The 6 x cabinet presets packed inside the new LANEY LA-STUDIO Supergroup Tube Amp with Two Notes technology are designed to make guitarists’ lives easier, bring out the best sound possible for your guitar in any scenario and provide virtual access to professional-quality studios, mics and cabs.
The sonic benefits of using these Laney cabinet presets are felt as soon as you unpack your amp from the box and plug your guitar in. When you connect the jack plug and hit the power switch, you have immediate access to world-class cabinet and microphone sounds before you’ve even changed a single setting. No matter what environment you’re playing or recording in, you’ve just hit the big leagues in terms of sonic performance.
Let’s dig into what you’re getting when you decide to add the LA-Studio to your live or studio set-up.
The Laney LA-STUDIO is an Impulse Response loaded, 3W or <0.1 Watt version of the critically acclaimed LA30BL head – the head with the same preamplifier circuit featured in the Laney LA100BL amp made famous by Tony Iommi back in the late 60s.
Re-imagined for 2022, and loaded with a full Two Note Torpedo module, the LA-STUDIO is a real tube amp but packed with all the benefits of a digital plugin giving you the best of both worlds; tube amp drive, saturation and response with the reliability of a digital plugin and added tonal tweaking via the Two Notes app.
The tubes warm up, the tone gets better the longer you play, and the dynamics of your playing shine through beautifully whether you’re gently jamming or digging in hard – just like using a full-fat tube amp, but you have the ability to set the environment of the cab sound, the mic used and the mic placement via the Two Notes technology.
It’s a REAL amp, with PLUGIN technology = REAL PLUGIN.
In a nutshell, you get a reimagined 1967 Laney SUPERGROUP amplifier head combined with Two Notes technology built in, providing with the convenience and control that Two Notes technology is famed for. Vintage amp sound meets modern technology. This enables you to use expertly captured cab sim technology for recording and live use with the unique sound and dynamics of a vintage tube amp.
If you’re already familiar with cab sims vs IR technology, you’ll fully appreciate why this combination of a real amp and cab sim functionality is groundbreaking. You’ll never have to mic up a cabinet ever again or worry about good quality venue sound – you get it instantly with the LA-Studio.
Aside from the tones, which we’ll get to in a moment, one of the key reasons you’d want the Laney LA-Studio amp is that it allows you to go cabinet free. Where you’d normally have to carry around an amp head, cabinet or combo amp, you simply have to take your Laney LA-Studio amp head (with a gross weight of 9.8kg,21.6lbs) your pedals and your guitar! No need for a cab and no need for external preamps with an ampless rig.
This cuts your set up time down drastically. Say goodbye to trying to find the right mic setting or amp setting for the room!
In addition, you no longer have to worry about what kind of microphone or equipment the venue has in-house. Set your ideal preset and enjoy the same sound at every gig!
You have 6 Laney cabs built-in, recorded with a range of industry-standard microphones in multiple environments. You also have access to more third-party cabinets via the Two Notes app upon registration.
With one amp head, you have an entire studio’s worth of sounds at your disposal.
With the Laney-LA Studio – you’ll never need a cab or mic to record an amp again – Photo @IanWallman
Simply plug your XLR cable into the Laney LA-Studio amp head and the Two Notes Torpedo Cab sim built-in will help you out in several different scenarios:
This makes life a lot easier onstage! We’ve looked at the benefits of going ampless on bass but now you can go (almost) ampless on guitar!
Where some guitarists like the ability to tweak settings directly on an amp, instead of using a completely amp free/pedal-only set-up, you now can tweak your tube sound via the amp EQ panel and send the exact sound you want to your front-of-house engineer utilising the lush Laney cabinet presets alongside the tube-driven tones of the LA-Studio head which is a reimagined version of the 1967 Laney SUPERGROUP amplifier!
You can also use the amp as a conventional tube amp too! Just connect your speaker cab and match the impedance so you can enjoy the lush sounds of a single-channel, vintage-styled all-tube head with the connectivity of a solid-state! No more choosing between solid-state vs tube amps!
The cabinet presets built into the Laney LA-Studio allow you to access 6 specifically designed Laney virtual cabinets recorded in real environments with real, professional quality microphones.
These cabinets were taken from the Two Notes Laney DynIR library but tweaked specifically for this amp head.
This means you can enjoy the sonic qualities of a Laney cabinet mic’d up exactly how you want it, and push that sound through a PA on stage, record with it in your DAW or practice with it in your headphones. Best of all, you can move any of the 8 built-in mics around via the Two Notes app for different sonic textures, allowing you to layer overdubs with slightly different sounds or enjoy close, far or behind-the-cab mic techniques as used by recording engineers all over the world.
Plug an XLR into the Laney LA-Studio to access the built-in cabinet sounds – Photo @IanWallman
Straight out of the box you get 2 x industry standard Laney cabinets expertly captured by engineers in multiple settings. It’s like you’re actually in the studio or venue with the cabinet!
Plug an XLR lead into the LA-STUDIO’s XLR sockets to the FOH or your audio interface and access the 6 specifically designed Laney virtual cabinets in various environments listed below.
Let’s look at the presets in more detail and see what the key sonic benefits are:
The LA-Studio Preset 1 is called STUDIO A and features a Laney DynIR capture of a Laney LA412 in a dry and intimate studio environment.
