(Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

[trevorus]

I wanted a higher gain amp, since I have used mostly master volume amps. What do you people think?

[trevorus]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

Ennywun?

[speed2dirt]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

I'm interested to see what you think. I have no Laney experience besides playing an LC30 at the Sam Ash in Hollywood, which I loved.

[Andy43]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

It's a good one! I have a feeling I'm gonna miss it, It's the longest I've held on to one amp before, and I've had some good ones (Mesa Tremoverb, Mark III, Carvins). Prepare to have more gain than you will ever need.

[Brow]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

I had an LC30II combo for a while a few years ago. It was a decent enough amp but the stock speaker in it was awful, it was really brittle sounding and gave everything a really fuzzy top end to it.

I believe the VC range is supposed to be more vintage voiced whereas the LC range was more modern voiced, so I'm interested to hear how you get on with it

[trevorus]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

So, halfway between the vintage styled stuff I already have, and a modern gain monster... Sounds good. I'll likely have a chance to play with it tonight. Review/pics to come.

[donnievaz]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

I had a VC-50, the only thing I didn't like was the HH speakers. Other than that it was a great amp.

[richard parker]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

The VC50 was different to the lower wattage VC amps. I have a VC30 which is definitely vintage sounding and kind of AC30 ish.

The VC50 was very different. It was originally advertised as the 'Alliance' amp because it was designed to produce US and Brit sounds. It's a two channel amp with four footswitchable modes. The top section (top row of controls) of the amp has clean and crunch modes which are Fenderish. The bottom section has even more crunch mode and high gain mode which are Marshall/Hiwatt flavoured.

It's a monster of an amp. I gigged with one for 5 years until I eventually sold it to fellow forum member Gingrel (Mike) because I had too many amps. I decided that 30w amps suited my gigging sounds better. The Laney is rated at 50 watts. I once compared it to a 50w JCM900 combo and it blew the Marshall to pieces volume wise as well as tone wise. I never had a problem with the HH speakers.

Send Gingrel a PM and ask what he thinks of it.

This is it in action:

[richard parker]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

Tried the amp yet ? What did you think ? They need to be cranked a bit to get their best tones.

[trevorus]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

It's definitely different than what I have normally played. The Sovtek that went to make room for it was definitely a different beast. I've been using single channel amps for the last 5 or so years. Some channel switching and some more tonal options is very cool. The tighter, higher gain is a welcome change from the Plexi I normally play. The stock speakers were a bit on the brighter side, and they seem like they would be better suited for a closed back cabinet. So I dropped in a pair of Carvin VL12's I had around. That, and removing a bright cap on the drive channel really brought the tone where I wanted it. A swap of V1 to an old USA GE tube also helped. Next is modding it so I can bias it easier. The amp section is a lot of empty space, but the design is nice and clean. Pics in a while.

[Andy43]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

Dude that's awesome that you are getting it to do what you want for you. I've always relied on the knobs to dial in my tone, but I do agree that the stock speakers are pretty bright for that amp. I tried the amp once with a Marshall 1960a cab and was surprised how different it sounded, much darker and I had to use different settings. Always wanted to do a speaker swap but never got around to it.

Just out of curiosity, what speakers cab did you run with the Sovtek? I've got a closed back Avatar 2x12 with WGS Reapers that I'm hoping will do well with it.

[trevorus]

Re: (Preemptive NAD!) Laney VC50 on the way... Opinions?

The reapers should sound good with it. I either ran it with a Carvin vl12 in an Epiphone cab, or a marshall 1965a 410 cab. Sounded great with either.

One thing I will say, the GE tube didn't sound as good as I thought it would... At least in a band setting. Looks like I'll be doing some swapping and finding what works best.