This New Laney Amp isn't what I thought

[@TheGuitarGeek]

What do you think? Get the Laney Leadtop and DualTop here Sweetwater - sweetwater.sjv.io/anLWVo

[@washburn8049]

I live not too far from Laney, and many years ago I was asked to fix a Laney amp that had been blown, so much so the tracks on the main board had been all but been destroyed. I contacted Laney to see if they had a schematic for the amp, telling them how badly damaged the board was. they told me they still had the board in some old stock. I obviously asked if I could buy one. A few days later they called me to say the board was at the factory for me to collect, I went over and not only was the board waiting for me, but they had actually re-populated it. The cost, zero. Where else do you get that sort of service?

[@karrimgyver]

Ok. Thats pretty cool

[@LaneyAmplification]

Sounding good, Andy! Thanks for the review!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

You are welcome. Thanks for the VERY good amp you let me borrow. I am going to plug in again at guitar summit

[@LeperMessiah58]

I have the Dualtop, and it's a fantastic amp, not just great for the money ( around £250) but great full stop. Very versatile and super lightweight. I have other amps, tube and solid state, but this Laney is giving me so much pleasure at the moment. And through a cab its LOUD!

[@marcjohnson9493]

Have the Leadtop, and I'm really impressed. Great sound, versatile and impressive features. Didn't need all the features of the Dualtop as I tend to use my guitar volume and pickup selector to give me less gainy sounds. I gig with a rock band, and it has more than enough power. Good speakers are the icing on the cake, and it pairs well with V30's.Well done Laney

[@alexmarshall3815]

You do the best reviews I've seen in terms of showing the full range available within every device. I'm not sold on this particular amp over my Quilter, but it does prove yet again that solid state amps in general have really matured. The ability to adjust here between humbuckers and single coils with the dark switch I can see as being really important if you were to go between both. You have great ears.

[@Mega_trav]

I'd like to hear your take on the Laney Loudpedal and how it compares to these.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I’ll let you know if I get to play one!

[@Mega_trav]

@@TheGuitarGeek it’s top of my list as a gigging amp. That + a cab and few pedals sounds ideal

[@6stringedpsycho718]

Nice, just pulled the trigger on the Leadtop rig +1x12inch cab. Bought 2 units for stereo. Loving the sound from the reviews so far, can definitely dial a Transparent Drive. Will be here in less than a week, And this will definitely be a formidable contender to Katana if Laney makes a 100-watt version of these beasts.

[@nj1255]

The tone of these amps reminds me of using a really good distortion pedal into a clean tube amp. Kinda pop-rock, blues, indie and grunge-esque! Really like the tones you are getting with them. Super crunchy!

[@grumpyrocker]

I used to have a 60W Ironheart amp and I foolishly sold it. Very impressed with the demos of these new amps so I've ordered a Dualtop already.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

You did the right thing the second time!

[@grumpyrocker]

@@TheGuitarGeekI hope so. Thanks for the great demo vid.

[@davebmassey]

I'm blown away by that little guy with a tele. I love it and will have to get one!

[@saarangnarayan123]

I was going to say that I'm glad that this has a "no cab emulation" option on the DI out, but the cab sims sound quite good! Interesting to see that asymmetrical/symmetrical switch, too. Definitely didn't expect this to be as versatile as it is!

[@nj1255]

100% agree!! I don't understand why some amp and pedal manufacturers place a hardwired cab emulation on the DI out. It's so fantastically stupid! The cab emulations usually sound like shit, and that just makes the DI out completely unusable. If they could simply include a switch to disable the cab emulation (like in these amps), everyone would be satisfied. They instead decide to make the DI out unusable to 99% of users by placing a crappy cab sim on it.

[@grumpyrocker]

Totally agree. I have an Orange Super Crush combo and it sounds amazing. But the DI has a horrible cab emulation that you can't turn off.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Agreed! What a great couple of boxes

[@petaralargic]

@@grumpyrocker use Send?

[@ChrisFranklyn]

My first amp was a Laney GC50 back in the 90s, which sadly got stolen. But these are making me want to return to that... and I didn't know about the one in pedal format!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

The first “big” amp I ever played through was a laney. Good to see them doing great stuff

[@Dito.Gancini]

This is an incredible amp! I received mine today and man…. I coupled it with my Laney Lionheart 1x12. Great review. The best part is that I can use multiple Universal Audios amp liked pedals in the effect loop for even more versatility.

