Orange Amps Forum

Now i realize this is totally an opinon-fest im opening up here, but opinions are what I need, as i dont have the experiance some of you guys do. Im down to 3 differant amps im choosing between : a Mesa Stiletto Ace, a Marshall Vintage Modern, and an Orange Rocker 30. Im playing alot of stuff with a punk-rock edge (say, just for the purpose of a point of referance, Relient K/Rise Against levels of gain) along with more adult alternative type stuff. There are pros and cons to all three amps, but any opinons or experiance would be greatly appriciated.

You'll likely get the most versatility from the Mesa.

I have
Mesa triple rec
Orange ad30htc
Marshall 900


In order.
Orange
Mesa
Marshall

Unless you are playing something heavier than punk/alternative

Then,
Mesa
Orange
Marshall

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by the_blue_bomber</i>
<br />You'll likely get the most versatility from the Mesa.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

But do you need versatility for punk rock? I'd say a good core gain tone is more important than lots of different tones for punk.

In an ideal world, when you're looking to spend all that money, you should get your ass to a guitar shop and try them all out and choose whichever one has the tone you're looking for - they all have plenty of gain for punk rock - but in very different flavours.

Yeah, right now I'm leaning towards the Orange. I have some hesitation based on an AD-15/12 that had so much uncontrollable treble I thought my ears would bleed, but the Rocker/Verb stuff is voiced differnatly I know. Yeah, maybe I used the wrong word there with "punk" more like Alternative rock with a punk approach and feel. And as far as the other stuff goes, lets say kinda like Minus the Bear/Death Cab fun. I've heard the Natural on the R30 is great and for effects i really just run a Visual Sound H2O Chorus/Delay. And as far as Distortion, right now I'm selling a Peavey 6505 to help pay for the new head. NEVER NEEDED THAT MUCH GAIN IN MY LIFE, lol. Rise Against is about as heavy as I get.

What I need here is a solid British-flavored amp that is uncomprimisingly professional in tone and construction.

Well you don't want a modern Marshall (not so well-made anymore) and Mesa ain't where it's at for British tone... so... How about a Rocker 30?

The Orange would give a stage presence that I couldn't get with other amps (I've had marshall & Boogies). It just may be my ears but my guitars sound "right" through the Orange amps with the least amount of tweaking. I looked for ~15 years trying all kinds of gear and five minutes into trying the RV50 I knew this was the sound that I was looking for. Just my two cents, take it for what it's worth.

we do that style - I use an AD30

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bythepowerofgrayskull</i>
<br />Yeah, right now I'm leaning towards the Orange. I have some hesitation based on an AD-15/12 that had so much uncontrollable treble I thought my ears would bleed, but the Rocker/Verb stuff is voiced differnatly I know. Yeah, maybe I used the wrong word there with "punk" more like Alternative rock with a punk approach and feel. And as far as the other stuff goes, lets say kinda like Minus the Bear/Death Cab fun. I've heard the Natural on the R30 is great and for effects i really just run a Visual Sound H2O Chorus/Delay. And as far as Distortion, right now I'm selling a Peavey 6505 to help pay for the new head. NEVER NEEDED THAT MUCH GAIN IN MY LIFE, lol. Rise Against is about as heavy as I get.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Something wrong with that AD15 then... no way are the AD series trebley amps. They're noted for being dark sounding. My AD30 is significantly darker sounding than my Matamp, which when cranking up, sounds like a Marshall should sound like!

Sure someone hadn't scooped the EQ on you?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by irish_admiral</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bythepowerofgrayskull</i>
<br />Yeah, right now I'm leaning towards the Orange. I have some hesitation based on an AD-15/12 that had so much uncontrollable treble I thought my ears would bleed, but the Rocker/Verb stuff is voiced differnatly I know. Yeah, maybe I used the wrong word there with "punk" more like Alternative rock with a punk approach and feel. And as far as the other stuff goes, lets say kinda like Minus the Bear/Death Cab fun. I've heard the Natural on the R30 is great and for effects i really just run a Visual Sound H2O Chorus/Delay. And as far as Distortion, right now I'm selling a Peavey 6505 to help pay for the new head. NEVER NEEDED THAT MUCH GAIN IN MY LIFE, lol. Rise Against is about as heavy as I get.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Something wrong with that AD15 then... no way are the AD series trebley amps. They're noted for being dark sounding. My AD30 is significantly darker sounding than my Matamp, which when cranking up, sounds like a Marshall should sound like!

Sure someone hadn't scooped the EQ on you?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> Yep, I'd agree with the Admiral here. I have an AD15/12 and I can run the treble flat out without my ears bleeding (with a PRS CU22). I'd describe it as a fairly dark sounding amp stronger in the midrange than treble although they do brighten up at higher volumes though and it does depend on the pickups. I found that when I ran my American Strat through it on the bridge it could get a little harsh on the highs, but it wasn't uncontrolable just required some tweaking and think it was as much to do with those particular pickups as anything else. There's also interaction between the highs and the mids on the AD15 so knocking back the mids slightly rolls off some of the top end too.

Worth checking out the AD30 too as it has a more open sound than the rocker series

I'm actually a fan of the Vintage modern although not sure from the sounds you've mentioned it would be quite right. I'd say it firmly nails classic 70s rock (Thin lizzy etc) and also along Gary Moore's solo tones. FWIW the combo version of that amp and the 4x12s made for it have modified Celestion Greenbacks in them that sound awesome IMO.

Those are quite different amps. How come you're choosing between these specific amps?

With a budget enough for a Mesa Stiletto you can afford a lot of other great amps as well.

what guitar(s) are you using?

Using Relient K and Rise against as a reference point, I would advise you to steer AWAY from the Vintage Modern Marshall.

The Orange Rocker 30 would do a good job.
The Mesa Stiletto series would also do a descent job.

If you want a Marshall for that tone, go with a JCM800.

~GuitarMD~

Well the guitarist in Minus the Bear/Botch uses an obscene number of effects pedals. Don't get me wrong, he's an INCREDIBLE guitarist and I like both of his bands, but with so many effects coloring his tone, as long as he has a quality amp driving it all, it probably doesn't matter if it's Orange/Mesa/Marshall. To support this idea, there are pictures of him playing through many different amps live. So, if you're really going for that, I'd get an amp that is a quality tube amp with a good clean base, like a Twin.