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Three small 60-watt Laney Ironheart amps, one family sound, three very different jobs. Here's which one to buy, what to plug it into, and what each one does best.
The short answer
- You want one great distorted sound, play mostly at home, and use pedals for the rest: the IRF-Leadtop ($319.99). A switch on the back drops it from 60 watts to under 1 watt, so it sounds right at bedroom volume.
- You play in a band and need clean and dirty on your foot, plus a feed to the sound desk: the IRF-Dualtop ($489.99). Two channels, reverb, and an XLR direct output with speaker simulation.
- You gig with a pedalboard, fly to shows, or want the smallest rig possible: the IRF-Loudpedal ($286.99). Two channels and 60 watts in a 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) box that sits on your board. At home, its headphone jack gives you silent practice.
- You want it all in one box, no cabinet shopping: the LeadRig 112 ($629.99), the Leadtop with a matching 1x12 cabinet.
All three are amp heads. None of them makes a sound on its own: you need a speaker cabinet of 8 ohms or more, or headphones.
These three amps share Laney's Ironheart voice: tight low end, lots of gain, built for rock and metal. All three are solid-state, all three put out 60 watts, and all three have a headphone jack, an effects loop and an aux input for backing tracks. So the choice isn't about tone. It's about how you play: at home or on stage, with pedals or without, with a real cabinet or straight into a PA. If you're still deciding whether you want an Ironheart amp at all, start with our guide Which Laney Amp Is Right for You?
Leadtop, Dualtop and Loudpedal compared
Prices are our current prices. Weights are Laney's figures for the amp alone.
| Amp | Channels | Quiet playing | Direct out | Reverb | Weight | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRF-Leadtop | 1, with clean/lead switch | 60 W down to under 1 W; headphones | Line out (FX send) | No | 3.5 kg | $319.99 | Home, small rehearsals, pedal users |
| IRF-Dualtop | 2, independent | 60 W down to under 1 W; headphones | XLR, speaker sim | Yes | 4.5 kg | $489.99 | Band players, gigs, recording |
| IRF-Loudpedal | 2, independent | Headphones only | XLR, speaker sim | No | 1.1 kg | $286.99 | Pedalboards, fly-in gigs |
| LeadRig 112 | 1 (Leadtop) | 60 W down to under 1 W; headphones | Line out (FX send) | No | — | $629.99 | Complete rig in one order |
Each amp, one by one
IRF-Leadtop: the simple one
The Leadtop is a single channel with a clean/lead switch, a Bright/Natural/Dark voice switch, and a three-knob tone control (bass, middle, treble). A red pre-boost knob pushes the front end harder for solos, and you can turn it on with a footswitch. The big feature is the power switch on the back. It drops the output from 60 watts to under 1 watt, so the amp can sound "pushed" in an apartment and still keep up with a drummer when you turn it back up.
It's small: 161 × 287 × 182 mm and 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), about the size of a lunchbox. Guitar World's review headline called it tiny and said it can handle anything, which is fair for a head that launched at $299.
Who it's for: the player who has one favorite distorted sound and gets the rest from pedals. If your board already has an overdrive, a reverb and a delay, the Leadtop's effects loop and boost are all you need, and you save $170 over the Dualtop.
Pros
- Most affordable way into a real Ironheart head
- Turns down to under 1 watt without losing its character
- Speaker-simulated headphone jack for silent practice
Good to know
- One channel with a clean/lead switch on the amp; your pedals handle changes underfoot
- Pairs well with a reverb pedal if you want ambience
- The FX send doubles as a line out; for an XLR direct out, see the Dualtop
- Footswitch for the boost is sold separately, so add one to your order
IRF-Dualtop: the one for bands
The Dualtop has two fully separate channels, each with its own gain and volume. Channel 1 is the clean-to-crunch side, with a three-way switch: clean, asymmetric clipping (more grit that keeps some clarity), or symmetric clipping (a harder, more compressed distortion). Channel 2 is the lead channel, with Dark, Bright and Flat voicings. You get the same 60-watt / under-1-watt power switch as the Leadtop, and a boost that works on both channels.
