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Amp Shootout – Kustom Defender VS Laney Cub

I don’t normally do gear reviews on my blog, but since I had such a hard time making this decision, I figured maybe some GAS-plagued guitarists out there could use the help.

This double review covers the Laney Cub 12R and the Kustom Defender V15. I just got both within the last few days and did a quick A/B test. Not a lot of data here, just first impressions.

Both amps are 15 watts, both use EL84s, both are within a pound in weight (25 and 26). Both have enough volume to keep up with a drummer – at least with the drummer I play with. My goal was a giggable, light, small tube amp I could carry in one hand. 15W seems to be enough tube power for my needs. When I play anywhere large they have a PA system anyway, so the amp just ends up being a monitor. I don’t understand the need for a half-stack other than looks. But I digress…

Both amps are all-tube and touch sensitive enough to use the guitar volume effectively. Both use Celestion speakers and have power scaling. Ok, enough about the similarities. Let’s get to the differences!

LANEY:

$400 new.

Lots more knobs. B/M/T EQ controls, gain, reverb (spring-like), master volume. But cheap plastic knobs, one was loose and came off right out of the box.

Two inputs, one for .75W, which is really nice for being very quiet.

Footswitchable reverb jack. Just reach over and turn the knob 🙂 It’s great that it’s there but I’d rather the space be used for a boost or something. Also has an effects loop that can be used for a line out. Good feature. Also has speaker out 8-16 ohms.

The handle is rubber and sort of dinky, not sure if it would get brittle over the years or not. Feels like a pet’s chew toy. Cheap plastic corners. Due to the metal grille covering the entire rear, the power cord is velcroed to the back and you can’t put anything in there.

There is *way* more distortion at lower volumes in this amp because of the gain knob. More practice friendly due to the .75W input. The problem is I don’t like the sound much. With all the knobs at 12, it has a scooped sort of sound with very raspy distortion (with humbuckers). I love smooth, mid-heavy OD, so it doesn’t suit me. With drastic tweaking of the knobs I was able to get a good tone out of it. In particular the tone knob is all the way down and treble up to get rid of the rasp without being muddy.

Uses metal wire thingys to hold the tubes in place or prevent rattling, or both?

Nice red pilot light. Tasteful brown-colored chassis.

10” speaker so the overall package is a tiny bit bigger and therefore *seems* a bit heavier though it’s just more air inside.

KUSTOM:

$300 new.

Less knobs but more solid – one for American/British bass response, tone, volume. Both EQ knobs are responsive, but there’s only two of them.

4W or 15W. A decent compromise, but I’d really like a .1W mode too like my Bugera V5 had, that was a really nice feature. 4W cranked is too loud for my living room but not loud enough for a band.

XLR line out jack with ground switch. Not sure how good the speaker emulated sound is yet, but good enough for going through a PA I’d imagine. Also has a speaker cab out for expandability.

Handle is leather-like, sturdy, and wide. Metal corners, separate power cord. Has a nice metal grille to protect the tubes and speaker that doesn’t get in the way of sticking stuff in the back.

I love the sound, I run it on the British setting to tighten up the bass, and tone about 10:00. Even response, takes pedals better than the Laney due to less high-end (I think?). I used this amp at band practice and it sat very well in the mix. Of course we’re only a three-piece, so it’s not that hard. Still, I like the balanced tone. I ran the volume at noon for a nice guitar-controlled breakup, and a boost pedal for solos. Worked very well, perfect amount of volume. I have not turned up the volume all the way and shredded yet, so I have no idea how it sounds with higher gain. I hope it keeps the same characteristics.

Has small springs like filaments to hold the tubes in place, or prevent rattling?

Nice blue light under the switch.

8” speaker.

So obviously you can tell which I like. Actually I like them both and I’m trying really hard to talk myself into returning one. The Kustom is a lot cheaper, has a more tasteful sound, and seems to be made a lot better (both are assembled in China). However I wish I could add a separate gain control to the Kustom and maybe an effects loop and more EQ controls like the Laney has.

Overall both amps are decent if you want a simple tube amp without too many features at a reasonable price. I may change my mind about the tones of both once I crank them more. I’d pick the Laney for music where you need lots of distortion. No, actually I’d pick the Kustom and get a metal distortion pedal.

  1. anders barfod

    NO worries about the one preamp tube. The amp has two gain stage, both with a 10µf bypass cap (full range).. The bass selecter pot lets you shave of the bass, which really works well if you want to dime the amp and play rock. Play softer and clean you want that american low end.
    The EL84 are in a perculiar arrangement. It is a cathode biased series push pull arrangement that eliminates the need for a phase inverter tube. This work only with tubes like EL84 that has a high transconductance which also makes them usefull for cathode biasing.
    The amp is cathode biased with a 91 ohm resistor which seems low considered that a vox AC15c1 has a 120 ohm resistor and they run similar plate voltage (~330V). But the Vox runs it screen voltage higher with a 1K screen drop whereas the kustom has a large 4.7K screen dropper setting the screen voltage down at ~285V. This cool the bias a little and the fact that the kustom has no bypass cap on the cathode bias, the output stage has less gain and will give you negative feedback a little quicker to maintain a healthy bias when driven hard. But the idle dissipation is high on the kustom, so leaving it on for long periods without playing will wear your tubes faster… A pair of sovtek EL84M with a higher power rating will last longer and stay cleaner in the amp than regular EL84 tubes.

