A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria

watch where you point that sabre
Laboga_Beasts_Laney_Cab.jpg


Two little 30 watt monsters, a "Laboga: The Beast 30 Plus" & "The Beast Classic" made by Laboga amplification in Poland ...& a nice new Laney IRT 2x12 cab to go with them :headbang:

They just came in yesterday from a store in Finland (http://www.nordsound.fi) ..got a great price (discounted) for the two with very reasonable int'l shipping (bought the Laney cab locally though) to boot! A big thumbs up to Nordsound Finland, awesome, helpful, friendly dude to buy from..he stocks a bunch of the new Gurus (Cicognani)/DV Mark/Hayden etc stuff as well.. (maybe later lol!) :bigthumb:

Regarding the Laboga heads... have'nt had the chance to spend much time with either of them yet (hopefully over the weekend) but I'm totally blown away by the awesome tones I did hear coming out of them!! Cleans are amazing, crunch is killer & the high gain is nuts..both very different, incredible sounding beasts ..super quick/easy to dial in, with some killer extra features (15/30 watt switching, speaker defeat/headphone out/speaker emulated silent out for DI recording..works a treat!)

Specs for both amps are pretty similar... but they're worlds apart tonally/feel-wise..very much two different amps.

The 30 plus is souped-up juicy thick modern Marshall-y high gain but very much with it's own flavor thrown in as well (ultra quiet/un-noisy for such a high gain monster too..) & the Classic is more like a JCM 800 mixed with an Orange of some sort (anything from 70's Priest to Maiden to Sabbath or Soundgarden flows effortlessly out of this thing....enough gain for smooth/liquid legato licks without a boost with the gain at about 7-8 onwards....but less gain than the 30 plus model overall which has huge sick amounts of massive sizzling gain on tap :firedevil: ). The cleans are incredibly sweet & the crunch is gorgeous!

As for clips..I'll do some when I can ..but here are a couple of youtube ones that are up already (not mine)..



Beast Classic 30..





Beast 30 Plus..



The Laney IRT 2x12 pairs really well with them and sounds awesome! I'm a big fan of the new HH drivers ..a lot of people hate them (no idea why frankly) ..but I really don't :D

The trick is to wait till they're well broken in before swapping them out (makes a huge difference..I've got a 4x12 with them too..very sweet!) & sometimes maybe turn the treble on your amp down more than you normally would since they have a somewhat extended top end (albeit very pleasant/sweet sounding when rolled back just a bit) ..otherwise, nice rich open fat singing mids, lively, sweet overtones, strong tight deep bass ..tons of sustain/projection etc.. ie ..all the good stuff! Great cab for not much money :bigthumb:
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

They sound fantastic. I think that the plus version would be right up my alley. I love how you can hear every pick stroke.
What are the specs on these things? Where can I buy one?

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

I love those HH drivers as well
my GC80A has one
sounds awesome

I posted a thread some weeks ago
about a 2x12 Cub cab on Amazon for $199

I keep putting it in my cart then saving it for later
I just cant justify another amp/cab right now
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Demanic said:
They sound fantastic. I think that the plus version would be right up my alley. I love how you can hear every pick stroke.
What are the specs on these things? Where can I buy one?

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Thanks! I'm quite blown away by them frankly..actually playing them in person is sheer bliss dude. Fantastic amps. Built like tanks too.. :bigthumb:


The classic is no slouch either..check out this dude's modern Sabbath tone.. very cool!





As for specs:

http://www.laboga.pl/en/the-beast-30-head#description

output power: 30W / 15W (switched) using 4 x EL84,
all tube preamplifier using 2 x 12AX7,
three channels – clean, crunch and drive (high gain),
separate tone control for both channels,
effects loop with level switch (+4dB/-10dB),
headphones output with second generation speaker emulation,
built-in Di-Box (with speaker emulation) in balanced line out XLR,
silent play/record (built-in fake speaker load),
master volume, clean channel - volume, drive channel- gain and volume,
relays channel switching,
double footswitch socket (channels),
speaker outputs: 4 ohm, 8 ohm, 16 ohm,
dimensions (width x depth x height): 450 x 225 x 200 mm,
weight: 11 kg.

^^ which pretty much applies to both. The classic apparently has a different transformer & the preamp design is modded a bit too. What's pretty amazing is that they have just two 12AX7's in the preamp (and no clipping diodes..). The only transistors used are for the speaker emulated output.

They both came stock with a set of Ruby tubes & this is the only amp I've bought where it has'nt even crossed my mind to mess with/roll tubes. They sound that perfect just out of the box..

No idea if the sell them in the US..I got mine online from the store the link up there in my first post (Nordsound, Finland). Best price I could find for them anywhere. The guy is great to deal with :bigthumb:
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

ehdwuld said:
I love those HH drivers as well
my GC80A has one
sounds awesome

I posted a thread some weeks ago
about a 2x12 Cub cab on Amazon for $199

I keep putting it in my cart then saving it for later
I just cant justify another amp/cab right now
Click to expand...


Yeah, that Cub cab sounds pretty sweet..I was looking at it as well, just was'nt sure how the open back would work with the 30 plus hi-gain head..so I went with the IRT instead.
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Oh yeah, he's got a store on Reverb.com too..does'nt have the Laboga's listed there atm, but he'll probably do that if you ask him to. He offered to do the same for me (it adds a bit to the cost though..because of Reverb's fees..) and in my case shipping from Europe was cheaper.

https://reverb.com/shop/nordsound-guitarshop

He's got some other nice stuff there too..

