Lab Series L7

[Midgetje94]

100w 410. Any experience? They are supposedly a very great sleeper amp. Which I love. My main amp is a Crate Vintage Club 50 212. So I’m very fond of the odd amps that blow most away.

videos on YouTube sound amazing. But hoping someone has personal experience. Apparently BB King used a L5

 

[JRapp]

Yeah, they're nice amps, prolly one of the better SS amps out there for the $$$. Can get VERY loud. Check out the multifilter doodad for function and noise---that part is probably close to unobtanium. I had an L7, an L5, and an L9, shoulda kept one. They may benefit from a speaker swap depending on what you want out of it.

 

[Midgetje94]

I play anything from classic rock, modern rock, blues, and country.

He’s asking $225 think it’s a fair price?

 

[jackal]

I had an L3 many years ago that I'm still sorry I sold.

 

[schmee]

I had one and a couple other Lab Series. all of the 100? watters are basically the same amp with different speaker configurations.
They are pretty good for a SS amp, got some cool controls on them. Too many for me!
Definitely worth 225 .... maybe for the 4 x 10 speakers! What speakers does it have?
Mine came with cheap replacement speakers and I modded it to be 1 x 15 instead.

I think I still have that black grillcloth and frame it's on around here.

@Wally is the resident expert on the Lab series here...

 

[Digital Larry]

Check out the multifilter doodad for function and noise---that part is probably close to unobtanium.

I like guitar amp knobs with weird names. I mean, I sort of like them on other people's amps. What does it do?

 

[Midgetje94]

I had one and a couple other Lab Series. all of the 100? watters are basically the same amp with different speaker configurations.
They are pretty good for a SS amp, got some cool controls on them. Too many for me!
Definitely worth 225 .... maybe for the 4 x 10 speakers! What speakers does it have?
Mine came with cheap replacement speakers and I modded it to be 1 x 15 instead.

I think I still have that black grillcloth and frame it's on around here.

@Wally is the resident expert on the Lab series here...

I’m actually not sure at the moment. Unfortunately that’s the only pic he’s posted. Waiting for a reply

 

[JRapp]

If everything works, $225 is a very good price. I would snap it up.

 

[JRapp]

I like guitar amp knobs with weird names. I mean, I sort of like them on other people's amps. What does it do?

Mid-shift control, like a PV Special 130, later VT22s. Can be very useful used judiciously.

 

[Midgetje94]

If everything works, $225 is a very good price. I would snap it up.

when he gets back to me. I’ll probably offer a even $200. Just to see. But even a few issues. I know a very good amp tech who’s 5 mins down the road. Some of y’all may have heard of the amps he makes “Crossfire Amps”

 

[schmee]

when he gets back to me. I’ll probably offer a even $200. Just to see. But even a few issues. I know a very good amp tech who’s 5 mins down the road. Some of y’all may have heard of the amps he makes “Crossfire Amps”

If it has issues it could be somewhat difficult. I dont know if you can get the big output transistors for that anymore or not.... Where's @Wally? I got $350 for mine but been 5 years or so. Hard sell at that price.

 

[schmee]

I like guitar amp knobs with weird names. I mean, I sort of like them on other people's amps. What does it do?

Built in Compression. Notch filters too.

 

[Digital Larry]

Built in Compression. Notch filters too.

The humanity!

 

[G.Rotten]

100w 410. Any experience? They are supposedly a very great sleeper amp. Which I love. My main amp is a Crate Vintage Club 50 212. So I’m very fond of the odd amps that blow most away.

videos on YouTube sound amazing. But hoping someone has personal experience. Apparently BB King used a L5
View attachment 901543

I have an L5 I bought earlier this year for $500 CAD.

If everything on the L7 works I would think that $225 US is a decent price.

I'd never heard or seen one in person before I bought mine. I would have to agree with the internet world that it is one of the best Solid State amps around. I was very surprised at the gain channel and the amount of tone shaping ability the amp has.

