The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 09-24-2012, 11:58 AM
815C 815C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The Hills Of Tennessee
Posts: 4,096
Default Just bought a 70's Lab Series L5 amp off Craigslist for cheap cheap cheap

I snagged an Lab Series L5 2x12 combo off Craigslist for next to nothing (apparently their resale value is zilch). These solid state amps sound GREAT. Brought it home last night and can't wait to take it out on a gig.

LAB SERIES L5 AMPS

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-24-2012, 12:14 PM
guitararmy guitararmy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: The Mountain State
Posts: 4,202
Default

Nice snag! Boy does that look clean. Besides Ty Tabor of King's X I don't know who else used one....
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-24-2012, 12:25 PM
815C 815C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The Hills Of Tennessee
Posts: 4,096
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by guitararmy View Post
Nice snag! Boy does that look clean. Besides Ty Tabor of King's X I don't know who else used one....
That's actually a picture I found on the net. Mine has a bit more wear on it - but I'd give it an 8 out of 10 on looks.

BB King and Allan Holdsworth both used them...
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-25-2012, 07:50 AM
jricc jricc is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 4,979
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by guitararmy View Post
Nice snag! Boy does that look clean. Besides Ty Tabor of King's X I don't know who else used one....
I seem to remember BB King digging the Lab Series amps.
Lots of luck with it.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-25-2012, 09:33 AM
TBurst Std TBurst Std is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Central FL
Posts: 67
Default

Elliot Easton of The Cars also used one for a while.
__________________
Mark

Acoustic:
Goodall Concert Jumbo
Ovation 12 string

Electric:
79 Gibson Les Paul Std
Duesenberg Starplayer TV
Gretsch White Falcon
Godin Flat Five X
Warmoth Strat
Lakland 55-02

Rig:
Axe-FX II
MFC-101
Yamaha AG Stomp
JH Audio Pro-16s
QSC HPR112i
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-25-2012, 10:32 AM
Tele1111's Avatar
Tele1111 Tele1111 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Windy City
Posts: 1,397
Default

I was first in line when this amp was introduced. One of the early "modeling" amps to be available. I remember it was very expensive. I gigged with it for a few years before going back to my Twin. After that, I bought one of the first Seymour Duncan Convertibles. It had pre-amp modules you could change out to simulate different amps. I actually still have the Convertible.

Anyway, I saw your post and remembered that I still had the original cheat sheet for the L5. "Four distinct tonalities" I added a couple more at the top.
This was drawn up by the amp guy at the store I bought the amp from. Still, its a pretty good starting point. Here you go:

Mark

__________________
Guitars; Esteban -"Tribute to Paula Abdul L.E." Arturo Fuente- Cigar Box"Hand Made" First Act-"Diamond Bling" Main Street- "Flaming Acoustic" Silvertone-"Paul Stanley Dark Star" Daisy Rock- "Purple Daze"
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-26-2012, 09:54 AM
815C 815C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The Hills Of Tennessee
Posts: 4,096
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tele1111 View Post
I was first in line when this amp was introduced. One of the early "modeling" amps to be available. I remember it was very expensive. I gigged with it for a few years before going back to my Twin. After that, I bought one of the first Seymour Duncan Convertibles. It had pre-amp modules you could change out to simulate different amps. I actually still have the Convertible.

Anyway, I saw your post and remembered that I still had the original cheat sheet for the L5. "Four distinct tonalities" I added a couple more at the top.
This was drawn up by the amp guy at the store I bought the amp from. Still, its a pretty good starting point. Here you go:

Mark

Wow! Thanks! I'll try those out.

The guy I bought it from know Ray Flacke who told him that on his L5 he dialed everything to 1:00.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-26-2012, 03:25 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 43,428
Default

Congrats! I must admit I've never heard of a LabSeries. Sometimes buying the 60s/70s amps can be fantastic. What kind of gain does it deliver?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 09-26-2012, 03:37 PM
pitner pitner is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: PA
Posts: 1,735
Default

I made one into a rack mount for Ty Tabor of Kings X way back 20 years ago or more. Amazing pumped through an 800 watt amp and a bunch of speakers
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 09-26-2012, 06:08 PM
Billm2067 Billm2067 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 194
Default

Ray Fleck played one of these when he was playing for Skaggs. These are seriously cool amps.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 09-26-2012, 06:31 PM
RussB RussB is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,100
Default

I had one several years back. I too found it through craigslist for $200. It had some issues which I quickly and easily repaired. I sold it to a fellow from PA, and regretted it ever since


Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 09-29-2012, 05:58 AM
815C 815C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The Hills Of Tennessee
Posts: 4,096
Default

Finally got to plug this guy in and really take it for a ride.

The amp by itself has really good distortion - which surprises me as it's solid state. The clean tone is very very good - especially with humbuckers.

It also plays well with pedals. I tried out the following with it:

Fultone Fulldrive II
Fultone OCD
Fultone Distortion Pro
AnalogMan King Of Tone
ZenDrive
Old Cro Overdrive pedal (custom made by a friend)

What surprised me is the one that sounded the best was the Fultone Distortion Pro. It was getting some pretty glorious classic rock tone. I would say it comes REALLY close to getting the tone Rocky Athas gets in THIS VIDEO (if nothing else, you owe it to yourself to hear Rocky if you're not aware of who he is).

I also found out Elliott Easton of The Cars used a Lab Series amp on The Cars first album (which included the songs GOOD TIMES ROLL, MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL, JUST WHAT I NEEDED, YOU'RE ALL I'VE GOT TONIGHT, and BYE BYE LOVE). Also Ray Flacke (Ricky Skagg's Highway 40 Blues) used an L5 amp. The guy I bought mine from knows Ray and said Ray told him to set all the dials (except volume) to 1:00 to get his tone.

So as a PSA I'm telling ya, keep an eye out for these amps. They go for $200 - $300 and are a great buy IMO.

Last edited by 815C; 09-29-2012 at 06:20 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-11-2012, 02:11 PM
audiohub audiohub is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 16
Default

Absolutely agree. These had unusual and ahead of their time features, thanks to the Moog sythesizer engineering connection. The later Dan Pearce amplifiers bear more than a passing resemblance to these gems as well.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:39 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=