Review and In-depth video review of the handy and surprisingly great-sounding Laney MINI-STB-LION Battery powered guitar mini amplifier.
Back to the world of guitar amplifiers
Before I acquired this marvellous little amp, the Laney MINI-STB-LION, I was making do with iPad Garageband or even no amp at all to practice with. Guitar-wise at the time I was down to a lowly old Squier Strat which, to be honest, wasn’t enough to warrant the purchase of a more expensive amp.
Creating content for my YouTube channel first gave me the idea of a portable, battery-powered amp for doing demos in the shed, and when I received an Amazon voucher as leaving gift from my old job, I took the plunge and was once again back into the world of moving air for real.
Laney MINI-STB-LION First Impressions
The unboxing/review vid says it all really, but this is one hell of a lot of amp for the paltry sum of around the £60 mark. The first thing that grabs you are the looks, with the blue/beige livery it’s the far more expensive, British-made, all-valve namesake. Sure, it’s plastic, but it’s rugged, with a classily woven grill cloth to boot.
So far, so good. Laney has to be one of the most underrated and overlooked companies in guitar amp history, and yet, in my eyes, with the LC15R, LC50II, LC30 (full review here), the incredible four-channel VC50 (what an amp!), and now this, they’ve never let me down once.
Digging about further, a nicely designed carry handle, decent quality chicken-head knobs, convenient flap (as opposed to screw) battery compartment access, all great stuff.
Laney MINI-STB-LION Features
Despite its diminutive size and price tag, this is still one of the most feature-laden guitar amps I’ve owned. 2x3inch stereo speakers (giving 6watts of output), 2 channels (clean and drive), Bluetooth, aux-in, headphone out, battery (6xAA) or adaptor power, gain, level, tone, master volume, built-in tape-style delay, and, last but not least, something intriguing…..
Laney Smartphone Input
On the surface, this is sold as some sort of proprietary input hardware to interface with Ultimate Guitar’s “Tonebridge” app on your mobile device (you even get a free 3-month subscription to Ultimate Guitar with the package). In practice? This is merely a standard TRRS jack that can be used with ANY mobile guitar amp software.
And yes, Laney even provides the cable in the box.
Again, check out the video for a proper demo, but it’s worth saying that Tonebridge is surprisingly great for accessing famous tones from songs or bands quickly and more often than not, accurately.
So yeah, a gentle slap on the wrist for the slightly disingenuous marketing, but this kind of works, and opens up the amp to a plethora of online tones, even if it’s a bit noisy and laggy on Android devices (no discernable lag on my iPad though).
Laney MINI-STB-LION Sounds
I digress. What does it sound like? Well, as you can hear in the video, the clean is remarkably good for what a lot of guitarists would dub a toy, and the drive, whilst less impressive, captures a lot of that hallmark Laney tone I’ve experienced and loved over the years.
I can’t fault the clean, and the drive I think only falls short because of the speaker/cab size and general plastic construction rather than the overdrive quality itself. It starts to flap and break up in an unpleasant way when really pushed, but it’s readily useable, especially with a splash of the delay.
In context, with Brothers in Arms blaring wireless through the Bluetooth connection, it does the job with little fuss.
Should you buy a Laney MINI-STB-LION?
As a first amp? Yes.
As a quick, easy, and wireless practice tool? Yes, and it’s £200 less than a Yamaha THR.
As a mobile amp for low-volume jams, and YouTube videos in the shed? Perfect!
As an amp for recording? No, either app modeling (e.g. Garageband) or a bigger amp will get you better results.
As an amp for band practice and gigging? Forget it.
Laney MINI-STB-LION Competition
Quite a bit. In fact, most manufacturers offer something in the mini battery-powered guitar amp market. Here’s the pick of the crop.
Laney MINI-STB-LION Video Review.
I get into much more detail in this video, including the unboxing, and full tone demo, including ToneBridge. Check it out and subscribe!
Conclusion
I’ve got a lot of pleasure from this fantastic little amp. Sure you could pay a lot more (just look at the Yamaha THR), but at the end of the day, I’d still be left with a battery-powered modeling amp with comparable features.
After a year a so with the Laney, it was time to consider upgrading. In the end, the Laney MINI-STB-LION inspired me to get back into valve amps (more on that here), which I did, with a Marshall DSL1. I suppose you could say it got me back into guitar playing and tone in a big way.
But the funny thing is, I’m keeping this little Laney for sure. Yes, the Marshall sounds amazing and records wonderfully. But can I take it into the shed on a rainy day, tether my phone to it via Bluetooth, and jam on battery power?
Nope, that’s what my Laney MINI-STB-LION will always be for.
Oh, and it’s my stereo Bluetooth music speaker too!
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