@ishta]

You are really a great player man. I love your feature with the Pedal Show guys. Many good guitar players are not good at reviewing gear so you are not only musically intricate but very technically versed as well. Well done! Dare I say Eric Johnson will have to watch out. :) . And I like that you tune all in fourths, hard to copy your licks when the 2 higher strings are involved

[@lehardeu]

very good demonstration i'm a " rob chapmann " video kind of guy but hey ! this guy can play !

[@Snowy0123]

I can listen to Tom play for days. .

[@bulzah]

+Brian Jewell take back your Cartman picture :)

[@Snowy0123]

there you go.

[@TrevBec]

Ooooffft! Tasty tones.

[@bluepencil99]

How can I like this better than the $4000.00 Hughes and Kettner TriAmp3???

[@markslist1542]

Exquisite demonstration. I want one.

[@elonmush4793]

can this guy please play a power chord - just for once?? I wanna know if this amp can rock

[@buggyfanatic6918]

yes it can i have one such a nice sound. But if you're looking for distortion you would need a pedal Edit: the only complain I have about this amp is if you're using the D.I output the overdriven tone, sounds very inferior as to the overdriven sound coming out from a cabinet which is so good.

[@bulenterdem1977]

First class demo of a very nice amp.

[@metallica3604]

tom quayle modern funk lesson next I guess ;)

[@blackie75]

Someone who can actually play, and gives a thorough demo. One point I haven't heard anybody touch on, is whether amp takes pedals well? Thank you so much for a great review.

[@Gibson1976uk]

Mox_au I use one of these and it takes pedals well

[@petebeck3181]

Splendid demo!! Splendid amp!

[@justcallmesando]

GREAT REVIEW. THIS IS GONNA BE MY AMP

[@raibard8886]

Great review and playing!

[@NapsterRulez]

I've had it for two years and really don't like it anymore. It's so incredibly dark and dull. You never have to be afraid of hitting your strings to hard and getting that earpiercing snap, but inevitable I do miss a lot of high-end

[@Williamstanway]

that first riff literally made me start having funk convulsions

[@philipgregorysougles1744]

Great review and the player is fantastic!

[@obicross]

the reverb is good but annoyingly clouded my judgement on the main sound

[@alexisrosalesruiz7334]

I am thinking of buying this amp, but I would like to know if it is gig worthy in terms of decibles.

[@zosojstro]

I have the GH100L and this would be great addition luv Laney

[@UmbertoRonco]

This guy is incredible!

[@MrGabexhun]

The audio has been overly compressed, and that makes it impossible to have an impression of the amp itself. Bummer.

[@steveschenker1380]

Thanks man!

[@bertagriese8282]

what's wrong with the sound here??

[@typedeaf]

Does it have enough headroom to use as a clean pedal platform? eg. clean and stacking OD pedals.

[@rabcn8845]

Great player but what's with the ever present hard compression ? Stereo reverb from a mono mic ? (Too much, and sterile sounding also). Pity we don't get to hear the real amp.

[@thelovacluka]

The way everything is explaind is fucking how it should be done. Amazing amp.

[@iPeteStorr]

Nice review and nice sounding amp but will this cab be ok with the Ironheart IRT Studio which I already use.

[@Leo_Berger]

That's a LOT of compression

[@maxsalasr]

Loved it!!!

[@paul85y32]

Tom Quayle tunes in 4ths. E, A, D, G, C, F. He's done a video for anyone who's wondering what the F the F is

[@yarbzag]

Ha, wondered what he meant by ‘just tune the F’ Same as guy who does the Roland Demos…

[@LPalhaGuitar]

What an amp!!!!

[@miklenny]

Great sound - you mentioned go thru Logic etc. but, will this be Pro Tools compatible

[@MetalMan73100]

His playing is as eloquent as the review itself.

[@jeanmarcjegou]

Amazing ❤

[@mickster965]

Might be a dumb question but when I hook headphones into my lionheart 5w I don’t hear it in my headphones. I can hear it through my cab but the headphones make no sound even with the level cranked. What am I doing wrong?

[@suntowers1178]

is this loud enough to play a live gig with drums and bass ?

[@fredcarter7003]

Dude exactly what are you playing

[@chrisgordon86]

My bandmate has an Orange Thunderverb 200, will I be able to keep up if I use this amp?

[@mikeaustin4138]

Can you run the DI output to a powered speaker, like an Atomic Reactor, QSC, or ???

[@Snowy0123]

comparable as far as features to the Mesa Boogie mark 5 25

[@Nakeele01]

does the mark 5 25 have a aux input? I didn't it did

[@dwftube]

Great playing and tone but there is some weird compression/limiting going on with the amp sound (especially on the cleans)- it almost sounds as though it's 'ducking'.

[@ishta]

KZbin compresses audio

[@dwftube]

I'm talking about dynamic compression - not data compression.

[@ishta]

KZbin compresses audio as well. by normalizing the volume Try it with a something dynamic upload something with a lossless codec and get one of these video downloaders to get the audio portion. Open it in an audio editor and do a spectrum analysis on the youtube version vs your original.

[@dwftube]

I take you point but I have never heard anything that has had the effect I can hear on this video.

[@SLAMSTERDAMN]

Class A does that. 1 power tube. It's like a big great sounding compressor. Sweetness out of this, though. A high headroom 18v dirt box in front should pop it open. That's also a oversized cab, plenty of resonance.

[@mustyguitar]

i have a question, is it better to get l5 head or l5t-112 combo?

[@mikeaustin4138]

Is the effects loop parallel or serial?

[@ROBYRH4]

good sound super l5 fantastic

[@cutittaierau3128]

Man .. u are goodd!! 👌

[@rmccaw7]

Who the hell has an F string?

