Tom Quayle And Martin Miller Laney LOUDPEDALS
We’ve just launched our Martin Miller and Tom Quayle Laney LOUDPEDAL IRONHEART LIONHEART pedalboard amps. Having been hard at work over the last two years thinking of ways to offer up the kind of tube tone that inspires you to play for hours on end and make it practical for many of the situations we find ourselves in as guitar players these days. Gigging, but not wanting to cart around a huge amp, recording but not wanting to spend additional effort and cash on interfaces or indeed microphones. For years, the only way to experience that magical tubey goodness was to lug around a bulky, heavy amp wherever you went. But not anymore. There have been many floor/pedal board amps arriving in the market in recent years, we tried them all and – in our humble opinion – they either lacked tonal integrity, or they were far too expensive for the features that were on offer.
So…We went to our own drawing board wanting to create something powerful, practical, affordable. We wanted to create the best pedalboard amps in the world. This resulted in our award-winning Foundry series IRONHEART LOUDPEDAL which has become hugely popular!
To that end, we thought it was high time that we created a top-of-the-range IRONHEART LOUDPEDAL handcrafted in our UK workshop, Black Country Customs. So that’s precisely what we did! Enlisting Laney virtuoso (and YouTube star) Martin Miller to agonise over every tiny detail. We also thought that our much-loved LIONHEART tube range deserved a special LOUDPEDAL too and who better to collaborate with than long-term LIONHEART artist and fusion legend, Tom Quayle.
Well…We couldn’t be prouder! Constructed in our UK workshop – Black Country Customs – the LIONHEART LOUDPEDAL is a 60-watt pedal that captures the gloriously rich, lush tones of our revered LIONHEART tube amps…but in a VERY pedalboard-friendly format.
Tom Quayle discusses the details of his new LIONHEART LOUDPEDAL
Martin certainly knows his IRONHEART amplifiers and was the perfect partner to collaborate with on the IRONHEART LOUDPEDAL.
Martin discusses his Laney IRONHEART LOUDPEDAL
Both amps have a shared feature set that we think are vital in Laney Pedalboard amps.
But the LOUDPEDAL is far more than just an impeccable tube tone emulator. It’s an entire rig solution packed into one Laney Pedalboard amp.
“The way I use the LOUDPEDAL varies greatly on the types of gigs that I play, the types of sessions that come up, etc. So, there’s many use cases for this, which is probably one of my favourite things about it.” Enthuses Martin.
“The DI out is fantastic for recording direct, whether that’s in a hotel room, on the road, whether that’s in my studio or that’s on a recording session. And then I would also integrate that within a multi-effects type situation. I can put the pedal itself within the effects loop of a multi-effects unit. But I can also do it the other way around – I can put a multi-effects unit within the effects loop of the Loud pedal, and therefore get all the effects goodness through my cab sims. So, it kind of depends on the situation”
“I either have the LOUDPEDAL in the effects loop of a multi-effects unit, or vice versa. And if I want to have the ultimate flexibility when it comes to those things, I just go four-cable method. But it also sounds really good just going straight DI out or straight into a loudspeaker with no bells and whistles. It sounds fantastic doing just that. It doesn’t always need to be the big setup.”
At its core, the LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps provides two fully independent footswitchable channels that can be radically shaped using powerful EQ controls. You can go from sparkling clean to grunt-filled overdrive at the stomp of a switch. Better still, on the LIONHEART-LOUDPEDAL each channel has three different voicing modes – Bright, Dark, and Flat – that allow you to alter the character and feel of the tone. Whereas on the IRONHEART-LOUDPEDAL channel 1 features the ability to shape the gain response of the channel, from clean to asymmetric or symmetrical clipping. Channel 2 features three different voicing modes – Bright, Dark, and Flat.
“The channel I use by far the most, which is possibly 95% of the time if not more, is channel two, because channel two in itself is extremely versatile. So, for example, I would run a volume pedal in front of the input, or I use the volume control of my guitar to dial that way down, turn off the boost, and have a really spanky, clean, yet still compressed tone. I crank up the volume on the guitar or on the foot pedal – I have a mid-gain sound, and then I hit the boost, and its all-out shred goodness. So that’s all within channel two. I go to channel one if I want something that is super pristine and uncompressed, clean, almost like a warmed-up DI signal.” – Martin Miller
This pedal also features a built-in preamp boost inspired by the legendary Black Country Customs Steel Park circuit – one of Tom Quayle’s personal favourite boost pedals- with the boost engaged, you can instantly push the front-end of the LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps into rig-shaking overdrive and saturation “When I first saw this, it was a genuine mind-blowing experience, because it’s such an aesthetically pleasing product to hold,” describes Tom. “It just feels amazing and looks so cool. And they got the colouring for this, just like the LIONHEART amp. And that kind of was really, really pleasing to me.” – Tom Quayle
In addition to shaping the core amp tones, the LOUDPEDALs offer up a lovely digital reverb based on the Black Country Customs Secret Path spring algorithm.
