I've been feeling like I want to revamp my tone on my Ironheart so I've been watching some TH-cam reviews on it to see where others have their settings. This video was actually super helpful, I loved the tone you ended on at the end. It's funny because where you were saying you didn't like the crunchy sound of the gain, I was thinking for my personal taste that sounded prefect, LOL! For me that's the whole draw of the Ironheart; Where you say the gain sounds crunchy, to me it just sounds a lot less fizzy than the 6505! How much of tone comes down to personal preference is what makes the hobby so satisfying.
Only needed 25 sec and that thing sounds insane! FABULOUS low mids. Few years back had a marshall go out so the openening guitarist plugged me into this Laney- they are AWESOME!!! Just massive tone and growl
You see a lot of amateurs do this. Eq before being loud then turning up loud. A vet will know that you have to adjust the eq after turning up loud d then adjust again when blending in with the band.
A lot of people do not realize this when I talk to them about this Laney: you have the option to switch between your tubes. You can go 6L6 for complete modern tone, or EL34 for the British attack. With an EQ in the FX loop, you can completely change your amp to make the clean sound Tweedish. I run a Pod Go with it. Figuring it out right now, but man does this amp rip dialed in correctly, and incredibly versatile
The reason for the harsh thinning of the tone when you push the volume is because from the factory, the bias current is set to 100%. This should not be. It should be set to around 70% at idle. This is the sweet spot for the output tubes where they operate at the most efficient level and they will last much longer, and it will have the cleanest output power with the least amount of crossover distortion that sounds like shit.
I could be wrong in Laneys intentions with this amp but I believe fuzzy Sabbath like tones were a consideration in terms of the higher regions of the gain and boost knobs. That's been my experience after owning it. It's not my favorite amp I own. But I like how Laney separated themselves from the pack and did their own thing successfully with Ironheart series.
I gotta say i like that Crunchy tone. I mean i am 52 and i love bands like Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and a lot of Underground Thrash and Death metal. So to my ears, Crunch or Chugg as Ola likes to say are right up my alley. The so-called Modern Tone sounds like Scratching a chalk board with butcher knife to me. I guess i am getting old. LOL. I have been playing Guitar now for 44 years and metal music for 40 of those years and i have heard a butt load of tone Changes over the years and the two i just don't care for are Nu-Metal and some but not all Modern. high gain. like Kyle said tone is subjective to the user. I do however really like the sound of the Revv amps. They can do Old School Thrash, Death Metal and Modern very nicely. Thankyou Kyle for the Vids, look forward to the next one. Stay Metal brother. Rich.
The sweet spot for gain is around 6-7 with an OD, it’s definitely much different in terms of gain compared to something like a 5150 but this thing is super versatile. I get some nice 7 string tones and playing drop C with active pickups is just the way to go for that classic KSE tone. Also I think of the Dynamics control as sort of a low end response control, not quite a depth control but it can get some crazy bass response if you want it to.
Im surprised to hear Kyle wasn’t impressed. I heard a guy playing a used one at a guitar center, and he cranked it, and it was probably one of the best tones ive ever heard. He was going straight in with a Marshall 2x12. I was blown away by the tone. But i think the head was a different color, and the controls were on top. I think it was an older version,but it definitely was a 60 watt ironheart.
I've had this amp laying around for some time and have only just gotten around to playing it now. Holy sheet. Ive found its really really good for drier, lower tuned stuff with a boost on the rhythm channel. The rhythm channel is where its at. Lead got a bit congested dialed in for what i was going for. Which isnt a bad thing, as its forced me to actually use the lead for lead ha. On rhythm; Keep the gain lower, noon and below depending on pickup outputs and slam it with a boost. Im using a Lichtlaerm with the useful EQ, cut to bass, adding in some lower mids, slight cut to hi mids, slight boost to highs. Sounding really great. The onboard preboost thing is indeed pretty terrible if youre trying to tighten it up. Sounds kinda cool for the fuzzy doom thing, but not for tight metal. Crank the 'tone' between 3pm and nearly dimed and it really opens up. The dynamics seems to be like a resonance type contol. Ive got mine about midway or lower. Bass dimed with the boost pulled. Mids at 1pm. Treble at 3pm. Havent found much of a use dor middle and treble pulled yet. I can hear what its doing but cant quite describe it. I guess it shifts the peaks. Need to go read up on the amp controls. Rants over. Tldr; Kyle couldn't gel for thrash. I think it sounds awesome for lower tuned drier type tones.
I had an experience with the Ironheart head owned by my friend back in 2014 (120 watt if I'm not mistaken) and we used for recording guitars track (Thrash Metal style and boosted with a TS808 clone pedal) and it sounds great by far one of my favorite amp.
