Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: hunter on December 10, 2006, 01:59:22 PM

Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: hunter on December 10, 2006, 01:59:22 PM
Went to an Orange dealer yesterday to test the tiny terror, they didn't have one but I played some other Orange amps, unfortunately with a PRS Singlecut SE which I fell in love with ... and took home  :oops:

Now here's the thing: There was an Orange Rocker 30 head on an Orange 4x12 just next to a Shiva on a Bogner 4x12 (I own a Shiva myself) - man this Rocker was damn nice, had a very unique colour to it - full sounding with a nice edgy fizz and loads of feedback/sustain, REAL nice. I then plugged into the Shiva next to it and I thought it sucked. I'm still in love when I play my Shiva at home or with the band, but the one in the Shop sounded shitee, maybe it was the cab that didn't match or was the Orange Rocker just so damned good?

Anyone got some experience with the recent higher gain Orange amps?
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Crazy_Joe on December 10, 2006, 02:06:11 PM
Machinehead in Hitchin have just started to stock Orange amps, they look pretty awesome!
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Dakine on December 10, 2006, 03:23:21 PM
Orange build some AWESOME amps. I realise you have a Shiva so bit odd your results in the store. If ya did'nt own one I would say IMO the Orange is abit easier to 'dial in', but then.......hmm, could be tubes or cab or acoustics, anything really :) But yeah, Orange do some AWESOME amps. Their new Thunderverb is INSANE!
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: DeanS on December 10, 2006, 03:59:12 PM
Hunter, never owned one myself, but have played quite a few over the years and that overdriven crispy/fuzzy edge you speak of is definateley an orange characteristic. They sound glorious when pounded by a good les paul.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: hunter on December 10, 2006, 04:34:47 PM
Well I mean ... listen to this live clip from a guy from the Orange forum, he is using a Rockerverb 50

http://www.chaingarden.com/Band%20MP3/Jeremy_Bounce.mp3

Guess I'm going to sell some guitars and other gear now ...!
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Skybone on December 10, 2006, 06:45:34 PM
No Orange love, but Matamp (they built the original Orange amps) simply rule. Top tone, and absolutely superb customer service.

You want a custom built amp? Give them a call. They've won a GUitarist Gold award for their 1224 head, and they can build anything from a 2w practice amp (all valve) to some 100+w (again all valve) monsters, all hand built in the UK. Note that the quoted output figures on their website are "nominal" outputs, which is the total CLEAN output, dirty output is usually much, much more! ;)

http://www.matamp.co.uk
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Twinfan on December 10, 2006, 07:07:06 PM
Yep - Matamp make some cracking amps.  I've had serious GAS for a King Street since I played one a few months ago.  Managed to stop myself asking Jeff to crank the KS Combo up on Saturday while I was picking up some new speakers.

Skybone - what Matamp(s) you got?
Title: Re: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 10, 2006, 08:16:39 PM
Quote from: hunter


Anyone got some experience with the recent higher gain Orange amps?


I have a Rocker 30 and AD30.


Quote
Now here's the thing: There was an Orange Rocker 30 head on an Orange 4x12 just next to a Shiva on a Bogner 4x12 (I own a Shiva myself) - man this Rocker was damn nice, had a very unique colour to it - full sounding with a nice edgy fizz and loads of feedback/sustain, REAL nice. I then plugged into the Shiva next to it and I thought it sucked. I'm still in love when I play my Shiva at home or with the band, but the one in the Shop sounded shitee, maybe it was the cab that didn't match or was the Orange Rocker just so damned good?


I was talking to a guy on another forum about a month ago and he was saying the AD30s reminded him alot of his Shiva....and if I remember correctly he thought the Orange sounded better too.

Quote from: DeanS
Hunter, never owned one myself, but have played quite a few over the years and that overdriven crispy/fuzzy edge you speak of is definateley an orange characteristic. They sound glorious when pounded by a good les paul.


+1.


Quote from: Skybone
No Orange love, but Matamp (they built the original Orange amps) simply rule. Top tone, and absolutely superb customer service.


Some Matamps and Oranges sound similar but not the same.  Matamps are cleaner/clearer and Orange has a bit more of a fuzzy edge.  While the Orange ADs may be closer to that old Orange/Matamp vibe I don't know of any Matamp that sounds like a Rocker.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Crazy_Joe on December 10, 2006, 08:26:36 PM
Quote from: hunter
Well I mean ... listen to this live clip from a guy from the Orange forum, he is using a Rockerverb 50

http://www.chaingarden.com/Band%20MP3/Jeremy_Bounce.mp3

Guess I'm going to sell some guitars and other gear now ...!


That sounds awesome!!
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: hunter on December 10, 2006, 08:39:28 PM
Daisy, between the AD30, the Rocker 30 and the Rockerverb 50, which one would you prefer?
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: sambo on December 10, 2006, 09:42:34 PM
+1 one Hunters question,

and how heavy can a Rocker/Rockerverb or whatever actually go? whats their limit as it were?
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 10, 2006, 09:56:54 PM
Quote from: hunter
Daisy, between the AD30, the Rocker 30 and the Rockerverb 50, which one would you prefer?