This is an authentic replica of the original LA412 cabinet, as used by Tony Iommi for Black Sabbath recordings and tours, up until 1979, so you get that massive, thick-sounding tone as heard on early Sabbath recordings!
It has been recorded in a dry studio environment so you get the complete sonic qualities of the cabinet loaded with Celestion 12″ G12H-75 speakers for pure power! The cabinet was recorded using 8 different microphones including a Dyn57 (dynamic) and Rbn 121 (Ribbon) mic so you have options when it comes to blending or isolating the microphone qualities when recording.
Choose the dynamic mic for a clean, crisp sound, or the ribbon mic for a livelier vintage tonality that Iommi would be proud of!
The LA212 preset is an officially captured cabinet from the Laney archives, featuring an offset 2×12” cabinet loaded with a pair of Celestion G12M-25 drivers built in the UK. The key sonic benefit here is that it used the same parts and specifications of the Celestion drivers around at the end of the 60s and early ’70s, so you get that vintage tone but a more direct 2×12 punch sound from the Celestion 12″ G12M Greenback speakers than you would from the 4×12.
There’s a distinct difference in sonic weight between a 2×12 and a 4×12 that some guitarists prefer, so it’s worth trying them out for sure! Again, you have 8 mics to choose from including dynamic and ribbon, all set in a dry, studio setting for sonic accuracy.
Here’s where it gets really interesting with the Laney DynIR cab sims! The Preset 3 – HALL A – features the LA412 in a bright medium-sized venue which instantly provides the sound quality of a live show complete with a touch of reverb and added room life!
This is perfect for capturing the lively small venue sound that indie, alternative and rock guitarists will appreciate. You get warmth, a slight touch of reverb and a sonic width that gives your sound that unmistakable live quality! Imagine Academy-style venues in the UK or club-style venues in the USA and you’ll have an idea of the sound available.
Next up we’re getting into the concert hall sound akin to the likes of Shepherds Bush in the UK or The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, USA. Preset 4 – HALL B – offers the sonic prowess of the LA212 in a classic concert hall, with warm reverb. This is ideal for mimicking a live sound of a large, plush venue offering a touch of reverb that stops suddenly when it hits the cushy chairs and red carpet. You’ll instantly feel like you’ve entered the rock and Roll Hall of Fame with this sound.
Again, you can move the microphones around using the Two Notes app for different sonic textures. If you’re getting too much bright, top end, move the mic behind the cabinet. Not getting enough detail? Manipulate the EQ and use a ribbon mic! The choices are near-endless.
For those in need of brighter, cleaner sound but with the added “life” of a larger venue, the Preset 5 – PLATE – The LA412 is the best setting for you. You’ll enjoy a large plate reverb sound, that offers a vintage venue tonality with loads of power behind you. It’s like you’re playing in an indoor stadium but you can hear every detail, every string slide and every nuance of your solo!
The added plate reverb offers extra weight to your sound without becoming overbearing and while the clean environment is not as dry as Preset 1, it still allows for more of a controlled sound without the reverb taking over.
Preset 6 – CATHEDRAL – is a DynIR capture of the coveted Laney LA212 cabinet in a tiled cathedral complete with that lush ethereal and angelic ambience you’re likely to hear on Pink Floyd or Sigur Ros records, screaming guitar solos from the 70s and early The Verve first album style guitars. This setting is perfect for when you want a wide-open sound with a life all of its own.
Tame the large, bright, reflective ambient space by using a dynamic mic preset in front of the cabinet, or make use of the ribbon mic setting and move the mic further away from the cabinet in the Two Notes app to give your guitar sound a wide-open quality!
We’ve mentioned the mics briefly, but another key benefit of the LA-Studio Amp head when using the presets is its ability to utilise the 8 different microphone sounds exactly how you want to. This means you can not only make use of the environment but actually enjoy the different sonic qualities of world-class microphones and place them in different positions.
The 8 different microphones included with the DynIR Virtual Cabinets are:
As you can see, these are industry-standard guitar cab mics used by professional engineers and producers all over the world. Pick any album in your collection and at least one mic in this list has been used to record the guitars on that album!
You have a choice of modern dynamic microphone sounds for an unfiltered, uncoloured quality as well as a host of different ribbon and condenser microphones that add a unique vintage warmth and life to your guitar cab sound.
Put simply, you’ll never need to buy a microphone or mic up your cabinet manually again with the Laney Supergroup LA-Studio amplifier head! You can also recreate the exact sounds of your favourite artists, for example, I show you how to sound like Billy Corgan using the Laney LA-Studio, including his live and studio sound.
With 6 built-in presets on the Laney LA-Studio amp, you already have a world of tone at your fingertips. And with 10 additional high-quality DynIR’s available to you upon registering you’re your account with Two Notes, you’ll never need another amplifier again.
These additional DynIR’s are:
As a reward for creating a Two notes account and registering your LA-STUDIO you will also receive 2 BONUS Dyn IR’s:
Just visit https://www.two-notes.com/en/downloads/ and download then install the latest TORPEDO REMOTE software and follow the prompts.
You get the real feel of a tube amp, with the ability to switch cabinets, microphones and environments arming you with all the sounds a guitarist could ever need in a recording, live and practice amp.
Yes of course you can tweak each preset, but we’re confident the built-in versions will absolutely improve your sound straight out of the box!
Read more about the Laney LA-Studio amp here, and download the Torpedo Remote software here.