Laney Amps and Nathan East, one of the most recorded bass players in history, have come together for a new signature bass head, the DB-East.
Considering East's pedigree and experience, the British amp maker has been wise to tap into his tonal tastes, which have been combined with Laney's 60 years of air-pushing for this new 1,000-watt beast.
It would be quicker to list the artists East hasn't recorded with. Still, notable highlights on his resume include Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, and Daft Punk, which should give a flavor of his versatility.
Released as part of Laney’s Digbeth range of amps, the powerhouse head puts “unprecedented flexibility” to the fore via two separate inputs and outputs – “I’ve waited 40 years for this,” beams East.
“Every amp only has one input. Why, I'll never know,” he goes on. Two-input amps are, of course, a thing, but clearly not in the manner that East has been searching for. “This has two and two separate outputs so that the front-of-house engineer or anyone mixing the room can have each instrument separately.”
The second input also has an additional gain trim matching control
Elsewhere, the amp packs switchable and blendable FET and tube preamp stages to mix the clarity of the former with the warmth of the latter. For East, it’s proven to be a best-of-both-worlds hybrid: “When I'm on stage playing, it doesn't feel like an electronic piece of gear or a set of tubes,” he notes.
In operation, FET gets its own Volume control, while there are dials for the tube's Volume and Drive, which sit alongside a three-band EQ, a Tilt function, and a Master Volume.
The Tilt function is one of the Digbeth collection's trump cards, allowing the player to adjust an amp's sound to cater to different room sizes and the acoustics they offer. Moving the control either way boosts the amp's brightness or bottom end.
Laney’s in-house Impulse Response tech has also been built in for players wanting to go sans cabinet, with two of East’s favorites – a 2x12 and 4x10 – on offer.
Of course, it would also be remiss not to mention the amp’s punchdrunk power – packing 1,000 watts and dual-500 watt Speakon outputs, the DB-East isn’t messing about.
“We now have twice the power, twice the inputs, twice the magic,” East says of the amp, which is built for small jazz clubs and stadiums in equal measure. "Every night, I feel good to know that after all these years, there's an amp that reproduces the sound that I love so much, simple as that. It's a game-changer for me.”
The Laney DB-East is available now. At the time of writing, Guitar World is seeking confirmation of its retail price.
Visit Laney for more.
In related news, East recently detailed how his bass fills were like “telegraphed messages” when working with Eric Clapton on Change the World. He’s also opened up on the emotional turbulence of recording Tears in Heaven, one of Clapton's most painfully heartfelt tracks.
