Orange Amps Forum

baytamusic wrote:Sounds like the Danelectro CTO-1 that I bought for $50. haha.

The CTO-1s are great, got two of them. However if you turn up their gain more than 12 oclock the sound quality is not quiet there. Still, at that price hard to beat

Bensen wrote:

baytamusic wrote:Sounds like the Danelectro CTO-1 that I bought for $50. haha.

The CTO-1s are great, got two of them. However if you turn up their gain more than 12 oclock the sound quality is not quiet there. Still, at that price hard to beat

I've never turned the gain past 9 oclock so I wouldn't know! haha.

Hey David Verb. You are on to something with the OD pedals. I have a Rockerverb 50 Combo and it does not like my Jekyll and Hyde! Nor did it like the previous modded Tube screamer. Ok the J&H sounds decent through the RVC but I have yet to find it's soulmate. Actually I just inherited a Rat pedal that needs fixing and I'm curious what it will sound like with the RVC. The search continues...

David Verb wrote:Wow. Thanks for all the contrasting opinions. I have a lot to think about.

I actually had to take notes on a sheet of paper to collate all these ideas. Haha.

I agree with pedals colouring the tone. And being a difficult job to demo the right pedal to complement my amp. All these amazing boutique stomps are difficult to come by down here.

I suppose I just want to drive the preamp, rather than rely on diodes to add clipping anyway. I invested thousands of dollars to hear tube distortion, I really shouldn't spoil it by spending a couple hundred dollars on diodes!

I'm all for clean boost. And there was a general consensus on the MXR Microamp. Plus it should be really easy to get my hands on one.

I like the look (and concept) of tube pedals, but I've never had the pleasure of really testing one!

For those who advocated dirtying up my dirt channel and Doctor Jay (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... hehe). I have found that my Tubezone sounds pretty cool in front of the dirt channel. I set the Tubezone for heavy dirt, and back off the gain on the dirt channel... the result, to me is reminiscent of stoner rock. Think Fu Manchu. But I use it only for effect. I'm not sure it will become a staple but of my tone.

So...

In summation, drive the preamp with the most transparent clean boost (most likely MXR Microamp) to keep the integrity of the amplifier! I'm sure that on either channel I can get the desired gain in boost.

baytamusic wrote:I'd just stay away from anything that colors your sound if you like your tones already.

Yep, if you like the basic sounds you want something which isn't going to change that.

Going to point you once again to the Award Session JD10 I was talking about...

It has a very effective 3 band EQ which CAN be set to give an uncoloured signal. The appropriate setting for the tone controls is given in the user manual. You can then boost or cut the gain and / or the overall output volume to taste. So you could for example...

1. Set your amp to the maximum gain you want, set the JD10 to give a lower output when you kick it in, and hit the switch for your verge of breakup lower gain sounds. This will give the amps true tones and not introduce any extra noise. Works a treat with all my amps!
2. Set your amp for either clean or your verge of breakup sound and keeping the JD10s preamp gain setting clean just use the output volume to get the next stage up, ie to switch from clean to light crunch, or light crunch to your medium done steak gain. Also works a treat when you find the right balance between the amps gain and master settings.
3. Use the JD10s preamp gain itself. This is also a great option. On its own this pedal can do an amazing variety of sounds, with or without its speaker emulator switched in. It can easily get anything from nice cleans to searing high gain, Fender style to Marshall and beyond.Especially if you experiment with the great EQ controls which are both powerful and also interactive in a similar way to a valve amp. (You can even get scooped metal if you want!)

BTW the apparently overblown hype on the website apart, like Tech 21 and their Sansamps these guys really do know how to get convincing valve type sounds from their analogue transistor circuitry. They are every bit as convincing around the 'just breaking up' zone as they are for cleans or higher gain levels. As BrianGT said on one of those links I posted you could easily record a whole album with this pedal alone - he did just that himself and still found the sounds inspiring when listening back to it years later!

