Laney L5-112 - mods?

antifash

I know nothing about the workings of amps. I like how Fender amps sound and love their reverb. I’m a big fan of my Laney amp - terrific sound and good output. I’ve one of the UK ones with reverb tank etc. Now that I’ve got my guitars and pedals how I want them, is there anything that this amp could do with? 

It has a Celestion Greenback speaker, but I don’t know what the tubes are. Would I notice a difference if I changed either of these components?

Thanks in advance, amp boffins. 

normula1

I cleaned mine up a touch with a 5751 in the V1 position, modded the fx loop to serial and fitted an l-pad attenuator in the back cage and swapped the speaker for a "cheaper" Celestion G12 50 as I've never really liked the stock greenback. 

normula1

Oh and it's currently sporting a late 50s Mullard EL84 output valve which sounds brilliant when you crank the clean channel.

antifash

@normula1 Wow, thanks! I’m just gonna google all that. 

olafgarten

Is the amp lacking anything? These things will make a difference, but they peobably won't be better, just different. 

antifash

@olafgarten Not lacking in my opinion - I love it! I’m just very amp ignorant...

ICBM

Unless they've changed the spec, the speaker isn't a "Greenback" despite having a green magnet cover - it's a G12H-30 Heritage. You won't find a better speaker - only different ones. Personally I would stick with it, it's a great choice for getting the biggest, fullest tone from a low-powered amp.

The only other thing it could need is better valves - given that it only takes one EL84 and three 12AX7s, it's worth spending a little on something like original Mullards in my opinion. They really do sound better. You don't even have to buy NOS (which tend to be expensive), simply tested used valves will be fine.

english_bob

The effects loop mod was essential for me. It's simple enough that you can do it at home with caution and a general idea of what you're doing. Basically, you need to remove an SMD resistor (R28 I think, but do check before you start because I bet those things are more trouble to put back than they are to get out!) from the main PCB and jumper the switching contacts on the effects loop jack sockets. Took me about an hour, and most of that was getting the amp chassis out of the cab and back in again.

If all you read there was "blah blah blah", let someone else do it for you   And obviously, if you have no interest in using the effects loop, don't bother.


I got my Lionheart (mine's the 20W combo) from @pete24v, who had swapped the power valves to EH ones from whatever it came with, but I think that was a reliability choice rather than (or as well as) a tone thing.

I've heard people not prone to falling for bullshit say that NOS valves are worth the spend for studio and home use where you can appreciate smaller differences in sound, so that might be worth a look, although it's a fairly expensive endeavour- NOS US made ECC83/12AX7s are around £50 on Watford Valves versus about £12 for no-frills modern production valves, and EL84 prices are pretty similar. Preamp valves should last a long time though, so it's not like spending £50 on a pack of strings...

Re: Fender sounds- it's not really what the Lionheart is designed to do, but to get in the ballpark, turn the bass and treble up high, mids low and the master tone high. Then get a good spring reverb sim pedal, because the onboard reverb tank has nothing like the amount of splosh my old Twin had.

antifash

Thanks @english_bob and @icbm! ;

english_bob

Heh. @ICBM was one of the "people not prone to falling for bullshit" I was thinking of.

normula1

ICBM said:

Unless they've changed the spec, the speaker isn't a "Greenback" despite having a green magnet cover - it's a G12H-30 Heritage. You won't find a better speaker - only different ones. Personally I would stick with it, it's a great choice for getting the biggest, fullest tone from a low-powered amp.

The only other thing it could need is better valves - given that it only takes one EL84 and three 12AX7s, it's worth spending a little on something like original Mullards in my opinion. They really do sound better. You don't even have to buy NOS (which tend to be expensive), simply tested used valves will be fine.

I really don't like the tone of that speaker for some reason, but it's safely in a box in case I ever want to flog the amp

I did some A/B testing of EL84s in it last year using a looper to try and ensure a level playing field and the Mullard was way nicer that the others I tried. I pulled a set of 4 from an old stereo of my dads and they sat on a shelf for a good number of years. Two of the remaining three are fine and the fourth works but the cathode voltage measures totally differently than the others so suspect it may be poorly.

english_bob

Found some stuff about the effects loop mod. This is where I got the "R28" information from:

http://www.laney-posse.co.uk/theposse/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3580

It's not very clear about the send and return sockets, but what works on mine is running two wires- one from the switched contact of the send jack to the same contact on the return, and a second wire between the switched earth contacts.

antifash

Where does one find these ‘Mullards’?

english_bob

antifash said:

Where does one find these ‘Mullards’?

Teh interwebs.

search for "Mullard valves UK" or something.

Neither HotRox or Watford Valves had any stock of NOS Mullard ECC83s or EL84s when I looked this morning. I wonder if the supply is drying up- it's been a long time since they were made. 

normula1

I believe the currently produced ones are the same as other Russian made equivalents so are Mullard in name only.

english_bob

normula1 said:

I believe the currently produced ones are the same as other Russian made equivalents so are Mullard in name only.

Yep. Sovtek owns the name now. They may be different to other Russian made valves in some way, but I very much doubt they're the same as the UK made ones that made the brand's reputation.

antifash

This is getting confusing. 

strtdv

It's not really, it'll be pretty clear whether you're buying an original Millard or a reissue.

Even sticking one in the V1 position can make a fairly big difference.

I run an Amperex in V1 and a Mullard in V2.


The other mod worth doing if you use the effects loop is getting it modded from parallel to series.

As ICBM has said the Heritage G12H-30 is excellent so probably not worth changing (it's one of my favourite speakers)

antifash

Am looking at tubes on eBay. I’ll hopefully find the right ones!

antifash

Prices are really varied - can anyone give me a ballpark figure to aim for here? I can get a Mullard EL84 for between £20 and £50 and the three 12AX7 tubes are similarly priced (each). 

DJH83004

The only thing to be wary of with valves of this age, is if they are microphonic, they can test fine but you only know once they are in the amp, so def worth asking the question of the seller.