The UK built LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps come pre-loaded with two meticulously captured cabinet impulse responses taken from Tom and Martin’s preferred cabinets. But it gets even better – you can actually load your own third-party IR files onto the pedals via the companion “LAIR” software application.
“The USB-C out provides latency-free audio out to your preferred DAW, additionally providing access to our LOUDPEDAL-LAIR App,” describes the Laney Product manager and resident Tone Wizard, Simon Fraser-Clark. “This app allows ultimate control over the impulse responses in the amp, allowing you to switch out Tom’s for one of your own or change the EQ of the impulse responses that come pre-loaded.” Having your actual cab’s IR living inside your pedal-based amp is a total game-changer for recording guitar tones. You can swap out IR files on a song-by-song basis to continually refine your sound and emulate the specific character of any cabinet you desire.
“The independent EQ thing is really, really cool because that’s not something you see very often,” notes Tom regarding the LAIR app’s unique IR EQ functionality.” Tom continues, “The LAIR technology allows you to have two IRs stored on the device. You can actually have more than that in the app, but two on the device. The really cool thing is they can have independent parametric EQs, fully parametric EQs per IR. So, if you’ve got an IR that you really like, that’s maybe a bit spiky in the high end, you can actually tame that one. Whilst not having a global EQ on the IR’s, they’re actually independent per IR. So that’s a really, really useful feature for people who like to use those two IR’s and make them both kind of perfect for a particular venue or for a particular recording scenario. It’s very powerful.” .
While the LOUDPEDAL excels as a standalone amp solution for stages and studios. It also functions as an incredibly useful practice tool. The pedal features an auxiliary input that allows you to jam along with music from a mobile device or audio player. The headphones jack for totally silent practice ensures you won’t be driving your housemates/neighbours mad too.
The LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps are absolutely loaded with pro features and technologies. What really won over Tom Quayle though is its ultra-compact size. “My favourite feature is the size of it,” he explains. “Because I can take this so easily anywhere in the world. And the DI out sounds so good with the IRs on there that, you know, just plug this into a PA or into a cab anywhere in the world. And I’ve got the LIONHEART sound in this format this size, it’s just incredible. So, it’s incredible for travel, basically, because of the size.” The LOUDPEDAL gives you the ultimate grab-and-go guitar solution with studio-grade tone wherever you go. Just throw it in your gig bag alongside your other pedals and you’re set!
Despite it’s size, the LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps offer a full array of routing options worthy of a full-sized amp. In addition to the Aux In, Headphone jack, and USB-C recording output, it provides:
-A balanced XLR Direct Output that can feed the front-of-house mix
-A High Quality effects loop for patching in stomp boxes
-Full MIDI capabilities for integrating with modern rigs
Whether you’re playing clubs, studios, bedroom sessions, or keeping things totally silent on stage. The LOUDPEDALs have all the connectivity you need.
Perhaps most importantly…Both the Martin Miller IRONHEART and Tom Quayle LIONHEART LOUDPEDALs are hand-crafted in the UK. Ensuring our QC and attention to detail. As Tom puts it:
“The one thing that was really important to me. Because this is part of the Black Country Customs range from Laney…Is that this product is made in the UK. Actually, on the back it says, ‘Hand-crafted in the UK.’ And I think that’s really important. Just the sort of quality, sort of seal of approval, if you like. It’s really well made, really well designed. which is just nice for me, being a UK guitar player. Having a product that’s designed and made in the UK. It’s awesome.”
Whether you need rich, uncompromising valve tones onstage, in the studio, or for practice sessions. The LOUDPEDAL Laney Pedalboard amps deliver. Their ground-breaking combination of features finally frees guitarists from having to choose between an amp’s tone and practical considerations. They answer the call regarding portability, recording capabilities, silent operation, and more.
With the flip of a footswitch and some quick tweaks. Tou can summon authentic LIONHEART and IRONHEART tones for any scenario.
The LOUEDPEDALS are for gigging musicians, bedroom players, studio cats, and everyone in between. They represent the ultimate portable rig solution that makes zero compromises on tone. It’s the pinnacle of our amplifier artistry packaged into a travel-friendly format that gives you the best of all worlds.
We’ll let Martin have the final word…
“If you’ve never experienced a LOUDPEDAL. I urge you to check one out, plug it in, and have your mind blown.”
Watch the video BELOW: