Laney CUB 12R

[klast]

I have had it for a couple of days.

It has 3 band EQ, gain and (master) volume, a separate tone knob (which I think acts on the powerstage), effects loop and front tilt up legs.

The 0.75 W input enables relatively nice crunch at bedroom volume with humbuckers, but a bit on the thin side with single coils. For the latter it needs to be cranked above home volume.

I has a lot of gain on tap, e.g. compared with Vox AC15CC (12R three preamp tubes vs AC15 two). Above 12 o'clock the gain becomes a bit too much for a vintage guy like me, but might be OK for metal.

When the master is turned up high, there is a tendency to feedback, which I haven't encountered with amps with "normal" attenuation, such as Fender PRA and Vox AC4TV.

The digital reverb doesn't impress me so far. Should have gotten the non-reverb version instead.

Klas

 

[jefrs]

I had a go with the Cub 10, I have not seen the Cub 12 yet. I was impressed with the Cub 10. I was hoping the Cub 12 would be a pair of 6V6 but they have gone with the usual suspect 2xEL84. However you have got more for your money than an AC15, or a BJ. You should be able to emulate an AC15, or a Fender, or a Marshall.

I think what you have got there is essentially the drive channel of a Laney amp like my L5T. In that they play a trick with the gain knob on the second valve V1B, it is not just a volume control but also alters the cathode bias - this only becomes noticeable in effect right at the top end of the dial (rather like their reverb controls do).

With three ECC83 you have a high-gain amp, feedback is to be expected. Most amps will feedback if you crank them up.

The reverb on the Laney, and many 'traditional' British amps, may seem weedy compared to a lush Fender, but most Fender reverbs are unusable above 4, whereas a British reverb has to be turned right up. In any case a reverb has to be turned right down on stage because the room provides the reverb. It's a shame they did not fit a spring but probably unfeasible at the price point: most digital reverbs work, and if an amp needs one built in effect, then it's the reverb (the second being tremolo).

 

[klast]

I had a go with the Cub 10, I have not seen the Cub 12 yet. I was impressed with the Cub 10. I was hoping the Cub 12 would be a pair of 6V6 but they have gone with the usual suspect 2xEL84. However you have got more for your money than an AC15, or a BJ. You should be able to emulate an AC15, or a Fender, or a Marshall.

I have tried the CUB 10. Sounded nice, but that was way above bedroom volume.

I bought the 12R to use it as a lightweight amp to carry along, as a spare amp, and for low volume home playing.

I normally use a Laney VC30 for rehearsal and gigs and a Fender PRA at home.

I think what you have got there is essentially the drive channel of a Laney amp like my L5T. In that they play a trick with the gain knob on the second valve V1B, it is not just a volume control but also alters the cathode bias - this only becomes noticeable in effect right at the top end of the dial (rather like their reverb controls do).

With three ECC83 you have a high-gain amp, feedback is to be expected. Most amps will feedback if you crank them up.

Well this was at bedroom volume.

The reverb on the Laney, and many 'traditional' British amps, may seem weedy compared to a lush Fender, but most Fender reverbs are unusable above 4, whereas a British reverb has to be turned right up. In any case a reverb has to be turned right down on stage because the room provides the reverb. It's a shame they did not fit a spring but probably unfeasible at the price point: most digital reverbs work, and if an amp needs one built in effect, then it's the reverb (the second being tremolo).

The VC30's reverb is enough for me. The PRA's is, as you describe, not to very much use above 4, as was that of the Vox AC15CC, that I recently sold.
Miss its tremolo, though.

Klas

 

[jefrs]

Klast, regarding the feedback problem, is this an acoustic feedback or electromagnetic?

I get a theremin whine if I bring a guitar too near to my Vox AD30VT. I concluded that the amp is emitting EMF which is seen by the pickups. I get this even when using headphones, so it is not acoustic feedback.

 

[klast]

Klast, regarding the feedback problem, is this an acoustic feedback or electromagnetic?

I get a theremin whine if I bring a guitar too near to my Vox AD30VT. I concluded that the amp is emitting EMF which is seen by the pickups. I get this even when using headphones, so it is not acoustic feedback.

I doubt it is acoustic. Probably not guitar related either, since it happens with LP as well as 335. The distance between the guitar and the CUB is the same as with my PRA and I have had the same distance with VC30 and AC15, too, without feedback.
And, as I mentioned, it's a tendency, so not really a problem.

I had an AD30VT a while back, and it didn't feed back at the same distance.
Brought it to the studio once, and could barely use it since it picked up noise from fluorescent lighting in a position, where my VC30 was unaffected (better shielding?).

Klas

 

[jefrs]

I doubt it's shielding. Most likely poor layout design. Valves don't have the frequency response of solid state and can be less susceptible to EMF. However some valve amps spit out more RF than solid state does because they have bigger transformers. I suspect the AD30VT and the Cub are spitting out some high-frequency EMF (electro-magnetic force i.e. fluctuating magnetic field or actual radio waves), which are going to induce current in the pickup coils - wheeee!

 

[klast]

Played it more now, with Lite Ash Tele and 335 copy with SD PhatCat P90s.

Through the 0.75 W input it can go from relatively clean to fairly good crunch.
Through the 15 W input it can go from a good, almost Voxy clean to relatively good crunch, at bedroom volume.
So far, I would say that the preamp distortion through the 15 W input at low volume is better than that of a Vox AC15CC.
Also, the reverb is sounding a bit better than I first thought.

Klas

 

[FMajor7add9]

thanks for exp. sharing guys, especially interesting about the digital reverb. Cub 12 (w/o reverb) top of my small tube amp list now, with reverb/delay in the fx loop instead.

Otherwise considering Cub 10, Fender SCXD and latest Asian sensation VHT Special 6, which is currently sold out all over Europe (and world?) though. Need a max 12" big and 15 kg heavy combo.

Can anyone describe diff. between Class A vs. A/B in regards to clean sounds, with minimal breakup. I don't get it! And might be content with the small Cub 10 if it does the job.

93% of the time I need a warm, nice, smooth clean channel. Have heard that in the SCXD, not quite sure about the Laneys and all the Youtube demo guys crank them big time. Did try a Cub briefly somewhere over seas some time last year, left big impression. A few clean seconds in a Cub 10 video, but he's hitting it so hard it's hard to asses sustain and 'depth'.

Recent gear:
Blackstar HT5 a few months last winter, not my style, great rock gear otherwise as you'd probably know.

Playing a decent Vox Pathfinder 15R with a decent FDR-1 Deluxe Reverb pedal in front. Can dial in (link removed). Can probably not get any decent money f amp + pedal, fair enough. Code word: decent. Time to move on from decent.

Had the excellent Damage Control TimeLine tube Delay Pedal - but it bloody broke and is now discontinued. Made the old Volvo Vox shine, such a shame.

 

[gotcha]

Hi, Klast, I was looking for a low-watts valve amp for my epiphone casino when I saw this thread.I was rather interested in the laney cub12r that you described here.Thank you. At last ,I got one.
Since this is my first amp and first guitar, I don't know whether it is really good.But I'm satisfied now.
I got a little problem here, can you help me out?
When I turn the master volume up, above 5, and when I pluck the note Bb on the 3rd string(sometimes B), I could hear a zZ sound coming from the amp box.It's not that big compared with the music sound.But it's annoying.I found the zZ sound has the same frequence of the note Bb. No such problem when I pluck other notes ,including Bb an octave above or below.
Is this normal or a problem?

 

[klast]

Hi, Klast, I was looking for a low-watts valve amp for my epiphone casino when I saw this thread.I was rather interested in the laney cub12r that you described here.Thank you. At last ,I got one.
Since this is my first amp and first guitar, I don't know whether it is really good.But I'm satisfied now.
I got a little problem here, can you help me out?
When I turn the master volume up, above 5, and when I pluck the note Bb on the 3rd string(sometimes B), I could hear a zZ sound coming from the amp box.It's not that big compared with the music sound.But it's annoying.I found the zZ sound has the same frequence of the note Bb. No such problem when I pluck other notes ,including Bb an octave above or below.
Is this normal or a problem?

This may be a problem with the guitar, not the amp. You could try to plug the guitar into another amp and see if you get the same sound.

A Casino will be prone to feedback if you stand near the amp.
You didn't mention if it's plugged into the 15 W or the 0.75 W input.
If it's the 15 W input with the master on 5 and gain up, it could be "normal feedback".

Apart from the tendency to feedback through the 0.75 W input, as described earlier in this thread, I haven't noticed any noises.

Klas

 

[andrewr]

Could be valve rattle maybe?

My Vox AC4TV is prone to valves rattling with certain notes. My CUB12R hasn't done it yet. 5 on the master in the 15W input is about as far as I can take it in my place, but I'd expect valves to be rattling by then if they're going to.

My old gigging Laney (a pre-AOR Pro Tube 50W combo) always used to rattle every now and then, I used to resettle the valves (when cold) in their sockets whenever it got too annoying. It was kind of worrying, but never went wrong though, never had to replace a valve, hundreds of gigs over 10-15 years... so eventually I learnt to ignore the rattle from valve combos.

Anyway, good to hear other folks have got a CUB12R as well .

I went out to try a CUB10 a month or two back, and found the 12 next to it - I didn't even know it existed!

I have to say, it's the most fun I've had with a musical purchase for years now... after a couple of weeks my wife pointed out that I'd probably already had more fun than I'd paid for. It pretty much produces the same tone/vibe that my old Laney did at gigs, but at domestic volumes... and ALL of my guitars - single, humbucker, p90 - sound good through it. I couldn't say that about my old amp, nor my AC4TV (which I also love, but only with certain guitars, and only when the neighbours are out!)

 

[Calmac69]

I'm currently experiencing a rattle as described above in my Cub 10 when warm. I had a look inside and to me it appears to be the little valve retaining clips. I'll try to remove these and see if problem remains. Does anyone know if they could be permanently removed without negative effect...... Valves dropping out ?

 

[gotcha]

Could be valve rattle maybe?

My Vox AC4TV is prone to valves rattling with certain notes. My CUB12R hasn't done it yet. 5 on the master in the 15W input is about as far as I can take it in my place, but I'd expect valves to be rattling by then if they're going to.

