Laney VA series

Does anyone know something about these Laney VA series. As I own one myself (VA 100 Reverb), I would like to know something more about these amps. Can anyone help me?

Hi,
Guess no-one knows anything about your amp - unless they aren't telling!
I have a Laney VA 50 but with no reverb. It came from a school who were chucking it out and was in a sorry state with knobs, switches and valves missing. I got in touch with Michael at MAJ Electronic & he hadn't come across this amp either. Anyway I sent it down & he refurbished it for me.

Hi,
I posted my question here because I had seen someone on this forum who owns the head version. But anyway, recently, I've read that the following versions were available:

- the VA50 combo version, with reverb and 2 x 12" speakers



- the VA100 combo, with reverb and 2 x 12" speakers (the one on the picture is mine)



- the VA100 combo, with reverb and 4 x 10" speakers



- VA50 Head (no reverb)

http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewtopic.php?p=457994&highlight=&sid=e31db34a17b38b7bf60bf23c23a2171c
Some pictures of the VA50 head

- VA100 Head (no reverb)



- a 4 x 12" slanted cab

Someone on the Plexi Palace Forum has drawn a schematic of his VA100, I asked him if he would mind sending it to me. That's all I know about it, but I haven't contacted Laney yet. I presume that they will send me to MAJ Electronics (where your's is refurbished), as they do the repairs for older Laney's. The previous owner told me he bought it new in 1978, right before Laney stopped making amps for a few years.

Hello hello! Been a while since I've posted here...

I have a VA 100 head unit... In fact, that's my amp in the picture of the head you posted in the above post, Witloofboer.

I've been doing some research on these since I got mine about four or five years ago, but they're a rare amp, so there's basically no info out there. From what I have been able to gather, they were produced in the late 70s to very early 80s (probably not really past 1980) and came after the Klipps, but before the first of the Pro-Tube amps (the original Pro-Tubes that is, as in, the ones with only three preamp tubes and no AOR funtions -basically almost straight JCM800 clones). Not many of the VA series were produced, with production numbers probably being somewhere in the hundreds, rather than the thousands -hence, their scarcity today. In terms of circuit design, these are quite unique amps; very unlike the Marshall-based designes that Laney made before and after the VA series (ie: Klipps and Pro-Tubes/AORs). They seem to be very much a Laney original design, and I have so far not come across any other amp whose circuit is really similar to the VAs' (the tone stack, for example, is quite different to most amps). The amps came in both 50 and 100 Watt forms, named the VA 50 and VA 100 respectively, and they were available in both head and combo format. Combos all came with spring reverb while the head units didn't. Power tubes were EL34s, while preamp tubes were ECC83/12ax7. Head units came with 4 preamp tubes, while combos had 5 preamp tubes, the extra one being the driver tube for the reverb.

Combos came in the following speaker configurations:
4 x 10" (100 Watt) - Celestion G10-60
2 x 12" (50 & 100 Watt) - both Celestion and McKenzie speakers (with red frames)

Also, there was a 4 x 12" cabinet with Celestion G12-80 speakers.

That's about all I can remember just off the top of my head. I'll try to dig up some pics and post them. Any questions about these amps, just ask!

- a 4 x 12" slanted cab

Witloofboer, do you by any chance have this pic of the 4 x 12" cab? I've only ever seen one other picture of one before and would be very interested to see this one.

Also, you say you have a VA 100 Reverb... could you tell me what model speakers are in it? Cheers!

Unfortunatly, I don't have a picture of that 4 x 12" cab. I've seen it on the web, just before I bought mine. I remember it as having black tolex, with a white 'line' around.

Mine is equipped with 2 x 12" McKenzie Speakers (with the red frame).

Recently, I've been wondering how you should use an extension cab with this one. My 2 x 12" are 8 Ohm and I have another jack free. When I install another 8 ohm cab, should I leave the impedance selector at 8 ohm, or move it to 4?

Hi there all,
I'm a total newbie to this forum but I feel like its like a sort of home-coming. After years of searching I have now seen photo of other Laney VA amps thanks to this forum. (I was honestly begining to think I was the only one out there.)
I'm the proud owner of a VA100 Reverb Combo. I picked it up in Dublin Ireland around 1986 and it still is a great amp.
I would love to hear more about the history of these amps. I'll post some pictures for you all as soon as I figure out how to do so.
Thanks again
Tara(guitar)

I'm the proud owner of a VA100 Reverb Combo.

Do you have the footswitch?

