laney VC30 - 210 - questions

markblack

hello all, just thought I'd pick the brains of this fine place.

I have a Laney VC30 210... I've never really used it, it's been in a room in my Mum's for the last 20+ years.

However it's now in my house as she's downsized and refused to keep hold of any more of my junk! - can't blame her.

So I have an amp that I know very little about - my old man owned a music shop and I remember going to Laney to pick it up when I was about 16. Then, like now, I knew nothing about amps. 

I only really use a Helix - I'm very much in the digital camp (sorry). But I do like the idea of taking the headphones off now and again and playing an amp. 

The one thing I do know is it's loud. It was loud when I was 16 and I thought that was fun... not i'm not 16 I'm less into making my ears bleed.

So my questions:

What's this Laney thing like? Where the rubbish... are the rubbish... (it's the only valve amp I've ever owned - I've played a few in shops but not spent much time with them)
Will it blow up and kill me if I don't fix stuff
Should I spend some money upgrading it? 
On upgrading to changing the valves / speakers make a difference?
Would I just be throwing money away?

Should I just leave it as it is?

A quick google tells me it ain't worth much (anything?) 

Any thoughts... suggestions... opinions much appreciated. 

Cheers

Mark

vasselmeyer

I had a VC-30 112 and itwas one of the best clean sounds I've ever had. I tried the 210 and it was even louder but with slightly more mid-range which I put down to the 10" speakers, which were Jensens I think.

If I were going to use a valve amp again then I would definitely think about getting another.

If you haven't turned it on for years it's worth getting a Tech to check it out first b

markblack

@vasselmeyer thanks for the reply, it's been turned on and used very briefly when i visited my mum over the years, so it seems to be working fine... We'll it hasn't gone bang

Mine has H&H ... I wonder if older or newer ones had Jensons... 

Supportact

I got a VC30 as backline provided at a festival last summer. Pretty sure that one was a 2 x 12 version though. I didn't have much time to play about with it, but it was easy to get a good clean sound and I much preferred it to some of the other amps I've had provided last year. 

Revolutions

My first proper amp was a VC30 210. Brilliant sound.

steamabacus

markblack said:

Mine has H&H ... I wonder if older or newer ones had Jensons... 

I have the baby brother VC15. Certainly with the 15, the HH speakers were in the first models and were not highly regarded - the later models' Jensen speakers were considered a definite improvement.

Mine is a later Jensen loaded model with the 'facelift' livery/badge.

markblack

@Revolutions do you remember what speakers were in it?

@steamabacus it seems the HH speakers didn't get much love... Maybe i should upgrade mine... I see a rabbit hole

Revolutions

@markblack - good question. I don’t recognise the hh speakers. I bought the amp in 2000 I think, so maybe it was them.

ThePrettyDamned

Great sounding amp that laney fitted with the worst speakers they could find - they are oddly dull and a bit harsh/sharp/unpleasant at the same time I found.

They are usable enough - but a speaker upgrade to greenbacks or something would make a big difference. 

No idea on reliability though, sorry. It's a cool amp! I always thought they looked fantastic. 

stickyfiddle

Genuinely brilliant amps for what they are, and somehow completely overlooked and hence super cheap. 

I gigged a VC15 for years and absolutely loved that little thing. 

markblack

@ThePrettyDamned thanks for the reply. And any suggestions on which speakers to try is much appreciated.

ThePrettyDamned

Give the speakers a go, you might like them and they may sound a bit better 20 years later too

Barquentine

I had the 2 x 10 with HH speakers. I did loads of gigs with it and it was great. The o/d was very nice and it also worked great as a clean platform with a couple of different boosts.

steamabacus

A friend had the 2x10 VC30 which I heard in rehearsal many times - sounded good. I've no idea which speakers his had though.

Another friend had the earlier livery VC15 but hers was another Jensen loaded one too. She bought it at around the time Laney were upgrading the speaker - the word was out on the internet that the HH's were 'crap' so she deliberately sourced a newer model with the Jensen.

snowblind

VC30s are good little amps. Definitely worth spending a bit on. Common fault is a dodgy switch on the FX loop but usually that sorts itself with a bit of contact cleaner and a bit of movement to clear out the oxidation.

ICBM

It’s a perfectly good amp, although in my opinion not a *great* one - but better than they’re valued, so if you do want to keep the option of having a valve amp I wouldn’t sell it, as you probably won’t get anything else as good for the money they go for. If you want to upgrade the speakers it depends what sort of sound you’re going for - the later versions of the model had Jensens (C10Qs I think) which give a clearer, slightly more ‘American’ voicing (though still with a British accent from the amp ), but if you want something more overtly Marshally I would get Celestions, probably G10 Greenbacks.

markblack

@ICBM thanks for that. I know NOTHING in fact less that nothing about speakers. Would the likes of what you suggested make the amp louder (not something I want to do).

FelineGuitars

The VC30 was a bit more Vox flavoured than the sister LC30 model and all the better for it . Celestions may be the way forward if new speakers are called for but give it a try with what it has - you may like it.  The G10 greenback looks to be the best candidate 

gjonesy

If you are thinking of getting it checked over, I've just had two of my Laneys (100w head and 2x12 combo) serviced by them at a very reasonable £50 each which included courier pick up and drop off. I've no idea how they can do it for that price, but was very impressed with the customer service.
There's a "contact us" page on the website, they'll then push this to headstock distribution to sort with you. 

Oh and I'd probably go with G10 greenback - from my experience with the speaker not the amp
Enjoy!

ICBM

markblack said:

@ICBM thanks for that. I know NOTHING in fact less that nothing about speakers. Would the likes of what you suggested make the amp louder (not something I want to do).

No, not particularly. The HHs are reasonably efficient, and I don’t think the Greenbacks will be any louder. The Jensens may be slightly quieter.

Avoid the G10 Vintage - it is much louder, as well as horribly middy and shouty.

blobb

I had the 1x12 for years, as above not the best but better than it's value. On the original the single 12 HH magnet was too close to the valves so they changed it. Not sure if this affects the 2x10, I don't think it does. I changed out the 70/80 in mine for a greenback and it was a signficant improvement.