“It’s always in the back of your mind saying, what can we improve on? What would I do? What would I dream of in an amp?” How Clapton collaborator and session great Nathan East is teaming up with Laney on a signature amp unlike any other

As one of the most-recorded bassists of all time – working across more than 2,000 sessions with the likes of George Harrison Stevie Wonder, and longtime collaborator Eric Clapton – Nathan East has a clear idea of what he needs from his gear.

He first signed up with UK amp brand Laney a few ago, after he came across its acclaimed Digbeth 500 head, but now he’s ready to put his own spin on the model with his first signature head, the DB-EAST – and, just like its namesake, it’s set to be a versatile, reliable powerhouse – and full of ideas.

“For me the whole thing is very special,” explains East. “Because for the first time in over 40 years, I have an amplifier that is a signature amplifier – with two channels.”

More than a simple guitar-style, gain-stage setup – the DB-EAST has two fully independent channels, offering both dual inputs and dual outputs from the same unit, enabling seamless instrument switching.

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“I don't think I've had an amp that had two channels since I was 14 years old plugging into my brother's Twin Reverb!” laughs East.

“But I've always wondered why a bass player has to have an A/B box and switch from upright to electric or five to six-string. And now for the very first time, we have two independent inputs – and I could not be more excited.”

For a man with as many gigs as East, this sort of feature is a game-changer, but he’s far from the only bassist who is regularly called on to move between instruments mid-set.

“It’s always in the back of your mind saying, what can we improve on? What would I do? What would I dream of in an amp?” says East.

“It's just a natural progression for the bass amplifier to have two inputs. I very rarely play just one bass. Every one of the gigs that I do, whether it's my solo gigs, my gigs with my son, Noah, or with Clapton, I'm playing upright and electric.”

Handily, the head also has dual outputs, and a trim pot to help set an even level across both inputs.

“The Front of House engineer, he's happy [too],” explains East. “Because I have a separate DI for each one too, so he can get each one dialed in exactly the way he wants to and not have to worry about balancing them for the stage as well.”

It’s not just the inputs and outputs that have been overhauled from the base model, though. The original Digbeth 500 volume has been doubled to a hefty 1000-watt output, complete with a master volume and there’s a custom preamp offering a choice of FET and Tube preamp stages, which can be switched and even blended to get the ultimate balance of warmth and precision.

On top of that is the inclusion of Laney’s LA-IR impulse response tech – previously only seen in some of the firm’s guitar-centric Loudpedals and LFR-412 FRFR cabinet (used by Guthrie Govan and Devin Townsend). This enables you to load and edit IRs via an accompanying app and, here, comes pre-loaded with East’s own 2x12 and 4x10 IRs.

“The cool thing is, each input has its own separate output [and] impulse response,” expands East.

“So, for instance, for the upright, you get that sound that you love and got in in the studio and you want to recreate it live – it has its own output that you can do that and send to the engineer. Same for the electric… and now you have not one, but two beautiful tailor-made, custom-made [speaker] sounds coming out of your amp.”

It’s all being handcrafted in the Laney’s factory in Birmingham, UK – the same facility that produces Tony Iommi’s signature Ironheart heads. Like that model, this is a project Laney has been working on in secrecy for some time – and you can see why.

Now it is finally seeing the light of day – or at least, the stage – and we’re told we can expect to see and hear it in action throughout Eric Clapton’s 80th birthday tour later this year.

“I just love the sound of the amp,” summarises East. “I gravitated toward the musicality of the Digbeth and so with the Digbeth East now it's twice the fun… twice the inputs, twice the magic, twice the wattage.”

For more information, on the DB:EAST, head to Laney.