Unfortunatly, I don't have a picture of that 4 x 12" cab. I've seen it on the web, just before I bought mine. I remember it as having black tolex, with a white 'line' around.

Mine is equipped with 2 x 12" McKenzie Speakers (with the red frame).

Recently, I've been wondering how you should use an extension cab with this one. My 2 x 12" are 8 Ohm and I have another jack free. When I install another 8 ohm cab, should I leave the impedance selector at 8 ohm, or move it to 4?

How are you liking those McKenzies? I've always wondered about those speakers.
When you say your 2 x 12" are 8 Ohm, do you mean each speaker is 8 Ohms, or the two are wired together for a total load of 8 Ohms? If they're 8 Ohms together and you add another 8 Ohm cab via the second speaker jack, I think that would be just like having two 8 Ohm loads in parallel, making the total load 4 Ohms. Of course, that's provided I've understood your situation correctly.


To all the VA users, how are you liking your amps? What kind of tones are you getting out of them? What kind of distortion/overdrive sounds are you getting?

How are you liking those McKenzies? I've always wondered about those speakers.

I like them very much. However, I can't compare as I haven't tested it with other cabs. They sound (compared to some slave out recordings I did) pretty midrangy, with smooth high frequencies.

When you say your 2 x 12" are 8 Ohm, do you mean each speaker is 8 Ohms, or the two are wired together for a total load of 8 Ohms? If they're 8 Ohms together and you add another 8 Ohm cab via the second speaker jack, I think that would be just like having two 8 Ohm loads in parallel, making the total load 4 Ohms. Of course, that's provided I've understood your situation correctly.

You did understood the situation. I'd like to try my amp with a rotating speaker cab and hear how that sounds.

To all the VA users, how are you liking your amps? What kind of tones are you getting out of them? What kind of distortion/overdrive sounds are you getting?

Settings that I use most:

Clean, slightly compressed sound

Gain 1: 0
Gain 2: 4
Treble: 5
Bass: 5
Middle: 9
Prescence: 7
Reverb: 0

Bluesy sound

Gain 1: 4(humbuckers), 5 (single coils)

Classic rock sound

Gain 1: 6-8

In higher gain settings (Gain 1: 8-10, Gain 2: 8+), I get a harsh sounding distortion, which I do not like. This could be due to my (very) old tubes (still the original ones). It would have been great if gain 1 was footswitchable, but that's the only 'mod' I could think of.

Was browsing ebay UK and came across one of the ever elusive VA series 4x12 cabs...

Check it out:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Laney-4x12-Klipp- ... 0334913995





The seller has it somewhat falsely listed as a Klipp era cab... not really surprising considering the unuasual nature of this item. This is probably only the second (or maybe third) VA series cab that I've ever come across. Too bad it's all the way over in the UK, otherwise I'd be all over that one. Would make a nice pair with my head unit. Hmm... I wonder if they made a 2x12 version also?...

the speakers are Mckenzie and one Fane

I guess the Fane is a replacement

I saw this last month:
http://cgi.befr.ebay.be/Laney-Va100-Reverb-Ampli-guitare_W0QQitemZ170318191242QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_23?hash=item170318191242&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

the speakers are Mckenzie and one Fane

I guess the Fane is a replacement

I saw this last month:
http://cgi.befr.ebay.be/Laney-Va100-Reverb-Ampli-guitare_W0QQitemZ170318191242QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_23?hash=item170318191242&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Yeah I saw that one too, someone got a good deal there. Looks like Laney liked to mix it up a bit with the speaker placement... small baffle, large baffle, horizontal speaker alignment, diagonal alignment... they had a bit of everything going. The one in that auction appears to have Celestion G12-80s, which, along with the red framed McKenzies, are the only other kind of 12" I've seen come stock with the VA series (both in speaker cabs and combo amps). I think this is because at the time, these were some of the very few speakers available that could actually handle a full 100 Watts comfortably in a 2 X 12" arrangement. I know the first Marshall "Club and Country" combo amps (100 Watters) from 1978 came with those red framed McKenzies too, also in a 2 X 12" setup.
I'm sure you're glad you have casters on that amp of yours. My head version is heavy enough, I couldn't imagine adding the larger cabinet and speakers to that... the 4 x 10" combo would be a killer...

I'm sure you're glad you have casters on that amp of yours. My head version is heavy enough, I couldn't imagine adding the larger cabinet and speakers to that... the 4 x 10" combo would be a killer...

Mine weights a little bit above 50 kg. I found a leslie cab and linked it to my Laney. SRV, here I come!

Another one.