orange maintenance

[whybother182]

so i own an orange ad 140 i love it so much the first day i got it and i still love it. but for a bit of a while i have notice that it doesn't get loud enough quickly. its almost like i have to crank it half way before i can jam with my band. i've own other heads before and all i had to do was crank them one-fourth of the way and its was way too loud....i'm mean what gives? i've believe its the power tubes and the pre amp tubes but i never changed them before and i have owned it for about 2 years now ( i bought this head on craigslist and it sounded amazing at the time). also someone told me something about bias my tube amp (i have no idea what that is) So my big question is do I have to change all my tubes then bias my amp so my head will get louder quicker?

[Jondog]

so i own an orange ad 140 i love it so much the first day i got it and i still love it. but for a bit of a while i have notice that it doesn't get loud enough quickly. its almost like i have to crank it half way before i can jam with my band. i've own other heads before and all i had to do was crank them one-fourth of the way and its was way too loud....i'm mean what gives? i've believe its the power tubes and the pre amp tubes but i never changed them before and i have owned it for about 2 years now ( i bought this head on craigslist and it sounded amazing at the time). also someone told me something about bias my tube amp (i have no idea what that is) So my big question is do I have to change all my tubes then bias my amp so my head will get louder quicker?

Well, probably a good idea to change the tubes, as for biasing I'm not familiar with the AD140, but you should take it to a tech to do the tube change and biasing. Also, do you let the amp warm up in stand by before you play through it?

[bclaire]

Could be tubes (and yes, you need to take it to a tech to have it biased - not a DIY thing)...

I know it seems like my AD140TC takes a while to get loud too, when I'm turning it up. But it gets loud that's for sure!

What are you running for cabs - you definitely have the impedances matched between the head and cab, right? When you have a chance, run it through two 4X12's. Armageddon...

[a.hun]

so i own an orange ad 140 i love it so much the first day i got it and i still love it. but for a bit of a while i have notice that it doesn't get loud enough quickly. its almost like i have to crank it half way before i can jam with my band. i've own other heads before and all i had to do was crank them one-fourth of the way and its was way too loud....i'm mean what gives? i've believe its the power tubes and the pre amp tubes but i never changed them before and i have owned it for about 2 years now ( i bought this head on craigslist and it sounded amazing at the time). also someone told me something about bias my tube amp (i have no idea what that is) So my big question is do I have to change all my tubes then bias my amp so my head will get louder quicker?

New valves and a bias won't make the amp get louder quicker on the dial, no. That is down to the taper of the volume pots which is different from most amps. With most amps you normally get all the volume by 4/10, and after that you just get more drive. Oranges typically take much higher (master) volume settings to reach that point. As pointed out by Oranges own Ade Emsley:
http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.p ... 8&start=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The master volume pot taper on the AD30/140TC has a slow graduation! This is less noticable on the 30watt because it is cathode biased, adding compression, making it louder at low volumes! All of the power on a 140 comes in with the master between 9 and 10, making it very easy to control! However, this is probably not the case with other brands of amps and it seems that certain players are not used to this.The AD140 does actually make (depending on tubes) between 125 and 145 watts (clean) but the master must be on 10 to get this power!

...

Best regards to all

Ade Emsley
Orange amplification

Anyway, if the amp sounds weak when you actually do that then you maybe need to worry about new valves. Sounds like you are fine though if you are only having to crank to half way!

Remember that preamp valves normally last much longer than power valves. Typically they should outlast about 4 - 5 sets of power valves. Replacing them at the same time as power valve sets is a total waste of valves and money.

Biasing sets the 'idling current' for the power valves and needs to be checked by and amp tech for new sets. There are no biasing worries with preamp valves though. You can simply replace them (singly!) if they start to drop off in performance or show signs of getting noisy or microphonic.


Andy.