_A lot of the high gain guitar amplifiers are pretty much one trick ponies where they are only good for metal. 🎶🏆 But a good friend of mine bought this a few months ago and I got to jam on it and I was surprised it actually does cleans very well and especially classic rock crunch tones. 🎶🎵 Really cool demo!_
Dynamics are supposed to be like a resonance control, gives it more low end response. I actually use the amp od with a ts9 and it gives the amp way more life too. I always tell people this amp is kinda like a coloring book, you have to add what colors you want to make it what u want. U know? It doesn’t come already like a perfect painting like a revv for example. U have to add the colors
I had that amp too. In my experience the boost is unusable. The best tones i got from the amp where the KSE settings: all the bass, mids arround 9 o’clock or less and high’s arround 1 o’clock. Gain very high up. Boosted with a Od808 and a Noisegate in front. It lacks the low mid growl witch punches you in the chest like a 5150. it’s more of Heavy Rock than a metal amp to me. Nice video Kyle. You showed the amp on point
Yeah back in Disarm the Dissent is when they used it I believe, they use Laney’s on their latest album but it’s the Iommi model which is based off of the Ironheart but with a lot more saturation
The Laney Pro Tube Lead from '84-'86-ish (3 tube) and early AOR series (4 tube) are actually made with many of the same components Marshall were using right up the road in their JCM800's 😎
I own the 120w and the sd1 was my favorite boost for this amp. The built in boost is pointless with any kind of humbuckers but it actually works well with single coils to make it sound more ballsy. It took me while to make this amp sound the way I wanted it to, I had the same opinion of it as you did by the end of your vid and how I fixed it was to have the bass and mid knobs pulled out, treble pushed in. Have the treble all the way up and use the presence to control how bright you want it, it just sounds better and more detailed this way. It definitely needs a 10 band eq in the loop, knock 500hz right down to take care of the massive mid hump problem, boost 2 and 4 k to bring out the good highs/high mids and 8k is the fuzzy treble that sounds like ass to me so I have that slider down till it sucks the fizz out. Try it out with your mf400 cab and krank up the bass frequencys a bit, those speakers love it and work great for this amp.
I found this in a full stack for a grand and pulled the trigger and I gotta say that I love it for playing at home. Sadly it seems to get lost when playing next to my buddy's 6505 though.
I had one :) I don't why I even sold it, cause it was quite amazing for the money. Must have been some weak moment to get money for a Fractal at that time.
I had this amp...had my 5150iii also, a/b them until I dialed the IH 60 to clone the 5150iii....it was very very close, convincing....but that was also why I let it go . Can sound like a lot of amps but doesn't really have it's own distinct voice....still good amp and if I found one priced right I would probably buy it
Thanks for the run-through man. I found there's a lot of tweaking before getting the eq and the fizziness to balance right, but I've finally dialled in a good high gain tone on my lead channel. Good to see it's not just me who's struggled tho.... Also good to see I'm not the only one whose standy LED is out 😁
Thank you for this review as it was really helpful to me. The Ironheart and Nexus (Laney bass) products are great for me because the offer something different and I’m still developing my “ear”. I do find it funny to listen to us musicians nit pick when 90% of people listening won’t care. I have the SLS small head and for what I do it’s wonderful. I have the SLS and full size bass heads and am looking at the 120w guitar head. Again very helpful.
From the manual: "DYNAMICS: This allows control over the response of the amplifier at lower frequencies. Turning this control clockwise gives a looser low end, while lower settings provide a tighter response. The optimum setting is dependent on the speaker cabinet used."
That Laney, right there does not need any of the pedals on top of the air. If you turn them on you’re gonna run the whole side of the air save the petals for the marshals. It’s the first thing you have to buy when you purchase any Marshall.
I have had mine for about a year now. Couldn't quite dial it in with the pre-boost but added an SD-1 and was a game changer. Much like the Dual Rectifier it has to be dialed in with the pedal and the shift knobs to make it shine. For the price point and all the available tones if you take the time, in my opinion it's as good as anything in the high gain realm.
Well, I don't know how it sounded in the room, but I'll be damned if it didn't sound great recorded. I do think these amps are some of the best that money can buy for metal. There's a video here on youtube where a guy compares of whole bunch of totally cranked amps. The Ironheart 120 was one of the loudest and the tighter of all amps at max volume. Quite the achievement considering its price.
Cheerz from Canada, Kyle! I just got the IRT-STUDIO-SE two weeks ago. I'm an old thrasher and I was very pleased with what I can dial. So many tone options! I use the lead channel with bass, mid & treb pulled out. I have the bass back at 10 o'clock & mid & treb about 12:30. The Dynamics about 10 & tone @ 2ish. I use the pre-boost and match with Gain at 2 o'clock-ish depending on master level. The EQ's are quite sensitive. I am curious though how much more the heads deliver as my unit is 1 watt or 15 option. I am finding 1 watt is perfect for home rocking! The Rhythm channel with the pre-boost clips when past 2 o'clock but if you mess around you can find a sweet spot. I was in some Mercyful Fate territory :)! _\m/
I have a love hate thing going with mine. Im not a super high gain player but damn, this thing NEEDS a boost to get any sort of saturation in the tone. Moreover, there's this weird thing where the input gets overloaded into fuzz solid stateish type clipping very easily, meaning you can't just brute your way to high gain. But occasionally I find a sweet spot where the amp squishes a bit and has awesome pick attack, and that's why I keep it. All in all its a weird af amp that was marketed in a strange way; this is nothing like a 5150 imo.
Can you have another play with this PLEASE. People rave about this amp and I saw video where they got black album tone with one move of the mid pull control.
Kyle, love your channel. The Laney voice is the Laney voice; it SHINES in live situations as it sits well in a mix for rhythm and also cuts heads for solos. You need to adjust the EQ for gig volumes and not simply turn up your home/rehearsal levels while EQing w your eyes, the Flecther curves are real. The "cant enough top end topend" line made me laugh as the recorded tone is brittle. Sitting to the side of the cab and using V30s does no amp justice. Legit, an unopened Mesa 4x12 (because its construction) is the only cab that actually gives a somewhat usable live tone w V30s. Unless you are using frequency to overcome a lack of wattage or your amp is missing where the V30 is strong (no modern amp is missing that btw), V30s are a terrible choice of speaker. The sm57's spike actually makes everything worse, as does any TS (or clone) as the general description of what the V30 does applies to the TS circuit. Unless you are trying to sizzle up a Fender circuit, quit using V30s and TS9s as the tone created is the sound our grandparents and parents f@#ked too when feeling amorous.
