NAD: My Landry G3 arrived! Initial review.

[Jayy]

Ok guys, I promised I'd follow up when my G3 got to me and so here we go. I'll try to keep this as short and easy to read as possible. Just to give you some background on me: I'm a hack. I play at home for my own enjoyment. I never gig. The closest I get to gigging is playing with my girlfriend (she plays drums). I own a Bray 4550 Deluxe, a Friedman BE-100, and a Soldano SLO, so my experience with the G3 is as compared to my experience with those amps. I'm not affiliated with Bill Landry in any way, or being given any incentive whatsoever to share my thoughts on the G3.

Now with all that said, my experience with Bill has been great. He is an absolutely straight shooter. When I first contacted him and explained my interest in the G3 and my current amps the first thing he said was "the G3 will NOT sound like your Friedman BE-100. It will not have that polished sort of sound." He was right. Talking with Bill was an absolute pleasure and I know I made him earn his money! I'm sure I drove him half nuts talking about amps in general and asking questions.

The G3 sits somewhere between my BE-100 and my Bray 4550 in it's voicing. It is just a tiny little bit more compressed than my Bray, but more open and brighter than my BE-100. It can approach the sound of either one depending on how you set the EQ and switches. It is also a very quiet amp. No annoying hums or background noise at all.

The EQ, and voicing and tone affecting switches on the G3 are very well thought out. Between the very wide and usable sweep/range of the EQ knobs and the 3 position bright switch, resonance knob, hard/soft switch, and vintage/modern switch you can do a LOT with this amp. The distortion channel has that great Marshall kerrang. The high gain switch has it's own volume level knob (that is an option I requested) that allows you to use it as a volume boost if you want and allows you to really adjust how much additional gain you want to add on top of the distortion channel. The clean and distortion channels have their own EQ and level controls before going to the global master volume. The global master is the best master volume I have ever encountered yet. Absolutely fantastic down to mouse fart levels.

The clean channel (I went with the dirty clean) is better than my BE-100 or my SLO. WIth a separate EQ, gain, and level controls you can do a ton with this clean channel. It is like having the clean/crunch control you have with the SLO, but with it's own very good EQ controls and level control. It is voiced wonderfully and can be dialed in to do anything I can think of ever wanting to do with a clean channel.

The distortion channel is where I will live most of the time (the same as I mostly live on the BE channel of my BE-100). God, I love the sound and feel of this amp! It is tight and percussive like the BE-100, but more open. It is like a mix of the best plexi and the best JCM800 you ever heard, but more versatile, with more available gain, more tonal options, way better volume control down to very low levels, and less noise. Very articulate, very responsive, cleans up great with rolling down the guitar volume (keep in mind I usually use hot PAF type pickups in the 9K ish resistance area with A2 or A5 magnets). As far as gain, without the boost or vintage/modern engaged it has a gain level that is very similar to the BE channel of the BE-100 when the gain is maxed. So, BE maxed vs. G3 maxed the level of gain is very close. The G3 may have just a little bit more.

The vintage/modern switch is a diode clipping switch just like the SAT switch in the BE-100. Same effect on the gain level and saturation, and lowers overall volume a little bit the same way when engaged. One of my favorite switches on the G3 is the soft/hard switch. I do not know how it is doing it, but what it does is soften or harden and quicken the picking response or attack of the amp just a bit. It is similar to my Bray 4550 Deluxe in the tube rectified vs. solid state rectified mode. On the G3 the soft setting gives just a little and has just a tad of sag in the response. It feels really good when you want just a tad of that bouncy sag feel. The hard mode is tight, very quick, fast response. I love both modes. Both feel great!

The bright switch is 3 position. down is noticeably darker, the middle position is brighter, and the up position is brightest. I am going back and forth between the middle and upper position and can't decide which I like better.

The resonance knob (or depth knob) is such an important part of this amp! It is like the depth knob on my SLO, but much better with a better sweep and better sounding affect on the tone. With it set at 9 o'clock or higher it begins adding punchy lower mids and the amp starts to sound more Friedman(ish) in the low mids as you turn it up. When depth knob is off and presence is at about 3 oclock, bass at 10 oclock, mids at noon and treble at about 1 oclock and bright switch up the G3 starts sounding very similar to my Bray 4550. Just open and cutting and that "kerrang" thing going on with fast response and a tight low end. Awesome, awesome sound!