My old gigging Laney (a pre-AOR Pro Tube 50W combo) always used to rattle every now and then, I used to resettle the valves (when cold) in their sockets whenever it got too annoying. It was kind of worrying, but never went wrong though, never had to replace a valve, hundreds of gigs over 10-15 years... so eventually I learnt to ignore the rattle from valve combos.

Anyway, good to hear other folks have got a CUB12R as well .

I went out to try a CUB10 a month or two back, and found the 12 next to it - I didn't even know it existed!

I have to say, it's the most fun I've had with a musical purchase for years now... after a couple of weeks my wife pointed out that I'd probably already had more fun than I'd paid for. It pretty much produces the same tone/vibe that my old Laney did at gigs, but at domestic volumes... and ALL of my guitars - single, humbucker, p90 - sound good through it. I couldn't say that about my old amp, nor my AC4TV (which I also love, but only with certain guitars, and only when the neighbours are out!)

I think it is valve rattle. It happens when my amp totally warm up. It happens when certain notes are played with a big volume.It comes from the box, not the speaker. It sounds like something(little piece of metal or sth else) shaking, seems something is not fixed firmly inside the box.
Could this be a serious problem? Could this do damage to my valves? I don't know if my dealer will care and fix this. Or maybe I must fix it myself.

And thank you all anyway, never thought people around the world would help me with this. I cannot contact anyone else with cub12r here.

 

[klast]

Today I brought the 12R to rehearsal for the first time. No rattle whatsoever.
Used a 335 with P90s, first half through the 15 W input and second half through the less than 1 W input.

Through the 15 W input it was very bright, so I backed off treble and mid to 9 o'clock. The other guitarist claimed it sounded better, more open, than my VC30. But I think he likes it (too?) bright, since he runs his Dynacord Hallrex fairly bright.

When I played through the 1 W input I could set treble and mid to 12 o'clock without the sound being too bright. It also sounded warmer then.
I had the master at 1 to 2 o'clock and the gain at 12 or so.
At the end I set the master and gain at full tilt and then it was very loud for 1 W, in fact quite a bit louder than an AC4TV 10" at 1 W (tried that in the same room on a previous occasion).

Klas

 

[klast]

Today I brought the 12R to rehearsal for the first time. No rattle whatsoever.
Used a 335 with P90s, first half through the 15 W input and second half through the less than 1 W input.

Through the 15 W input it was very bright, so I backed off treble and mid to 9 o'clock. The other guitarist claimed it sounded better, more open, than my VC30. But I think he likes it (too?) bright, since he runs his Dynacord Hallrex fairly bright.

When I played through the 1 W input I could set treble and mid to 12 o'clock without the sound being too bright. It also sounded warmer then.
I had the master at 1 to 2 o'clock and the gain at 12 or so.
At the end I set the master and gain at full tilt and then it was very loud for 1 W, in fact quite a bit louder than an AC4TV 10" at 1 W (tried that in the same room on a previous occasion).

Klas

Forgot to mention:

When playing at moderate rehearsal volume (without drummer) there is a tendency to feedback, but relatively manageable.
This is definitely amp related since I have used the same guitar at the same volume through my VC30 in the same room without no feedback what so ever.

Klas

 

[MojoFever]

I has a lot of gain on tap, e.g. compared with Vox AC15CC (12R three preamp tubes vs AC15 two). Above 12 o'clock the gain becomes a bit too much for a vintage guy like me, but might be OK for metal.

Definitely does have a lot of gain... but have you tried lowering down the volume knob on your guitar? Works wonders with a Tele or Strat!

You can get some nice, slightly overdriven vintage tones that way, and the fact that you are lowering your volume will help put down the treble a bit.

I suggest cranking up the 'tone' knob of the Laney if you do this, and when I did, together with guitar volume low and amp volume really high, I discovered a whole new range of really nice warm tones from my Cub 12r that are just amazing!

It really is a very nice amp, especially for the price, and yes people say it sounds a bit VOXy, I prefer to say it sounds Laney!

Has everyone tried a cabinet with the Cub 12?
I am curious to know the coloration/tones/attacks you can achieve with a Celestion g12h or a g12m speaker.

 

[klast]

CUB 12R sound clips

Just to give an example of crunch at bedroom volume through 1 W input.
Sloppy playing and I pause here and there to try to illustrate feedback/sustain.

EQ knobs and tone knobs set to 12 o'clock, gain at 15 and volume at 9.

First clip is with Epi LP Std with Alnico Classic, second with Squier Starfire with SD humbuckers. In both cases bridge pickup.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9760551

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9760630

Klas

 

[ygman]

tube feedback issue

hello again,
Guys & Gals, I come from the home audio world and we also get nagging
issues with "microphonics" so many years ago a rep from Conrad Johnson
gave me some rubbers, yes you can laugh.
These little gems went around my preamps tubes. A CURE!
Now I can play the Wall a peel the paint off the walls.

I also use them in my guitar amps, these are the latest rage but there are others, seek and you shall find...

http://www.audiotubes.com/damper.htm

good luck
ygman