[@JavierMunoz-jl6ul]

Dude, is possible to use without a cab? Like a Desktop Amp for my room. Thanks!

[@jamesneville441]

Does it take overdrive pedals well?

[@Dito.Gancini]

@@JavierMunoz-jl6ulyes

[@ithemba]

Just a small allbeit tragic little mistake: the clean symmetric /asymetric clipping on the dual top (and the pedal) only affects channel 1 - you tried it in channel two where it doesn't acutally do anything. With the clipping switch channel one turns from a clean channel into a full blow n classic rock mid gain channel and the differences are very clearly audible. Which affects kinda your assessment about these amps not being good hard rock mid gain tones.

[@CarsInDimension]

This is Laney's version of the mini Soldano, Friedman, and Diezel amps: solid state preamps derived from amp-in-pedal circuits, drivinga Class D power amp sections, in a scaled down head chassis.

[@beefnacos6258]

Makes me not want it now 😂

[@ithemba]

well not to shit on these but the laneys have some seriously more advanced practical features: more watts, the DI with the switchable cab-sim, arguably more tone-shaping than either of these since they all very much focus on one sound. I got the loud pedal version of these and the clipping switch on the clean channel alone gives me a broader variety of sounds than a Friedman BE-OD could - PLUS the boost that works really well with the rest of the amp, although to get a more marshall-y sound you have to know how to dial it in. But boosted Marshall 80s metal tones are riiiiight up the clean channels alley, its brilliant. i got the loudpedal for band reheasal (to sent into in-ear monitoring for the drummer without micing) and especially live-gigs to take with me instead of my tube heads, since I have to dial those down to 1 1/2 anyways on virtually every stage. less weight, less prone to breaking, and this little thing has features with actual musical applications in mind, compared to these boutique amp distribution mini-heads.

[@RichardGaston-u9q]

That’s a lazy generalization. Those mini amps are distortion pedals with a power amp added. This is like a real solid state guitar amp in a small footprint more like orange terror stamp or Hughes Kettner Ampman, only they made it into a head for people who don’t want the loud pedal version. Think more of this is what orange microdark is to the terror stamp

[@GabrielSkolderblad]

I agree that the one feature missing is a Noise Gate.

[@whatmusiciwant]

I just bought the new Laney Lionheart Foundry 60W combo, I can't freaking wait it sounds amazing! No need for tubes anymore, heavy, hot, I abhor standby switches..Going to be great. EDIT: Please don't ever be sorry for pentatonic blues.

[@BigLenny.]

hm very trebly and pricey imo, a comparison to the joyo bantamps would be amazing since they are just half the price and have a 2 channel tube driven preamp section. these little things are just unbeatable in terms of price-performance ratio

[@TheGuitarGeek]

PRICEY??????

[@scottdunn2178]

@@TheGuitarGeek The Bogner Ecstasy Mini is $249 and sounds better than that $300 LeadTop IMO. The price on these little amps usually comes down a little after they've been on the market for a while and the hoopla starts to wear off.

[@BigLenny.]

@@scottdunn2178 i agree 100% 👍

[@Turbo-D]

​@@scottdunn2178👍

[@scottdunn2178]

@@BigLenny. 🤘

[@beaumas]

Honestly, it's harder to find a bad sounding solid state amp then it is to find a good one these days.

[@thefishbowlstudio]

Pretty much the best review i have seen on these , Thanks

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thank you so much. These are fantastic amps!

[@bxsoup]

Get a Velcro sticky back set . Velcro the brick to amp , take it off when you unplug it . Simple solution .

[@marcjohnson9493]

Thats what I've done. Neat solution. The only gripe I've had with the amp

[@KaiDown]

Surprisingly good cleans, expectedly good high gain

[@Robstafarian]

Cleans should be easy for solid-state amps.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Surprising is a very key word with this amp

[@michaelmitchell5909]

So which would be better to buy?.... this laney head and a 2x12 cab, or a katana mk2 2x12 combo,?????. The boss distortion is damn good, are these as good?... i love big Glenn's demo of the pedal...

[@6stringedpsycho718]

This is great too by the sounds of it, i ordered 2 units so i could do stereo. I have a Katana Mk2 100 watts 1x12. And I couldn't recommend it more. Im yet to compare it, as my Leadtops will be here in less than a week.

[@Dito.Gancini]

It does , it replaced my Laney Lionheart for home practice. Is that good.

[@jacobbockover1628]

Hmm i do have rhe loudpedal. I run a chorus into the front n maybe a compressor and verb in the loop. The format is realy my issue with it. Mainly the placement of the loop and speaker out

[@matzer8846]

nice heavy tones

[@gullgrey]

Great review! I love Laney! But what on earth is that wonderful guitar you play in beginning?

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

Do these models have Class D power amps? Also, if the DI out's plugged into a PA system, with no actual guitar speaker cab, how might this sound out front? Indistinguishable from a cab with a mic? I do like the idea of carrying the least amount of equipment to gigs, and as I use a monitor (a Laney wedge, as it happens; not in-ears), I'd hear the guitar coming back to me from there.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I covered this at 21:38

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

@@TheGuitarGeek Thanks Andy; I did watch that part of the video, but I was wondering about how much difference there might be out front, either with or without a cab. It seems like it can be set to be pretty convincing. I saw these in a music shop today, and they are absolutely tiny. I think the external 24V power supply is a mistake, however, as it suggests that this equipment is not really designed to be gigged.

[@ithemba]

@@1man1guitarletsgo I gigged the pedal version, the power supply is something to be aware of, right. Thats why I'd always prefer the pedal over these heads for gigging: you can just built the power adapter into your board and it doesn't hang from the head and dangles on the back of a 4x12. Having played the pedal on stage and as a working live audio engeneer I'd say for most applications the cab-sim is fine in a live application with a bit of shaping from the FOH. I'd be perfectly happy with that signal as the FOH-guy. Is it indistinguishable? Well, no two cabs miced sound the same, even the same cab mic'ed two times after each other will sound different. Is it a drastic difference out front? no. Nothing a few db on the EQ can't compensate for.

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

@@ithemba Thank you!

[@discocrisco]

I think I'm gonna trade in my Micro Dark on one of these whenever they come to the US. Been eyeballing the Foundry pedal.

[@LaneyAmplification]

USA dealers will have them in the coming days

[@bobbychubb6913]

If you play gigs the pedal is cool because it goes on your pedal board . Less gear to haul. Not to mention it sounds really good. Not just metal tones.

[@pakujewpiwnicy6701]

hi :) does it sound the same as Laney Ironheart Foundry Loudpedal ??

[@JuharizKheil]

how do to know if a footswitch fits to LANEY Dualtop., can I buy any dual switch for it? or a single momentary switch will do for switching? and can I use 1x12 speaker ? thank you for the review.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Any standard dual switch should work here and regarding the speaker you just need to match the ohm rating

[@PearlHarbor138]

I’m so excited! This is what I was waiting for!

[@GuitarNewz]

Now laney, give us a couple of matching small -> big cabs (like a nice 8”)! :D PS. Or a couple of combos (which would be what I've been waiting for since their TubeFusion amps back in the day).

[@bxsoup]

Sounds louder ? You had the REVERB ON for the DualTop .

[@JavierMunoz-jl6ul]

Can i play this without a cab? Like Katana Air? This Laney have a mini speaker for play in my room?

[@LeperMessiah58]

You can play through headphones without needing a cab plugged in.

[@LeperMessiah58]

Through headphones no ned for a cab

[@johnnorth9355]

Wow, that was an eye opener.

[@onefatstratcat]

"Edge of Hair"... my new band :)

[@che2335]

Wierd I just joined Rim Job in LA

[@dandi8253]

Hi Andy, what about the impedance of the loudspeaker (minimum 8 0hm), does when I use a 16 ohm speaker reduce the power of the amp to 30 watts?

[@unseenjungle5386]

not bad. Like the loud pedal which is actually pretty good IMO. i wish Laney would make a new (actual) version of the IRT studio.

[@LaneyAmplification]

we did! It's the IRT-SLS, have a look if you get chance.

[@mehmetozays]

This or Orange Micro Dark. Which you prefer?