I'm not a huge fan of reverbs built into amps. I always add it in after the amp using a line out into my effects in either my stereo setup or my W/D/W setup. However, the reverb in this amp sounds really good. It blends in well without hollowing out the tone of the amp.

I haven't even tried the effects loop yet. For how I run my amps I may never use it, who knows.

This is all I can think of right now that I feel I've had enough experience with to comment on. Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer and share anything that I can. If you are into the hot rod Marshall tones you really owe it to yourself to check out the G3! It is very versatile and sits in a really, really sweet spot in its voicing, feel, and sound. I'm loving this thing!!

 

[mooncobra]

great sounding amps!

 

[Jayy]

great sounding amps!

Absolutey! I just wanted to add that I forgot to mention that so far I have tried the G3 with two different 4x12s. One a Splawn loaded with Scumback M75-PVC 65 watt speakers, the other a Marshall 1960BX cab loaded with Scumback BM75 65 watt speakers and it sounds absolutely fantastic with both! I haven't tried any other speakers yet.

 

[hammered]

Cool man addition to all your other badass amps LOL. Enjoy!

 

[Jayy]

Cool man addition to all your other badass amps LOL. Enjoy!

LOL. Thank You!

 

[jguitarslim]

Great review & congrats on cool amp! You get the 50 or 100w?

How dirty can the clean channel get? Can you get like Doobie Bros type clean breakup and still be balanced w OD channel.

Do you find amp suited for lower gain classic rock type stuff or does it pretty much shine in more hot rodded land?

 

[bbaug14]

Mine is more or less the exact same amp. Dirty clean and a volume control for the high gain. Here's a quick clip. I use the high gain as a 3rd channel. The dirty clean is very Plexi.

This is Bill playing my amp. He's much gooder than my playing.

 

[Jayy]

Great review & congrats on cool amp! You get the 50 or 100w?

How dirty can the clean channel get? Can you get like Doobie Bros type clean breakup and still be balanced w OD channel.

Do you find amp suited for lower gain classic rock type stuff or does it pretty much shine in more hot rodded land?

Thanks! I got the 100 watt. The dirty clean can get very clean, at least it's very clean to me. Yes, it'll definitely do the Doobie Bros slightly edgy just barely breaking up a tiny bit sort of thing. The videos posted by bbaug14 in the post above me is a good example of some Hendrix, Led Zep, etc., on the dirty clean channel.

To my ears the distortion channel works great for lower gain classic rock like Led Zep, AC/DC, etc., up through Van Halen and into hot rodded old Zakk Wylde territory and beyond. If you want to engage the modern switch (diode clipping) and hit the high gain boost it'll go well into high gain metal land IMO.

 

[Jayy]

Mine is more or less the exact same amp. Dirty clean and a volume control for the high gain. Here's a quick clip. I use the high gain as a 3rd channel. The dirty clean is very Plexi.

This is Bill playing my amp. He's much gooder than my playing.

Yeah, BIll can really play, can't he? Kinda makes me a little jealous.

 

[Lifeson1]

Gad you dig it!!!! I actually have the 50W version, just finished up a session with it. Can't get enough of playing this amp. And in a band dynamic it's so musical. Still considering getting the dirty clean, but I think the standard clean is a beautiful platform - would hate to fix something that's not broken.

 

[Jayy]

Gad you dig it!!!! I actually have the 50W version, just finished up a session with it. Can't get enough of playing this amp. And in a band dynamic it's so musical. Still considering getting the dirty clean, but I think the standard clean is a beautiful platform - would hate to fix something that's not broken.

Yeah, it's addictive, isn't it? I mean, I love my other amps too. They are all great amps, but that feel and voice of the G3 just keeps me plugging into it. I've heard clips of the standard clean channel and it sounds great. Read good reviews about it too. If you are happy with it then leave it clean, but the dirty clean is great too. lol.

