SS Laneys suck bigtime
Really?
Well, I'm kinda new at this amp and guitar playin thing as I've only been doing it for about 45 years now. I went through Fender and Marshall amps, switched to VOX and used them for a long time and then I became a die hard Peavey Amp fan whether tube or solid state. Six months ago I switched to Laney.
I've got two Laney Amps. One is solid state, an LG35R and the other is all tube, being a VC15. Let's talk solid state first.
First of all, I'm not really a solid state fan. However for practice - if you practice a LOT that is, a solid state can save you a bunch of money on tubes and other maintenance worries. I mean it's pretty worry free. Fender, Marshall and Peavey solid state amps suck - extremely bad. Fender solid state amps sound like toys - harsh as hell, none of that piano or bell type tone you get from the tube amps. I've owned just about every Fender solid state amp there is and most of the tube amps too - which are good.
Marshall solid state amps also suck. The MG10 or the MG15RCD are the best two, with the MG10 having the most flexible gain control for the overdrive channel. However the MG15RCD has the same problem as the rest of the MG series in that you can't get "just a little dirt" without a pedal and if you crank the clean channel it breaks up in a NOT very good way. They suck as far as their dependability goes too.
Peavey solid state amps sound the worse of all solid state amps to me and that's coming from someone who used Peavey amps exclusively for almost 20 years. The clean channels are lifeless and the lead channel sounds worse than - for lack of a better word - crap. I've got a blazer 158 that BAMF modified that sounds ok, but it was nothing but pure torture on the ears before that.
VOX Solid state amps sound pretty good. In fact, a VOX Pathfinder 15R is hard to beat.
Now we are at Laney solid state amps. My LG35R has a VERY good, pristine, chimey clean channel that breaks up nicely to a mild crunch if you crank it. The crunch channel is the most versatile I've ever seen. You can go from a very mild crunch - that Jimi Hendrix dirty clean sound to metal just by turning that gain control. I've not seen any solid state amps, except a Carvin that was that versatile. At 30 watts, it is more than loud enough for home or a small gig.
Fender, Marshall, Peavey and VOX tube amps are great. No complaints there. However I found the Laney VC15 to be one of the most versatile low watt, class A tube amps I've ever played. Great clean channel, great overdrive channel. Yeah - if you do metal you will need a pedal, but for blues, blues rock and hard rock it is one kick ass little amp.