@@belligerentamateur K, trust me. Next time Bushido Code plays live, be on a wireless and be out in the crowd (when you have a v30 cab) at some point to "hear" the v30. I was the same way, v30s are IT & then the band we usually opened for showed up w a full Decatone rig. I was FLOORED by how much better the Soldano cab sounded. Within 6 months my v30s were gone and I was rocking EMI v12s. Haven't looked back in 25 years, best tonal decision I ever made. Anywho, love your channel. Us PA boys stick together! I am on the east coast of PA. Derek
@@nmc9x23 your story is purely personal preference though, and you have to remember that. I can't stand the eminence legends in the Soldano cabs, and that's my personal preference. It's all up to the individual person to judge what's "best".
This is a friendly conversation BTW, I'm just saying. I've tried many speakers and cabs, and I Always work my way back to V30's and have absolutely no issue with how they sound on the majority of the amps I play.
Cool. Finally a new demo of this amp. Was thinking to get this amps. Its Like Marshall but with more aggressive low mid. Since most Marshall focus on the high mid., at least from what marshall amps and marshall sims i have played
I loved the sound of the AOR 100 I bought from a Guitar Center but had to return a day later because it cut in and out, and I couldn't find the cause. Boosted, it was huge, and I was amazed at how good the el34's sounded when it was set to a clean tone. I later bought the VH100R, and it had a tone that's kind of hard to describe -- it was kind of boxy, hollow, and blunted, and I couldn't dial it to a tone I really liked no matter what type of boost, eq pedal, etc. I tried. After about a half year messing with it, I finally freed up some space for another 6505+ head that IMO is vastly better in everything but clean tones, though IMO the AOR had better cleans even though it didn't have a dedicated clean channel, and I also preferred the cleans on the old Carvin X100B's (the 1980's tolex-covered models that use 6L6 tubes). I also prefer my old JMP 2204 with a boost in front. I'd snag an AOR again if I could find one in good shape and am surprised I haven't seen a lot more praise for that amp. And although I think the Ironheart demos sound a little better than the VH100R I had, I can tell it has something missing in the eq, and it's likely an eq pedal in the loop like I tried with the VH100R wouldn't fix it.
Yeah if chugging is all you do..I had the IRT 60 head and have the Iconic head now and overall the Iconic smokes it...the Laney was Great for chugging but has no tone whatsover for lead work...i tried swapping the pre and power tubes many times and same result..sold that BS..the Iconic in my opinion is way better.
@@rosskrause3926 I totally agree, same observation here. Leads on the IRT tend to sound muffled and icepickey at the same time and unison bends for example have a harshness to them. For rhythm it is MUCH better, but with the dynamics rolled down it is still a bit flubby. And that is with a boost or comp in front. Too much touch sensitivity and i hate Marshalls for their stiffness unless cranked..
what are your thoughts on the new black country custom laney irt60h iron heart made in england? sounds like they solved the harsh gain struture and made some overall improvements.
Try a different cab and speaker OR try the Ironheart 120h. My 120h doesn't sound that boxy. Took a while to get my EQ where I wanted, but with a TS9 I have a pretty good tone considering
I have the rack version , its preamp is harsh, boxy, fizzy. Bad note separation. I bought it for reamp purpose, but that feature is very hissy. Now i only use as power amp for my Engl E530.
Of course as usual, it is a matter of personal preference, but in my opinion It can get thin or rather have kind of mid-spike, to the point I kind of wanted to sell it, but with right cab it really sounds awesome, in my case it was Bogner 2x12 OS (warm, thick).
The boost is applicable to all three channels. Very fun to play with. You can get some really nice Crunch tones with the clean channel and the built in boost
The last riff you play is how I have my IRT 120 set up and it sounds killer to my ears but I'm also running it through a Randall rs125xl cab with two Mesa black shadows on top and an eminence legend 15" on the bottom. It's definitely not easy to dial in as the preamp volume and watts knob have to be dialed in to match each other at different volumes. To me the dynamic knob almost seems like a sag control and the tone knob works the same way a tone knob works on a guitar. I'm still on the fence with this one but it's growing on me. I'm recording our next song with it now and it definitely cuts through for recording but with the spikey frequencies i don't know if I'd ever use it live. My Mesa Nomad 100 blows it away in every category.
I have the 120 watt version hooked to two Marshall 4x12 cabs .. one with vintage 70 watt speakers and the other G12T75s .. they sound quite different .. and different guitars sound quite different as well.. my point is its a very good amp you just got to explore until you find what works best ... its the same with my 100 watt marshall head
I have the same amp with an orange 2x12 with V30, with a little push with an TS9, i really like the sound i can get, maybe its no soo low end, but for the price, you get a lot i think.
this amp suffer from blocking distortion it needs another tube in the preamp, I think that will bring more high end, a little more modern fizz... like the prs mt15
My Engl E530 has only 2 tubes and it blow this away in term of clarity and harmonics. I think is amp has too much bass, lower mids and highs before the signal clip in the preamp.