 

[chasintonez]

I am going to agree with everything that Jayy wrote in his review. I spent 4 hours with Bill over at the Tritone Expo in St. Louis last Saturday. I had one on one opportunity with Bill and the G3 and we went thru just about every feature, settings, various guitars, different speaker cabs etc. I put Bill and the G3 thru the paces..haha

First and foremost: Bill is just super guy. Just a great down to earth guy that just loves guitar tone. He is very patient with questions and in my case going back and forth between heads and cabinets and effects in the loop and out of the loop. He is just very honest and real about what his amp is all about and his passion for his product is great. He always answered any emails I sent with sound/video clips, spent all the time on the phone that was needed for questions. Great experience talking with him during my amp quest and research.

The amp itself....well it is just flat out an excellent sounding amp and playing on it feels fantastic.

The amp I have been after is a great "M" style channel switcher that also has an excellent clean channel. I have played quite a few amps over the past few months both more mainstream brands and more recently the more boutique level amps. I have had a great time testing the amps and have played some really great amps. It is a great time to be a buyer of high quality amps with all of the great builders and high quality being offered. Just such great choices these days.

Both of his clean channels are just excellent. Best clean channels I have experienced in all of the channel switchers I have demoed and better than some clean platform oriented amps.

I went into it thinking I would for sure lean toward the clean clean channel, but ended up really liking his recently re-worked dirty clean channel. That channel is just such a musical and versatile channel and it has such depth that still has the nice sparkle with the gain down low. Turn the gain up and it gets a fantastic organic very natural sounding grit to a low gain setting. Anything from a nice Hendrix bluesy tone on up to a great Bryan Adams rhythm grit (especially with a strat). Even up to the earlier AC/DC gain levels. The guitar volume reacts great with it for still having a very rich and nice sounding clean with it rolled down. Turn the guitar volume up and it has a really nice lower gain quality.

I will mention here the reverb as it sounded excellent. It has a studio quality to it and just gives a very nice ambience to the clean channel. On that note it also is a great reverb for the gain channels. One of the best on board reverbs I have heard in an amp. See future post for the gain side of the G3!

 

[chasintonez]

Onto the gain side of the G3.

***Yes the master volume is the best one I tried...Sounds great at a whisper...Really

The gain side picks up where the dirty clean channel left off, or as starting point from the clean clean channel. Still can get down to that lower gain setting for pop rock, classic rock. There is plenty of gain on tap, but the drive channel covers plenty of ground for several flavors of gain. It is definitely a fundamental Marshall basis (To try to put a finger on it...kind of a plexi'ish/jcm'ish hybrid of sorts as Jayy described it). What I really liked about the general character of the gain channel is that it has a very clear quality to it all while being driven. So odd chords have good separation to them and it allows the amp to be very articulate all while being very nice under the fingers. While there is some compression there, it still has a very open nature to it. This allows for a lot of dynamic variation to what you can get out of the amp, especially with single coils or tapped humbuckers. It is the kind of amp that will put out whatever you put in. A lot of amps that have quite a bit of gain on tap can tend to lose dynamics and "touch". The G3 reacts great to the volume knob on the guitar at just about any gain setting. With it having an open character to it, the variation that can be controlled just with picking attack and volume knob adjustments gives a very wide range of dynamic control. My perspective was using vintage output to medium output humbuckers and Suhr single coils.

I played some Jeff Beck stuff with it (Day in the Life, Over the Rainbow) and that is usually a pretty good test of what kind of subtle nuances an amp can give back. When playing with fingers, the volume knob and working the little harmonics with the trem the G3 did an excellent job handling the very gentle approach with it, yet could be juiced just by hitting the strings or kicking the volume knob up a bit. I had asked about this earlier in my research about the G3 and had a guy say that it was not really suited for that kind of playing, but my experience with it is it passed with flying colors while using my Suhr Pro Series HSS strat. The G3 can smooth down some or have some bite on top depending on the eq and the approach of how soft or hard the guitar is played. If the player has the ability, there is quite a bit of emotion that can be coaxed out of it. I know most videos have covered the more driven side of the G3, but it really handles the lower gain side of things as well. And you can then go full blown Van Halen and well beyond with the juice and the diodes setting.

The reverb on the gain channel is worth mentioning as well. The on board reverb works great. It is there and giving the ambience, yet is stays out of the way. It does not get blurry or smear the main guitar tone like many on board reverbs do. Just a nice texture to the tone without being overbearing in anyway.

