What Made you choose your Laney over a Marshall ?

[Fourth Feline]

Hello all,

As a Laney (LH50R- II) user, I was interested why the rest of you made the choice of Laney over Marshall. In my case, It was because my style tends to be mostly Blues and Soul, so I needed a warm, 'glassy' but not overtly aggressive sound. When using the gain channel, I still did not want it to get too spiky or agressive. At the time of buying, there was only a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo and another 100w head (the number of which escapes me). The Marshalls sounded too brittle/spiky and did not have enough headroom for me, as my other amp is a Fender "The Twin", you can imagine the target audience at the time.

So chaps, what was the story with you ?

 :?:

[Crazy_Joe]

It was cheaper, and i heard people saying it was better.

[Davey]

Tone

[JamesHealey]

it depends really i think modern laneys kick the living shite out of marshalls, but a vintage marshall kicks the cr@p out of any laney ever.

I really like the new laney stuff it's got a great chimey clear sound and has a wonderfully warm lower midrange without the spike in the mids the marshall has... i had a very nice LC15R.

[Twinfan]

it depends really i think modern laneys kick the living shitee out of marshalls, but a vintage marshall kicks the cr@p out of any laney ever.

I disagree.  You should try my early 70s Klipps out sometime  ;)

For me I wanted an EL34 equipped head as a backup to my (at the time) JTM60 Marshall.  I found my 60w Laney Klipp in a local guitar shop for £220.  I gave it a very quick run through in the shop to check it was working and it was fine - I didn't bother checking it out for awesome tone as it was only to be a backup.  When I tried it out in rehearsal I realised it kicked the Marshall's butt on every level!  More depth of tone, a great snarl on the Klipp channel and loads of bass/lower mids giving it a smoother sound overall.

I then sold the JTM60 and bought a GH50L as a backup to the Klipp - I preferred the Laney tone that much!  I've now bought another Klipp (100w this time) and I'm selling the GH50L to fund it.  If I could aford to keep it I would - it sounds great for more modern tones.

I think a lot of people are scared of buying a Laney as it's not a Marshall.  For some, the brand is stronger than than the product.

[_tom_]

I bought my GH50L because of all the good stuff I'd read about it, mostly from Twinfan. Wanted a good british hard rock and metal tone. Really happy with it, not sure I'll want another amp for quite a while. I'm soon getting a V30 to go with the G12H in my cab so I should have a real good hard rock tone 8)

Edit - "I think a lot of people are scared of buying a Laney as it's not a Marshall. For some, the brand is stronger than than the product." - agreed! Mate of mine bought a DSL50 over a GH50L halfstack which was half the price on ebay, just because "you can trust a Marshall to sound good" :lol:! His face when I turned up to band practise and cranked my Laney was priceless :D

[Twinfan]

Mate of mine bought a DSL50 over a GH50L halfstack which was half the price on ebay, just because "you can trust a Marshall to sound good" :lol:!

"Malcolm" in my band has just bought a new DSL50 because he wanted a Marshall "for the looks and image and because Malcolm plays one".

He has no idea that the vintage Super Bass and JTM45s used by AC/DC are an entirely different prospect to a new DSL   :roll:

[headtheball]

Pretty simple really. I've never played or heard a Marshall I liked, apart from me mate Goat's, which is apparently banjaxed, but has a superb stoner sound. I'm on my second Laney now (a VC-30), and it just plain sounds better than any marshall in that power/price bracket.

[FELINEGUITARS]

I didn't - I chose Marshall

I love my Marshall JCM 800 and my old 1965 plexi JTM45 was lovely (why did I sell it )

I find that the Laney sounds too full for my liking with humbuckers - or did a few years back
Maybe its a bit different with speakers other than the HH units that they were using

I find my Marshall has a different and preferable high midrange sound and that sells it to me.

But as ever it is a personal preference thing and maybe some of the new Laneys may appeal to me more- I'll have to try some . However the ones from about 5-7 years ago just didn't float my boat.

Also remember that I have been on this board for a long time and i recall that one month everybody was GA GA over Matamp, next it was Marshalls, then it was Engls, Soldanos, Diezel , Splawn and now Laney.

Chose what you like the sound of, dont be afraid to be different to the crowd but keep an open mind.

[dave_mc]

IAlso remember that I have been on this board for a long time and i recall that one month everybody was GA GA over Matamp, next it was Marshalls, then it was Engls, Soldanos, Diezel , Splawn and now Laney.

Chose what you like the sound of, dont be afraid to be different to the crowd but keep an open mind.

haha, touche!  :lol:

[JamesHealey]

Splawn is the big dawg!!! lol..

I prefer the sound of marshalls especially hot rodded ones and some of the hot rodded marshal derivatives like Bogner, Soldano, VHT etc.. but still I don't think you can beat a good old Marshall 1959SLP or JCM800 2203.. the reason i orderd a splawn was the fact i dont like boosting amps with a pedal and as far as i can tell Splawns sound pretty much like marshalls but clearer and more high gain.

and don't knock the DSL50! u'll be suprised how good that amp sounds when you crank it past 4 and bias it propperly coz marshall don't seem to do that straight out of the factory also the tubes are pretty poor it ships with, it's one of the few new marshalls that kicks ass..

[Mr Ed]

No Laney I've ever seen can stand anywhere near my JCM900 (the last great Marshall) - it has a filthy channel to behold and a pretty damn good clean for any amp, let alone a Laney.

Laney's are good, OLD Marshall's are the standard... new Marshall's can kiss my arse.

[Fubar]

my old 1965 plexi JTM45 was lovely (why did I sell it )

OUCH!!! That must seriously hurt!  :(

[FELINEGUITARS]

my old 1965 plexi JTM45 was lovely (why did I sell it )

OUCH!!! That must seriously hurt!  :(

Yes - it was made the same year as I was born....
I picked it up for a song with an old Sound City cab - that had old celestions in.

Made the mistake of telling Carl at Rockbottom about it and he wouldn't leave me alone till i sold it to him (he deals a lot in old Marshalls and Vox amps)

Regret doing it now as although limited by having to crank it to get it to sound great - it was a classic tone

[Fubar]

Yes - it was made the same year as I was born....
I picked it up for a song with an old Sound City cab - that had old celestions in.

Made the mistake of telling Carl at Rockbottom about it and he wouldn't leave me alone till i sold it to him (he deals a lot in old Marshalls and Vox amps)

Regret doing it now as although limited by having to crank it to get it to sound great - it was a classic tone

They have to be my favourite amps ever (just pipping the old AC30's)! as you say, you have to work them hard but they just sound sooooo nice.