Laney Lionhearts - Now with AmpAS!!

stickyfiddle

Anyone have any experience of these, particularly the 5W combo?

I'm after something that'll do voxy chime at low wattage and be really simple so I don't get too deep into buggering around with menus and shizzle.

I've also discovered I can get one imported to Abu Dhabi from Thomann for £500 on the button, which makes it a very viable option and way less than I should get selling my 5:25.

But I'd love to hear if anyone has any experience of these in particular. I played one in guitar village years ago and liked it so it feels like my best option.

lustycourtier

Amazing amps. I gigged the 20w version for a few years, and had a 5w.

Fortheloveofguitar

I had two of the 5w models and it was great until I put pedals in the loop. If then sucked my tone.

I had another 3 amps at the time so was the amp and not my board setup.

markslade07

I had the 20w head for a bit too. Cracking amp, not 100% sure why I got rid of it, other than I wanted a Fendery sound so bought a HRDlx and couldn't justify keeping them both. Would definitely have one back if I needed a head.

ICBM

Fortheloveofguitar said:

I had two of the 5w models and it was great until I put pedals in the loop. If then sucked my tone.

I had another 3 amps at the time so was the amp and not my board setup.

Most Laney loops are very poor, because they use a fixed 50% parallel mix. That means that any effect unit which either has A/D/A conversion on the dry path (many digital effects do) or a phase reversal (many analogue effects do) is certain to produce massive tone suck.

Why Laney designed the loop like that I have no idea - it automatically makes it non-compatible with a very substantial number of FX units. You can fix it fairly easily, but it needs the amp modding.

stickyfiddle

This is all good news

I've read the loop can be modded to series quite easily, but I never use them anyway so not a big deal either way.

Fortheloveofguitar

ICBM;352643" said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

I had two of the 5w models and it was great until I put pedals in the loop. If then sucked my tone.



I had another 3 amps at the time so was the amp and not my board setup.





Most Laney loops are very poor, because they use a fixed 50% parallel mix. That means that any effect unit which either has A/D/A conversion on the dry path (many digital effects do) or a phase reversal (many analogue effects do) is certain to produce massive tone suck.

Why Laney designed the loop like that I have no idea - it automatically makes it non-compatible with a very substantial number of FX units. You can fix it fairly easily, but it needs the amp modding.

Thanks for clearing that up mate.

I sent both back after realising if obviously wasn't a fault so to speak with the amp. Clear now that it's a design issue.

Was a shame as it was a lovely sounding amp

hotpickups

I tried a 20w combo in a shop a few years back and was very impressed with it. However, I eventually went for a JTM45 but probably should have gone with the Lionheart in hindsight. I've gone an altogether different direction sonically now though

jonnyburgo

I had the 5w combo, It was really nice, the tolex was a bit soft though

ICBM

jonnyburgo said:

I had the 5w combo, It was really nice, the tolex was a bit soft though

This is a problem with all Laneys. It's not only soft, it's poorly stuck to the cabinet with some horrible sticky muck instead of glue! - and has a tendency to pull off, ruck up and snag on the chassis when you try to remove it. This might sound like a trivial issue, but it isn't when you have to service the damn things - a couple of weeks ago I had to work on a Cub 15 and it took me ten minutes to get the chassis out without ripping the tolex. I was not exactly happy.

They start to look very tatty very quickly too. It's just poor. If other companies like Peavey, Behringer, Line 6 etc can make budget amps which don't suffer from this, why can't Laney? Although to be fair, Marshall have the same problem to a slightly lesser extent.

DartmoorHedgehog

ICBM said:

jonnyburgo said:

I had the 5w combo, It was really nice, the tolex was a bit soft though

This is a problem with all Laneys....

They start to look very tatty very quickly too...  Marshall have the same problem to a slightly lesser extent.

(bit off-topic, sorry, but...) The stuff Orange use seems a bit puny as well.  My Orange head and cab are the only amp kit I've ever bothered getting covers for because they seem to mark and scuff extremely easily.  Not just because of the orange colour which obviously shows marks more than black would, it just isn't very strong compared to other tolex-covered things I've had.  Oddly, the Chinese-made 212OB cab is less prone to damage than the UK-made (assembled?) Rocker 30 head.

ICBM

There's probably some directive which stops UK manufacturers using tolex that's tougher than tissue paper and glue that actually sticks things.

stickyfiddle

I clicked lol but it might be true.

I remember the VC15 I had being a proper pain whenever I took the chassis out. It was well looked after but had loads of little nicks after a couple of years gigging.

longjaw

I have a L20H - love it.  My #1 gigging amp.

stickyfiddle

So nobody has a bad word apart from an FX loop I won't use and crap tolex which won't be a problem as it'll be staying at home? Excellent!

And I've already had a local chap interested in my Express for more than I paid for it

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

So nobody has a bad word apart from an FX loop I won't use and crap tolex which won't be a problem as it'll be staying at home?

I had a L20H to repair with a connection on a valve socket which had never been soldered up at the factory, so once it vibrated loose two of the valves weren't running and the remaining two cooked themselves in no time…

But I've seen similar faults on a 70s Fender and an expensive modern boutique amp too (and several more I think, those just spring to mind first), so I won't hold it too much against them.

impmann

SERIOUSLY good amps - I had a 20w head and I loved it, like Mark above, I'm not 100% sure why I sold it... and I bought a HRD to replace it!!! :-)

lustycourtier

Id have another in a heartbeat. Are they still made?

Fortheloveofguitar

lustycourtier said:

Id have another in a heartbeat. Are they still made?

You missed you chance for a great pun there fella!

markslade07

impmann said:

SERIOUSLY good amps - I had a 20w head and I loved it, like Mark above, I'm not 100% sure why I sold it... and I bought a HRD to replace it!!! :-)

That was mine! Seems we're following a similar path!

longjaw

Had mine a few months - bought it from new; best price I found was here.  A lot cheaper than anywhere else I could find!