Laney at Gear Expo 2022: meet the Ironheart amp range, forged deep in the Black Country

Laney Ironheart
(Image credit: Laney)

GEAR EXPO 2022: One of Laney’s most iconic tube/valve amplifier ranges - the Ironheart - is loaded with premium, hand selected ECC88 and 6L6 tubes and boasts a plethora of features along with intimidating looks to boot. 

The Laney Ironheart is also the preferred amplifier for players such as Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) Martin Miller (solo), Alex Hutchings (Steven Wilson), Lari Basilio (solo), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Al Jospeh (Jam track Central/solo) and legendary bands such as Killswitch Engage and the rising stars of UK Metal – Malevolence. It’s easy to see why too...

Powerful dynamics

Laney Ironheart

(Image credit: Laney)

Every model in the range features triple-channel switching allowing you to stomp your way from the cleanest, almost DI’d funk, through to a Rock/Metal rhythm channel, topping it all off with utterly searing, saturated, gain-laden solo tone on the lead channel. 

There’s a powerful dynamics dial at the end of the chain, to refine the tone in even greater detail and an onboard studio quality reverb. Couple that with an incredibly powerful 3 band EQ with pull switch mid controls and you have one of the most versatile amplifiers ever built.

Pulling on each of the EQ control knobs will shift the response of each control as follows:

  • Bass: Deep - This extends the low-end frequency response, resulting in a fuller, heavier sound for lower notes.
  • Mid: Shift - This lowers the frequency range of the mid control to give a tighter sound.
  • Treble: Shift - This broadens the Treble control frequency response, to give a rounder sound to higher notes, especially when used with thin sounding pickups.

Flexible output

Laney Ironheart

(Image credit: Laney)

For those attempting to keep all the richness of driven tubes, without disturbing the neighbours, Laney have also included a Vari-Watt dial that controls the signal level within the power amplifier, allowing it to be driven harder at lower volume levels. 

For full output power, running the power tubes at maximum levels, turn this control fully clockwise. To reduce output volume, turn this control to the left. Simple... but effective!

In addition to that, there’s also a built in pre boost to allow you to push the clean channel, allowing for Country or Blues solos to cut through the mix and all of the features described are controllable via Laney’s sturdy FS4-IRT included footswitch.

At home on any stage

You can grace any stage with the traditional IRONHEART heads and combos and even travel the world with the 300 Watt, 3.5KG IRONHEART IRT-SLS – an absolute must have for home studios and the road. 

The rear of the unit boasts even more features including an XLR-DI out with speaker emulation, Laney’s famed T-USB technology to allow you to record via USB (IRT-SLS model) and headphone options depending on the model. 

Check out the Laney website for full details of the Ironheart range and, if you’re stateside, you can even buy direct from Laney themselves.

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