VH100R Review

The VH100R features twin footswitchable channels each with its own footswitchable gain, independent 3 band EQ, independent reverb level and dedicated FX loop, giving you an unprecedented level of flexibility.

Features:	9.7
Sound:	9.7
Reliability:	9
Impression:	9.7
Overall rating:	9.5
Users rating:	6.8
Comments:	13

Featured review by: unregistered, on february 06, 2007

Price paid: $ 800

Purchased from: Seller

Features: This is a 2005 model. But I have a 2002 model which is almost the same except the newer one is a bit lighter and the Laney logo is smaller. This is has versatility written all over it. It was built and designed for versatility and flexibility! It can do everything well! Pretty much jack of all trades! And it does it well! I play mainly Modern Rock like Dashboard Confessional, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumkins, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, you get the idea. It's a two channel amp with gain switches for each channel making it pretty much sound like a 4 channel amp. The effects loop in this baby is masterpiece. You can dedicate your effects to separate channels or both at the same time. You can have your chorus for just your cleans and an OD pedal for your distorted channel! Unreal. Wish more amp manufacturers thought about sooner. The Vh100r pretty much has all the bells and whistles I could ask for. Reverb, great effects loop, great tone shaping tools, separate EQs for each channel and just great tone! // 10

Sound: I use a Gibson Classic and ESP EC-1000 with JB/59 pickups. Both guitars sound just amazing with not only the style of music but with the Laney. The amp has a bit of noise in the distorted channel, most amps pretty have a bit of noise. But when you play or play with a band, you don't even know it's there. No big deal at all. This amp can give you sparkly shimmering warm cleans, to classic rock crunch, to gritty blues, to modern heavy distortion and super high gain leads! There isn't much this amp can't do. The clean stays clean at high levels. I can barely put it to 2 and it's insanely loud already and cleans are still clean. Doesn't break up until ear bleeding levels. Speaking of volume, this amp is amazingly loud! It can go up against the loudest drummers out there and not break a sweat! 110db of snare isn't going to scare this puppy. I've put and mix new preamps tubes in there and it's definitely made this amp sound even better, very 3D. I have to make a note of this amp. You have to take the time to work with the EQ and tone shaping tools there. It's extremely sensitive to the touch and any slight changes to the setting will make an audible different! The controls are interactive! Just tinkering with one setting will set a chain reaction to the others and you'll have to play with them as well. It can be a real ballbreaker. It took me about a year to really master these tools! You may think you have your sound one day and later within a week you may change your mind and sometimes it can go to month and so on. It's a tweaker. Be patient and learn it well. You'll be rewarded with any sound you're after. For me I can dial in any sound I like. The tubes I put in the preamp section are V1 Mullard, V2 Telefunken, V3 EI Elite Gold, V4, Brimar, V5 RCA V6 Amperex. Power tubes, SED Wing C EL34's! // 10

Reliability & Durability: Built very well! Construction and reliability in these amps are kick ass. I hardly ever hearing people having problems with the VH100R or Laney amps in general. Definitely built and runs like a champ. Has never broken down on me. I feel confident that I can gig without a backup and I have for the past 2 years. Probabaly a good idea to carry spare fuses and tubes with you just in case. // 10

Impression: Definitely by far the best amp I've owned and played. Had it for 5 years and gigged 2 years straight with it and has never let me down. Engl, Bogner, Orange, Carvin, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Koch, Fender, Hiwatt, and many others have their good points here and there. The Laney rivals all of them. Some of the amp companies uses diodes in their tube path for distorted tones like Carvine and Marshee. Laney has nothing but an all tube path signal, everything is tube! When Lyndon Laney designed AOR he wanted to make sure that to give the amp more gain and distorted tones without the added diodes in the signal path. He added another tube for the gain stage so you won't need to mod your amp in order to get heavy distorted tones which carried over future models like the GH and VH series. So all the tones from the amp is pure tube. Brilliant! Dynamics, power, flexibility, durability not to mention price/performance is hard to beat. Definitely the best amp I've ever come across that gives you everything. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: bigtimmy, on september 25, 2008

