Sponsor Content Created With
“Digital rig? No problem!” How Laney bridged the modeler gap and found a way to make digital setups sound better
The last few years has been witness to a digital amp revolution. But for all the cutting edge technology that has been pushed by the main modeler makers of our time, new problems have arisen.
Namely, by switching from a physical amp to a floorboard replacement, players risk sacrificing a fundamental aspect of live guitar playing that hasn’t changed: the experience of moving air, interacting with a speaker and feeling the instrument respond beneath your fingers.
It’s a problem that Laney has solved with its LFR Full Range, Flat Response active guitar cabinets. Designed specifically to address this issue, the LFR range channels six decades of Laney’s amp and cab expertise to create an FRFR that authentically replicates the feel of playing though a traditional cabinet.
Portable, reliable and affordable, the LFR range spans the ultra-portable 1x10" LFR-110 and 1x12" LFR-112 all the way to the 2x12" LFR-212 and the flagship 4x12" LFR-412 – the latter of which boasts 2,600 watts of power as the most powerful FRFR guitar cab ever created.
Guthrie Govan uses a pair for stereo setups with The Aristocrats. Jack Gardiner has toured extensively with the 1x12". Devin uses the whole range in his varying content and live performances. Lari Basilio and Martin Miller both use them. YouTuber and shred supremo Bernth recently joined the roster as an LFR artist.
The LFR-412 is, obviously, insanely loud, but volume and projection was just part of the LFR mission. Even more important was developing a cab that could match the complex frequency information of digital rigs while behaving like a traditional speaker cab.
It was a challenge, but Laney overcame it by creating a new 12” driver from the ground up, developed in collaboration with HH acoustics. That was paired with a LaVoce compression driver, giving the LFR-412 the ability to create authentic cab character – one that won’t color your meticulously dialed-in digital amp and effects sounds.
That interaction is crucial for players who require that tangible feedback and feeling when playing on stage.
But Laney has innovated the space further by developing Laney Advanced Impulse Response (LA*IR), transforming the LFR speakers from humble FRFR speakers to a modern digital rig powerhouse.
Through loading and switching different IRs – all done via their free LA*IR app – players can get creative with their cabinet and front of house output. The options this opens up for performers can’t be overstated.
It is a smart solution to one of the recurring compromises of digital guitar rigs: should you optimize the sound for the player on stage or the audience hearing the PA?
LA*IR has since been rolled out to other Laney products, including the UK-made LOUDPEDALS that are used by Tom Quayle, Billy Corgan and Martin Miller, and Foundry range.
“The LFR-412 may be capable of extraordinary levels of volume, and the wider LFR family may embrace technologies that would have seemed futuristic when the original LFR-112 appeared,” Laney says.
“But the goal remains remarkably traditional: take the sounds created inside a digital rig and give them the volume, movement, interaction and physicality of a real guitar cabinet.
“The digital rig might live in the box. The LFR is where it comes alive.”
Visit Laney to find out more.