The EQ tone knobs have a wide sweep and allow the G3 to be super versatile. And of course the EQ's are separate on the clean channel and drive side (which is a must for me). Add the 3 way bright switch, the new hard/soft switch, the modern (diodes "on")/vintage switch, the depth control and all of the tone stack control and this amp will do just about anything you can throw at it (maybe minus some of the heavy heavy stuff and DJent).

All in all with all of the new tweaks that Bill has incorporated into the latest version of this amp it is really dialed in. He has added a little more low end girth to the overall character, which can be easily pulled back for some more cut in gigging or studio situations depending on the environment. The new hard/soft switch is nice for some added flavor of how the mids come forward a little or pull back a bit depending on which way the switch is set.

It has a great loop (yeah I had him put the cables in and out several times for comparison. Not much variation really at all).

The one thing that I really like about Bill as an amp builder is that he is actually a very good guitar player. What I mean by that is that he can really push the amp with the ability of a good rhythm AND lead player and feel what the amp is or is not doing or giving back. He has taken that direct feedback that he is experiencing and has made meaningful adjustments based on this and customer feedback.

I have played and been impressed by many great amps during my research and demoing thru the past few months. Some top notch amps out there. But I actually put a deposit down for Bill to build me a G3. Spending time with him that day really allowed me to see that he is the type of guy that is going to stand behind his product. The amp is laid out and built at the highest levels. Right up there with all the high end offerings. He never tried to hard sell me, nor did he ever put down any other builders or amp companies. He is a very honest guy that does not want to sell you an amp just for a sale. He really wants the amp to be something that fits his customers and gets them the tone they are after.

Like Jayy, I have no affiliation with Bill or Landry Amps. I was not prompted to write anything whatsoever for any type of kickback or discount etc. To the contrary, I drove 5 hours to try out the Landry, spent 4 hours with Bill and the amp and then had to drive 5 hours back home all in the same day. I am glad I made the trip and took the chance on trying it in person before making my final decision on an amp. After spending a good straight 4 hours solid on the amp and trying it thru all sorts of combinations of variables, I just figured I would share my experience.

Dollar for dollar, the value you get with a Landry amp considering the high level of quality, tone and playability makes it a very worthy consideration. Is the Landry the end all be all of amps...haha Of course not. We are manic guitar players after all LOL There are tons of great amps that do all sorts of other tones and takes on classic amps. But, anybody looking for a good "M" amp or channel switching amp that can cover a wide variety of styles should really try to get a chance to try one of Bill's amps. More than likely, you won't be disappointed.

You can also feel confident in dealing directly with Bill on the sale. He has a great reputation on these and other forums and in my personal experience he is a very trustworthy and reliable boutique builder with a track record of several years.

Now the waiting period starts for delivery.......It will be well worth the wait as I fortunately was able to really play the heck out of the thing and know what is coming!

 

[Jayy]

I am going to agree with everything that Jayy wrote in his review. I spent 4 hours with Bill over at the Tritone Expo in St. Louis last Saturday. I had a straight one on one with Bill and the G3 and we went thru just about every feature, settings, various guitars, different speaker cabs etc. I put the Bill and the G3 thru the paces..haha

First and foremost: Bill is just super guy. Just a great down to earth guy that just loves guitar tone. He is very patient with questions and in my case going back and forth between heads and cabinets and effects in the loop and out of the loop. He is just very honest and real about what his amp is all about and his passion for his product is great. He always answered any emails I sent with sound/video clips, spent all the time on the phone that was needed for questions. Great experience talking with him during my amp quest and research.

The amp itself....well it is just flat out an excellent sounding amp and playing on it feels fantastic.

The amp I have been after is a great "M" style channel switcher that also has an excellent clean channel. I have played quite a few amps over the past few months both more mainstream brands and more recently the more boutique level amps. I have had a great time testing the amps and have played some really great amps. It is a great time to be a buyer of high quality amps with all of the great builders and high quality being offered. Just such great choices these days.

Both of his clean channels are just excellent. Best clean channels I have experienced in all of the channel switchers I have demoed and better than some clean platform oriented amps.

I went into it thinking I would for sure lean toward the clean clean channel, but ended up really liking his recently re-worked dirty clean channel. That channel is just such a musical and versatile channel and it has such depth that still has the nice sparkle with the gain down low. Turn the gain up and it gets a fantastic organic very natural sounding grit to a low gain setting. Anything from a nice Hendrix bluesy tone on up to a great Bryan Adams rhythm grit (especially with a strat). Even up to the earlier AC/DC gain levels. The guitar volume reacts great with it for still having a very rich and nice sounding clean with it rolled down. Turn the guitar volume up and it has a really nice lower gain quality.