Price paid: A$ 2000

Purchased from: Davis Music Center

Features: This model was the 40th anneversiary edition. I've only had it 5 months, and was the first person to play it out of the box. I chose this over the GH100L because of the second independent channel for a flexible range of sounds. I play prog rock, old rock and metal (all genres) but wanted to get an amp that was cheap(er) but still kickass. I has 2 channels, clean and overdrive. The footswitch that comes with the amp is great, it's this sturdy rectangular no bs stomp box. One clean/crunch, one reverb, one channel Switch and one high gain Switch. I'm yet to try the effects loop on it as I only have a wah pedal to use. I use this amp for home playing/recording but got it for future gigging. it's loud as anything so I never take it past 3 at home. Another sweet feature is the resonance Switch which delivers a thick low end presence to the sound. // 9

Sound: I use a ESP LTD F-2005 with active pickups (EMGs). I want to look at a PRS in the future tho. The clean channel (due to my EMGs) is quite twangy and bright, but on the neck pickup it sounds lovely. I don't much for the brightening Switch as I tend to get annoyed by more treble in a clean sound. (I like my mids) The crispy clean channel is ok... by that I mean I think I need to fiddle with this more (and with a less high gain guitar) to get it right. The overdrive channel is great. You can sooooo many sounds and tones depending on your settings for crunch, to a gentle fuzz, to a thick old school rock tone. The reverb channel offers a slight diversity but you'd be beter off sticking with an external effect, for more dynamic presence.

Pure, effortless, awesome, even tho this is a trebly amp and some may claim it doesn't have the big sound like a recitfier or a Marshall, by cripes it packs a punch. Flick on the resonance Switch and feel the room pulsate. I usually play Opeth style, but even when I feel like a bit iced earth or Metallica, I can still achieve ballsy scooped sound from the Laney. But... mids are sexy.

As far as lead work is concerned, the signal is clear (so long as you don't have ridiculous amounts of gain) - I use 8 on gain, 6 on o/drive. You can tell why Opeth use laneys, the clarity and warmth you can get from either channel (especially clean)is face-meltingly worthy. I give it 9/10 simply because I'm still unsure about the crispy clean setting. pure clean/gain channel gets 10/10. // 10

Reliability & Durability: One of the reasons I went for these amps was I heard how sturdy these amps were. A robust no bs construction, and I've yet to have any worries or concerns. I have only had the amp 5 months, and it was brand spankin new when I got it, I also have yet to test it on a gig, but the sound stayed lovely and warm (and menancing) when I've recorded all day at home. transport is easy too because the unit itself, together with a Laney 3/4 quad box isn't all that large. I can easily get it in and out of my car and the head also has nice grab handles on top so you can just lift it up no hassles. // 9

Impression: One of the best amps I've ever played. My friend Who I'm jamming with has 3 amps, a Dual Rectifier, a 5150 and a 300w Crate. When he had a play on mine, he thought it was friggin amazing the range of sounds and punch it had, depsite it's physical size being dwarfed by the mountain of amps he has. I have no regrets, ok one, that I haven't been able to take it out from home and put it on stage and let her rip. If someone ever broke it (unlikely) or stole it, I would hunt them down, make them get a lass pregnant, let him have the kid, bond and cherish the kid, then I would eat the kid, with syrup. Extreme happiness, and I even got it for $1500 AUD cheaper (with the cabinet) then I should've payed. Brilliant amp. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: H4T3BR33D3R, on january 16, 2008

