Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

PINKBITS

PINKBITS

New member
First of all I am yet to receive the matching cab with 2 Celetions Heritage G12H speakers. I plugged the head into my Laney Celestion Vintage 30 loaded 4x12.

The Clean channel. Beautiful, Clear full and expressive. Plenty of head room depending on what you are putting through the front of the amp. I love Strats for clean and used my 08 American Standard with Curtis Novak single coils. These top quality vintage output pu's and just sung.

The Drive Channel. Smooth, growling tube overdrive but darker than I expected. I mucked about with the eq a bit and it did improve but I did find that the string separation could have been better and it did sound a bit muffled depending on where you set the drive volume. I used my Lester with a 59 and custom 5.

I have only put in a few hours tops so far with this amp but initially I am very pleased. I have a GH50L which I love for hardrock and 80's type metal. I purchased the Lionheart because I wanted something smaller that was really suited to blues and rock which it does.

I am really interested to see what the matching cab will be like with the two Heritage speakers.

With a 4x12 v30 cab I think it had an over abundance of mids and just too much bass. It was like the amp was really trying to be truly heard but couldn't quite find its way through. I think this also had an impact on the punch of the amp. It was very good but just not quite there.

I tried a couple of different preamp tubes which made little change to the tone which I expected. I am not a fan of JJ pres but may try some JJ el84's to see if I can improve on the clarity and punch over the standard TAD powers.

Like I said I really didn't get to put in a lot of time with the head so far and I have also never owned an el84 loaded head or a class A amplifier so my initial finding really should be taken with a grain of salt.

Once I have received the matching cab and had the opportunity to put in some more hours I will report back.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Very nice PB. Thank you for the review.

I hope it serves you well for a long time.

Wixed
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Dont go JJ for this laney series as they are a Vox Clone and will just make it darker still. Go with Ei Elites, made all the difference with my 5w Lionheart
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Thank you for the review bro. Love your avatar btw.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Thanks for the review those few words about the clean channel are what I need to hear to be convinced to play it. Try brighter pre's like Ei Elite (from a good source as bad ones can be microphonic in my experience) or maybe Tung Sol's. I know NOS tubes sound good in old VOX's but maybe not in new production amps despite similar tone.
On a side note I have Curtis Novak p/ups too (not in any guitar at the momenth) and loved them in my Jag so to hear its good with low output singles like Curtis Novak's makes me want one even more.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

viewaskew2k5 said:
Dont go JJ for this laney series as they are a Vox Clone and will just make it darker still. Go with Ei Elites, made all the difference with my 5w Lionheart
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Did you need to check bias? All the research I have done so far suggests that I don't.

So you found the same thing with your 5w, a bit dark? In what way did the Ei Elites improve the tone?
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

James Rock said:
Thanks for the review those few words about the clean channel are what I need to hear to be convinced to play it. Try brighter pre's like Ei Elite (from a good source as bad ones can be microphonic in my experience) or maybe Tung Sol's. I know NOS tubes sound good in old VOX's but maybe not in new production amps despite similar tone.
On a side note I have Curtis Novak p/ups too (not in any guitar at the momenth) and loved them in my Jag so to hear its good with low output singles like Curtis Novak's makes me want one even more.
Click to expand...

I tried a few different pres on the weekend. Tungsols and Penta Labs. The preamp tube changes made some difference but nowhere near as much as what preamp changes did in my GH50L. More work to be done here, I think with this particular amp it's powers that are going to make the real difference.

In regard to the Novaks I think because they are low output and not hitting the front of the amp very hard it helps with the clean headroom. Mind you they are fantastic single coils. Just perfect IMO for clean strat tones.
 
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Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Just a quick update. Mucked about a bit more last night and ended up with tungsols in v1 and v2 and an eh in the phase inverter.

Now the EH looks the same as the tungsol but seemed to add a little bit more high end. Not much at all but I did prefer it slightly.

This has made a really nice difference. I like tungols as I find them to add a nice clear punchy gain. I have found with my pre swapping in both my amps though that they do seem to like being used in conjunction with one another.

My JJ el84's turned up today so I will through them in tonight. I am hoping they will reduce the mids a little and give a bit more punch.

Still wait for my bloody cab though, should be here today or tomorrow. I really do need to wait for that to turn up before I get carried away any further as it is obviously going to have a significant impact.

What I can say so far though is that this head has the most majical smooth drive. It's just made for rock and blues. Not a harsh note to be heard anywhere.

Will keep yas posted.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Just wanted to bring this thread back cos with any chance I will go to the local Laney dealer (1 and a half hours drive away) to c if they have any laney lionhearts and wondered if there are any second/third impressions. I've heard the clean isn't that bright is this right? the demo's I can find are played more bluesy and jazzy where I'm looking for Jangly.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

yes I know I'm late to the show, but if anyone reads this after me might be helpful. I just was going to give my two cents and say mine to me almost sounds too bright sometimes. I have the treble down to 3 to reduce some of that cut. I am playing through a 1x12 with a greenback in it, so that might have something do with it too.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

I think the TADs are likely to be less middy (but more bassy) compared to the JJs, but you can compare and contrast. EL 84s are cheap and you're gonna need backup. Laney distortion + treble boost is insta-perfect. It'll straighten things right out on the drive channel.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Great great amps, I almost got one for 50% off street but had no clue what it was, still kicking myself after Googling them & getting to hear one.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

I love mine. Cleans... Excellent. Nuff said! Drive is good, but I feel I get the best out of it when I back the gain off, then crank the drive channel volume more. Then it becomes beautiful! If I want more gain I boost it with a bit of overdrive pedal goodness
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

Old thread but I love Laney tube amps! I have the Cub but I would consider the L20H in the future. Any of you guys who have used it able to get enough clean headroom out of the L20H for live band practice with a loud drummer?
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

SnakeAces said:
Old thread but I love Laney tube amps! I have the Cub but I would consider the L20H in the future. Any of you guys who have used it able to get enough clean headroom out of the L20H for live band practice with a loud drummer?
Click to expand...

Hi Snakeaces,

Depends on how loud your loud is. On the whole the clean is fairly alright - even for my louder gigs. If you push the volume past 6 it will start breaking up a bit which I do like. Not like an OD channel per se but if you need very clean cleans at loud volume you may want to consider something with more wattage/headroom.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

I like a little breakup too, if I wanted crystal clear cleans I would go SS obviously. I just want enough clean headroom to play in the mix with a drummer. I am thinking the 5 watt boost over my Laney Cub would probably just about do it. Thanks for the response Mr Wolf!
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L20H. My first impressions.

SnakeAces said:
I like a little breakup too, if I wanted crystal clear cleans I would go SS obviously. I just want enough clean headroom to play in the mix with a drummer. I am thinking the 5 watt boost over my Laney Cub would probably just about do it. Thanks for the response Mr Wolf!
Click to expand...

Definitely give it a go then. I play mine through a 2x12 loaded with V30's. Overall haven't found it lacking in volume and it cuts through nicely. Very pleased with it. I play in a 50's style rock n roll band so nice cleans are critical. If you have any queries on it feel free to ask. If I had to nitpick the only issue I find is that when switching between channels it doesn't have a smooth transition, a split-second cut out of signal as it changes. Very minor though (for me at least)
 
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