I will mention here the reverb as it sounded excellent. It has a studio quality to it and just gives a very nice ambience to the clean channel. On that note it also is a great reverb for the gain channels. One of the best on board reverbs I have heard in an amp. See future post for the gain side of the G3!

I agree with you chasintonez, Bill is a top notch guy. He is straight up about what his amps are and what he is trying to achieve. He is absolutely passionate about what he does and wants his customers happy. He has developed an amp he should be very proud of with the G3. That amp kicks all kinds of ass, but he is completely humble about it. I talked to him at length about my experiences with my Friedman, SLO, Bray, and other amps I've played and ask him numerous questions about his thoughts on those amps and how they compared to his G3 in tone, feel, etc. He didn't ever, not once, bad mouth any other amp or builder in even the slightest way. He paid complements to them in things he liked about them and pointed out the differences he knew from his experience. He never pushed to sell or came at me with any "my amp is better than all that and does everything better" type of tactics. He's a great guy and it's great to see that. There are a few great amp builders out there that are in it for the right reasons.

 

[Jayy]

Onto the gain side of the G3.

***Yes the master volume is the best one I tried...Sounds great at a whisper...Really

The gain side picks up where the dirty clean channel left off, or as starting point from the clean clean channel. Still can get down to that lower gain setting for pop rock, classic rock. There is plenty of gain on tap, but the drive channel covers plenty of ground for several flavors of gain. It is definitely a fundamental Marshall basis (To try to put a finger on it...kind of a plexi'ish/jcm'ish hybrid of sorts). What I really liked about the general character of the gain channel is that it has a very clear quality to it all while being driven. So odd chords have good separation to them and it allows the amp to be very articulate all while being very nice under the fingers. While there is some compression there, it still has a very open nature to it. This allows for a lot of dynamic variation to what you can get out of the amp, especially with single coils or tapped humbuckers. It is the kind of amp that will put out whatever you put in. A lot of amps that have quite a bit of gain on tap can tend to lose dynamics and "touch". The G3 reacts great to the volume knob on the guitar at just about any gain setting. With it having an open character to it, the variation that can be controlled just with picking attack and volume knob adjustments gives a very wide range of dynamic control. My perspective was using vintage output to medium output humbuckers and Suhr single coils.

I played some Jeff Beck stuff with it (Day in the Life, Over the Rainbow) and that is usually a pretty good test of what kind of subtle nuances an amp can give back. When playing with fingers, the volume knob and working the little harmonics with the trem the G3 did an excellent job handling the very gentle approach with it, yet could be juiced just by hitting the strings or kicking the volume knob up a bit. I had asked about this earlier in my research about the G3 and had a guy say that it was not really suited for that kind of playing, but my experience with it is it passed with flying colors while using my Suhr Pro Series HSS strat. The G3 can smooth down some or have some bite on top depending on the eq and the approach of how soft or hard the guitar is played. If the player has the ability, there is quite a bit of emotion that can be coaxed out of it. I know most videos have covered the more driven side of the G3, but it really handles the lower gain side of things as well. And you can then go full blown Van Halen and well beyond with the juice and the diodes setting.

The reverb on the gain channel is worth mentioning as well. The on board reverb works great. It is there and giving the ambience, yet is stays out of the way. It does not get blurry or smear the main guitar tone like many on board reverbs do. Just a nice texture to the tone without being overbearing in anyway.

The EQ tone knobs have a wide sweep and allow the G3 to be super versatile. And of course the EQ's are separate on the clean channel and drive side (which is a must for me). Add the 3 way bright switch, the new hard/soft switch, the modern (diodes "on")/vintage switch, the depth control and all of the tone stack control and this amp will do just about anything you can throw at it (maybe minus some of the heavy heavy stuff and DJent).

All in all with all of the new tweaks that Bill has incorporated into the latest version of this amp it is really dialed in. He has added a little more low end girth to the overall character, which can be easily pulled back for some more cut in gigging or studio situations depending on the environment. The new hard/soft switch is nice for some added flavor of how the mids come forward a little or pull back a bit depending on which way the switch is set.

