Re Laney VC-100.......advice please!!!!!

surfguy13

Hi guys

I have an old mid 70s Marshall 4x12 advertised for sale and got a reply from someone today who has a mint Laney VC-100 which he's offering to trade.  I know nothing about Laney amps and even less about this model as there appears to be little or nothing on the net having done a search. 

I advertised my cab for £400 which is a fair price I think as it has the 55Hz G12Ms rather than the 75 watt drivers.  I have no idea of what a mint VC-100 (just been serviced) would be worth.....?

So, I'd be really grateful for any opinions on this amp.  What little I've read seems to be very positive but in the main that's coming from people who own them!!!!

Cheers

Guy

ThePrettyDamned

It's a cracking amp.

But

Despite being a *massive* laney fan, they do have their cockups. For an idea of vc100 tones, listen to Paul Gilbert on YouTube on the spaceship thing. He uses one exclusively.

I would say judge that yourself. Same as the vh100r I think, but in a combo.

Toughie. Depends on your wants and needs.

surfguy13

ThePrettyDamned said:

It's a cracking amp.

But

Despite being a *massive* laney fan, they do have their cockups. For an idea of vc100 tones, listen to Paul Gilbert on YouTube on the spaceship thing. He uses one exclusively.

I would say judge that yourself. Same as the vh100r I think, but in a combo.

Toughie. Depends on your wants and needs.

Good to have an opinion from somebody who's familiar with them!  Cheers.  The guy is in Scotland and is offering to bring it down when he travels south for christmas, do a swap and then take it back up with him.  So.....I'm guessing he doesn't want to drag it all the way down here for me to try.  So I kinda need to say yes/no and without seeing it it's not easy as you would imagine.

I'll listen to that Paul Gilbert clip on utube though, thanks for that.

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

Same as the vh100r I think, but in a combo.

I think so, yeah. I've only tried the vh100r. Laney used prices are normally pretty low, so bear that in mind.

paulads

i had a vc50 combo...really good. 4 very good sounds in 1 amp

ThePrettyDamned

Dave_Mc;108830" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Same as the vh100r I think, but in a combo.










I think so, yeah. I've only tried the vh100r. Laney used prices are normally pretty low, so bear that in mind.

Exactly. It's bloody heavy as a head, too, so a combo would be back breaking.

Cracking amps let down by below average speakers. A v30 and t75 goes great.

I would think long and hard - how desirable is your cab? You might find selling it, you would get enough to eBay a Laney vc50 or 100 and still have change left over, I'm not an expert on cab prices though.

But Pg gets amazing tone from it. He used it entirely in that set, and he'd also use the lc50 (more classic sounding) and the gh100 (single channel amp) from time to time, too. But the vc he uses sounds the balls, and it is an accurate representation of the tone.

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

Exactly. It's bloody heavy as a head, too, so a combo would be back breaking.

Cracking amps let down by below average speakers. A v30 and t75 goes great.

Good point, as you said, weight is going to be the thing. I'm guessing the vc100 is a 2x12, too? Even worse )

And yeah I know my GH50L (which is broadly similar to the dirty channel, I think) sounds really good with good speakers and Laney has a tendency to cheap out on the speakers...

surfguy13

Some VERY useful points here guys, thank you.  I hadn't considered the weight factor......the combo has wheels fitted as standard so it's likely it is back-breakingly heavy.

The comments on speakers are valid too.....this one has HH speakers apparently.  I assume this has nothing to do with HH amps from the 70s?  Anyway, my guess is that they're cheap and nasty and would need to be swapped out.

I also agree with the comment that they tend to sell quite cheaply second hand.....whenever I've seen them for sale they've been at the cheaper end, other maybe than the Lionheart amps.  Having looked at the clips I get the feeling that the VC-100 is probably not going to be my cup of tea and would therefore end up selling it on and so I really do need to be sure that a straight trade is fair.  However, there are none for sale at the moment, certainly that I can find, so it's really tough even making a guess at the value.  This one is mint with all the paperwork and footswitch so it's the type of thing that would probably sell OK.

Appreciate all the input/advice!

ThePrettyDamned

Laney amps are out of fashion at the moment. They were not going that cheap a few years back. The vh100r is a one thousand pounds amp, so the vc 100 was probably discontinued because of the sheer size and weight, and it would have cost a bit more than the head alone. Hence the rarity - more vc50s were sold. The vc30 is a very different beast of an amp, so not really comparable.