[@renmad0078]

They should make the dualtop in 20 or 30w. I prefer with the reverb and the Real 2 channels of this one. But maybe it's a lityle bit too hight with 60. I don't know you should know it better I think. Nice video 😉👍

[@linnane666]

great review.. what footswitch are you using here. thanks

[@dougworden4248]

My only problem is I have too much gear (according to other people) and not enough room to keep adding to the collection.

[@davidvowden]

Great review, as a beginner which would you recommend going with one of these or a Katana ?

[@aprilkurtz1589]

I think I STILL don't understand the scooped mids thing with amplifiers. I would want all the mids, and all the bass. Anyway, these things really sound very traditional rock in the distorted or full gain settings and I kinda like that.

[@scottdunn2178]

You have to understand two things; You have to know WHERE in the signal path to boost mids and to cut, or shelve off certain mid frequencies. Most people make the mistake of thinking they have to crank the middle knob on their amp or they're "scooping" all the midrange. No. Most amplifiers use passive tone controls in their tone-stack, which doesn't actually boost those frequencies, but rather only allows a certain amount of those frequencies into the signal path. When you're allowing too many 800hz-ish frequencies through AFTER your high-gain pre-amp you allow too many odd-order harmonics through, a lot of 3rd order, etc that not only makes your tone harsh, but makes your tone sound like a cardboard box. You want to boost those 800hz BEFORE your input. If you really want to thump your bass frequencies, you have to do something counterintuitive; on a graphic equalizer... pull your 100hz 200hz 400hz frequencies out by 3'5db. I know it sounds exactly the opposite of what you should do to boost your bass... but you should notice it actually really tightens up your bottom end. You make up for the loss of those 100hz, etc in your tone-stack. Give it a go, see if that works for you. It's all about knowing where to manipulate those frequencies.

[@renmad0078]

I think this year could be the Laney year with all these new amps and pedals amp they have made now. I'm sure they will make a revolution in all the maner we play guitar with our amp. They have perfectly understand what we all need. I think i'm going to buy one of the new loudpedals or the lionheart bcc or the ironheart bcc loupedal 60w, they are terribles. Just need to listen them more to understand well and listen what will be the best for my guitarplay😉👍

[@LucasR-xl4sl]

great vid, thanks Andy, sounding fantastic! =)

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cliftongardner4367]

These are super cool! I was impressed by the Dualtop's built in DI IRs - usually these are trash on smaller solid state amps but that 4x12 sounds like a properly mic'd cab. It's cool to see Laney coming back with some genuinely innovative, useful gear for modern players. Great demo!

[@Hodgiez]

What do these offer that the pedal does not?

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Quite a lot, I have never played the pedal but looking at the laney website, there are quite a few things the Dualtop has that the pedal does not. Reverb and IRs for example.

[@ithemba]

yeah its only the second cab-sim and the reverb, really. for that the pedal is way less expansive and the problem with the power-supply vanishes as soon as you fix that to your pedal-board with all the rest. Love the Pedal for what it is - and compared to that, I find these over-priced.

[@mikehurley5052]

They look like good fun.

[@TheMerc1950]

Sounds pretty good to me!

[@HorizonMelt]

It's decided- I'm getting the Dualtop to replace my Origin 20C

[@2dazetake]

boss has a 20 watt head for the same price, and it has a ton of features, plus can chug with the best of them,this amp is ok,but I think boss wins the small amp battle.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I love the katana HARD but this laney does the gain differently.

[@chrisclermont456]

Excellent review!! I'm a-subscribin' and buying one of these amps!! I just became aware of it, and at this price point, it is worth giving it a whirl!! I may even get both!! Thanks so much!! 🤘🥩🍟

[@adammcguigan7207]

Dear Sir, I’d like to know a little more about your Jaguar (?) It’s absolutely beautiful; looks like a jazzmaster and has completely confused me with the knobs 😂 Sounds killer!

[@kicsisziszi]

Reading the debate down below I can say if you want a Laney you'll buy a Laney and not a Joyo or a Bogner.

[@Turbo-D]

sounds a bit harsh to my ears but it could be caused by the low gain pickups tha are used here, i have an very old laney AOR 50 and i still prefer it over any jcm 800 i have played so far. cheers 🎸🎸

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I would really recommend playing one. There are so many factors that can affect the sound you hear.

