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Laney LA65D review in Guitar Buyer Magazine June 2009

21 May 2009

Guitar Buyer Magazine June 2009 have reviewed the Laney LA65D acoustic combo. This is what they said:

Laney LA65D

Laney's acoustic combos have been given a makeover. Louis Thorne tests out one of the new models.

Laney's range of acoustic combos has been around for about a decade and during that time its members have graced many a stage and practice room. This re-vamped LA65D sees a smart new look and 'kickback' design added to the mix, along with a pair of custom coaxial speakers and anti-feedback feature.

As it's name suggests, the Laney LA65D is rated 65 watts. As such, it's the largest of Laney's LA range and should be well-equiped to handle rehearsal duties and small gigs. The price tag of £245 seems exceptionally reasonable, but does this amp have the sounds to match its professional looks?

Construction and Features

The LA65D's cabinet is designed so that it can be leant back at an angle and, while it means that it's a litle deeper and less easy to carry than it otherwise would be, this 'kickback' design makes the ampa much more gig-friendly proposition. Tilting the amp back will help you hear more of what you're doing when sat right next to it, while also helping to throw more sound up and over the front row and towards the back of the room.

When Leant , the LA's coaxial drivers are in full view, each compromising a fairly conventional eight-inch speaker but with a miniature tweeter cunningly mounted in the centre. These tweeters should add crucial high-frequency detail to the sound the drivers put out.

The amp's front panel is clearly laid out, with two independant channels at your disposal. Channel one has a combi jack/XLR input designed for a microphone, but capable of handling other signals too. This channel has gain, reverb and high and low EQ controls.

Just beside this is thededicated instrument channel, also with a jack/xlr input, featuring a four-band graphic EQ, gain and reverb controls, a switchable anti-feedback filter and phase reverse pad switches. This second channel also offers a chorus effect with rate and depth controls and a 'shimmer ' mode switch. A master volume knob and a mini-jack input for a CD or MP3 player complete the front pannel.

The power swith is to be found on the rear panel, along with jacks for the amp's effects send and return loop, headphone output and balanced DI out (usefully kept pre-master volume so that on-stage adjustments won't affect any feed going to a PA). The effects send can also be used as a line for recording purposes.

Overall, everything feels sturdy, if not eactly indestructable, and although the amp's 16kg weight might be fairly light by valve combo standards, we would have preferred a slightly more comfortable top handle on this acoustic amp to make those longer trips between car and venue somewhat easier.

Sounds

The point of having an amp designed for acoustic guitars is that it doesn't clour the sound in the way an electric guitar amp does. While great with a Les Paul, a Marshall JCM800, for example, is not really the amp for getting trusty old electro-acoustic to sound it's best. What we are looking for is a transparent-sounding amp covering the full frequency range, so that the natural tone of the instrument can come through.

The Laney LA65 manages this very nicely, and no doubt the pair of coaxial drivers help here, with thehinstrument channel doing a great job fulfilling its brief of simply making an acoustic guitar louder. The range of gain available is ample for any active acoustic, although if you're using a passive piezo pickup with no on-board preamp, you may find some form of external preamp is necessary to get the best results.

The LA65D's reverb sounds nice, especially in small amounts, as does the chorus, should you hanker for that kind of sound, and the ability to independently set the reverb level on each channel earns further brownie points. Although it is not foolproof, the anti-feedback control on the instrument channel does a good job of damping down any howling, and even on maximum it only has a subtle affect on the sound.

The aux/mic channel is good too, although we would like to have seen it selectable for instrument input since, as it stands, a guitar through this input sounds a little thinner than through the dedicated instrument channel. It can still sound quite acceptable with a guitar, but once again a dedicated acoustic preamp placed in front of the amp may help.

The LA65D's noise floor is a little higher than we would have liked, and means that this amp isn't on a par with some of the really high-end acoustic amps out there. However, the Laney is many times more affordable and, considering this low price, the LA65D does its job very well, in a neat and user-friendly way.

Conclusion

Laney has managed to improve its acoustic combos' looks and some features and, as the head of the family, the LA65D does a great job of representing the clan. It's essential sound is clear and flattering, with a very useful and fuss-free anti-feedback control and a good reverb. There is a little more background noise than we would like, especially when the gain is cranked up, and the option of having two instrument channels would have been welcome. For the price, however, this Laney will be hard to beat and we highly recommend that gigging acoustic players take a look.

GB Verdict

Gold Stars

  • Lots of features in a gig-friendly package
  • Great price

Black Marks

  • Two instrument channels would have been nice

GB Rating

4/5