I've been using my own Mk.1 JD10 for many years. The only real drawback, a massive hike in volume when you use the gain switch, has apparently been addressed by the Mk.II. Honestly I can't recommend this pedal highly enough. It is extremely versatile (straight to desk for recording or to PA, in front of another amp, solid state or valve, whatever you do it comes up trumps!), and most importantly it is great sounding. One nice trick I like using it for is to tweak the EQ alone and leave gain levels unchanged for a different switchable sound. That way I can even get quasi acoustic tones from an electric - or even the other way around with my solid body nylon strung guitar.

Try it...

http://www.award-session.com/jd10.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Andy.

now that i think about it, orange's never had a three channel amp before, have they?
maybe they should experiment with that...hmm. that would be interesting.

jason41224 wrote:now that i think about it, orange's never had a three channel amp before, have they?
maybe they should experiment with that...hmm. that would be interesting.

I hope Orange does not go that route. Doesn't mean I have to buy if they do though, but I think multi channel amps are getting out of control. The Marshall JVM is laughable to me. It has 4 channels with 3 modes in each channel....It looks like a space shuttle control panel on the front with all of the knobs.

I wish Orange would get back to their roots, and make more single channel amps that are standard production. Most people can't afford a custom shop model. That's just my opinion though.

ironlung40 wrote:

jason41224 wrote:now that i think about it, orange's never had a three channel amp before, have they?
maybe they should experiment with that...hmm. that would be interesting.

I hope Orange does not go that route. Doesn't mean I have to buy if they do though, but I think multi channel amps are getting out of control. The Marshall JVM is laughable to me. It has 4 channels with 3 modes in each channel....It looks like a space shuttle control panel on the front with all of the knobs.

I wish Orange would get back to their roots, and make more single channel amps that are standard production. Most people can't afford a custom shop model. That's just my opinion though.

i agree with that. the JVM's ridiculous. but that's not to say they could make a 3 channel amp with some minimal controls? like having 1 full eq channel, then a channel with shape control (TV), and then a Natural Channel ala the R30. i don't know, i think it would be interesting. but i agree, they should make some more single channel amps as well.

jason41224 wrote:... but that's not to say they could make a 3 channel amp with some minimal controls? like having 1 full eq channel, then a channel with shape control (TV), and then a Natural Channel ala the R30...

That would be awesome as the Rockerverb 100 Mark III a few years down the road.

jason41224 wrote:

ironlung40 wrote:

jason41224 wrote:now that i think about it, orange's never had a three channel amp before, have they?
maybe they should experiment with that...hmm. that would be interesting.

I hope Orange does not go that route. Doesn't mean I have to buy if they do though, but I think multi channel amps are getting out of control. The Marshall JVM is laughable to me. It has 4 channels with 3 modes in each channel....It looks like a space shuttle control panel on the front with all of the knobs.

I wish Orange would get back to their roots, and make more single channel amps that are standard production. Most people can't afford a custom shop model. That's just my opinion though.

i agree with that. the JVM's ridiculous. but that's not to say they could make a 3 channel amp with some minimal controls? like having 1 full eq channel, then a channel with shape control (TV), and then a Natural Channel ala the R30. i don't know, i think it would be interesting. but i agree, they should make some more single channel amps as well.

I'm betting we'll see some in the near future......multichannel amps that is

Wendigo wrote:Instinct tells me you will get MUCH better results by using a drive pedal of some kind on the distortion channel of the amp. Set your clean to clean, the distortion to crunch (edge of breakup) and the drive to just a little bit of boost. That will drive the crunch sound into full-on distortion without getting too out of control in the feedback department.

Agree with this. Also agree with the comment earlier that OD's don't add anything to the RV.
I threw away pedals many years ago and use a simple 3dB boost on the dirty channel of the RV50. Leave the clean er clean. Because the RV dirty channel has a fairly compressed sound leaving the dirty on about 11 o'clock gives a goooood crunchy edgy thingy - and a 3dB drives it over te edge. Although I do like a bit of feedback - just mark an X on the floor and stand there when you want it and walk off somewhere else when you don't.

Cheers
Brian
PS/ I've now been gigging the RV50 for about 6 years solid and no mishaps. Love it.

use a simple 3dB boost on the dirty channel of the RV50

Is this in your FX loop or out front? Is it true bypass?