All user reviews of 4/5 for the Sound City L.120

1971 English made L-120 (seems to be all original, including the factory tubes). Has 6 inputs on face, headphone jack, and "active" EQ? No channel switching, but you can bridge th2 together (like a Plexi). No effects loop. This is a mark 4 L-120, and resembles a Hiwatt DR-103

UTILIZATION

It suits my needs just fine. Not as loud as you would think, but this is good since I don't actually need all that wattage. No manual. learned to use it myself. It's not a hard amp to dial in.

SOUNDS

I remember the seventies (whoops), and I recall these things being extremely LOUD! I also remember seeing Hendrix, Page, Rick Neilson, Nugent, and a host of others (Leslie West not withstanding), cranking away on this particular head, (all using different bottoms). Surprizingly, this thing is reletively quiet for an old class A amp. I have tried a 57 Black Beauty, and a Gallagher strat through it, and (GOD I hate to say this), sounds a little edgier than my Plexis. Try to immagine a cross between a Marshall(brutally loud), a Hiwatt (clean with headroom to spare), and a Fender Bandmaster (good ole rythem machine). There you have it. It has an active EQ, and is very sensitive, but the presence control is fucking useless! Like a Plexi, (but to even a greater degree), this thing doesnt distort or break up at all till you hit the stratosphere! Hey, with todays pedals...a non-issue.

OVERALL OPINION

Like having a Hiwatt, a Marshall, and a Bandmaster all in one, with the ability to switch tones, and cripple eardrums all in one neat package. You really dont see these every day anymore, but Ill be keeping my eyes open. The price is right and youre getting a monster.

This is a pretty warm tube amplifier. It is made in America. There are two quarter-inch inputs, as well as the external speaker output. There is also a unique speaker impedence selector. The amp is only 15 watts, but this is not a problem as there's enough power to rock this thing well. There are controls for volume, Cut, Reverb, Master volume, and also a unique selectable 5-way Rotary Tone Switch, which can be used in that capacity, or can be changed to custom bass and treble selection.


UTILIZATION

Getting a good sound out of this amp is pretty much a piece of cake. I really like the fact that you can get a warm, popping sound without having to crank the amp up to ungodly volumes. The manual is a pretty good resource for figuring the amp out, though I'm sure almost anyone can figure it out without using the manual. The 5-way tone switch is cool for awhile, but I think most people will either stick with one of the tone presets or find a custom setting that they really like and stick with that. That's what I did, at least.


SOUNDS

This is a great sounding amplifier. The tones that you can get range from clean and pleasant, to warm and slightly fuzzy, to outright dirty. This is all natural-sounding, so you know it's great for blues and rock (at least real rock and roll).


OVERALL OPINION

I'd highly recommend this amp to guys who play electric country, or blues, or old school rock music. This thing kind of needs to be pushed really hard to get a good tone, but it doesn't get TOO loud when doing so. Plus, most amps are built like that anyway. So I'd have to say that for the price, this is a great buy. You could do a whole lot worse for the same price.