THE WINTER CURSE

1968 Laney Supergroup 100 Oh boy, another great amp to review!? This one is quite a special one. I will again try to break it down into a few sections, and I promise it wont be as long this time! This is my 100 watt Laney Supergroup from 1968. Truly, beauty and the beast in one! I got it in a trade for my old Sunn 2000s which I never cared for on guitar as much, so it was perfect for me to do a straight swap. Anyway, more about the Laney. Specs? Let's start with what's under the hood. It's loaded with four EL34 power valves and three 12AX7 preamp valves. The circuit is very similar to a Marshall Plexi of the same era but with more bass and more hair on tap. It's all hand wired and shoots out power and output through a pair of almighty Partridge Transformers. The front panel gives you the option to plug into either a “treble” or “bass” input, each with a secondary input with a slightly lower output (perhaps 2db lower at most). Each input has it's own volume control and share a standard EQ selection of presence, bass, middle, and treble. Everything else is pretty standard: impedance switch, voltage switch, dual parallel outputs, and so on. The amp itself is about the same size as your standard Marshall 100w amp. How cool are those knobs though? This amp just begs for all the hearteye emojis 😍😍😍 Yes, we've all seen it, but how's the sound? I'm gonna get straight to the point. As I've mentioned before, I have a whole storage full of amps and love them all for their own reasons, however, this amp is hands down the best sounding amp I own. This has also been confirmed by a handful of friends that come over and have used many of my amps. It just easily has the best audible sound I have heard for a guitar amp. It's no wonder those old Marshall circuits are so sought after. The cleans are sparkling, articulate, and have so much character to them. Every note juices out what a chord or single note should sound like. While at the same time, the sound is thick, warm, and beefy yet never at all getting muddy, dark, or loose. Keep pushing the volume and the sound starts to naturally saturate until you reach full drive and you're pumping out over 100 watts of classic Sabbath punch. This amp is heavy on the bass, I usually have to turn that knob pretty low while keeping the mids cranked and the treble and presence pretty high, even on the “treble” channel. It will always stay tight and articulate though, even if I push more bass out. My favorite part about this amp is that it cuts through at almost any reasonable setting. I've recently been enjoying it through some WGS Reaper HP speakers. Just kind of a match made in hell, quite fucking lovely. Lastly, what can this amp do outside of just plugging straight in? Honestly, it can do it all. You can add a treble boost or low gain drive to play any style of music you want. Right now I've been digging the hell out of the Black Arts Black Forest drive through the treble input. It gives me just the right amount of fuzzy grit while staying clear and having tons of depth. I personally think that drives and fuzz pedals sound better with a slightly dirty amp, which this amp does. Although the cleans are great, when you get to live volumes you're definitely at a dirty amp stage, and your fuzz pedals will sound goddamn magical. I do prefer a slightly darker pedal as the amp has a wide range of high end and chime. And of course, slap a good germanium treble booster in front of this and you're in Iommi land all day long! I guess I would just label this amp as articulate and full. It can get gritty and it can get chime, no matter what it will have depth and stay clear, at all volumes. And as far as volume, well, it certainly has it. It's not as loud as some of my other amps, but it doesn't mean it can't keep up. The frequencies that make this amp cut through make this amp sound louder than it is. Think of a plexi on a low dosage of steroids! Like I've mentioned, people come and go out of my storage, checking out many of my amps, and this one seems to be the crowd favorite in overall sound. It's our main stage right guitar amp at the moment and it slays. The only thing that can make this amp sound better is adding another one to ABY with. The last time I plugged into a full stack it just made my knees weak. It's one of those amps I'm lucky to have and will never get rid of, not just for it's sound and performance, but nostalgically for the history and purpose these amps were made. Don't miss out on a chance to pick one up, ever. Thanks for reading and as always; plug in, play loud, and go deaf! Tony IG & Twitter: frylurksleela