I also have a 75 Twin Reverb so I was able to A/B the two. As a die hard fan of Fender amps the TR was the winner in my books but the Lab Series stood up well.

For that price I think it would be a good idea to buy it and put it though it's paces. If you decide is not for you it should be no problem getting your money back.

 

[wstrnswingster]

I’m mainly a steel player and I own my hero’s old guitar. A friend sent me a YouTube link to him playing at the ISGC in St Louis back in 94 using the steel I’ve got and an L7 amp. As soon as he started playing I was floored. There it was, THAT tone!
I knew he’d used an L7 but had swapped to a Walter Woods 1200 watter around that time. Up till then I’d not seen him play with the L7.
I did some research and started looking around for one.
It seems Bob Moog split with Norlin in the middle of the production and I wanted an early one, '78 or '79. I got to wondering when the faceplate changed from a copper color to the flat black? Mine is kinda brownish but could be the flat black?
Eventually found a ‘79 at Guitar Center just before the pandemic for 350. It’s basically lived in the closet since.
Brought it out today and plugged in a 1 pup Es-330 style guitar. Sounds fine and appears to work correctly. But it did leave me with a couple questions.
With the Compressor, is the switch to the right of the knob for that? And does the LED stay on all the time or just when the effect is actually doing something?
I got a reprint manual but can’t recall where I put it, not in the back of the Amp cause that makes too much sense!
Also anyone know where this ground wire terminates?
And what exactly is this diagram on the back of the amp. Last image.
Any tips on settings would be appreciated as well.

 

[JRapp]

I’m mainly a steel player and I own my hero’s old guitar. A friend sent me a YouTube link to him playing at the ISGC in St Louis back in 94 using the steel I’ve got and an L7 amp. As soon as he started playing I was floored. There it was, THAT tone!
I knew he’d used an L7 but had swapped to a Walter Woods 1200 watter around that time. Up till then I’d not seen him play with the L7.
I did some research and started looking around for one.
It seems Bob Moog split with Norlin in the middle of the production and I wanted an early one, '78 or '79. I got to wondering when the faceplate changed from a copper color to the flat black? Mine is kinda brownish but could be the flat black?
Eventually found a ‘79 at Guitar Center just before the pandemic for 350. It’s basically lived in the closet since.
Brought it out today and plugged in a 1 pup Es-330 style guitar. Sounds fine and appears to work correctly. But it did leave me with a couple questions.
With the Compressor, is the switch to the right of the knob for that? And does the LED stay on all the time or just when the effect is actually doing something?
I got a reprint manual but can’t recall where I put it, not in the back of the Amp cause that makes too much sense!
Also anyone know where this ground wire terminates?
And what exactly is this diagram on the back of the amp. Last image.
Any tips on settings would be appreciated as well.

Yes---the compressor switch is next to the control. Use the multifilter judiciously or you end up with cocked wah sounds. IME, a speaker swap away from the CTS stuff helps; a brighter speaker helps clear up the kludgy midrange. Ground wire may go to a speaker lug IIRC (like the Yamaha and Randall SS amps and others) and the diagram is just a signal flow chart.

 

[wstrnswingster]

Thanks for the info. At this point I haven't spent much time fiddling with it but I look forward to that. It may be an amp I don't use often so I'm glad it wasn't that expensive! I've got pairs of JBL and Altec 10's. I might try them out.

I'll do a little looking around and see where that ground wire will reach, it's not very long. If someone has one of these around and can take a look that would be great.

With the Compressor switch on does the red LED stay lit? If it's supposed to be on the Compressor may not be working? I recall when I first got it, it would turn on and off while I played. I thought that it might be lit when it was doing it's thing. I'm guessing finding someone to service it will be a chore.

 

[wstrnswingster]

Got some info about the Compressor LED. It appears it's only lit when it's doing its thing.
Looked up Bandstand Music in Jackson TN. No longer in biz, been closed for several years now. One reviewer said Carl Perkins would visit on occasion. The amp came from the CG in the Memphis area.