I've never used the RV50 so I can't really comment on it.

I can say that from what I've read the RV50 has a cleaner clean channel and a more aggressive gain channel (it has an extra gain stage in it).  It's also somewhat plagued with problems from what I understand as there seems to be alot of complaints on the Orange forum.

Between the Rocker 30 and AD30....I like both about equal.  They both have their own thing going on yet they both manage to sound distinctly Orange in the way that you described above.  The R30 suits me better when I need higher gain and/or channel switching rhythm/lead.  The AD30 suits me better when I need a thick vintage overdrive.

The R30 has a very touch sensitive clean channel that is awesome for picking dynamics.  When dimed it goes into those classic dimed non-master volume amp tones......think AC/DC but Orange flavoured.  The gain channel gets saturated very crunchy....sorta like a JCM800 but again Orange flavoured.  This amp will cover all the classic rock/metal bases as well as any modern tone that isn't uber high gain.  I usually refer to this amp as what the JCM2000 series should've been but failed miserably at.  As you already know it's got a more rounded top end that doesn't spike your ears like a Marshall, and has a strong lower midrange that's popular in todays music.

The AD30 on the other hand is more vintage orientated.  It's a little brighter yet still lower mid dominant.  Some people say it has an AC30 kinda vibe to it, yet it doesn't sound anything like an AC30 (if that makes any sense).  It's tube rectified so it has a fair amount of sag to it.  It only has a single gain stage but it's surprisingly gainy in an old school fuzzy amp sorta way.  It has two channels that can be dialed in for clean or dirty use.....I set mine up for thick dirt (channel 1) and bright dirt (channel 2), then use my guitar's volume knob to control the gain/cleans.  It's a pretty dynamic amp but not as touch sensitive as the R30's clean channel.....but it has that vintage sag/compression so it's a trade off.

Both amps can be used for pretty much anything if you set it right or (in the case of the AD30) hit it with the right pedals.

The best/worst feature on both amps is their headroom.  The 30w makes for killer overdrive at realistic volumes, but it also makes it difficult to get clean tones at a realistic volume.  I don't mind that as I like overdriven cleans, but it seems to drive other people nuts.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 10, 2006, 10:01:44 PM
Quote from: sambo
+1 one Hunters question,

and how heavy can a Rocker/Rockerverb or whatever actually go? whats their limit as it were?


As mentioned, the Rockerverbs have an extra gain stage and a slightly more aggressive voicing than the Rocker.  They're basically vintage flavoured modern amps.  The Rockers will pull off anything a JCM800 could do and the Rockerverbs can pull of anything except ultra aggressive/uber high gain Rectifier type stuff.

As for limits....it depends on what kinda sound you want.  I'll dial in the R30s gain for around 7 and pull the mids down a bit and it takes on that metallic edge that I love and start thashing Master of Puppets tunes.  Hell.....I prefer it's tone for metal/thrash better than my old Mesa MarkIII.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Skybone on December 11, 2006, 12:01:55 AM
Twinfan,

A 1224 mkII, the one that won the first Guitarist Gold award. I've been GASing for one since then! ;)

The King Street is supposed to be a fantastic amp as well, incredibly versatile, and not as quiet as the stats on the Matamp site would have you believe! ;)
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 11, 2006, 01:47:07 AM
A buddy of mine bought a King Street and loves it.  They drove right out to his studio and dropped it off in person.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: sambo on December 11, 2006, 11:52:51 AM
ahh excellent, cheers for the info daisy. looks more and more like Orange could be what im after
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Skybone on December 11, 2006, 12:15:25 PM
Quote
A buddy of mine bought a King Street and loves it. They drove right out to his studio and dropped it off in person.


If it's alec's KS, he got the same "custom" covering that Jeff bought in especially for my amp. The KS looks ace, he's posted pics on their forum.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Twinfan on December 11, 2006, 01:46:17 PM
All this talk has got me GAS-ing even more...
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 11, 2006, 05:20:18 PM
Here's some clips of Orange ODs in action.

The first one is the Screaming Trees.  I always liked this clip because it gives good examples of the 'fuzzy' edge the amps can have.  The tone I get out of my AD30 is alot like the tone Josh (the skinny guitarist) is getting from his amp....particularily the cleanish tone heard around 1:53.  The fat guy is using a distortion pedal....that's not Orange dirt. The rest is pretty accurate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jamJIe332R0



The next couple are by a band called Boris.  They may not be your taste musically, but they're a good example of how an Orange can sound;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t3dHC2qcBc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb14rWGRYp4

This one is long, but it covers the whole gamut from cleans to distortion, fuzz, delay, feedback....pretty much everything.  If a sound can be made using an Orange this woman can get it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm1HEjgjZp8
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 11, 2006, 05:39:55 PM
Quote from: Skybone
Quote
A buddy of mine bought a King Street and loves it. They drove right out to his studio and dropped it off in person.


If it's alec's KS, he got the same "custom" covering that Jeff bought in especially for my amp. The KS looks ace, he's posted pics on their forum.


Quote from: beliefspace

I just found an hour to break out the screwdriver and camera, so here you go...


