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Hatsubai « JCM800 tones on a budget »
Published on 03/16/11 at 05:42For some reason, Laney doesn't get talked about that much. The GH100L is a 100 watt Marshall-esque amplifier complete with a switchable boost, effects loop, switchable bias, resonance control and slave out. It's not exactly a great looking amplifier, but it does that lightly modded JCM800 tone in spades. They're also fairly reliable to boot.
UTILIZATION
Laney seems to have built an amp to directly compete with the modded JCM800 style of amplifiers, and they didn't do a bad job. The footswitchable boost enables another gain stage to help kick the amp up a notch. The resonance knob helps give the amp some more shaping of the low end, and the effects loop is a huge plus.
SOUNDS
As we all know, the sound is the number one thing when it comes to an amplifier. The clean tones on the GH100L are somewhat dismal. You'll need to plug into the additional jack to get a decent clean tone, and when you do, the high gain sounds will be lacking. However, this amp wasn't exactly built for clean tones. The main thing it was going for was that hot rodded Marshall sound. Even with the boost, the amount of gain isn't a ton. Don't expect to get 5150 levels of gain with this amplifier. Instead, it's more like a typical early modded Marshall sound similar to Lee Jackson and the such. Personally, I felt I had to boost it to get the tone I wanted. Once boosted, the thing really did come alive, especially at lower volume levels. The switchable bias to 5881/6L6 tubes also helps give it another flavor of that Marshall sound. With the 5881/6L6 tubes, you can get a nicer bottom end and bigger sound. Your midrange shifts a bit, and it sounds quite a bit bigger. I keep mentioning that this amp is a good JCM800 alternative, and it is; However, I felt that the JCM800s just sounded a bit more "alive" than this amplifier. I'm not sure if it's due to the transformers, effects loop or what, but it's just something to keep in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
Anyone looking for a lightly modded JCM800 tone on a budget should definitely check out the GH100L. For the used market price, this amp is a serious contender to the other Marshall clones out there. While I felt it doesn't sound quite as good as an oldschool JCM800, it's surely close in terms of overall tone. On top of that, they're fairly reliable, so touring shouldn't be an issue.
UTILIZATION
Laney seems to have built an amp to directly compete with the modded JCM800 style of amplifiers, and they didn't do a bad job. The footswitchable boost enables another gain stage to help kick the amp up a notch. The resonance knob helps give the amp some more shaping of the low end, and the effects loop is a huge plus.
SOUNDS
As we all know, the sound is the number one thing when it comes to an amplifier. The clean tones on the GH100L are somewhat dismal. You'll need to plug into the additional jack to get a decent clean tone, and when you do, the high gain sounds will be lacking. However, this amp wasn't exactly built for clean tones. The main thing it was going for was that hot rodded Marshall sound. Even with the boost, the amount of gain isn't a ton. Don't expect to get 5150 levels of gain with this amplifier. Instead, it's more like a typical early modded Marshall sound similar to Lee Jackson and the such. Personally, I felt I had to boost it to get the tone I wanted. Once boosted, the thing really did come alive, especially at lower volume levels. The switchable bias to 5881/6L6 tubes also helps give it another flavor of that Marshall sound. With the 5881/6L6 tubes, you can get a nicer bottom end and bigger sound. Your midrange shifts a bit, and it sounds quite a bit bigger. I keep mentioning that this amp is a good JCM800 alternative, and it is; However, I felt that the JCM800s just sounded a bit more "alive" than this amplifier. I'm not sure if it's due to the transformers, effects loop or what, but it's just something to keep in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
Anyone looking for a lightly modded JCM800 tone on a budget should definitely check out the GH100L. For the used market price, this amp is a serious contender to the other Marshall clones out there. While I felt it doesn't sound quite as good as an oldschool JCM800, it's surely close in terms of overall tone. On top of that, they're fairly reliable, so touring shouldn't be an issue.