Laney LC30 Speaker/Valve upgrade?

[math2014]

Hi all,

I got a Laney LC30, and from what i can listen to, as well read from a few other owners, it is a bit bright as an amp in stock form. I usually have to roll treble off (4/10) and have my bigD pedal almost full clockwise.

Anyhow to cut a long story short, is there any improvement to be had from the LC30 by changing valves and/or speaker?

It has TAD valves and a Celestion Seventy-80 in it.

Greenback? G12H30?, valves?

Cheers,

Yannis

PS. Maybe my Gotoh pups are trebly... dunno to be honest.

[Underground_Player]

Having had the luxury of playing through my amp wired up to switch between maybe 20 different speakers, Celestion, Eminence and Jenson, I don't think any speaker you fit will roll off that amount of treble. Maybe a Celestion G12H would get you some of the way......but then supposing your stock speaker turns out to be voiced similarly to the G12.....you can see what I'm getting at!

Not sure about the valves, but like the speaker I've never bought a pre-amp valve that sounds significantly darker than any other....they tend to just sound a bit different.

I'd recommend you plug your amp into a Greenback-loaded cab, like a Marshall 4x12 that you should find in any good music shop - try the reissue cabs, the new ones are prob. loaded with V30s. This is the easiest way I can think of to tell if your current Celestion is the cause of the problem. Remember a 4x12 in itself will smooth the sound off a fair bit.



Or you could just go for it and buy a G12M or H cheap off ebay!

[math2014]

Hmm unfortunately lacking a car and a proper home, a 4x12 is not an option for home practice.

I was wondering if a V30 or G12H30 and/or a JJ preamp tube in V1 will improve things.

[Underground_Player]

I meant just using the 4x12 in a music shop to see if its your speaker that's causing the brightness, as it would be the easiest way to hear the effect of a different speaker.
Sounds like you've been given some very specific advice - if its worked for someone else with a VC30 it should work for you.

[math2014]

I meant just using the 4x12 in a music shop to see if its your speaker that's causing the brightness, as it would be the easiest way to hear the effect of a different speaker.
Sounds like you've been given some very specific advice - if its worked for someone else with a VC30 it should work for you.

Probably mate,

Another thing that i am thinking off, is turning on/off the bright switch on my hotplate... it does work in restoring treble back to normal levels (even below normal).

As for speaker/valves i was in general wondering what would be a nice and worthy upgrade to the stock celestion and tad valves.

[Underground_Player]

watfordvalves.com is a useful website, check out the test reports of different brands of valve. Just noticed they've got a few speaker/valve kits specifically for the LC30! If they don't sort the amp out nothing will!

http://www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=1437

[math2014]

watfordvalves.com is a useful website, check out the test reports of different brands of valve. Just noticed they've got a few speaker/valve kits specifically for the LC30! If they don't sort the amp out nothing will!

http://www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=1437

Yes i ve seen the upgrade kit for the LC30, but i dont know the quality of those harma valves, and furthermore, they are putting an 80quid speaker +8 valves for 100quid total????

Finally is it rational to put a 30W speaker in a 30W combo?

[Underground_Player]

Sounds like a bargain really - but I doubt the Harma valves will be much of a step up.

Good point about the speaker; I suppose its probably not a good idea if you regularly cane the amp/play in C or something. It should technically be fine though, and personally if I was just playing at bedroom volumes I wouldn't think twice about it.


Saying that I don't want you to blow it up..........anyone else got opinions on these issues?

[math2014]

On second thought, it is not a true UK heritage... so not exactly a good deal imho.

BTW is there anywhere that i can find HEllatone or Eminence speakers in the UK?

[math2014]

Right,

I talked to watford vavles, and he suggested to go for a set of harma pre-power amp valves (same as JJ but selected).

For the speaker , he suggested a G12H30 Heritage 30, and i am wondering if a 30W speaker would survive a 30W amp.

Any laney users care to chime in?

[indysmith]

ever thought about an e.q? That'd be sure to help with the brightness surely?

[math2014]

Yes i have, but to be honest, isnt that like fiddling with the amp's EQ?

[tewboss]

I wouldn't have thought you would need to upgrade the valves as TAD are considered some of the best. JJ make their own so you are not paying extra for some other company to rebadge them. Get in touch with Andreas at TAD as he was helpful.

[HTH AMPS]

for more bass (which it seems you want) then you can't go wrong with some G12Hs - either the standard one or the new Herritage series. They just have THAT rock tone that you grew up with on Hendrix, Free, AC/DC etc... records.

JJ ECC83 (not the 's' suffix model) preamp valves are darker sounding to many other ECC83s imo so you may want the try those too.

otoh, you're gonna spend alot on valves & speakers - you could get a decent amp tech to mod the amp to your taste.

 :twisted:

[math2014]

for more bass (which it seems you want) then you can't go wrong with some G12Hs - either the standard one or the new Herritage series. They just have THAT rock tone that you grew up with on Hendrix, Free, AC/DC etc... records.

JJ ECC83 (not the 's' suffix model) preamp valves are darker sounding to many other ECC83s imo so you may want the try those too.

otoh, you're gonna spend alot on valves & speakers - you could get a decent amp tech to mod the amp to your taste.

 :twisted:

Fair point mate, but i d rather go valves/speakers (or pickups) and then tech.

BTW, is there a significant change between the G12H and the Heritage?

Furthermore, do you know where could i get Eminence speakers in the UK?