Laney Lionheart L5t

Re: Laney Lionheart L5t

Got one, LOVE IT. The honeymoon just won't end. It always sounds good, but mainly I leave most of the controls about 12-o-clock. Always a good sign, in my book. I've been playing a Tele, Ibby 540 shred machine, Les Paul clones, and a few other guitars through this amp, always great results. I can't stand fussy gear.

Clean channel is lovely and clean, with nice break-up as you turn the volume up. The break-up on this channel seems Fender-ish to me, perhaps. Sparkly, spanky... smooth and buttery. Different guitars and different pickup settings will give you endless tones.

Drive channel gives you gritty clean all the way to hard rockin distortion. Awesome distortion tone, just AWESOME. I feel like I can dial in Vox, Plexi, and JCM800 tones with ease. For super-violin leads and modern metal, you'll want an 808 or something in front.

It eats pedals for breakfast, then comes back for more. FX loop works as it should. Reverb is surprisingly subtle as you crank the Reverb control... kind of wish it would get to "too much" at the end of the dial, but oh well. Sounds really nice, though!

I can't imagine a better recording amp. Stick a 57 or 906 or 421 or any solid guitar mic in front, adjust to taste, and get killer tones. I've had unbelievable results mixing a 57 with a Fat Head ribbon mic. All without pissing off my neighbors! Or my wife. Or waking the baby.

I use it only for home recording, playing. But this puppy gets LOUD if you want it to. You can gig with it. If you can't fill the venue with the amp alone, the venue will have a PA.

And despite rumors you may have heard to the contrary, it is SO metal to mic a combo amp on stage. It sends a clear message that you are so metal, big amps are scared of you but small amps don't know any better. Yet.

Did I mention that I highly recommend this amp?

Besides the reverb mix range, my only other quibbles would be:

1. wish it had a record out for feeding my looper
2. wish the bright control were only for the clean channel, or that there were at least one separate overall tone shaping circuit for the two channels
3. wish the FX loop were footswitchable, as is the reverb and channel.

Go for it!

Cheers
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L5t

An addendum: after posting above, I got curious and tried working with some heavy tones with the Lionheart, without an overdrive or distortion in front. I may have spoken too hastily about modern metal tones!

Since 5 watts really allows you to crank the volume... then dime the gain... and I think you can nail a lot of modern heavy tones.

When recording, you can double-track if you need it huger In a live situation, maybe you'll have a second guitar player.

This amp just can't be beat for tone, versatility, and build quality at its price point, IMHO.
 
Re: Laney Lionheart L5t

I play through one and put a review of it in the amp review thread.

I´m still happy with it after a couple years. It´s more or less Marshall styled as are a lot of Laneys I guess but it´s got a bright switch and an overall tone knob to give more control over the EQ which allows for a wider range of available sounds. It´s not designed for extreme metal but still manages to squeeze in a fair amount of gain.

It´s great for classic rock and blues and I bought it as the best combination of value for the money, (I´m based in Europe so they´re probably significantly cheaper here) and versatility of sounds. Or at least the best I could come across here, at any rate, without going over a grand. There is a bit more competion for this style of amp now though.

As mentioned by wildstar the reverb is very nice but doesn´t ever reach the super surf levels of Fenders and the highlight is the drive channel for British style overdriven sounds. I often use it with the drive volume cranked - even for clean sounds - and use the drive control or the guitar´s volume to allow for neighbours. Quite doable despite the available volume levels.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top