@@nafis6668 you shouldn't compare this preamp with the laney, the ironheart has a send loop, a phase inverter , instead the engl has 2 tubes only for distortion/overdrive shaping (2 x 12ax7 has 4 stages)
@@6rusT i am having that ironheart too, only using it as a poweramp for my Engl E530 now. When i connect the E530 into its FX loop, thats how i able to compare the preamp section of both units.
@@nafis6668 ok that should sound killer, as I said, the Engl has more amp stages so it compress and distort much more the signal... I use a metalzone in the loop too, it sounds great for what I play, I think the speakers make a lot of difference here.
Idk man, it sounded fucking badass to me. Great review !! I think you should find an Airis Effects Savage Boost. I use that pedal for amps that don't react well to overdrives. It's a great pedal, is got a 3 band EQ. Which I love a boost/OD with an EQ.
really like what you do . would be cool if you could demo the new orange super crush 100 would like to here your take on it . i know you mainly do tube but every thing ive seen it sounded good
This sounds like an amp where you start the way that Jerry Cantrell does. Bass at 0, mids dimed, and treble also at 0. The mid knob at noon. Is it possible that the eq knobs are boosting at a rate you/we are not used to?
Was very curious about this amp. I am torn between this and the H&K Black Spirit 200. It would be my first “real” amp so I’m trying to get the most info on these. Thanks!
Quite interesting tones you got throughout the video. I found the gain structure of the Ironheart similar to a Peavey JSX, as it sounds very compressed, almost synthetic, and more modern then the earlier VH100R it basically replaces. Seemed to lack the mid range authorative spike, that makes your ears perk and say "Yes that is everything I need", which I'm guessing is those highs you were mentioning, that frequency below the highs, but above the mid, that is like getting punched at a hardcore circle pit, and being yanked back up.
You got the same ear for tone as me, not big on low mids. Why design an amp that has more low mids on rhythm channel than lead channel? Seems opposite to me. Lead should also be looser and they should around the same amount of gain...
Well shit, you managed to get a decent sound out of that thing. The majority of demos sound horrible and a tone I can only describe as.... "dry" (thin works, too). The GH and AOR series sound better IMO.
Kyle cant get a Bad Chug Tone. In his hands even a Blue Voodoo and Peavey Windsor sound like The Chugz. Laney's are ridiculously overlooked in the amp market. A GH50 or GH 100 will blow your head off with Great tones. Dig the Torrodial Transformer design. Another Great review Kyle.
the old laney AOR amps are nothing but amazing, hidden gems for damn cheap, never was impressed with the newer stuff the build quality is not too great, sold the IH 60 after just 2 weeks, no comparison to a 5150 or recto in my experience for me.
![30 ชั่วโมงคนเดียว บนรถไฟชั้น 3 โซเวียต [Around The World Ep. 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MlE9boAVqDA/mqdefault.jpg)
I've been feeling like I want to revamp my tone on my Ironheart so I've been watching some TH-cam reviews on it to see where others have their settings. This video was actually super helpful, I loved the tone you ended on at the end. It's funny because where you were saying you didn't like the crunchy sound of the gain, I was thinking for my personal taste that sounded prefect, LOL! For me that's the whole draw of the Ironheart; Where you say the gain sounds crunchy, to me it just sounds a lot less fizzy than the 6505! How much of tone comes down to personal preference is what makes the hobby so satisfying.
Only needed 25 sec and that thing sounds insane! FABULOUS low mids. Few years back had a marshall go out so the openening guitarist plugged me into this Laney- they are AWESOME!!! Just massive tone and growl
You see a lot of amateurs do this. Eq before being loud then turning up loud. A vet will know that you have to adjust the eq after turning up loud d then adjust again when blending in with the band.
And a real musician knows the audience can't tell the difference anyway
Been rocking this one for a long time. So under rated.
A lot of people do not realize this when I talk to them about this Laney: you have the option to switch between your tubes. You can go 6L6 for complete modern tone, or EL34 for the British attack. With an EQ in the FX loop, you can completely change your amp to make the clean sound Tweedish.
I run a Pod Go with it. Figuring it out right now, but man does this amp rip dialed in correctly, and incredibly versatile
I just love how tight the gain in this amp is.
I agree. It has a lot of dick tones, and it’s not that difficult to get the fizziness out of it when you turn the gain up there.
The reason for the harsh thinning of the tone when you push the volume is because from the factory, the bias current is set to 100%. This should not be. It should be set to around 70% at idle. This is the sweet spot for the output tubes where they operate at the most efficient level and they will last much longer, and it will have the cleanest output power with the least amount of crossover distortion that sounds like shit.
i played Laney AOR's in the 80's and the GH100L's in the 90's. Both gave my JCM's a run for their money. Underrated amps.
Love the aor series
I've got an old AOR now and I love it. Play it through an oversize Mesa 4X12.
@@screwmerunnin That’s great!
I could be wrong in Laneys intentions with this amp but I believe fuzzy Sabbath like tones were a consideration in terms of the higher regions of the gain and boost knobs. That's been my experience after owning it. It's not my favorite amp I own. But I like how Laney separated themselves from the pack and did their own thing successfully with Ironheart series.