(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/not_allsops_mine.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/matamp.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/matamp_back.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/chassis.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/chassis_back.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/chassis_angle.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/chassis_top.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/el34s.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/inside_overview.jpg)
(http://frettedapprentice.com/guitar/amps/images/inside_2.jpg)


I've been slack with the soundclips I know.  They're coming - bear with me.


About the Orange/Matamp thing though....they may have started together but they've grown apart over the years.  Orange still tends towards that slightly fuzzy sound, but the modern Matamps seem to have moved away from that and more towards the Hiwatt end of things.  It's still a great sound, but Matamp really shouldn't be considered a better Orange anymore.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: TwilightOdyssey on December 11, 2006, 05:54:02 PM
Quote from: Skybone
A 1224 mkII, the one that won the first Guitarist Gold award. I've been GASing for one since then! ;)

You can keep on GASing, then. I think they're up to Mk6 now!! :)
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Skybone on December 11, 2006, 09:44:48 PM
Ben, the 1224 mkVII has been available for a while. ;)

daisy, that's not the KS I was thinking of, but it's a sweet looking combo all the same, check out the Greenbacks! ;) The one I was thinking of was a head & 2x12.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 12, 2006, 01:26:05 AM
Quote from: Skybone
Ben, the 1224 mkVII has been available for a while. ;)

daisy, that's not the KS I was thinking of, but it's a sweet looking combo all the same, check out the Greenbacks! ;) The one I was thinking of was a head & 2x12.


Yeah....I didn't think it was the same guy.  The owner of this one is named Stu.  :D
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: TwilightOdyssey on December 12, 2006, 03:43:31 AM
Quote from: Skybone
Ben, the 1224 mkVII has been available for a while. ;)

LOL. I don't think they do odd-numbered versions!!
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: froglord on December 12, 2006, 09:41:50 AM
Quote from: TwilightOdyssey
Quote from: Skybone
Ben, the 1224 mkVII has been available for a while. ;)

LOL. I don't think they do odd-numbered versions!!


'Course they do. There's the high gain MkV:

http://matamp.co.uk/1224Vhead.htm

No idea what happened to the III and IV, but then chaotic genius is the Matamp way.  :D
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: Skybone on December 12, 2006, 11:36:09 AM
I always wondered what happened to the mkI. ;)
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: JJretroTONEGOD on December 14, 2006, 12:46:51 AM
Orange are my all time favourite amps for sound, tone, balls AND looks, they are incomprehensably amazing (thats the valve amps I'm talking about) Why do you think Page used them? over anything else, listen to the guitar on 'Grace' by Geoff Buckley, he used Orange amps! as well as mesa's. Countless artists have used them in the studio AND live, and I fecking want one (he stumbles, frothing at the mouth, eyes red)

I think that Orange, Mesa Boogie, vintage Marshall and Vox are my all time favourties, but especially Orange and Vox, we should be proud, it's part of british history!

One day I will buy an Orange head and cab as well as a combo, but that day is far away and the dream is a distnant one, until I have serious money.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 14, 2006, 02:37:55 AM
Orange and Mesa blended together sound huge.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: hunter on December 14, 2006, 05:19:16 AM
Quote from: JJretroTONEGOD
we should be proud, it's part of british history!

One day I will buy an Orange head and cab as well as a combo, but that day is far away and the dream is a distnant one, until I have serious money.


Hmm, maybe I should be proud now about Reinhold Bogner being German :)

Anyway, if you'd get an Orange today, which model would it be?
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: TwilightOdyssey on December 14, 2006, 04:08:43 PM
Quote from: froglord
Quote from: TwilightOdyssey
Quote from: Skybone
Ben, the 1224 mkVII has been available for a while. ;)

LOL. I don't think they do odd-numbered versions!!


'Course they do. There's the high gain MkV:

Sorry, I meant to say EVEN NUMBERED. It's clear they do odd numbered ones!

PDT_008  :oops:  :roll:
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: screamingdaisy on December 20, 2006, 01:00:37 AM
Finally....those Screaming Trees clips were good at demonstrating mild overdrive, but now I have a clip that demonstrates what an Orange that's about to die sounds like;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqCQHn5TyuA

And if you listen you can really hear that 'fuzzyness' in the midrange that most Orange users talk about.
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: JJretroTONEGOD on December 24, 2006, 03:00:38 AM
Quote from: hunter
Quote from: JJretroTONEGOD
we should be proud, it's part of british history!

One day I will buy an Orange head and cab as well as a combo, but that day is far away and the dream is a distnant one, until I have serious money.


Hmm, maybe I should be proud now about Reinhold Bogner being German :)

Anyway, if you'd get an Orange today, which model would it be?


the Orange AD140 head and cab  :twisted:

you know it dude!!!  :wink:
Title: Any love for Orange amps?
Post by: SG-Supreme on May 25, 2007, 11:01:23 AM
i own a tiny terror and it's awesome!!!!!!!!!! one thing i noticed with oranges in the shop was that they seem to differ more between certain cabinets than most amps. i probably wouldn't have bought the amp if i hadn't played it through a framus cabinet!