Oops, did I happen to link to this old thread just yesterday, and maybe help set the ball rolling again Hugh...? [:p]<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by the orangewizard</i>
<br />How do we like this amp now? [:0]
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Liking it very much indeed here thanks!
Finally got mine a little over a year back. Sadly I've never had a chance to use it live yet, but it is what I'd choose if I was gigging on guitar.
Yeah, on p.2 of this thread I was keeping my fingers crossed that they'd voice the 'Natural' channel right. I reckon they did just that. On its own, dry, it isn't immediately outstanding. It certainly isn't over bright and sparkly in either a Vox or a Fender sort of way. Though when cranked up that is a pretty good thing IMO as it punches through just fine TYVM. But yeah, for a dead simple volume only channel I think it is great. I do like adding a hint of reverb, either with my Fender tank or an EH Holy Grail Plus pedal. Both make it sound 'bigger' and 'sweeter' to my ears. Hadn't heard of the Dr. Scientist stuff. Will be keeping my eyes and ears open there!
Thing is that as I said back then, (just 4 days off 4 years ago I see
), I really do like simple amps with simple channels. And this one gives a nice classic Orange tone, with pure power amp drive when cranked up. Tasty stuff! Reminds me strongly of the tone and the in your face dynamics of my OR120 and I wouldn't change it. It is indeed a great starting place for modifying with pedals etc. And since you have no tone controls you always know exactly where you are starting from!
The drive channel is sooooo versatile. It can do the sparkly clean thing - beautifully. It can do the singing high gain lead thing - pretty much world class at that. It is also really good in my favourite clean through crunch rhythm zone, with tons of punchy dynamics. It really has all these areas covered. If you want it can get really aggressive which I really like too. Frankly it can be turned to a hugh variety of sounds and styles, and IMO can pull them <i>all</i> off very well. And as I've said before I find that the two channels mesh together exceptionally well. Switching between them is never a jar to the senses as it can be on some twin channel amps.
The amp suits all my various different guitars well too - Strat, the Gordon Smith (LP-ish with twin tappble 'buckers), and my twin soapbar Gibson LP Junior Special. It even sounds very nice indeed with my solid bodied nylon string Marleaux, and the low gain clean preamp handles the fairly hot output of its active preamp really well. That was a real bonus for me as otherwise I'd be having to put it through my Ampeg bass combo.
I'd always wanted a 30ish watt 1x12 Orange combo, and the one they came up with is bang on the money as far as I'm concerned. It is pretty loud for a 30 watter, even just through the single speaker. Sat on top of a good 2x12 it would be more than loud enough for me basically anywhere. Is it the 'best' Orange in the current range? Depends totally on your needs. For a less in your face more soulful more touch sensitive amp the AD30 would be better. The Rockerverbs are possibly even more versatile, but at the expense of having more complex circuits. They'll certainly suit some better than the wee Rocker, but not me. I really like the simplicity of the R.30 and it's strong dynamics. I haven't tried the Thunderverbs or the new OR50, both of which do appeal to me a lot, though both are bigger guitar amps than I'd really need or want.
So for me at least the answer is yes! The R.30 is the one I picked from the bunch and I'm well very well chuffed with it! It turned out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped it would, and that is a great credit to Ade Emsley's design skills. Honestly I believe it is destined to be (yet) another Orange classic!
:D:D
Andy.