  2. Anders Barfod

    I have the Laney cub 12r.. I have changed the speaker to a much louder one,, but the cab is holding it back.. I bought a cheap large empty palmer 1×12 cab and loaded it with a celestion G12H 30 watt.
    Wow.. now we are talking. My only problem is that the power transformer gets hot overtime and the sound gets worse after one hour..
    Now I am keeping the laney at home and want a small compact head to feed into my palmer cab and the defender 15 looks like a candidate. The only thing i wonder about is the preamp. With only one tube, this is not a long tail PI but a cathodyne PI. One gain stage with a selectable 4 position bass pot (4 different coupling cap values) and a passive tone pot going into a cathodyne.

  3. Big G

    I trust your judgement. My goal is balanced sound at all volumes. That may be a bit too much to ask for, but hey, I can try right? HeHe! Oh yeah, don’t count a 10″ speaker out! I’ve owned a Peavey Backstage Chorus 208 amp with two 8″ speakers (stereo) and I’ve never heard 8″ speakers with attitude (like that) until I heard those! It is a solid state amp though. I’ve had folks thinking it was a 12 incher in there. Big magnets and good bottom. Found out they were Eminence. BUT, I have to remember that it’s hard to hit that “sweet spot” at lower volumes with a tube amp, unless you have a master volume (or attenuator) to play with. Solid state, well….. a different story. Take care and play on!

  4. Ben

    Let me know how you like it. If you don’t like it don’t blame me 🙂 But I think it’s a good choice for $300!

    Also, a disclaimer…. I’m not really a fan of a lot of bass, so I keep the bass response knob higher up… but I think it has enough to satisfy you. But a 10” speaker can only pump so much!

  5. Big G

    It’s 7/14/2012! Happy July. Me thinks I’m gonna pull the trigger on that Kustom V15 amplification device! The Laney just ain’t doin’ it for me. No bottom. Maybe a bit at higher volumes, but I need it all across the spectrum. Like my Peavey Express 112, it sounds full at lower AND higher volumes. Yeah, I’m still at it :)!

  6. Ben Holt

    It has a bass response knob. It actually works great, with it all the way left it’s almost Fenderish, at the right it’s more chimey.

    I leave the tone control at noon and just adjust the bass for whatever room I’m playing in, usually all the way right or one notch left.

    I’d say it’s well-balanced. It functions well as a clean amp that you feed pedals into for whatever coloration you need. It’s also plenty loud enough for small gigs with drums (just like the Laney I’d imagine).

    I play in a cover band (mostly rock from 80’s and 90’s), on my own I like soloing over stuff like rock, and sometimes classical and even occasionally jazz!

  7. Big G

    Thanks for the input! 🙂 I still have the Laney Cub12R. It’s at it’s best on the floor in actual playing situations. That’s with the speaker change I made (Eminence Legend GB128). Back to the Kustom V15….. as well as clean headroom, how is the bass response? I wouldn’t expect Fender cleans, but would you say it’s “well balanced” cleans? I’m still toggling the idea of gettin’ one anyway. BTW, what kinda music you play Ben? I do Blues, Fusion, Lite Jazz and Oldies (of the R&B/Soul variety)

  8. Ben Holt

    I’ve had the V15 since I wrote this! For me, that’s a LONG time for ANY piece of gear to stick around.

    It’s got a TON of clean headroom and haven’t had any problems yet. I use pedals to do whatever I want to it. It’s very loud and keeps up with a drummer fine. I gigged it a couple times and didn’t have it up even halfway.

    For a $300 amp, it does what I need – just makes my guitar louder. You’re right though, if I did resell it it wouldn’t sell for much!

  9. Big G

    And so I say (some 8 months later) that the Laney 12R has a 12″ speaker and the Kustom V15 has a 10″. Any-hoo, if you like early breakup, a “boxy” sound, weak bass, and unresponsive tone controls, pick the Laney Cub12R. Even after replacing the gutless Celestion Rocket 50 speaker with an Eminence Legend GB128, it still lacks balls. Haven’t heard a good demo of the Kustom V15 yet, so I can’t say. I’m debating on gettin’ one. I’m scared I tell ya!!! Scared I’ll be stuck with another cheap China “all tube” amp that I couldn’t GIVE away (much less sell), and be stuck with th’ thing. Alot of these amps are geared toward the crunch and high gain crowd. I like my clean headroom and get my dirt from pedals. Guess I’ll save up some more and wait ’till I can get me this amp I’ve had my eye on for awhile. Maybe you’ve heard of these….they’re a company called “Chicago Blues Box” check it out- http://www.customguitargear.com/cblues-kingston18.html I’m already halfway there.
    Peace out and keep playin’!!

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