Mickguard Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Since I've decided to build my own 5 watt amp in a few months, I want to replace my existing amp (Ampeg J12T) with something more versatile. This one looks good: Laney VC15 This will let me push the preamp for practice, but still have the power for shows (we always mike our amps when we play)...has a send/return and a jack for an external speaker. It's only 15 watts too, any more than that wouldn't be too practical for me. And it'll get me close to the Vox sound I'm looking for, without breaking the bank... Plus it looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 I saw that when I was looking for a new amp and it was going to be a choice until I caught wind of the price, it was breaking my bank anyways anyways I wanna know how you like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Should be here in a few days...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Amp came this morning! I haven't played it all that much, but it's pretty much the amp I was looking for...it's versatile enough to let me practice at home and it should work out really well in band practice--I'll be playing on the drive channel all the time, I know that already. I'm surprised at how small it is --but the speaker's only 10" . Which means it's also not nearly as loud as my Ampeg, which is also 15 watts but has a 12" speaker. Also doesn't have the depth of the Ampeg's speaker. But since the Ampeg has no drive stage, the only time I've been able to open it up has been on stage, and even then, just barely. I suppose I could look into changing the VC15's speaker down the road. I'm not sure how well it will do at shows --it'll definitely need to be miked. On a small stage it should be okay, but for a larger stage I'll need to add a cabinet (but that's part of why I chose this one, since it has a speaker out). There's a matching 2x10 cabinet for sale right now, I can probably get it for 150 euros shipped...tempting...there's also a matching 1x12 cabinet available. Both would give me that cool 'junior stack' look... It definitely has that Vox sound I was looking for though. Build-wise it looks pretty good too. We'll see how it holds up! Negatives: The back is covered with a grill so there's nowhere to store the power cable or footswitch inside the amp (but maybe that's a good thing?). The reverb is not all that great, but I've been playing without reverb lately and I kind of prefer that now. Besides, the amp has a effects return, so I'm looking into picking up some kind of delay/reverb/tremolo unit for that. All in all, this amp should keep me happy for a while...at least until I'm ready to buy the AC30 I've been lusting after (and that one will only be for shows). There's no rush on that...I'm getting ready to quit my band and form a new one, so I don't expect to gig again until summertime at the earliest... And I'm going to start my 5w amp build sometime in the next six months too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Sure looks like a nifty little amp. I'd bypass the 10" Jensen as quickly as I could. A 2x10 or 2x12 box would probably do it some good. I would try Celestion Vintage 30's for that tube environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Yeah, well, the wife just dinged up our new car...so the repairs are going to eat into my gear purchases a bit (luckily I already bought the amp!) I played it cool of course...while she was crying, I told her what's important is that she's not hurt, it's just a car and accidents happen, etc. etc. That ought to score me a few points for a few days. The married guys among you will understand that part. And the part about only a few days too. Anyway, I'm happy enough with the sound for now -- it'll keep me patient until I'm ready to add something bigger --maybe I'll go for Laney's AC30 then... At any rate, I noticed the amp is made in the UK! Not in China! So there's hope it won't die on me within a week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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