Laney amps - LC30/50-II vs GH50/100L

[LonePhantom]

I have a question for you all. I've been playing with my Zoom G7.1ut through my Kustom KGA65 amp and one of my favourite tones out of the Zoom is the Marshall JCM800 crunch sim with a booster to really make it scream.

I've also been listening to a lot of Paul Gilbert lately and been loving the tone he gets from his Laney GH100L. I understand that this amp is kind of like a JCM800 already hotrodded to give insane gain when needed.

The only issue I have is that it is a single channel amp. I understand it has a footswitch to have a couple of levels of gain, but if you are really pushing the gain the lower setting is still going to be slightly distorted. I'm after a clean sound and a heavy sound, without having to play with the volume controls on my guitar too much.

Also cost wise I don't think I can really afford to buy the GH50L and then get say a 2x12 speaker cabinet, plus it would probably be too loud for at home.

So I guess my main question is does the LC30/50-II have a similar distortion tone to the GH50/100L? It would suit my needs perfectly because it has a true two channel clean/distortion setup and the LC30 combo would probably be perfect for playing at room volumes, but still be able to compete with a drum kit.

Many thanks in advance for your help!

[toshiro]

Not that I'm aware of. The LC line is a different preamp layout than the GH. There used to be a VC series that was the preamp from the GH/VH amps, 2 channel, and you might want to look for one of those used. They made a 50 and a 100.

BTW, any of these amps are gonna be loud as hell, Laney doesn't make a quiet amp. My GH50L will rip your hair off on 2.

[LonePhantom]

Thanks for that toshiro! I thought the VC range was the vintage voiced Laney amps though??? Did the older series of amps come with a agressive distortion channel than the newer ones?

[Wolfram]

I have an LC 30 II combo. It is a very LOUD amp. My original thought when buying the amp was very similiar to your own - for use a practice amp. This is not recommended. I ended up buying an Marshall MG MSII as a practice amp - they look really cool too!

- Wolfram

Yes, they do have very aggressive distortion.

[LonePhantom]

Did you find whether or not you could get a similar tone to a hot rodded JCM800 , like the GH50/100L using the LC30??? Similar to Paul Gilberts tone?

I'm fine with cranking it a bit, I am not in an apartment!

[MadRyan]

Where can one get a GH50? I have a marshall 4-12 that's sitting here all by itself and I'm thinking I really dig the hotrodded marshall sound. Also, what's the street price?