I gotta say i like that Crunchy tone. I mean i am 52 and i love bands like Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and a lot of Underground Thrash and Death metal. So to my ears, Crunch or Chugg as Ola likes to say are right up my alley. The so-called Modern Tone sounds like Scratching a chalk board with butcher knife to me. I guess i am getting old. LOL. I have been playing Guitar now for 44 years and metal music for 40 of those years and i have heard a butt load of tone Changes over the years and the two i just don't care for are Nu-Metal and some but not all Modern. high gain. like Kyle said tone is subjective to the user. I do however really like the sound of the Revv amps. They can do Old School Thrash, Death Metal and Modern very nicely. Thankyou Kyle for the Vids, look forward to the next one. Stay Metal brother. Rich.
You’re my kinda guy!
The sweet spot for gain is around 6-7 with an OD, it’s definitely much different in terms of gain compared to something like a 5150 but this thing is super versatile. I get some nice 7 string tones and playing drop C with active pickups is just the way to go for that classic KSE tone. Also I think of the Dynamics control as sort of a low end response control, not quite a depth control but it can get some crazy bass response if you want it to.
Im surprised to hear Kyle wasn’t impressed. I heard a guy playing a used one at a guitar center, and he cranked it, and it was probably one of the best tones ive ever heard. He was going straight in with a Marshall 2x12. I was blown away by the tone. But i think the head was a different color, and the controls were on top. I think it was an older version,but it definitely was a 60 watt ironheart.
That was probably a Lionheart, they’re blue with controls up top.
I've had this amp laying around for some time and have only just gotten around to playing it now. Holy sheet. Ive found its really really good for drier, lower tuned stuff with a boost on the rhythm channel. The rhythm channel is where its at. Lead got a bit congested dialed in for what i was going for. Which isnt a bad thing, as its forced me to actually use the lead for lead ha. On rhythm; Keep the gain lower, noon and below depending on pickup outputs and slam it with a boost. Im using a Lichtlaerm with the useful EQ, cut to bass, adding in some lower mids, slight cut to hi mids, slight boost to highs. Sounding really great. The onboard preboost thing is indeed pretty terrible if youre trying to tighten it up. Sounds kinda cool for the fuzzy doom thing, but not for tight metal. Crank the 'tone' between 3pm and nearly dimed and it really opens up. The dynamics seems to be like a resonance type contol. Ive got mine about midway or lower. Bass dimed with the boost pulled. Mids at 1pm. Treble at 3pm. Havent found much of a use dor middle and treble pulled yet. I can hear what its doing but cant quite describe it. I guess it shifts the peaks. Need to go read up on the amp controls. Rants over.
Tldr; Kyle couldn't gel for thrash. I think it sounds awesome for lower tuned drier type tones.
I had an experience with the Ironheart head owned by my friend back in 2014 (120 watt if I'm not mistaken) and we used for recording guitars track (Thrash Metal style and boosted with a TS808 clone pedal) and it sounds great by far one of my favorite amp.
_A lot of the high gain guitar amplifiers are pretty much one trick ponies where they are only good for metal. 🎶🏆 But a good friend of mine bought this a few months ago and I got to jam on it and I was surprised it actually does cleans very well and especially classic rock crunch tones. 🎶🎵 Really cool demo!_
LANEY rules😮❤ irt 30 112 combos lous easy move x2 blows walls
Dynamics are supposed to be like a resonance control, gives it more low end response. I actually use the amp od with a ts9 and it gives the amp way more life too. I always tell people this amp is kinda like a coloring book, you have to add what colors you want to make it what u want. U know? It doesn’t come already like a perfect painting like a revv for example. U have to add the colors
Helluva lot cheaper than a Revv.
I totally agree, you need to add something to give it some character or voice
I boost mine with a Laney T.I boost.
Love it.
Had the 2x12 combo of this. Great sounding amp but it blew up in my living room one night.
Love my Ironheart.
It's does the tight chugga chugga, but can do so much more.
I had that amp too. In my experience the boost is unusable. The best tones i got from the amp where the KSE settings: all the bass, mids arround 9 o’clock or less and high’s arround 1 o’clock. Gain very high up. Boosted with a Od808 and a Noisegate in front. It lacks the low mid growl witch punches you in the chest like a 5150. it’s more of Heavy Rock than a metal amp to me. Nice video Kyle. You showed the amp on point
I found it sounds a lot better with an EQ pedal in the loop to add more bass. Even with it all the way up I couldn’t get what I wanted.
Pretty sure Killswitch Engage runs Laney Iron Hearts for there live tone. Or did at one point that is. Damn this amp sounds killer.
Yeah back in Disarm the Dissent is when they used it I believe, they use Laney’s on their latest album but it’s the Iommi model which is based off of the Ironheart but with a lot more saturation
@@ejw3006 your absolute correct, I got them mixed up. It is the Tony Iommi model they were running.
I look at it this way:
Hendrix made Marshall amps famous.
Iommi made Laney famous.
If you want true Metal tone, you can never go wrong with a Laney.
good work here ! one of the best sounding amp in your videos!
The Laney Pro Tube Lead from '84-'86-ish (3 tube) and early AOR series (4 tube) are actually made with many of the same components Marshall were using right up the road in their JCM800's 😎
I own the 120w and the sd1 was my favorite boost for this amp. The built in boost is pointless with any kind of humbuckers but it actually works well with single coils to make it sound more ballsy. It took me while to make this amp sound the way I wanted it to, I had the same opinion of it as you did by the end of your vid and how I fixed it was to have the bass and mid knobs pulled out, treble pushed in. Have the treble all the way up and use the presence to control how bright you want it, it just sounds better and more detailed this way. It definitely needs a 10 band eq in the loop, knock 500hz right down to take care of the massive mid hump problem, boost 2 and 4 k to bring out the good highs/high mids and 8k is the fuzzy treble that sounds like ass to me so I have that slider down till it sucks the fizz out. Try it out with your mf400 cab and krank up the bass frequencys a bit, those speakers love it and work great for this amp.