Review: SOUND CITY 100 MKIII - 1968 Where does one even start when reviewing this amp? Perhaps it's best to divide it into sections. I'll start with the specs of this beast. Inside this Sound City is an all hand wired and passive circuit, rocking a set of four EL34 tubes, and three 12AX7 preamp tubes. The transformers are the coveted and extremely sturdy Partridge Transformers that we have all come to seek out and love. It's a single channel, non-master volume head, with two separate (and jumpable) inputs; “brilliant” and “normal.” The controls on the front are pretty simple: normal volume, brilliant volume, bass, treble, middle, presence, followed by a standby and power switch. In the rear you have your standards; a power cord, voltage selector, impedance selector, fuses, and two parallel wired outputs. Overall, it's a pretty simple amp with basic aesthetics and all the features that are needed to plug in and turn up. That, in my opinion, is the beauty of vintage tube amps, no distractions, just pure tube amp joy. I suppose this is where the review begins to get juicy. I understand many people have heard many MKIV Sound City 120's, and you can just listen to many Electric Wizard albums to check that out. I had a few and never cared for them too much. This Custom 100, however, is an entirely different beast all together. I'll break up this section into three parts: tone, volume/headroom, and extras (such as it's ability to take pedals, sensitivity to different tubes, speakers, pickups, etc). The tone is actually very neutral. Unlike Marshalls that have an emphasis on the high mids, and Ampegs that have an emphasis on a darker tone, this Sound City stays pretty balanced all around. The “normal” input has a lot of bass while never getting dark. And vice versa on the “brilliant” input, it will give you that chime and top end while never getting shrill or spiky. It is however, very deep and warm sounding regardless of the input you plug into. Personally, I like to jump the two inputs to get even more of a balanced sound between mixing the volumes together. No matter what your settings are at, you're gonna get a very warm and powerful sound. For this reason, this makes this amp sound wonderful on bass as well. It's got a bass characteristic that I haven't heard from any other amp. It spits out the sweetest sounding bass mids I have heard. Depending on the style of music you play, this amp can be too neutral sounding. It doesn't have the nicest clean tones, nor is it the darkest and heaviest amp, and that's why many people throughout time have paired amps like this and Hiwatts through a selective set of speakers to really make it shine. I'm a fan of the neutral tone because I use pedals to get all my drive and fuzz requirements. The real reason why I praise this amp to be as marvelous as it is, is the volume and headroom/saturation. This “100 watt” amp is easily louder than my '73 Sunn Model T, which is rated 140 watts. It's louder than any Ampeg V4 I've ever played, and honestly I think it's just about the loudest 100 watt amp I've had, with the exception of a really hot biased plexi (though I can debate the audible differences between frequency range and actual decibel volume). I would love to compare this amp with an old Matamp GT120 or even an OR120, though sadly I have not had the luxury of playing either of those two. However, I believe it will give them a run for their money. Back to the amp, again, it will give you great volume for any cab you plug into. I run mine through a WGS loaded Atlas 6x12 and it sounds superb. Of course I always wish for more volume and power, but I would never dismiss this amp from being able to keep up in any band, whether you're playing doom, sludge, hardcore, or punk (of which I've played all of the above). Many people will consider this a “clean” amp, and while it will surely give you a great amount of headroom, it also provides a phenomenal saturation sound. Imagine a Hiwatt 100 but with more balls and more hair, yes hairy fucking balls! Think classic driven Who, when this amp is pushed to it's limits. It's the epitome of break up crunch without getting too muddy or overly dirty, even with the inputs jumped. So really, you get the best of both worlds, loud cleans and loud drives, with just enough headroom or just enough dirt, while always having a ballsy sound coming out. Lastly, all the fun little extras. I'll say it right out, this amp takes pedals better than any other amp I've owned (and trust me, I've owned a whole goddamn storage full of amps). It's ability to stay neutral in tone makes it easy to actually hear the true nature of any pedal you plug in front of it. Disclaimer, this could be a bad thing if you're using a shitty or cheap pedal, although I know most of us are rocking something awesome from I Love Fuzz or a super rad pedal builder, so there's not much to worry about there. I love that I can actually fiddle around with pedals and it's like the pedal becomes a part of the preamp circuit. Unlike a dark amp that makes bright pedals excel, or a bright amp that needs something darker to warm it up, this Sound City will make you enjoy trying out pedals you never thought you liked before. Some of my favorites that I've plugged into it are the Smallsound/Bigsound Fuck Overdrive as well as the Mini and TAFM. I've also really enjoyed mixing a combination of a Rat based drive with a classic Muff, or something like an old DOD 250 with a Fuzz Face circuit after it. Really, it will make you love trying out different pedals and it will take the sound and keep it articulate and big sounding. And the same thing goes with pickups. If you're a fan of single coils, you'll get a bit more chime and mids, while humbuckers will give you a bit more depth and balls. Just like pedals, it will make your pickups stand out, as well as your mistakes or shitty playing (I get that ALL the time!). Although I've been praising the shit out of this amp, I gotta say that just like many other vintage amps, you have to take an extra step to keep it maintained and well taken care of. It does tend to heat up a bit if you bias it too hot, and I did have to re-wire the bias circuit in order to keep the bias set well enough to not burn through tubes as quickly, especially the way I crank the volume. However, if you do your regular maintenance like replacing the caps, checking and setting the bias regularly, and most importantly trying to keep the voltage below 115v (I use a variac as often as I can just to not worry about it), then it will hold up and play forever. I've had this amp for years and with the exception of having to rebuild a better bias circuit (thanks to the help of Ben Verellen), it hasn't given me any other problems. The caps were simple to replace, the wiring inside is pristine, and the parts are all of excellent quality. If you run into a chance to pick one of these up, regardless if you like what you hear out of this review, I say go for it. They are rare and will only keep going up in value. I see them going for twice as much as I got both of mine a few years ago. And keep an extra eye out for the 200w model, which will always be my unicorn. Thanks for reading! Until next time, Play Loud & Go Deaf

New cab to rule the doom! Loaded with four et65's and two et90's. Really really digging these speakers!

Still loving this thing. By far the best guitar I've owned.

My rig is ready for tour. Come hang out, drink beer, and bang your head with me!

Sunn up your day.

Summer of '77

Records finally arrived and I couldn't be more stoked. Pick one (or all three) up at our web store (www.worshipcult.bigcartel.com). Worship - All Too Human || first press limited to 500 total: gold/black out of 100, swamp green out of 150, and beer out of 250.

Little big amps. Little big sound.

After a short delay our shirts finally arrived! Pick one up at www.worshipcult.bigcartel.com before they're gone. 2XL already sold out (for now), sorry. (International shipping available!)

www.worshipcult.bigcartel.com

I’m out of words, insert your own caption.

Band asks me to take a picture of our shirt, but I only know how to take pictures of my gear. So this is what came out. Buy a shirt and get our new full length digital download free @ www.worshipcult.bandcamp.com

worshipcult rig: bunch of amps and a bunch of cabs. www.facebook.com/worshipcult www.worshipcult.bandcamp.com

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