Any one have any experience with the old Lab Series L5 amps ???

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griff10672

griff10672

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I'm not a huge Kings X fan ...... but I do like a lot of it . I know he was using a L5 in his rig ..... now I wanna build one

I know BB King used one also ..... there were a few BIG names using them
 
BB King did use a Lab series and his Lucille had 490r and 490t which could pretty much net any tone from mild to fairly driven through that rig at times. Little Jimmy King aka Manuel Gales (brother to Eric) also used one with a fair amount of gain in the years preceding his death. He told me he was hoping to be the next BB but he reposed kind of prematurely from a heart defect or something. Was really sad cause he was a great player and singer

As far as I'm concerned the Lab series are the only decent sounding solid state amp I've heard. It came in a couple two-three different versions. I think the BB King choice was a L5 2x12 but they also made a 4x10 which I think is called an L7.

A very worthy project IMO Wayne. Please share your progress with the board if you decide to tackle it. That would be sweet.
 
VonBonfire said:
BB King did use a Lab series and his Lucille had 490r and 490t which could pretty much net any tone from mild to fairly driven through that rig at times. Little Jimmy King aka Manuel Gales (brother to Eric) also used one in the years preceding his death. He told me he was hoping to be the next BB but he reposed kind of prematurely from a heart defect or something. Was really sad cause he was a great player and singer

As far as I'm concerned the Lab series are the only decent sounding solid state amp I've heard. It came in a couple two-three different versions. I think the BB King choice was a L5 2x12 but they also made a 4x10 which I think is called an L7.

A very worthy project IMO Wayne. Please share your progress with the board if you decide to tackle it. That would be sweet.
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they also had the L4 for bass too ...... really interesting to me the people that swore by them ... and I really like some of Ty Tabor's tones .... I think he was just using the pre amp into a Mesa Power Amp .... I forget .. I read the article months ago
 
simonfrewler said:
Doomers love solid state .... especially frugal ones. I think it has to do with the lower freq response and dual purpose nature.

Seems like I've seen this I many gear shots from players in that style. 🤷🏻‍♂️
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Fuzz pedals can get really gnarly in Solid State power sections ... so it doesn't surprise me
 
griff10672 said:
they also had the L4 for bass too ...... really interesting to me the people that swore by them ... and I really like some of Ty Tabor's tones .... I think he was just using the pre amp into a Mesa Power Amp .... I forget .. I read the article months ago
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People swore by them because they are a great sounding amp. It's a Bob Moog design. Little JImmy was using the V's with 496 and 500t's and it sounded great. Seems like a lotta work to build one unless you're just in it for the kicks. You can find them pretty reasonable but I suppose shipping would be the killer.

Pretty sure this is a Lab series because you can't get that tone plugged straight into a Twin (which is what he used before)


I can't find any LJK clips with the Lab. It was something he was using in 2000-2002 and I think he died in '02.
 
VonBonfire said:
People swore by them because they are a great sounding amp. It's a Bob Moog design. Little JImmy was using the V's with 496 and 500t's and it sounded great. Seems like a lotta work to build one unless you're just in it for the kicks. You can find them pretty reasonable but I suppose shipping would be the killer.

Pretty sure this is a Lab series because you can't get that tone plugged straight into a Twin (which is what he used before)


I can't find any LJK clips with the Lab. It was something he was using in 2000-2002 and I think he died in '02.
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thinking about putting the pre amp section in a pedal ......
 
griff10672 said:
yup .... exactly ..... but I lay out my own boards ..... I'm going to change a few things
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Damn, you're fishing for my business with treble hooks lately and I already bit once. :LOL:

I might be game for something like that depending on the results but it would def not be until much later this year. I have to pay some actual bills first, lol.
 
VonBonfire said:
Damn, you're fishing for my business with treble hooks lately and I already bit once. :LOL:

I might be game for something like that depending on the results but it would def not be until much later this year. I have to pay some actual bills first, lol.
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we'll see what happens ..... it will fit the same footprint I just created for the VonBonfire Deluxe .... so it makes it a lot easier for me to build one now that I have those templates .

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griff10672 said:
we'll see what happens ..... it will fit the same footprint I just created for the VonBonfire Deluxe .... so it makes it a lot easier for me to build one now that I have those templates .
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Keep me posted on developments, it's interesting! I've always wanted to grab one of those Lab series amps cause BB King/LJK plus they can be $250-400 bucks locally but I always guessed they would need servicing and I already have enough vintage amps to maintain.
 
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