Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

mrfunnyman

mrfunnyman

Member
The other day I was doing my annual pawn shop hunting when I came across a Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head for $250 signed by Tommy Chong this amp head sounded good so I snatched it up, it runs on 2 EL34's and 4 12AX7's it's the single channel head, it says made in england on it. Can anybody tell out there tell me anything about Laney amps, their is not alot out there about them and their website is pretty vague aswell.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

The Laney AOR Pro Tube amps were very popular in the mid to late 1980's. I remember owning one in the early 90's. It was supposed to be a hot rodded Marshall type amp for people on a budget. It was made in England, but really didn't have the quality of a Marshall. That doesn't mean they were of bad quality, just not as good.

If I remember correctly, it had a bunch of push/pull switches for tone and gain. Plenty of distortion with the extra (4th) preamp tube.
All in all, a cool rock amp that sounds decent, but won't make you broke.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

Very loose, spongy low end bass response - some like it, most hate it !

I like it !


My 2cents
James
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

I have one of these babys! I find the build quality to be almost identical to Marshalls of the same era. Same Drake transformers, LCR caps, box caps and resistors. They are fickle beasts and a lot can be done to change the tone by swapping different brands of preamp tubes. I find the boosts on the tone controls kinda severe until you get some volume. The high gain pull boost is saturation city...too much compresion for my taste but it may work for you. The effects loop is unbuffered (unless you have the model with reverb) and is kinda finicky about what you can put in it. All in all, it's a good amp with some very useful features...after you figure out how to tweak them. I'm still figuring it out...thinking about a 12AY7 in V1.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

I have (2) of the 8 knob 50 watters and (2) of the 8 knob 100 watters.

I guess I kinda like them. ;)

Buy a few preamp tubes and play around with each in the various preamp positions.

There are two series of the amp, series 1 and series 2. The bass boost on the ones made just prior to series 2 and the series 2 themselves can be pretty severe when pulled.

Good luck with the AOR MFM.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

LesPaulRules said:
It was made in England, but really didn't have the quality of a Marshall. That doesn't mean they were of bad quality, just not as good.
Click to expand...

glassman said:
I have one of these babys! I find the build quality to be almost identical to Marshalls of the same era. Same Drake transformers, LCR caps, box caps and resistors. .
Click to expand...

Thank you, Glassman.
Here is a good example of Laney AOR stock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhHvDYBX1zM&feature=related
and here is the proof that it is Laney AOR stock.
http://www.vinniemoore.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1000338
http://www.vinniemoore.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1000309

Savatage - King of the Mountain Hall, Gutter Ballet, Streets all three albums were recorded with AORs.

Warren DiMartini used either them or the non-AOR pro-tubes live at least.

One of the guys from The Sword uses a 100 watt AOR with Orange

Here are two more decent clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gvvFbYCNB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj9IAvv32wE&feature=fvw

Now you can make your own decision what kind of an amp Laney AOR is.
My job here is done.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

They are great...you got an awesome deal for $250...think of it like an old 80's JCM 800 before mods...get some new power/output trannies for it and some new tubes it will be night and day. They looooove Vintage 30's
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

There is a very telling statement here by glassman.

Many forums, specifically Marshall forums spend a lot of time putting down Laneys, mostly on quality. I like to point it out when someone finds the quality not too different.

Thank you for the straight talk glassman. ;)


glassman said:
I find the build quality to be almost identical to Marshalls of the same era. Same Drake transformers, LCR caps, box caps and resistors.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

viewaskew2k5 said:
They are great...you got an awesome deal for $250...think of it like an old 80's JCM 800 before mods...get some new power/output trannies for it and some new tubes it will be night and day. They looooove Vintage 30's
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure FJA will be able to mod it for you, IF you want any mods done to it !


James
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

I'm always on the lookout for a cheap 6 knob AOR 50 watter...

very nice sleeper jcm800 killers.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

I have a Pro-Tube 30 (2x 6V6, not EL34) that is killer ... but it runs out of steam live. I do use it for recording, however.
 
Last edited:
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

LoFiBrian said:
I'm always on the lookout for a cheap 6 knob AOR 50 watter...

very nice sleeper jcm800 killers.
Click to expand...

They are great amps for the money, but JCM 800 killers? I'm not so sure.

As mentioned in a previous post, the AOR can have a soft bass (not tight). I also think the higher gain can get a little buzzy sometimes. Build quality is decent, though I stand by my previous statement that a JCM 800 is at least a little better.

Actually, the AOR reminds me more of the JCM 900's. I gigged and played an AOR 50 for a year or two back in the early 90's. It was cool, but my 1982 2204 would (and did) slaughter it.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

viewaskew2k5 said:
They are great...you got an awesome deal for $250...think of it like an old 80's JCM 800 before mods...get some new power/output trannies for it and some new tubes it will be night and day. They looooove Vintage 30's
Click to expand...

1st thing w/t transformer's...If they ain't broke? Don't go fixing em'.:ok: My Laney Pro Tube 50 (pre AOR) had Skot trannies. Nothing wrong w/t them, Pretty beefy in fact. For $250 you got a Major score !!:cool2: Laney maybe known as The Poormans Marshall But there is nothing Poor with them. And Yes! I'm not partially found of V30's , But when I put one in my Laney... It was a marriage made in heaven.:)
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

One thing about 6-knobber AORs vs 8-knober is that V1 in 6-knober only uses half of the tube for the first gain stage, 8-knober uses the entire tube. You can mod a 6-knober to "full utilization" of V1. I think that's what Vinnie Moore did for his recording AOR head, read one of his replies to me on his board. I am thinking of moding mine like this, there are guys who think that 6-knobers have slightly better tone and slightly better build, but less gain due to V1 utilization.
 
Re: Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead 50 watt head?

I put a V30 in the cab of my AOR 50 combo, and it sounds pretty good.

I run the AOR 50 head through my Marshall cab with 75's in it. No issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Phantasmagoria
Blind Buy....
3 4 5
Replies
82
Views
3K
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria
hydro
Single channel tube 50 watt heads?
2
Replies
39
Views
5K
toneseeker74
T
mantis
EVH 50 watt head and 2 x 12 cabinet
Replies
4
Views
1K
mantis
mantis
Phantasmagoria
NAD and a sweet budget 4x12 :)
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria
T
NAD!
Replies
12
Views
2K
Gearjoneser
Gearjoneser
Back
Top