It has a great loop (yeah I had him put the cables in and out several times for comparison. Not much variation really at all).

The one thing that I really like about Bill as an amp builder is that he is actually a very good guitar player. What I mean by that is that he can really push the amp with the ability of a good rhythm AND lead player and feel what the amp is or is not doing or giving back. He has taken that direct feedback that he is experiencing and has made meaningful adjustments based on this and customer feedback.

I have played and been impressed by many great amps during my research and demoing thru the past few months. Some top notch amps out there. But I actually put a deposit down for Bill to build me a G3. Spending time with him that day really allowed me to see that he is the type of guy that is going to stand behind his product. The amp is laid out and built at the highest levels. Right up there with all the high end offerings. He never tried to hard sell me, nor did he ever put down any other builders or amp companies. He is a very honest guy that does not want to sell you an amp just for a sale. He really wants the amp to be something that fits his customers and gets them the tone they are after.

Like Jayy, I have no affiliation with Bill or Landry Amps. I was not prompted to write anything whatsoever for any type of kickback or discount etc. To the contrary, I drove 5 hours to try out the Landry, spent 4 hours with Bill and the amp and then had to drive 5 hours back home all in the same day. I am glad I made the trip and took the chance on trying it in person before making my final decision on an amp. After spending a good straight 4 hours solid on the amp and trying it thru all sorts of combinations of variables, I just figured I would share my experience.

Dollar for dollar, the value you get with a Landry amp considering the high level of quality, tone and playability makes it a very worthy consideration. Is the Landry the end all be all of amps...haha Of course not. We are manic guitar players after all LOL There are tons of great amps that do all sorts of other tones and takes on classic amps. But, anybody looking for a good "M" amp or channel switching amp that can cover a wide variety of styles should really try to get a chance to try one of Bill's amps. More than likely, you won't be disappointed.

You can also feel confident in dealing directly with Bill on the sale. He has a great reputation on these and other forums and in my personal experience he is a very trustworthy and reliable boutique builder with a track record of several years.

Now the waiting period starts for delivery.......It will be well worth the wait!

It's great to hear your experience was as good as mine. I want to clarify one thing I said about the hard/soft switch. The way I wrote it I'm afraid I may give the impression the soft setting sags and is sluggish like an old, slow rectified type of amp. It doesn't. There is nothing sluggish or slow about this amp. The soft/hard title of the switch is an apt name. The soft setting is just a TAD softer. Maybe you are right it's a difference in the mids between the two settings. I'll have to try it again and see what I think. The biggest difference I was getting (what really just grabbed me) was just a slightly softer feel in the soft position. Just a TINY LITTLE BIT of give in the feel that reminds me of the softer, bouncier slight sag my Bray has in tube rectifier mode, but less than the Bray. Hell, even my Bray isn't at all sluggish. My Bray in tube rectifier mode actually feels a little faster than my SLO. The SLO is the slowest pick attack and softest amp I own, and I know there are way slower amps than it. We are talking very fine shades here and I just wanted to try to clarify, that's all I'm saying I guess. lol.

 

[chasintonez]

^^^^^^^^^
This....I think you are right on with your description Jayy. What I was trying to describe was when the switch is in the hard mode it seemed to pull the mids/slightly upper mids forward a bit, which also gives it a touch more immediacy in attack/articulation. The soft setting had just a touch of a little forgiving quality to it. As Jayy said, these are subtle variations, but they do have their own distinction which adds to the versatility of the amp.

In either setting the amp is a really enjoyable amp under the fingers to play. It kind of has a similar fluidity as the BE as far as how it feels under the fingers, which would make you think it would have quite a bit of compression going on. Yet it definitely has a more open and uncompressed sound to the character of the amp.

I found it to be a very good middle ground as Jayy described it.

These are all high caliber amps we are talking about here so there are no real losers. All excellent amps. I just felt the Landry bridged the gap between the vintage/classic proper style Marshall type amps and the newer style breed of Marshall flavored amps like the BE and such. And does a hell of a job at it.

