Guitar World Verdict
The DB-EAST is hugely impressive – whether live or in the studio, it’s a flexible and great-sounding tone generator with lots of intelligent design features. It’s hard to believe that this is Nathan East’s first signature amp in such a long and distinguished career, but it is certainly worthy of the name.
Pros
- +
Excellent price for a sturdy, British-built amp.
- +
Wide range of superb tones.
- +
Amazing flexibility with its dual signal paths and connectivity.
- +
Lightweight.
Cons
- -
While it's light enough, a medium-large bass head in today’s market, the form factor might not suit all.
You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
What is it?
Releasing a new bass amp head, especially in traditional amp-sized form, is a bold call in today's world of mini amps and powerful modeling units. Laney's Digbeth range, however, might be the amps to buck that trend - especially with a recent (and sizeable) boost in star power.
Nathan East has a firm reputation as one of the titans of the bass world – and one of its most-recorded players. You know his work - a constantly in-demand session player whose chops have graced hits from Easy Lover and Footloose to Get Lucky, via stints with Toto, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and (allegedly) even Judas Priest.
East has been heard through Laney amps over the last few years. Now, he and the storied British brand have worked together to develop his first ever signature amplifier - built in the UK as part of Laney's Black Country Customs line.
Specs
- Price: $1,499 | £999 | €1,499
- Type: Solid-state bass head
- Origin: UK
- Output: 2x 500 watts RMS
- Speaker: N/A
- Channels: 2
- Controls: Front panel: Input 1/2 selector, Trim, FET Volume, FET/Tube selector, Tube Drive, Tube Volume (with pull function for FET/Tube blend), Bass, Mid Mode selector, Mid Level, Treble, Tilt, Master Volume. Rear panel: Power on/off, DI 1 Mode selector, DI 1 Ground/Lift, DI 2 Mode selector, DI 2 Ground/Lift, Phones volume control, Aux In volume control, Effects Loop gain selector.
- Connectivity: Front panel: 2x ¼” instrument inputs. Rear panel: IEC input, USB-C socket, 2x ¼” Remote inputs, 2x XLR DI outputs, 3.5mm headphone output, 3.5mm aux input, FX loop send, FX loop return, ¼” Tuner out, 2x speakON/¼’ combination outputs.
- Footswitch: Not included
- Weight: 8.5kg/18.7lb
- Dimensions: 219 x 470 x 225mm
- Contact: Laney
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★★
Visually, the Laney DB-EAST is cut from the same cloth as the rest of the Digbeth amps; a reasonably-sized head shell, neither micro nor massive, and with a retro aesthetic. A late-'60s Laney logo, and a classic grill-cloth faceplate - it's very stylish and well-executed. Unlike the other amps in the Digbeth range, it is also built in the UK.
The knobs are weighty and tactile, and the switches and jacks feel sturdy. It’s the amp that East tours with, after all, and it’s clearly been built with this in mind. It also has some very intelligent features to optimise it for his requirements.
Usability
Usability rating: ★★★★★
The headline? Two entirely separate inputs and outputs, so it can field two different, switchable signal chains with 500 watts of power each - in East's case, that means one for electric bass, and the other for upright bass.
The tone-shaping controls are shared by both inputs, but there's a Trim control so the two instruments’ volumes can be balanced. There's a three-band EQ, an additional four-way midrange contour selector, and a Tilt control for overall post-EQ shaping.
The DB-EAST has a two-channel preamp consisting of a clean FET channel, and the Tube emulation circuit. These can be selected with normal channel switching, or stacked for blended signals.
The rear panel is full of useful features too. We've dual XLR outputs, a pair of combination SpeakOn/1/4” outputs, 3.5mm headphone and aux jacks, a tuner output and an effects loop.
Those XLRs can provide an unprocessed DI, and processed signal with or without Laney's proprietary LA:IR cab emulation. LA:IR can be edited through the LA:IR software for Mac or PC, with many IRs available, although the factory-installed 4x10” and 2x12” presets could be perfectly sufficient for many.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★★
I chose to run the DB-EAST through my full-range Laney LFR-212 powered cab, to hear those IRs. I’m missing the Japanese-built signature Yamaha bass guitar that East favours, but I do have a passive, five-string Yamaha BB that gets me into the ballpark of some classic Fender Precision and Jazz Bass sounds, so that's a useful place to start.
Input and Output 1 is East's preferred electric bass signal path, with its 4x10” IR. With the EQ set flat and the Tube circuit disengaged, the FET sound is warm, smooth and very clean, with abundant low end. The Tube sound is a contrast; fatter mids and, with the Drive control up, a tasty retro growl. Heavier overdriven players will need a pedal to get the DB-EAST to truly roar, though.
Perhaps the best sound in the DB-EAST comes from pulling the Tube Volume control to blend the FET and Tube sounds, and then using the channel volumes to balance them; you feel the warm low-end punch of the clean tone, with some characterful midrange grit and compression. It’s a fabulous sound, and with abundant volume too.
The four-way Mid selector makes subtle but appreciable differences to the character of the sound, while Tilt is a good way of making more noticeable changes quickly - when switching between different basses, for example.
Speaking of which – given East's preference for active circuitry, I then switched to my five-string Warwick Thumb, and was impressed straight away. Powerfully mid-focused, the Thumb can sometimes feel wanting for low-end, but not a bit of it here – it sounds enormous. Meanwhile, the FET/Tube blend, with scooped mids – and a Sterling StingRay – provides a picture-perfect, aggressive modern rock tone.
Verdict
The DB-EAST, like East himself, is highly versatile and accomplished. It’s an amp that has clearly had a huge amount of thought put into making it as flexible and useful as possible, and considering its UK manufacture, it’s good value too.
Solidly-built, great-looking, has an intuitive feature set and, most importantly, it sounds fantastic with a variety of basses.
Solidly-built, great-looking, has an intuitive feature set and, most importantly, it sounds fantastic with a variety of basses, for any number of different musical genres and approaches.
In this day and age, it’s easy to overlook the standard-sized amp head for your bass rig, but the DB-EAST is a compelling reminder of all that can be achieved with this form factor.
Guitar World verdict: The DB-EAST is hugely impressive – whether live or in the studio, it’s a flexible and great-sounding tone generator with lots of intelligent design features. It’s hard to believe that this is only Nathan East’s first signature amp in such a long and distinguished career, but it is certainly worthy of the name.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | No concerns whatsoever, feels very solid indeed – and is also keenly-priced for a UK build. | ★★★★★ |
Usability | It’s very intuitive but packs in a lot of useful features, which are beneficial whether you happen to be Nathan East or not. | ★★★★★ |
Sounds | Whether you’re after an unfussy, warm clean sound, a gritty valve overdrive, or a killer combination of both, it’s superb and highly adjustable. | ★★★★★ |
Overall | The features that make the DB-EAST ideal for Nathan East are no less useful to the rest of us. | ★★★★★ |
Also try
Hands-on videos
Guitar Center with Nathan East
Laney
Sweetwater
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
