Loud prices

A quick price updates on these pedals as they are now available at Davis GMC: $550 ea. Yes, at this price you can easily get an amp. Then again, these are indeed amplifiers (without the cabs).

 

Pic: GPX

Lion & Iron

In recognition of Martin Miller's & Tom Quayle's love for their respective Laney amps, the manufacturer has collaborated with these master players to manifest amps in a pedal format.

The Martin Miller version is a repro of the Ironheart amp. Two channels are available for your various overdriven needs plus a boost option if things need to get over the top for some of us gain freaks. 

Over at the Tom Quayle end of things (Lionheart), there's more emphasis on clean tones hence the bright / dark modes on offer unlike the Ironheart's symmetrical / asymetrical clipping modes. Both pedals have onboard reverb to insinuate amp-like voicings as these are indeed amps in a pedal manifestation. 

My most likeable feature for these pedals is definitely the FX loop option. Amp geeks will get to fully enjoy the amp's powerful offerings while those of us who are busy keeping things colourful via pedal manipulations can let the loop section do its thing without interfering with the amp's front end. Be reminded that these pedals have no tubes whatsoever in their respective circuits so if they sound great or as convincing as the real tube amp counterparts, then the circuits were well designed to be mindful of such appreciations. I see this as a bold move by Laney, shoving non-tube amp stuff onto our tone platter because tone aficionados wouldn't settle for anything less than tube technology when it comes to amps. Emulation technology of late has shown how good non-tube tones could be so riding on this successful formula, names like Laney are smart to latch onto the hype while it lasts. 

Pics: Laney

Foundry

Laney had been teasing this for the last week or so. It's called the Ironheart Foundry Loudpedal, a 3-in-1 unit which allows you to: 1) Use it as an amp. That's right, 60W of force right there at your feet 2) Plug it in as a DI unit so it goes straight to the mixing desk 3) A regular effects unit. Well heck, it allows you to plug in your headphones for silent practice when the need arises. When you're done reading this, please know that it's already available at Davis GMC (List: $250).

Pic: Laney

Laney: IRT Pulse

This is the talk of the moment; Laney had shrunk their Ironheart technology to pedal size so you can incorporate it into your line up. Adding to that, its ability to be connected to your music software so the tone lives in your virtual world as well. If you are interested in one, do head down to Davis GMC & they are selling fast.

Laney: Ironheart Pulse

Availability: Davis GMC

Price: $245

Laney: Desktop ironing

This is the talk of town now- Laney's Ironheart Pulse. It's a desktop interface (nothing new) but it features Laney's acclaimed Ironheart drive & those are indeed caged-up pre-amp tubes; the ECC83. In addition to the digital applications, this pedal will double up as your proverbial booster but keep in mind that it needs its isolated power supply. 

Digital interfaces, tube-laden pre-amp boosters- these ideas aren't new but we acknowledge the fact that Laney has added its own signature to the fold. It's a matter of convincing us, players, it'll do good to our tone rather than clutter our boards.

Laney: IRT30

In another goodness-in-smaller-serving news, Laney now offers its flagship Ironheart amp in a 30W combo. It's a 1x12 take so you get a full-sounding amp with no compromise in tone. It's also one of those mean-sounding amps with lush cleans so you get the best of both worlds & that's your money's worth, right there. More importantly, the attenuator effect's kept in tact so you can unleash your distortion fury at lower settings. Another bedroom winner here :-)

Laney: Ironheart 60W head (Wattage variant)

I'm giving the (Laney) Ironheart's wattage variant control a thumbs-up for matters pertaining to practicality. This means you can tame the Ironheart down to the lower wattage range for smaller performance venues (which includes your bedroom) if you wish to keep the volume in check without losing the power tubes saturation. However, there is a need to re-tweak your EQ once you do just that (not a drastic change, yes?); the amp's voicing would be affected by the different wattage levels. This is a mark of a good amp, one which responds to power (supply).

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A belated thanks to the good people @ Sound Alchemy for the acquisition of this amp.

