Laney Supergroup LA-Studio £849
I thought the lunchbox thing had been done?
Then you thought wrong! This isn’t just another cute little valve amp (although it is that, too). The Laney LA-Studio forms part of the brand’s Supergroup line-up, which, as you may or may not know, aims to capture the Brit amp brand’s classic tonality but with features designed to make it applicable to the demands of guitar players today. In the case of the LA-Studio, that means low wattage, multiple voicings, MIDI control and, perhaps most intriguingly, a full Two Notes Torpedo module for going direct.
Sounds like there’s a lot going on. Break it down for us, will you?
Right, we’ll start with the more familiar amp stuff. It’s a three-watt valve amp running off three ECC83 (12AX7) valves in the preamp section, and there’s a 12BH7 in the power stage (Class AB). That three watts is the maximum output power, but Laney has included the front-panel Brake switch, which drops the wattage further to 0.1 watt – handy, as this is a non-master-volume amp. As you can see from the front panel, there’s three-band preamp EQ plus a Presence control, as well as a Gain control.
Why are there so many jack sockets?
That’s where the multiple voicings come in. The four inputs are arranged as two pairs (Bass and Treble), with two variations of each. They’re fairly self-explanatory in how they differ, but Laney actually describes the Bass channels as being “neutral” in terms of their frequency response, while also pointing out that they’re good for pedals. The Treble inputs have a boosted high-end response, and the second inputs in each category are set to give less gain overall.
Hmm… so can I jump the channels, then?
Yes, you can! You just plug your guitar into whichever input you want to use as your ‘core’ sound, then plug the corresponding input on that channel into one of the other two remaining inputs with a jack cable. This will allow you to have the bass and treble channels running together.
Where does Two Notes come into all this?
Around the back, there’s a pretty well-stocked Torpedo Embedded module built into the amp. This gives you a DI output on an XLR connection that routes the amp’s signal to a PA or audio interface, as well as a headphone output.
The Torpedo module has its own output Level control to determine how much signal you’re sending out, and there’s a clip LED to make sure you don’t go over, too.
What’s that Virtual Cabinet control?
That’s a six-position rotary selector that lets you select a speaker cab DynIR. The LA-Studio comes with two DynIRs from Laney, and another eight from Two Notes – plus there are two more available when you register the amp. These IRs can be edited in Two Notes’Torpedo Remote software, where you’ll have control over the virtual room, microphone type and placement, EQ and more. When you’re finished, you can fire up to six of them into the amp for recall away from the computer.
So can I hook this up to a normal speaker cabinet, too?
Yes. There’s a pair of speaker outputs on the back (eight and 16-ohm) if you want to play through a passive cab, although the amp is also designed to function without any load connected. Also on the back panel are MIDI in and out sockets for comprehensive remote control of the amp’s features. Tune in next issue for our full review.