Top Of The Class

Laney’s unique Class A tribute to vintage British tone blends classic styling with a wide range of tones. You need to hear this!

- Nick Guppy

One of the UK’s longest-established amp builders, Laney has a history that goes all the way back to 1967, when founder Lyndon Laney needed an amp and decided to try his hand at building one. Lyndon played bass in a West Midlands group called Band Of Joy, which briefly included Robert Plant and John Bonham. Plant and Bonham went on to greater things, while Laney’s amplification designs were winning fans of their own. Faced with a choice of going to university or carrying on with electronics, Laney decided to give amps a try for a few years – and over four decades later, he’s still there.

Today, the Laney catalog covers every angle, from hand-wired recreations of the classic 1960s heads and combos that powered the massively influential West Midlands music scene, to affordable practice amps that are perfect for home and studio. Sitting near the top of Laney’s range, the Lionheart series blends vintage British styling with boutique-inspired electronics, including a unique parallel single-ended output stage. The series has recently enjoyed a subtle makeover to further enhance its performance, and here we’re looking at the new-improved L20T-112 1x12 combo.

The L20T-112 is built to a high standard and finished in a restrained royal blue vinyl with a tough beige and blue speaker grille. There’s plenty of attention to detail, including a matching blue leather carry handle, white piping and brushed stainless steel vents to match the control panel, which is adorned with white chickenhead knobs that have blue marker lines. Inside the ply cabinet there’s a single