AniML
New member
I actually got this on Friday, but I wanted to have some time to get to know it a little better before a review.
The Laney Cub 10 is a compact 10w all tube combo with a 10" speaker, powered by 2 6V6s with 2 12AX7 preamp tubes. Controls include master volume, gain and a single tone knob, with high and low gain inputs, and an external speaker jack.
I'll start with the Cub's weaknesses, which are few and not showstoppers.
The stock speaker is a Celestion Tube 10 and it sucks, badly. Choose your adjective - muffled, muffy, woofy, indistinct. OTOH it is not farty or flabby. Had I heard this amp in a store, I never would have bought it because of the speaker. I can't help but wonder if this is holding back sales for Laney. I will most likely replace it with an alnico Weber 10S or an Eminence Legend. In the mean time, I borrowed the Weber 10S ceramic from my SCXD and the amp's character came through like night and day. I also have an external cab with a greenback. Swapping betwen the two speakers shifts the mid peak and bottom end as you would expect.
Other than the speaker, the only other downsides I found to be relatively minor. The corner "hardware" is plastic, the pleather covering (like a soft tolex, I guess) might not withstand much abuse and if you really want to get picky, the chicken head knobs are kind of cheap looking. For me the light duty plastics really don't matter since the amp will live its life in the comforts of my home and will not be subjected to gigging abuse.
The only annoying thing with the amp is that the power cord is hardwired and fairly short at around 5'. Again, I think this was a design decision not to use a socketed power cord to keep the cost down.
The only other thing I would have liked to see on the amp is a standby switch, but clearly laney was looking to build a no frills tone machine and they have succeeded.
The cabinet is very lightweight, which I see as neither good nor bad. With the Weber installed I'd put it on the light side of 20lbs (manual specs it at 8.25kg. The cabinet could have been a little heftier to shift the voicing down a bit, but I do like how it contibutes to the upper midrange, which to me is very apparent. Yes it can be a bit boxy sounding, but show me a small amp with an equally small price tag that isn't. Besides, this is easily overcome with an external cab
Now for the good stuff -
The amp is maybe the loudest 10w I have ever heard. And with a better speaker it is a good loud. It has a character that is a blend of a Tweed and an old-school Marshall. There I said it. It is that good. The harmonics are sweet, surprisingly so for an A/B 6V6 amp.
Unlike the speaker, Laney made no compromises with the stock tubes. Ruby 6V6s and Ruby HG 12AX7s (which I understand are higher spec JJ ECC83s). There is no need to upgrade the tubes, but of course I will, becasue that's just what we do
I am probably going to leave the power tubes and get a couple of Tung Sols and try some mix-n-match wit hthe Rubys, Tung Sols and some ANOS I have - again - just for fun.
The gain and volume are very interactive and the tone really starts to take off with each control beyond an 11:00 position. The tone knob is subtle and at the extremes it does not blanket the tone or get ice-picky.
The natural overdirve is nothing special, but perfectly usable. That said, the amp loves, loves, loves pedals. I have pushed it with a VS Drivetrain OD, my homemade treble booster and SHO-like clean boost. It even takes an overdriven signal through a delay pedal very nicely.
Running it into an external cab - a 12" cube with a Celestion greenback makes its British side come alive. The harmonics are even richer as the lower end gets a boost from the additional speaker and cabinet mass
With the overdirve and the delay, it cops a very convincing early Led Zep tone, which is exactly what I was after.
If you are looking at a Vox ACTV, Champ 600 or other grab and go, snap up one of these. It is $249 street, but I was able to get it for about 30% off, so this was just a no-brainer.
Between a Microcube and SCXD for size comparison
(rear cage removed)
The Laney Cub 10 is a compact 10w all tube combo with a 10" speaker, powered by 2 6V6s with 2 12AX7 preamp tubes. Controls include master volume, gain and a single tone knob, with high and low gain inputs, and an external speaker jack.
I'll start with the Cub's weaknesses, which are few and not showstoppers.
The stock speaker is a Celestion Tube 10 and it sucks, badly. Choose your adjective - muffled, muffy, woofy, indistinct. OTOH it is not farty or flabby. Had I heard this amp in a store, I never would have bought it because of the speaker. I can't help but wonder if this is holding back sales for Laney. I will most likely replace it with an alnico Weber 10S or an Eminence Legend. In the mean time, I borrowed the Weber 10S ceramic from my SCXD and the amp's character came through like night and day. I also have an external cab with a greenback. Swapping betwen the two speakers shifts the mid peak and bottom end as you would expect.
Other than the speaker, the only other downsides I found to be relatively minor. The corner "hardware" is plastic, the pleather covering (like a soft tolex, I guess) might not withstand much abuse and if you really want to get picky, the chicken head knobs are kind of cheap looking. For me the light duty plastics really don't matter since the amp will live its life in the comforts of my home and will not be subjected to gigging abuse.
The only annoying thing with the amp is that the power cord is hardwired and fairly short at around 5'. Again, I think this was a design decision not to use a socketed power cord to keep the cost down.
The only other thing I would have liked to see on the amp is a standby switch, but clearly laney was looking to build a no frills tone machine and they have succeeded.
The cabinet is very lightweight, which I see as neither good nor bad. With the Weber installed I'd put it on the light side of 20lbs (manual specs it at 8.25kg. The cabinet could have been a little heftier to shift the voicing down a bit, but I do like how it contibutes to the upper midrange, which to me is very apparent. Yes it can be a bit boxy sounding, but show me a small amp with an equally small price tag that isn't. Besides, this is easily overcome with an external cab
Now for the good stuff -
The amp is maybe the loudest 10w I have ever heard. And with a better speaker it is a good loud. It has a character that is a blend of a Tweed and an old-school Marshall. There I said it. It is that good. The harmonics are sweet, surprisingly so for an A/B 6V6 amp.
Unlike the speaker, Laney made no compromises with the stock tubes. Ruby 6V6s and Ruby HG 12AX7s (which I understand are higher spec JJ ECC83s). There is no need to upgrade the tubes, but of course I will, becasue that's just what we do
I am probably going to leave the power tubes and get a couple of Tung Sols and try some mix-n-match wit hthe Rubys, Tung Sols and some ANOS I have - again - just for fun.The gain and volume are very interactive and the tone really starts to take off with each control beyond an 11:00 position. The tone knob is subtle and at the extremes it does not blanket the tone or get ice-picky.
The natural overdirve is nothing special, but perfectly usable. That said, the amp loves, loves, loves pedals. I have pushed it with a VS Drivetrain OD, my homemade treble booster and SHO-like clean boost. It even takes an overdriven signal through a delay pedal very nicely.
Running it into an external cab - a 12" cube with a Celestion greenback makes its British side come alive. The harmonics are even richer as the lower end gets a boost from the additional speaker and cabinet mass
With the overdirve and the delay, it cops a very convincing early Led Zep tone, which is exactly what I was after.
If you are looking at a Vox ACTV, Champ 600 or other grab and go, snap up one of these. It is $249 street, but I was able to get it for about 30% off, so this was just a no-brainer.
Between a Microcube and SCXD for size comparison
(rear cage removed)
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