Laney Linebacker 65

I bought an old used Laney solid state '65 reverb' as back up for my valve amp. I worry about the fragile valve amp letting me down mid gig!

There are two separate channels, A and B, each with gain and volume, with bass , mid and treble controls. Channel A has the addition of pull to boost knobs on gain and tone controls. There are three input sockets, A , B , and Mix. The latter allowing A, B, or both, controlled by a foot switch. The gain on channel A when pulled out takes it from overdrive to full saturated distortion. There are three additional rotaries which give overall control of both A and B channels being, reverb, presence, and master volume.

I first plugged into channel B using my standard Telecaster. Set all controls to halfway and played a couple of blues riffs.To say I was surprised is the understatement of all time. The richness of tone is outstanding!

I was expecting cold sterile solid state sounds, and was treated to warm yet clear sounds very much like my very much more expensive valve combo.

Turning up the gain a little introduced a subtle level of overdrive, reminiscent of a hard driven little valve powered combo, without any hint of harshness.

Channel A took some experimentation to achieve the same tone, but I got there very quickly. With all the 'push to boost' controls on this channel, there are sonic possibilities to suit all tastes.And then you can mix both channels!

I have not gone above halfway up with the master volume. This amp is LOUD!

Built like the proverbial brick outhouse, and just as heavy, ruggedness and reliability seem to be guaranteed. After all this is a thirty year old amp, that works perfectly, sounds great, and not a noisy pot to be found.

Best fifty quid I have ever spent!

I didn't expect too much tone wise, but how wrong can one be. The tone when cranked up just tp