Orange Amps

[RonnieP]

Are they as good as some of my guitar playing friends reckon? It's just that I am going to replace my current Marshall amp and I fancy a good old valve setup.

[matt28]

It depends on the type of music you play, and how loud you want it (i.e. are you gigging, or a bedroom performer), and your budget.

I like Orange amps, but I prefer Cornford amps myself, particularly the Hellcat. Probably the best amp I've ever tried.

I use a Blackstar HT-5 as a practice amp, into an Orange 2x12 cab, which sounds superb even at low volumes. For the money, it is hard to beat IMO.

Need a bit more info, particularly on budget, usage, and styles. But overall, yes, Orange are a good brand in my experience.

[chevronb37]

Go Matamp...

[RonnieP]

matt28 said:

It depends on the type of music you play, and how loud you want it (i.e. are you gigging, or a bedroom performer), and your budget.

I like Orange amps, but I prefer Cornford amps myself, particularly the Hellcat. Probably the best amp I've ever tried.

I use a Blackstar HT-5 as a practice amp, into an Orange 2x12 cab, which sounds superb even at low volumes. For the money, it is hard to beat IMO.

Need a bit more info, particularly on budget, usage, and styles. But overall, yes, Orange are a good brand in my experience.

Thanks

Def for private use only. YES, Jethro Tull, UFO, etc - no particular budget really (£1k?), current amp seems so bland

[kiteless]

Bit of a thread hijack (sorry OP).

I've been using the same solid state 50W amp for, well, forever really; 15 years at least. Always using lots of effects up front. Through lack of proper use, I sold the Korg AX-3000 last year, but I'm bored of clean sounds now. I want some warm distortion back.

These days, I'm just a bedroom noodler but would like to "go valve" so to speak. 15W would probably suffice, so any recommendations? Also, would it be just as good getting a good quality pre-amp that feeds the old 50 watter?

[neilr]

I once tried out a friends AD30 through his hi-watt cab and a LP 58 reissue, it sounded awsome, had a very british blues explosion vibe to it if you know what i mean (perhaps unsuprisingly). At the time he was also using a Blockhead, we hooked that up and it just blew the Orange away in every respect, but then I guess it should have. The Orange was v good though. Guess it depends one what its intended use is, horses for courses and all that....

[davepoth]

Valve amps due to a funny thing surrounding hard vs. soft clipping will be three times the apparent volume of an equivalent rated solid state amp. As an example a friend has played to 10,000 using a 15w amp. It looked a bit silly, but it was loud enough to work across the massive stage. For a bedroom you want at the most a 5w amp, that way you can crank it up without the volume getting excessive.

[dern]

davepoth said:

For a bedroom you want at the most a 5w amp, that way you can crank it up without the volume getting excessive.

This is absolutely right although it will still be loud.

If you have the budget go and have a go on a laney lt-5 112. I bought one a week and a bit ago and I'd wish I'd bought one a year ago instead of my ht-5. Sounds incredible on clean when slightly pushed. The ht-5 is good to but not as good - very good value for money though... mine's on ebay now

Edited by dern on Wednesday 3rd March 08:35

[tangent police]

Some sort of fancy preamp/amp simulator?

I used to run all sorts of old equipment (keys) through various amps, some which did quite specific things to the sound. Think Leslie 122 Valve amp, or Wurlitzer Piano tube amp and internal speakers, Roland Jazz chorus, Rhodes Piano (internal Fender amp) and recently, I've got fed up with dragging all that crap around and have used a very good kbd with an amp simulator. It's very very good indeed.

We are talking the distortion added by transistors/valves and then the clipping you get from the limits of the speaker, as well as the "box effects" from the cabinet.

Old amps are pretty steep and really, there is no contest if all you're after is sound, but we all know that the look/smell, way it hums are all important to the "feel" and other non-musical twoddle.

I'd look at amp simulators and then a Hi-Fi combo to actually do the job.

Classic kit is awesome, but really, if you're gigging it, bashing and trashing it, it's a shame to mash up some old gear when you could be trashing something replacable.

Amp simulators are great as you can just hit a switch and totally change the characteristic of your sound. This is a good musical feature IMO.

If you're looking at the ultimate studio setup, I'd consider running a guitar through a Hammond PR40 amp (you'll need to wire it up) and then some sort of tube preamp. They are big, cheap and sound awesome. 40W Valve.