[@edwardjons8684]

rmccaw7 He tunes in 4ths across all strings.

[@greatvanzini]

Hmm, The Cub is 15 watts? & Cheaper? Anyone know the why I should want this? This guy is great sounding though.

[@greatvanzini]

+greatvanzinni P.S. Thanks for the all the cleans. All to often over looked.

[@greatvanzini]

+greatvanzinni Ok, I see it has a lot of extra's but still,, it's a scary price for 5 watts.

[@TheWidowMaker.]

This or the bassbreaker 15? If both cost £300 used?

[@chrisgordon86]

Bassbreaker

[@napalmhardcore]

Am I correct in thinking that you can use the reamp send to reamp a different amplifier? Wish I had the money for one of these (with the 1x12 cab).

[@VintageSG]

+napalmhardcore This amp seems to equal the IRT Studio ( at least! ) in terms of I/O, so yes, yes you can reamp to/from a different amp. How cool is that?. Plus it sounds amazing. I'm still saving. I was aiming for the IRT15 Studio until I watched this review. Tom's summing up of the amp at around the 14 minute mark is all the justification I need.

[@napalmhardcore]

+VintageSG I've recently discovered that the 1x12 cab is closed back. I think I'd personally prefer an open back for a 5 watt recording orientated amp. That made me lean towards the L5T combo despite it lacking some of the features of the Studio. Unfortunately, I think they've recently raised the price of the combo. At the moment the Blues Junior is looking like a more attractive prospect for me personally.

[@VintageSG]

napalmhardcore Ah, I already have a 1x10" with a very well run in Jensen MOD in it ( sounds awesome! ), a 1x10" with a Celestion of some description and a 1x12" with a Seventy/80. I like them, they are utterly clean to high levels and represent the amp quite well. All open back of course. Fender threw me a curve recently with the Bassman 15. I'm quite taken by it, but it'll have to come down to in-shop auditions. I've a feeling I'll still buy the Laney because of the I/O, silent record and 0.5 watt feature though. If I had the money, I'd have a Blues Junior in tweed just to own a Blues Junior in tweed as well.

[@napalmhardcore]

+VintageSG The tweed Blues Junior is what I'm eyeing up at the moment, though I have some other things that need money spent on them. I'm pretty sure they're limited edition, so I'm hoping by the time I have the cash they aren't all gone. The Bassbreaker 15 combo is also looking quite tempting. The feature set of the L5 Studio is extremely attractive. I'm just not sure about the price if it isn't ideal for me personally. Ideal for me would be an open backed cab. I saw the L5T combo was under £500 less than a month ago at both Andertons and GAK (the two places I would have been most likely to purchase one from) but it looks like they've jacked up the price to £600. I'll keep an eye on the prices while I'm saving up some cash and make a decision when I'm in a position to buy :)

[@chrisgordon86]

Haha just like an authentic spring reverb, NOT. The first thing to do in a demo of this amp is to turn the volume to full and bring up the gain knob so we may hear the output tube distortion. So many great players have no idea about gear.

[@gpg6745]

Oh man that riff at 5:12 made me weak at the knees. Anyone know what it's from?

[@MartinMillerGuitar]

He's just improvising all of these.

[@gpg6745]

Damn, that's awesome. It kinda sounded familiar so i thought i'd ask. Tom's such an amazing guitarist. (So are you by the way, big inspiration

[@ColocasiaCorm]

F string????

[@smg1707]

This or the Blackstar HT5?

[@chrisgordon86]

This by far

[@AmIonArock]

Q: If someone gave you a free amp, would you dump on it?

[@richie1751]

What guitar are you using?

[@superzult]

Apparently it is this one, his own signature model: www.fibenare-guitars.com/product.php?prodid=tqroadmasterfb

[@Runark79]

Saving for Amish beard?

[@0238445722]

It' s possible please to translate in french langage? Please? Thank you🎸🎸

[@bobbillnolan7644]

What is the ohms????

[@chrisgordon86]

8-16 it has one output which says between 8 and 16 ohms.

[@noi5emaker]

4:33 Tune your what?!

[@shaunm1983]

This or HnK tubemeister 18 ? just for at home

[@azoray]

Stinkfist2000 i would take the laney, i sold my tubemeister because the sound didn't had any character. My lp didn't have the warm sound it has on other amps

[@Gibson1976uk]

Stinkfist2000 I sold my hk for the laney

[@shaunm1983]

I got the HnK and i like it, the clean channel anyway. Sounds really nice through my 1x 15 cab with the Polara reverb and a bit of Soulfood when i want to fatten the sound up. I like it on the 1w mode best with the gain up, gives it more character.

[@shaunm1983]

The dirty channel sounds horrible to me tho, really fizzy weak sounding through my cab anyway.

[@azoray]

Stinkfist2000 don't add too much bass it will make your overdrive very muddy. Also don't scoop all the mids. I had a tubemeister 18 and the overdrive sounds decent when it is on full watt and volume at least half way but that is just not possible at home. I sold it because it just didn't had the sound i was looking for. The laney does have a good blues rock sound and sounds great for at home.

[@RDHamel]

Sounds massively compressed.

[@panosskentzos]

Sorry, but this isn't any helpful with all that obnoxious amount of compression

[@user-zg3sz6cq4k]

This amp made in china?

[@sebastienmonestier9179]

伍朋深 made in England, high quality.

[@Eurobailey80]

no, they are not made in england.

[@sebastienmonestier9179]

I have one. It's made in England, point.

[@Eurobailey80]

well, they aren't anymore.

[@nathanparry8315]

Laney are a British company, amps are built in China to their specs.

[@scampthelazycat9891]

Sounds way too dark, not impressed at all