Clipped

Perhaps the primary attraction for us distortion dweebs is the (Laney) Ironheart's Pre-Boost feature. This has the same effect of adding a drive pedal to an already distorted amp channel up front not through the loop access. This gives the player more sensitivity in terms of picking, a more sensitive harmonics trigger as well as more body in the distortion per se. This consideration was included in the Ironheart design to save the player some trouble in having to add an external drive pedal to beef up the distortion (eg: adding an Ibanez Tubescreamer).

However, please be informed that at higher Pre-Boost settings, you'd hear this rather obnoxious clipping of notes; meaning- while playing you'd hear your notes 'cut off' as if they are forbidden from crossing a certain limit. I'm aware of the technicalities here; it's the same effect of having a fuzz/ drive circuitry set at higher thresholds to such an extent the signals are truncated- it's more apparent from fuzz units than anything else. As you can see from the pic above, I limit my Pre-Boost to about 40% of the range to avoid the annoyance from being too obvious.

Laney: Ironheart 60W head- tone report

This is strictly a tone appraisal, other pointers will entail soon.

Clean
The Ironheart was predominantly conceived for distortion mongers, the cleans on offer are generally appealing. It's nothing in the Fender ballpark, definitely, but more of the British-voiced cleans- think Fender & Orange. What you hear coming from this channel benefits humbuckers more than single coils. Great jazz warmth for neck pickups, didn't know this was in store.

Rhythm drive

This is the crunch mode, meaning, the maximum drive from this channel isn't quite metal but it's by no means mild-mannered. Since Laney is flying the British flag, you might be expecting a Marshall-esque crunch here but not quite. It's not as thumping but there's lots of bite in store. 

Lead drive

Splendid in terms of intensity, you will love your bridge humbucker's chugging tone. The amp was made for aggression anyway & it's making its worth heard here. That said, if you solo in the neck humbucker, there are lots of clarity to be heard. No surprises because it sounds great in clean mode so in drive mode there is likewise expectation & it's true to form.

Other drive-shaping ingredients

The plus points of this amp are definitely the pre-amp boost & wattage variant features. These controls add quite significantly to saturation & intensity. While you work on the primary gain settings, be sure to formulate your intentions with these controls in mind; the drive range in its entirety, is therefore very wide. My initial experience here says that the wattage control shouldn't be overlooked when it comes to drive shaping, it's not exclusively a volume tamer.

Laney: Ironheart 60W head

The Laney Ironheart 60W head I bought was delivered today. The delivery man was apologetic because he arrived way after the stipulated time but I understand the delay was due to the downpour. I'm OK with that. Told him: Safety first. 

The story of my Friday (Part 2)

Here's Part 2 of my Friday episode & it had nothing to do with any egocentric senior citizens (sorry to disappoint some of you). I duly arrived at Beat Spot & was very anxious to try out that amp I mentioned- it's Laney's new Ironheart series, touted as a metal-friendly unit & I'm definitely interested to hear it in action.

The cleans here are quite Marshall-esque but there's less chime in the works maybe due to the in-house custom drivers on board & the fact that it runs on 6L6s in the power section- I did mess briefly with volume but there's no master section to stretch this to the limits, just the channel volume. The rhythm channel has that signature crunch for a typical classic rock spin but it's nothing too aggressive. I didn't have the opportunity to plug a Tubscreamer pedal or any of its derivatives to hear further tonal definition but I bet it's gonna sound sweet should this happen.

Lead, lead, lead! It's the killer lead channel if you are into intense distortion. The overall character here speaks of clarity & acute saturation which doesn't turn the top end too prickly. I was drawn to this very Peavey JSX drive voicing but the difference here is that the Ironheart has a more outgoing drive voicing so if you are not too inclined to favour a smoother distortion, the amp's midrange can bring you into black metal territory. I can't help but link this to Blackstar's SERIES 200 amps, very similar but less nasty in the top end spectrum. Thumbs up to Laney for delivering their claims & more importantly, giving us a good amp per se.

Kudos to the good people at Beat Spot for letting me have a go at this amp.

Part 3 coming up...