I found this in a full stack for a grand and pulled the trigger and I gotta say that I love it for playing at home. Sadly it seems to get lost when playing next to my buddy's 6505 though.
I had one :) I don't why I even sold it, cause it was quite amazing for the money. Must have been some weak moment to get money for a Fractal at that time.
I had this amp...had my 5150iii also, a/b them until I dialed the IH 60 to clone the 5150iii....it was very very close, convincing....but that was also why I let it go . Can sound like a lot of amps but doesn't really have it's own distinct voice....still good amp and if I found one priced right I would probably buy it
I have a 1st gen IRT120 with EL84s and its a wonderful amp
Thanks for the run-through man. I found there's a lot of tweaking before getting the eq and the fizziness to balance right, but I've finally dialled in a good high gain tone on my lead channel. Good to see it's not just me who's struggled tho....
Also good to see I'm not the only one whose standy LED is out 😁
I had the IRT Studio and the 120. Despite my lack of el84 love; I preferred the IRT Studio over the 120 for whatever reason.
Ya man! I love my irt60 try it with a eq in front with a ts9 or overdrive, and it really comes to life
According to Laney the Tube Dynamics works like this, counter clockwise is a tighter response, clockwise is a looser response.
So it’s kinda like a sag control in a sense?
Thank you for this review as it was really helpful to me. The Ironheart and Nexus (Laney bass) products are great for me because the offer something different and I’m still developing my “ear”. I do find it funny to listen to us musicians nit pick when 90% of people listening won’t care.
I have the SLS small head and for what I do it’s wonderful. I have the SLS and full size bass heads and am looking at the 120w guitar head. Again very helpful.
While it's not a high gain amp, my Laney GH30R is a great amp. I love it.
The ironheart 30watt better ❤😮clear loud as bliss perfect me got try this one sleeper smash
From the manual:
"DYNAMICS: This allows control over the response of the amplifier at lower frequencies. Turning this control clockwise gives a looser low end, while lower settings provide a tighter response. The optimum setting is dependent on the speaker cabinet used."
Love the pad to All Out War at 18 minutes haha
That Laney, right there does not need any of the pedals on top of the air. If you turn them on you’re gonna run the whole side of the air save the petals for the marshals. It’s the first thing you have to buy when you purchase any Marshall.
I have had mine for about a year now. Couldn't quite dial it in with the pre-boost but added an SD-1 and was a game changer. Much like the Dual Rectifier it has to be dialed in with the pedal and the shift knobs to make it shine. For the price point and all the available tones if you take the time, in my opinion it's as good as anything in the high gain realm.
Well, I don't know how it sounded in the room, but I'll be damned if it didn't sound great recorded. I do think these amps are some of the best that money can buy for metal. There's a video here on youtube where a guy compares of whole bunch of totally cranked amps. The Ironheart 120 was one of the loudest and the tighter of all amps at max volume. Quite the achievement considering its price.
Right.. used its about 700.00
Cheerz from Canada, Kyle! I just got the IRT-STUDIO-SE two weeks ago. I'm an old thrasher and I was very pleased with what I can dial. So many tone options! I use the lead channel with bass, mid & treb pulled out. I have the bass back at 10 o'clock & mid & treb about 12:30. The Dynamics about 10 & tone @ 2ish. I use the pre-boost and match with Gain at 2 o'clock-ish depending on master level. The EQ's are quite sensitive. I am curious though how much more the heads deliver as my unit is 1 watt or 15 option. I am finding 1 watt is perfect for home rocking! The Rhythm channel with the pre-boost clips when past 2 o'clock but if you mess around you can find a sweet spot. I was in some Mercyful Fate territory :)! _\m/
You only tried cranking the tone button. I think it's meant to be turned left so you can turn up the treble without becoming too icepicky.
I have a love hate thing going with mine. Im not a super high gain player but damn, this thing NEEDS a boost to get any sort of saturation in the tone. Moreover, there's this weird thing where the input gets overloaded into fuzz solid stateish type clipping very easily, meaning you can't just brute your way to high gain. But occasionally I find a sweet spot where the amp squishes a bit and has awesome pick attack, and that's why I keep it. All in all its a weird af amp that was marketed in a strange way; this is nothing like a 5150 imo.
Can you have another play with this PLEASE. People rave about this amp and I saw video where they got black album tone with one move of the mid pull control.
I have ten amps and this is in my top 2!
Mine has a bit of a Bogner flavor to it. Love it
Kyle, love your channel.
The Laney voice is the Laney voice; it SHINES in live situations as it sits well in a mix for rhythm and also cuts heads for solos. You need to adjust the EQ for gig volumes and not simply turn up your home/rehearsal levels while EQing w your eyes, the Flecther curves are real. The "cant enough top end topend" line made me laugh as the recorded tone is brittle.
Sitting to the side of the cab and using V30s does no amp justice.