[@gsbguitarsgsb679]

Gotta have one now…

[@mattmartinez7135]

What model tele is that?

[@TheGuitarGeek]

It’s a fender custom shop 52

[@sesa2984]

Now do this with that 80s pedal you did and see if you can get it to rackmount!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

🤩🤩 GREAT idea!

[@marcdaslama]

This video came just about 2 hours too late. I just ordered a laney cub-supertop.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

dang...! I hope the shop has a good returns policy

[@claebo9411]

The Dualtop with that clean channel edge of breakup blues was tasty! Based on US pricing, I think the Leadtop is lacking features in comparison to their Ironheart Foundry Loudpedal. It is priced the exact same as the Leadtop, but hosts an extra channel and boost switch. I feel like that is the more practical choice. What do you think Andy?

[@steveluvbar]

first guitar model?

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Valiant Guitars - Jupiter

[@TroyNaumu808]

But......will it chug?

[@LaneyAmplification]

yep!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

WILL IT SURF? (YES)

[@SenseiKreese]

I know you're not a metal player, but your "high gain" test is really mid gain at most and you didn't turn up the gain knob. I'd like to know how much gain the amp has and what it sounds like. Maybe next time you could pump the gain more so we could hear it.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thanks for pointing this out. I’ll take note of this in the future. I had to return the amp due to there being so few in Europe. When I get another unit I’ll post a short with higher gain

[@Bronco2Cj]

@@TheGuitarGeek Any plans to do a review on the new Katana Air EX?

[@andybungert]

2:03 forget edge of breakup. I want edge of hair 🤘

[@kloudtunes]

As a grab and go solution… you need a cab and probably a noise gate, maybe need to fix that power supply issue and at least a pedal for mid gain stuff as you say. Honestly i would much prefer the Katana.

[@CA10Z]

I do enjoy your demos... No yak yak play it, change it play it change it is all I need for a great demo thanks a ton. I am so tired of demos with only the guitar player play everthing he knows like he's doing an audition.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thank you!

[@akwamarsunzal]

I owned a Laney amp years ago and never really got on with it. Cleans were more or less ok but the drive was way too fizzy. To me it seems that Laney hasn´t changed very much lol

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thanks for your input. I found it really dark

[@akwamarsunzal]

@@TheGuitarGeek Thats really funny Andy... I put on a decent set of headphones to listen again and, to me, it still sounded fizzy to me 😞 I think, as I get older, I really do not like too much treble/fizzy amps. Weird aint I LOL

[@DizzyKrissi]

Pretty cool idea to build a compact head with two channels. The sound does not convince me but for a beginner this should be suitable.

[@zipporaid]

Pretty neat but man, that external PSU is a deal breaker for me. Plenty of space in that box to have it integrated

[@graemegourley7616]

It sounded way way wayyyyyy better with the Tele. And imo kind of sh!t with those humbuckers.... Wait that's a jazz master... So not humbuckers right? Huh.... Well regardless, way better with the Tele.

[@wbfaulk]

The guitar at 5:00? That's got the vague body shape of a Jazzmaster, but those pickups are almost certainly humbuckers.

[@PooNinja]

Sabbath!!!!!!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I AM POO NINJA MAN

[@PooNinja]

@@TheGuitarGeek you do have the shirt… I might be you or you might be me?? Or am I Michiel? 😂

[@southernpanda33]

I’m proud of the fact that I was like number 666. 🤘🏻

[@domg7616]

My ears are bleeding !

[@sergiohotjazz]

The power supply it's a no go. If you are doing a lot of gigs it becomes a liability.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I too would like to see them integrate this or make it safer to use.

[@iancurrie8844]

Paused at 17 seconds. I’m going to watch the video but my first blush impression: that is the worst amp I have ever heard.

[@iancurrie8844]

Stopped at 2 minutes. I cannot listen to any more of this. I don’t know if it’s the demo or the amp but it’s just nails on a chalkboard.

[@camerondunsmore4586]

Nope.

[@lessqqmorepewpew7843]

nah, this isn't it. yuk.

[@mickhofman]

you dial in the shittiest tones for your demo's..

[@theclosetguitarist6450]

where do you get the foot switch??? @guitargeek