Price paid: $ 632

Purchased from: private seller

Features: The Laney VH100R is a 100 Watt, class A/B valve amplifier for those Who want versatility and tone in one powerful package. The amp features high and low impedance input jacks, 2 channels with foot switchable gain modes, independent bass, middle & treble controls for each channel, a master presence control, a bright switch, switchable resonance, independent reverb, line outs for silent recording, 16 ohm and 8 ohm speaker connections, and a global effects loop as well as a side effects loop for each channel. The amp also features switchable valve biasing which gives you the option of switching between EL34 and 6L6 power tubes. The amplifier is current loaded with JJ EL34s and Tungsol 12ax7s. // 10

Sound: Turning on the amplifier and plugging in with a humbucker guitar, the clean channel is quite twangy with the bridge pickup. Quite reminiscent of a Fender amplifier. Switching to the neck pickup, the clean is fat but still retains some twang. With a Stratocaster in hand, the clean channel’s brilliance makes it's presence known. The clean channel really comes alive with single coils. With the bright Switch engaged, the channel becomes a little brittle. Like many bright switches, it becomes ineffective when the clean channel is pushed. The second mode on the channel adds a bit of grit. This channel is great for bluesy style leads. The bass is quite flabby on this channel and the channel lacks a bit of definition, it’s probably the most lacking on the amplifier. Using the bridge pickup in a Les Paul and switching to the crunch channel rewards me with a growling, overdriven tone reminiscent of early English Rock and Roll tones. Chording is really defined, every note can be heard. Switching to the Rhythm pickup and rolling the tone knob down gives me a near perfect rendition of Clapton’s famous woman tone. Switching to the second mode engages an additional gain channel. With both of the Drive knobs (Yes, there are 2), at 7, I achieve a tone much like the Marshall Super Lead amplifier. With the gain knobs dimed, I achieve a raunchy distorted tone that’s perfect for new age metal. The problem with Channel two is it's excessive brightness. When the treble is past 3, the amp becomes quite harsh sounding. It’s also very noisy on the Drive channel, anything past 7 to 8 will require a suppressor to tame down the noise. The effects loop also adds quite a bit of noise so be sure to keep it off or turn the level down when it’s not in use. This amp is great for any genre. I play genres from pop to metal. // 9

Reliability & Durability: The amp is bullet-proof. Its construction is quite solid. The only issue I’ve had is the low impedance jack, which seems to cut out frequently. I’ve also noticed that the tolex tears easy, so if you’re about cosmetics, be a bit more cautious around the amplifier. // 8

Impression: The Laney VH100R is a great amp for many genres. It sounds great with humbuckers or single coils. The only gripe I have with the amp is the noise. If it were stolen/lost, I would definitely buy it again.If you’re looking for a no non-sense, balls to the wall, versatile, tone monster. The Laney VH100R is for you. From sparkling clean to down right mean. I highly recommend it. // 9

Comments

[L053R]

I have a laney combo amp... it's awesome

[Muppet]

L053R wrote:

I have a laney combo amp... it's awesome

Great for you.... I guess.

[DeuceMortius]

what cab are you using?

[fleh]

is this basicly a 2 channel GH with a few xtras like reverb

[MikeG D]

which is the best laney amp?

[fleh]

if u can afford it the tt series definetly has the most features but isnt all too 'vintage'

[JoelTheShredder]

who recons i could pick one of theese up used in the uk for under like 500

[fleh]

^I DO
i got a VC50 a couple of weeks ago after looking in my local admag and had it im my bedroom the same day. The VC50 is basicly a 50W 2x12" combo version of this head with all the same knobs. I got it used for £120!!!!!
not in the best nick - could do with new tubes and maybe give the pots a clean but an absolute steal.
check ur local admags u might get something better than u thought.

[Horlicks]

JoelTheShredder wrote:

who recons i could pick one of theese up used in the uk for under like 500

I got my VH100R with Laney 4x12 Cabinet for £400

[HFR]

This is the Amp Linde from Him Uses ^.^

[flö]

HFR wrote:

This is the Amp Linde from Him Uses ^.^

no, he uses the TT100H

[flö]

no, he uses the TT100H

[wildchildx]

http://www.laney.co.uk/show_art.php?artid=18
He uses the VH100R