Orange had a similar thing happen. Now they're back 'in' and fetching better money. Guitarists... Still, it means I can get a superb sounding, decent quality 4 channel amp for not much money these days.

The hh speakers are a bit naff. The 10s are a bit better than the 12s, but they get the job done rather than enhance the sound of the amp. Luckily, laney amps suit speakers that don't cost a bomb (no need for Alnico golds!).

Bidley

I would see if you can't get a bit of cash your way - VH100R heads (although worth much more, IMO) seem to go for around £250, so the combo can't be worth more than £300? I may be wrong, it's worth thinking about though. If you consider flipping it, let me know

paulads

Craziest thing about vc50 is that - if you're carrying it yourself - the handles are on each side and make it really awkward.

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

The vh100r is a one thousand pounds amp,

They have shot up a bit in price. A while back it was £600 (I'm talking maybe 5 years ago).

Also if you are swapping the speakers that gets expensive in a 2x12.

ThePrettyDamned

Dave_Mc;109521" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

The vh100r is a one thousand pounds amp,










They have shot up a bit in price. A while back it was £600 (I'm talking maybe 5 years ago).



Also if you are swapping the speakers that gets expensive in a 2x12.

Ah fair enough - i always knew it was out of my price range. Didn't realise they were that cheap, I do remember the gh100ls going for less than 400 on gak though.

surfguy13

Once again, thanks for all the info and comments. 

Crazy that these amps, which I assume were made in the UK?, were well over a grand new and are now in the low £100s.  Looking at the VC-100 it really does look like a top notch mega versatile amp and why the hell is it that the US equivalent would hold its used value whereas if it's manufactured in the UK it's worth next to nothing a few years later.  Starting to wonder if they were made in the UK????  Yes, the speakers let it down but there are some great speakers out there for not a lot of money but, as Dave_Mc says, you've got to broker that in.

However, from a practical point of view it's really useful to get an idea of second hand values just in case I do trade the cab.  I was starting to think that maybe the cab is worth a bit more than the 2x12.

Thanks guys......

ThePrettyDamned

Yup, they're made in UK. There are laney amps made in the far East, but mostly they're UK made. It'll say on the back I remember seeing a magazine article in the factory and it's a bunch of mums!

The general negatives tend to be poor tolexing and the speakers. The circuits themselves are very good though, and tend to be quite reliable as far as I know.

The tt heads and combos have even more gubbins!

surfguy13

ThePrettyDamned said:

Yup, they're made in UK. There are laney amps made in the far East, but mostly they're UK made. It'll say on the back I remember seeing a magazine article in the factory and it's a bunch of mums!

The general negatives tend to be poor tolexing and the speakers. The circuits themselves are very good though, and tend to be quite reliable as far as I know.

The tt heads and combos have even more gubbins!

That's a definite positive for me, that they're UK made.  Shame about the tolexing though.  Unlike speakers there's not a hell of a lot you can do about that. 

From what I heard on utube the amps sound pretty amazing if you're after that type of sound....seem to be quite gainy but that's maybe just what I saw them being used for rather than what they're capable of.

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

Dave_Mc;109521" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

The vh100r is a one thousand pounds amp,










They have shot up a bit in price. A while back it was £600 (I'm talking maybe 5 years ago).



Also if you are swapping the speakers that gets expensive in a 2x12.

Ah fair enough - i always knew it was out of my price range. Didn't realise they were that cheap, I do remember the gh100ls going for less than 400 on gak though.

Yeah I sort of missed the boat on the Laneys when the prices went way up, but I got my GH50L in one of guitar village's "boss gone mad" sales which brought it down to what they'd been going for back when they were cheap.

I also wonder just how much they're made in the UK- the boards could be assembled elsewhere (though they may not be, I genuinely don't know).

timmysoft

I was a vc50 user for 2 years of hard touring, the vc is a brilliant amp that will cover most tones you will ever need. Very heavy but reliable.

OilCityPickups

I'm a big Laney fan ... I've had several from the LC15 up. The HH speakers are not mega brilliant .... but not as bad as some people paint them. The tolex coverings could be done better I'd be the first to admit ... and some of the screws and fixings that mount the chassis to the enclosures are a bit naff. The big but here is try getting anything that sounds as good for the same price!