Legit, an unopened Mesa 4x12 (because its construction) is the only cab that actually gives a somewhat usable live tone w V30s. Unless you are using frequency to overcome a lack of wattage or your amp is missing where the V30 is strong (no modern amp is missing that btw), V30s are a terrible choice of speaker.
The sm57's spike actually makes everything worse, as does any TS (or clone) as the general description of what the V30 does applies to the TS circuit.
Unless you are trying to sizzle up a Fender circuit, quit using V30s and TS9s as the tone created is the sound our grandparents and parents f@#ked too when feeling amorous.
Appreciate the kind words, can't say I agree with most of what you're saying here though, to each their own!
@@belligerentamateur K, trust me. Next time Bushido Code plays live, be on a wireless and be out in the crowd (when you have a v30 cab) at some point to "hear" the v30.
I was the same way, v30s are IT & then the band we usually opened for showed up w a full Decatone rig. I was FLOORED by how much better the Soldano cab sounded. Within 6 months my v30s were gone and I was rocking EMI v12s.
Haven't looked back in 25 years, best tonal decision I ever made.
Anywho, love your channel. Us PA boys stick together! I am on the east coast of PA.
Derek
@@nmc9x23 your story is purely personal preference though, and you have to remember that. I can't stand the eminence legends in the Soldano cabs, and that's my personal preference. It's all up to the individual person to judge what's "best".
This is a friendly conversation BTW, I'm just saying. I've tried many speakers and cabs, and I Always work my way back to V30's and have absolutely no issue with how they sound on the majority of the amps I play.
You're becoming my favorite youterber 😂 appreciate the content dude.
Cool. Finally a new demo of this amp. Was thinking to get this amps.
Its Like Marshall but with more aggressive low mid.
Since most Marshall focus on the high mid., at least from what marshall amps and marshall sims i have played
I loved the sound of the AOR 100 I bought from a Guitar Center but had to return a day later because it cut in and out, and I couldn't find the cause. Boosted, it was huge, and I was amazed at how good the el34's sounded when it was set to a clean tone. I later bought the VH100R, and it had a tone that's kind of hard to describe -- it was kind of boxy, hollow, and blunted, and I couldn't dial it to a tone I really liked no matter what type of boost, eq pedal, etc. I tried. After about a half year messing with it, I finally freed up some space for another 6505+ head that IMO is vastly better in everything but clean tones, though IMO the AOR had better cleans even though it didn't have a dedicated clean channel, and I also preferred the cleans on the old Carvin X100B's (the 1980's tolex-covered models that use 6L6 tubes). I also prefer my old JMP 2204 with a boost in front. I'd snag an AOR again if I could find one in good shape and am surprised I haven't seen a lot more praise for that amp. And although I think the Ironheart demos sound a little better than the VH100R I had, I can tell it has something missing in the eq, and it's likely an eq pedal in the loop like I tried with the VH100R wouldn't fix it.
I love that amp alot it can easily smoke the shit out of the iconic, the bottom end is defined , so percussive its unique in the mix
Yeah if chugging is all you do..I had the IRT 60 head and have the Iconic head now and overall the Iconic smokes it...the Laney was Great for chugging but has no tone whatsover for lead work...i tried swapping the pre and power tubes many times and same result..sold that BS..the Iconic in my opinion is way better.
@@rosskrause3926 I totally agree, same observation here. Leads on the IRT tend to sound muffled and icepickey at the same time and unison bends for example have a harshness to them. For rhythm it is MUCH better, but with the dynamics rolled down it is still a bit flubby. And that is with a boost or comp in front. Too much touch sensitivity and i hate Marshalls for their stiffness unless cranked..
what are your thoughts on the new black country custom laney irt60h iron heart made in england? sounds like they solved the harsh gain struture and made some overall improvements.
Less jangle = more metal 👏👏👏
Try a different cab and speaker OR try the Ironheart 120h. My 120h doesn't sound that boxy. Took a while to get my EQ where I wanted, but with a TS9 I have a pretty good tone considering
I have the rack version , its preamp is harsh, boxy, fizzy. Bad note separation. I bought it for reamp purpose, but that feature is very hissy. Now i only use as power amp for my Engl E530.
I had the IRT20 Studio for a while, it was killer. If I see another one for a good price, I'll pick one up.
Of course as usual, it is a matter of personal preference, but in my opinion It can get thin or rather have kind of mid-spike, to the point I kind of wanted to sell it, but with right cab it really sounds awesome, in my case it was Bogner 2x12 OS (warm, thick).
The boost is applicable to all three channels. Very fun to play with. You can get some really nice Crunch tones with the clean channel and the built in boost
Deeply regret selling my AOR. This thing should be a pretty good upgrade.
The last riff you play is how I have my IRT 120 set up and it sounds killer to my ears but I'm also running it through a Randall rs125xl cab with two Mesa black shadows on top and an eminence legend 15" on the bottom. It's definitely not easy to dial in as the preamp volume and watts knob have to be dialed in to match each other at different volumes. To me the dynamic knob almost seems like a sag control and the tone knob works the same way a tone knob works on a guitar. I'm still on the fence with this one but it's growing on me. I'm recording our next song with it now and it definitely cuts through for recording but with the spikey frequencies i don't know if I'd ever use it live. My Mesa Nomad 100 blows it away in every category.
Agree on the top end: its either too dark or immediately too clacky, clicky and harsh.