Two extras make it the gigging choice. The reverb is a spring-style sound taken from Laney's Black Country Customs Secret Path pedal. And the XLR direct output runs through built-in speaker simulations (impulse responses, or "IRs": digital snapshots of a real miked cabinet), which you can switch on or off. That means you can send a finished guitar sound straight to the PA or a recording interface. It's 4.5 kg (9.9 lb).
Reviewers liked it. Guitar World said its sounds are "far better than they should be" for an affordable solid-state head. Guitar.com liked its high-gain chug and how well it takes pedals. A tip: the reverb gets lush early on the knob, so a little goes a long way.
Who it's for: the band guitarist who needs a clean verse and a heavy chorus on one footswitch, and a direct feed for the sound engineer.
Pros
- Two real channels, footswitchable
- Built-in reverb
- XLR direct out with speaker simulation for PA and recording
- Same under-1-watt mode as the Leadtop
Good to know
- $170 more than the Leadtop, for a second channel, reverb and an XLR out
- Speaker simulation on the XLR out switches on or off to suit the PA or studio
- Footswitch sold separately, so add one to your order
IRF-Loudpedal: the whole amp on your pedalboard
The Loudpedal is a two-channel, 60-watt amp shaped like a large pedal: 62 × 151 × 124 mm and 1.1 kg (2.4 lb). Channel 1 switches between clean, rhythm and lead. Channel 2 has Bright/Natural/Dark voicings. Each channel has its own gain and volume, and they share a three-knob tone control. The channel footswitch is built in, so there's nothing extra to buy to change channels, and the pre-boost is footswitchable too.
It has everything you need to play a show without an amp: a speaker output for an 8-ohm cabinet, a balanced XLR direct out with switchable analog speaker simulation, a headphone jack, an aux input, and a transformer-isolated effects loop. The power supply works on any mains voltage from 100 to 240 volts and comes in the box, which matters if you tour abroad.
Good to know before you buy: the Loudpedal is built for the stage: a full 60 watts into a cabinet, with its volume knob to set the level. There's no low-power mode, so at home, headphones or the direct out into studio monitors give you quiet practice.
Who it's for: the player who already lives on a pedalboard. You fly to the gig with the board in a carry-on case and plug into the venue's cabinet, or skip the cabinet entirely and go straight to the PA.
Pros
- Lightest and most affordable of the three
- Two channels and boost on built-in footswitches
- XLR direct out plus a real 60-watt speaker output
Good to know
- Built for stage volume; the headphone jack covers quiet home practice
- Pairs well with a reverb pedal on your board
- About the footprint of two standard pedals, and it replaces your whole amp
Black Country Customs Loudpedals: more features, other voices
Laney also makes Loudpedals in its higher-end Black Country Customs line, each voiced with an artist. The Martin Miller Ironheart Loudpedal ($499.99) keeps the Ironheart high-gain voice. The Tom Quayle Lionheart Loudpedal ($499.99) is Laney's cleaner British Lionheart sound. The Billy Corgan SuperGrace ($629.99) is built for his Smashing Pumpkins fuzz.
Over the standard Loudpedal, these add Laney's LA:IR speaker simulation, a USB-C port for recording straight into a computer, MIDI in and thru for switching from a MIDI controller, and a speaker output that takes 8- to 16-ohm cabinets. MusicRadar's verdict on the Lionheart version: "the sound to rival its valve-powered namesake."
Worth the extra? If you record at home or run a MIDI-switched board, yes. If you just need a small amp to gig with, the $286.99 IRF-Loudpedal does the core job.
What you need to add to make each one make sound
All three are amp heads, so you need either a speaker cabinet or headphones. The rule that matters: Laney specifies 8 ohms minimum for the Leadtop and Dualtop, and the IRF-Loudpedal's speaker output is rated for an 8-ohm cabinet. Plugging a lower-impedance cabinet into an amp that isn't built for it makes the amp work harder than designed and can damage it.
- Easiest: the LeadRig 112 ($629.99). Leadtop plus a 1x12 cabinet made to go with it.