 

[Jayy]

^^^^^^^^^
This....I think you are right on with your description Jayy. What I was trying to describe was when the switch is in the hard mode it seemed to pull the mids/slightly upper mids forward a bit, which also gives it a touch more immediacy in attack/articulation. The soft setting had just a touch of a little forgiving quality to it. As Jayy said, these are subtle variations, but they do have their own distinction which adds to the versatility of the amp.

In either setting the amp is a really enjoyable amp under the fingers to play. It kind of has a similar fluidity as the BE as far as how it feels under the fingers, which would make you think it would have quite a bit of compression going on. Yet it definitely has a more open and uncompressed sound to the character of the amp.

I found it to be a very good middle ground as Jayy described it.

These are all high caliber amps we are talking about here so there are no real losers. All excellent amps. I just felt the Landry bridged the gap between the vintage/classic proper style Marshall type amps and the newer style breed of Marshall flavored amps like the BE and such. And does a hell of a job at it.

Yes, I agree. You stated it very well, better than me. Congrats on purchasing a G3. I hope the wait doesn't kill you. lol.

Everyone, if it seems like chasintonez and I are gushing over the G3, I'm pretty sure it's because we are. lol. However, it is well deserved. Although nobody will ever confuse me with Lynch, Van Halen, DeMartini, etc., I am fortunate to own and have experience with several great amps, so it's not like I'm jumping into the G3 from a POS amp background. The G3 is every bit as top shelf as my other amps. It is another flavor of awesome that fits right in and fills it's own place in what I like and want from an amp. On top of that, the feel, fluidity, and dynamics that chasintonez and I am trying to describe is absolutely addictive. It is a lot like the BE-100 in that great, fluid, fast, slick feel, but more open and less compressed. I don't know how Bill Landry pulled it off really, but he did and he deserves the credit that he doesn't give himself.

By the way, we have talked a lot about how great the G3 sounds at low volume. Wait till you hear it with the volume up about 1/3 to 1/2! Wow! Like any amp, as volume goes up and you drive the speakers more you may make common adjustments (less gain, less bass or depth knob, etc.) then damn. Just damn.

 

[chasintonez]

I know..... I don't want to come off sounding like a used car salesman for anything LOL

I just know it was tough sorting thru all of the forums and bugging guys PM'ing them trying to find as much as I could about several amps beyond just Bill's G3. I figured I would try to give my honest opinion on what I experienced with it and why I ended up going with the Landry. I am not the type to whip on this or that builder. I think a good many of them are making excellent amps and it is just a matter of finding the right fit for what you are after.

It seems that Jayy and myself have come to some similar conclusions with our experience with the amp. Jayy also has a nice gallery of amps to have a great reference point on where he is coming from (Jealous... )

Another thing that may be helpful between myself and Jayy is the experience level that we have. Jayy says he is a bedroom rockstar and I am sure being far too critical on himself by describing himself as a hack..

I come at it from the perspective of playing for about 38 years and doing a lot gigging thru those years. Many of those years with middle of the road amps and what not, but I have always managed to try and get the best tone I could with what I had. So there are kind of two ends of the bookshelf for perspective on our reviews.

For a reference point into my style and guitar approach, these clips may help some better understand where I am coming from for my take on the amp. Mostly just a few sample tracks and rough outs of things that I have to put together for project references and gig resume etc. Mostly on the more guitar oriented side of things versus band cuts. I actually like to play a lot of blues style stuff like Beck and Hendrix etc as well. These are the only clips that I could grab quick to throw on and they are on the zippier side of my playing. But that is what I liked about the Landry's versatility. I am all over the map when it comes to music. Top 40 gigs, country stuff, classic blues rock, rock, guitar riffage. I needed an amp that could do all of that and do it very well.

Note these clips are NOT of the Landry as I have not received mine yet. These tracks are not too bad for tone, but the Landry is a much better sounding amp. Recorded these with some various amps I have had over the past couple of years. Just added the clips as I always liked when others attached playing samples when giving opinions on amps for some sort of qualifier or point of reference.

https://soundcloud.com/stringsnthings-1

 

[bbaug14]

What these guys said. The G3 is just an incredible amp. Best I've owned so far in this camp. I'm really enjoying mine.

 

[Jayy]

What these guys said. The G3 is just an incredible amp. Best I've owned so far in this camp. I'm really enjoying mine.

It's good to hear someone else jump in and give info on their experience besides me and chasintonez talking it to death. lol. Thanks bbaug14!