I have the 120 watt version hooked to two Marshall 4x12 cabs .. one with vintage 70 watt speakers and the other G12T75s .. they sound quite different .. and different guitars sound quite different as well.. my point is its a very good amp you just got to explore until you find what works best ... its the same with my 100 watt marshall head
I think your way to picky that Laney sounds great!
I have the same amp with an orange 2x12 with V30, with a little push with an TS9, i really like the sound i can get, maybe its no soo low end, but for the price, you get a lot i think.
great amp for more than Just metal, and change the tubes from 6l6 to el34 it changes the eq issues
you ever play the Legacy VL 100? that shits so under rated this reminds me a little but of it, but the legacy is juicy!
this guy uses it with a tres! th-cam.com/video/bIAlfoIE9Ic/w-d-xo.html hit CC for english!
Hey there's my amp cool!!! I got the 120 watt love the intinuator \m/
On my list of possible amps I would buy if I needed something new. Nearly bought one a few years ago but went with a Jet City 100 watt
Out of these amps what would you choose. Ironheart. 5150 stealth. 5150 iconic. 6505 plus or the invective used for modern metal
Stealth 100%
I have one of these. They sound killer
I got the hybrid Ironheart SLS, sounds a bit more modern than its all-tube brother it seems to me.
From the sounds of it I do like this better than the biggera tri wreck
this amp suffer from blocking distortion it needs another tube in the preamp, I think that will bring more high end, a little more modern fizz... like the prs mt15
My Engl E530 has only 2 tubes and it blow this away in term of clarity and harmonics. I think is amp has too much bass, lower mids and highs before the signal clip in the preamp.
@@nafis6668 you shouldn't compare this preamp with the laney, the ironheart has a send loop, a phase inverter , instead the engl has 2 tubes only for distortion/overdrive shaping (2 x 12ax7 has 4 stages)
@@6rusT i am having that ironheart too, only using it as a poweramp for my Engl E530 now. When i connect the E530 into its FX loop, thats how i able to compare the preamp section of both units.
@@nafis6668 ok that should sound killer, as I said, the Engl has more amp stages so it compress and distort much more the signal... I use a metalzone in the loop too, it sounds great for what I play, I think the speakers make a lot of difference here.
You gotta get the Tony Iommi signature next!!!!
Hey Kyle, guys here. Do you know anything about the peavey 5150 2x12 cab? Seems they are super rare; I can only find one picture on the google.
Idk man, it sounded fucking badass to me. Great review !! I think you should find an Airis Effects Savage Boost. I use that pedal for amps that don't react well to overdrives. It's a great pedal, is got a 3 band EQ. Which I love a boost/OD with an EQ.
really like what you do . would be cool if you could demo the new orange super crush 100 would like to here your take on it . i know you mainly do tube but every thing ive seen it sounded good
This sounds like an amp where you start the way that Jerry Cantrell does. Bass at 0, mids dimed, and treble also at 0. The mid knob at noon. Is it possible that the eq knobs are boosting at a rate you/we are not used to?
The way Jerry Cantrell does? What do you mean?
@@luca4352 read the settings I put. That's how he dials his main amp.
guna get the rakmount version of this :)
Mxr 10 band eq in the loop rules😮
what speaker are you using pal?
After watching this video I’m completely satisfied with boxing my 120 back up an hour after I unboxed it and sending it back lol
Was very curious about this amp. I am torn between this and the H&K Black Spirit 200. It would be my first “real” amp so I’m trying to get the most info on these. Thanks!
Very tight lowend. Very crisp delivery and pick attack. These Laneys rock
Oops I won't get it to much work it seems 😅 great video Kyle 👍
Quite interesting tones you got throughout the video. I found the gain structure of the Ironheart similar to a Peavey JSX, as it sounds very compressed, almost synthetic, and more modern then the earlier VH100R it basically replaces. Seemed to lack the mid range authorative spike, that makes your ears perk and say "Yes that is everything I need", which I'm guessing is those highs you were mentioning, that frequency below the highs, but above the mid, that is like getting punched at a hardcore circle pit, and being yanked back up.
Amazing analysis
You consistently offer vids on amps I'm interested in and do it well...thanks!
I tried one it was amaIng at low volume but totally fell apart at high volume, got crazy flubby
Im in the right place
missing mine so much
Amazing head!!!! Great Video!!! 💪😃
You got the same ear for tone as me, not big on low mids. Why design an amp that has more low mids on rhythm channel than lead channel? Seems opposite to me. Lead should also be looser and they should around the same amount of gain...
Sounds alright, but my VH100R eats it for brekkie.
Well shit, you managed to get a decent sound out of that thing. The majority of demos sound horrible and a tone I can only describe as.... "dry" (thin works, too). The GH and AOR series sound better IMO.
Kyle cant get a Bad Chug Tone. In his hands even a Blue Voodoo and Peavey Windsor sound like The Chugz. Laney's are ridiculously overlooked in the amp market. A GH50 or GH 100 will blow your head off with Great tones. Dig the Torrodial Transformer design. Another Great review Kyle.
the old laney AOR amps are nothing but amazing, hidden gems for damn cheap, never was impressed with the newer stuff the build quality is not too great, sold the IH 60 after just 2 weeks, no comparison to a 5150 or recto in my experience for me.
Looks like dead pilot amps are Laney's main universal attraction.
Sold mine 2 weeks ago
Iwas looking at the 120 watt but it seems that u have to work with it to much which I dont like ,looks cool but not gorgeous me
Nissssssssssssssssssce 🍻🤘🏻