- Separate cabinet: the Laney Cub-112 ($319.99), an 8-ohm, open-back 1x12. It's rated at 50 watts, a little under these amps' 60, so treat it as a home, rehearsal and small-stage cabinet: don't run any of these amps flat out into it for long. With a Leadtop or Dualtop, the under-1-watt setting makes that easy.
- Full power, no worries: the Laney GS412IA 4x12 ($899.99). It's 16 ohms and rated 320 watts, so any of these three can run flat out into it for as long as you like. Closed-back 4x12s are the classic sound for this kind of high-gain amp.
- Not a match: Laney's LF212 and LF412 are great cabinets, but they're 4 ohms. That's below what these three amps are built for, so pair them with a different head.
- No cabinet at all: headphones for practice, or an XLR cable from the Dualtop or Loudpedal to a mixer or interface.
Real-world setups
Home, at a volume the neighbors can live with
The Leadtop or Dualtop wins. Flip the power switch to its under-1-watt setting and you get the sound of a pushed amp at conversation level. For quiet evenings, the Loudpedal's headphone jack is the way to go.
Rehearsal with a drummer
Any of the three has the power, through a 12-inch speaker or bigger. If your songs switch between clean and heavy, choose the Dualtop or Loudpedal so you can change channels with your foot.
Fly-in gigs and backline shows
The Loudpedal, easily. It lives on your pedalboard, so your whole rig is one case. At the venue, plug into their 8-ohm cabinet or run the XLR out to the PA.
Recording and playing through the PA
The Dualtop and Loudpedal both have XLR direct outputs with speaker simulation, so the sound engineer doesn't need to put a microphone on your cabinet. For serious home recording, a Black Country Customs Loudpedal adds USB-C straight into your computer. The Leadtop records through its line out and speaker-simulated headphone jack; if recording is a priority, the Dualtop's XLR out is worth the step up.
Four mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting the cabinet. None of these makes a sound on its own. Budget for a cabinet or buy the LeadRig 112.
- Plugging into a 4-ohm cabinet. Check the ohm rating on the back of any cabinet before you plug in. These amps want 8 ohms or more.
- Picking a stage amp for apartment practice. The Loudpedal is built for the stage, so at home it shines on headphones. For quiet practice through a speaker, get the Leadtop or Dualtop.
- Forgetting the footswitch. The Loudpedal's channel footswitch is built in. The Leadtop and Dualtop need a separate footswitch to switch the boost (and the Dualtop's channels) with your foot. Add one to your order.
Common questions
- Do these amps sound the same?
- They share the Ironheart voice, so the core character is close. The differences are in features: channels, reverb, low-power mode and outputs.
- Are they good for metal?
- Yes. Ironheart is Laney's high-gain family, and all three are built for tight, heavy rock and metal. For a cleaner British sound, look at the Tom Quayle Lionheart Loudpedal instead.
- Can I use the Loudpedal with my own pedals?
- Yes. Put drives and wahs in front of the input, and delays and reverbs in the effects loop so they sit after the distortion.
- Is 60 watts enough for gigs?
- Yes, for most rooms, especially when the venue also puts you through the PA. Pair it with a cabinet that can take the power.
- Which is best for a beginner?
- The Leadtop, or the LeadRig 112 if you'd rather not shop for a cabinet. It's simple, it turns down for home, and it grows into a band amp.
- Laney: Benefits of the Foundry Dualtop and Leadtop
- Laney: IRF-Leadtop and IRF-Leadtop user manual (8-ohm minimum, weight, size)
- Laney: IRF-Dualtop and IRF-Dualtop user manual (8-ohm minimum, weight, size)
- Laney: IRF-Loudpedal specifications
- Laney: LF212 cabinet and LF412 cabinet (4 ohms)
- Guitar World: IRF-Leadtop review
- Guitar World: IRF-Dualtop review
- Guitar.com: IRF-Dualtop review
- MusicRadar: Laney Lionheart Loudpedal review
- Guitar World: Black Country Customs Lionheart and Ironheart Loudpedals review