Either way...the stuff will ship from Finland.
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Very interesting! Ive recently been seeing alot of cool amps made in other countries that we dont hear of in the states.. Shame.
Victory, for one and a few lesser known names like this one. Im anxious for a review! will def check some clips.. So many little amps using el84s. one of them is bound to change my bias (pun intended) against el84s..
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Yeah, there are definitely some other great options out there.. :bigthumb:

I'm in a worse situation when it comes to buying locally lol ....ie...not exactly a huge choice. There are the usual Laneys, Peavey's, Marshall's, Orange's, Egnator's, Bugera's and things like that..most of them with their prices marked up by 25-50% (at least) more than US prices. It actually makes more financial sense to buy online (from Europe ..or China lol) ..even though one has to deal with shipping/custom's charges/shipping risks etc.. and then there's no 'try before you buy option' obviously ...but I've been lucky ;)

I actually had a "guest spot" at a gig yesterday (playing Bolt Thrower/Slayer/Sabbath cover's with another band..) and took the "30 Plus" head along. It sounded absolutely insane cranked!! Performed flawlessly too (& really sang/screamed with the solos as well!) ...the sound guy said it was the most beastly (hehe) thing he'd ever heard! (Well maybe not in those exact words :laugh2: ...but that was the gist of it..)

I'm waiting to give the "Classic" a good run like that...hopefully soon!

I love a nice EL84 amp ..they have a certain juicyness/roundness & sweetness to them that's really appealing & they can sound really huge & savage as well..depending on the amp. Definitely a different flavor...but an awesome one! You should really give more of them a try :bigthumb:
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Got a recording from Friday's gig with The beast 30 + :bigthumb:

 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

You playing the intro part and the part that stars around 3:06? Sounds good and great playing!
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Thanks man! It was fun! Not the tightest cover maybe, but we'd just had one short jam together before we hit the stage :laugh2:

I'm the one on the far right..came in second with the rhythm a couple of bars in (it's two guitars right through except for the solo) & the solo in the middle/squeals at the end was my usual wank-work as well :laugh2: (the song does'nt actually have a solo..)
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

I clicked this thread knowing nothing about those amps. But they look like beasts, and sound like beasts, so you've convinced me!! :D
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

hhaha...that's great! They're definitely beasts..no doubt about it :bigthumb:

Having said that..& demo's notwithstanding ..they are both capable of way...way more than just bringing the brutez. I was getting the most amazing bluesy/rock'n roll crunch tones out of them yesterday (while the 30 plus has more gain on the crunch channel...great for blues, 60's/70's rock, the Classic 30 will do anything from twangy country to jangly 50's rock'n roll type stuff on the crunch setting & has a really sweet warm musical top end for bluesy stuff as well..) & they do the 80's metal thing exceptionally well..everything from Priest & Maiden to VH.

While they have blistering gain, especially the 30 Plus (more than you'll ever need) ..it's fat, crunchy, organic gain as opposed to the super compressed/flat type of gain a lot of modern high gain amps have going on. (The 30 plus can still get very modern sounding though..extreme chunk & chug if you need it :laugh2: ). All in all these are both fantastic amps..I had apprehensions about them maybe having the same basic tone & feel (maybe with differing amounts of gain on tap) as they have practically the same specs..but the reality is they could'nt be more different & they both sound ****ing awesome ..can't stop playing them :D
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Just recorded a short (DI/XLR speaker-emulated output) clip on the gain channel with the hi-gain 30 plus head using my digital handheld recorder's 3.5mm jack line input.

Idle noodling basically ....started off just jamming on one power chord for a while lol & then added some more random riffs & lead bits.

This is straight into the front with nothing in the loop. So just the raw amp tone..no effects. I did filter some extra low end out in Audacity..but that's it (Emulated out is a bit bassy...not excessively, but a fair bit more than I hear through the cab..




AMP Settings:

Master: 3 1/2
Treble: 3.5
Bass: 3.5
Gain: 5.5

"Mid switch" activated @ 3:30 min.. (brings in more mids/shaves a bit off the top end)

I'll do a few more when I can..maybe crunch/clean with this amp & then some with the Classic 30 as well..
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Tried a short recording of my Beast Classic 30 mic'd at bedroom levels last night (Lead & Crunch channels) with a cheap Chinese condenser mic. No effects except for a little delay from the DAW (Audacity). Used a long guitar lead to minimize picking noise and it seems to have worked :bigthumb:



Did'nt turn out too bad though this thing really opens up and sings/shakes things about when you crank it a little :D The cab (drivers) still need to be broken-in too..
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Finally gave one of them (30 Plus) a go recording with a backing track. No effects/XLR emulated output into my loop pedal's input. Used an old loop that I'd recorded before (rhythm / pitch-shifted guitar-emulated "bass" & onboard drums) and jammed a solo over it. Loop pedal output into my digital handheld recorder :laugh2:



There's also a "mastered" version 3:00 mins into the vid..

Turned out sounding pretty nice I think....not overly bassy in the mix like I thought it would be from the emulated output ...it's actually a very usable sweet tone. I'll maybe do another vid with the same backing loop & amp settings using my Classic 30 head & see how that turns out..just to check out the difference :bigthumb:
 
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Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Nice clips. I've heard a fair bit of buzz about Laboga within the heavy music circles.
 
Re: A pair of Beastly little NAD (s) ....& a NCD (2x12)!

Thanks :) They're awesome ballsy amps, with a really nice meaty/fat organic crunch for rhythm & lots of sweetness/overtones to them for leads & I pretty much spend all my free time these days scuttling around from one to the other :laugh2:

They both sound absolutely killer through headphones too (awesome sizzling cranked tone!) ...so they're great for noodling right into the wee hours haha ..I need more sleep :D
 
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