Orange Amps Forum

Hi guys, I've missed you
I've just noticed both amps look very very similar- both front and guts, so I was wondering how different - or not - is one from each other.
How critical is that change between the mid range pot and the presence pot - the only noticeable change as far as I'm concerned-?

AD50

Retro50


Thanks!

Well the power amp sections are identical. You can switch between 50W or 30W (not true class A but gives a different sound / feel).

The Retro 50 was supposed to give a sort of take on the vintage OR amps, with the AD50 giving a slightly more modern sound with a little more gain.

Personally I'd probably go for the AD50 as A. I already have a vintage OR, and B. I really like what a presence control (a sort of power stage tone control) can do. YOu'll still have plenty of control over your tone without a dedicated mids control.

Both have a footswitchable tone circuit bypass, called a 'boost' but not really that. All it does is give you a 'straight through' sound without the gain / tone losses you'll get with any preamp tone circuit. How big a difference hitting the f/s makes will depend on where the tone controls were set. One advantage with the AD50 is that even with the preamp tone stack out of circuit the presence will still work.
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Both lovely amps, both built as well as you'll find anywhere.


Andy.

I've never tried the Retro, but I find the Precence control on the AD50 to be great feature. It's IMO the best precence control I've encountered as what it does is not only significant but also sweeps across a frequency area which makes it very useful (unlike for instance Marshall's precence controls which sweeps too high IMO).

Love my Retro 50, it has a wonderful feel and tone that I have yet to find in any other amp. To my ears it is somewhere between the Fender camp and the Marshall camp, it sounds great through the Orange 212 cab, and I use it in places from small pubs (with a Rat OD pedal) up to rooms at the Hyatt with 500+ people. If you like simplicity and are in the "less is more" crowd than the Retro is a great amp, if you like an amp with multiple channels and many switches and led's blinking (Mesa Mark V) than this is not your amp.

Nice i'd like to try em both!

space-boy wrote:

Hey!!! Those are my amps!

the_blue_bomber wrote:

space-boy wrote:

Hey!!! Those are my amps!

So you should be the one answering this topic

I have a retro 50- it's a pretty low/mid gain amp for the most part. It has a lot of mild OD tons but gets pretty fuzzy soon after- I'm sure the ad50 is the same way but with more gain on tap. I don't mind myself missing a presence control since I can usually get all the chime I need out of the treble control. I usually keep the mids pretty high and treble around 3 o'clock, bass rolled off slightly. I've been running it at low volumes through a g12h30 lately, so thats probably why I've got the bass rolled off.

I really like the cleans, but they don't stay very clean very long. That's ok with me though, the little hint of harmonic OD that comes in is really great! OD and higher gains tones from my amp are really nice for vintage sounds and indie type rock. The retro 50 definitely will not do high gain stuff, but other than that it's pretty flexible.

space-boy wrote:So you should be the one answering this topic

I suppose you're right.

When it comes to gain and overall voicing, the AD50 and Retro 50 are really quite similar. They're both capable of bold, gutsy cleans at low to moderate volume and and growly overdrive at higher volume levels. The differences in the EQ just allow for accentuating different frequencies.

The presence control on the AD50 allows for controlling the highest of the treble frequencies, and can come in handy if you want to get a sharper attack or dial out some sizzle. When the foot switch is engaged, the bass and treble controls of the AD50 are bypassed, but the presence control is not.

The middle control on the Retro 50 just allows for greater control of the overall EQ shape, specifically in regards to the relationship between the mids and the other frequencies. There is some overlap in the ranges of the controls, so they interact with one another. When the foot switch is engaged, all three EQ controls of the Retro 50 are bypassed.

The EQ controls on the AD50 and Retro 50 are passive. Each EQ knob on these amps is like a passive volume control for a particular band of frequencies. The EQ controls cannot boost the signal, but can only lower the level of their band of frequencies. When the foot switch is engaged, the EQ is bypassed, and the "boost" that occurs as a result is really just the result of re-routing the signal around what would "cut" certain frequencies.