High Gain Guitarists

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:14 am

Are there any high gain players on the forums? Do any of you use an Orange amp for your high gain material?

I play out of a Thunderverb 50, which gets pretty damn dirty. I play mostly extreme metal. I do play other styles too, but that's unimportant here. Specifically, I play a lot of black metal, melodic death metal and thrash. I can dial in some great tones for these styles with the Thunderverb.

There are a couple of other Orange amps that are high gain, of course. So what styles do you high gain Orange players play and out of what amp?

Invin · Post by **Invin** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:35 am

I play Sylosis, Revocation, Lamb of God, Trivium, and generally thrashy metal on my TH30. I like to keep the gain and shape at noon (half) for bedroom playing at 15 watts and use my Maxon OD808 as a clean boost. I've continually moved away from scooped gainy tones to a more mid ranged drive. I fiddled with EQ pedals and different settings for awhile, but I just keep coming back to noon on the gain and shape knobs with nothing but a clean boost in front as my go-to thrash metal tone. As I turn the amp's volume up I just dial the gain down and it stays pretty consistent I find.

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 7:20 am

I hear you. I used to play with a really scooped tone in my early days as well. I add tons more mids now that would make high school me cry in horror at the un-thrashiness of it all! It comes with experience that you realize that guitar tone lives in the mids!

I mostly move around from noon, one and 11 o'clock on my shape knob depending on what I'm going for at the time. My favorite position for the black metal style that's become my main thing is one o'clock on the shape knob with a overdrive pedal (Durham Electronics Sex Drive). It makes my guitars really sing and the Thunderverb really scream, while retaining clarity in each note played. It's pretty amazing!

I've been playing around with a 10-band EQ to boost some lower mids to add some better punch. I'm not sure yet if I like the raw amp tone with the overdrive or with the added EQ. Still fiddling around.

FleshOnGear · Post by **FleshOnGear** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:40 pm

I hate labeling my own music, but I guess I'd call it thrashy sludge metal. Maybe along the lines of Melvins or Mastodon. I don't use higher gain than you'd hear on a late 80's thrash record. To me, that's plenty of gain, but I know metal players these days like to pile on the distortion.

I use my OR100, of course, with the gain around 2 o'clock. Normally no drive pedals or the built in gain boost. My Flying V has a Duncan 59 Custom hybrid in the bridge position. I like the thicker texture and bouncy low end you get out of the OR compared to a more modern voiced amp.

I suppose I'm not a true "high gain" player by modern standards, but I'm a metal player for sure, and the OR does it for me.

Wendigo · Post by **Wendigo** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:12 pm

I've been known to dabble in shredding from time to time. That's one reason I got the Dual Dark; it just kills at shredding!

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:04 pm

FleshOnGear wrote:I hate labeling my own music, but I guess I'd call it thrashy sludge metal. Maybe along the lines of Melvins or Mastodon. I don't use higher gain than you'd hear on a late 80's thrash record. To me, that's plenty of gain, but I know metal players these days like to pile on the distortion.

I use my OR100, of course, with the gain around 2 o'clock. Normally no drive pedals or the built in gain boost. My Flying V has a Duncan 59 Custom hybrid in the bridge position. I like the thicker texture and bouncy low end you get out of the OR compared to a more modern voiced amp.

I suppose I'm not a true "high gain" player by modern standards, but I'm a metal player for sure, and the OR does it for me.

Absolutely. I turn my gain down for a more traditional metal tone sometimes, ala Sabbath or even Alice in Chains-like. That's sort of the beauty of the Thunderverb, imo. You can get some very old-school tones along with the high gain.

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:07 pm

Wendigo wrote:I've been known to dabble in shredding from time to time. That's one reason I got the Dual Dark; it just kills at shredding!

I've been considering getting a Dual Dark actually. Either that or the TH100. Not sure which would compliment my Thunderverb best as a second amp. I sort of think maybe the TH100 would, with its dedicated clean channel and all.

FleshOnGear · Post by **FleshOnGear** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:13 pm

Lately I've been trying to figure out the differences between the OR and the TV50. I want to know if it would be worth having both.

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:56 pm

OR is very old school sounding. Thunderverb is a powerhouse with a healthy mix of vintage meets modern. More modern than vintage though. It really depends on how much you want a more modern toned amp. A high gain one at that. You can find some used 50's and 200's on ebay for great prices.

DiabloS · Post by **DiabloS** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:46 am

eyeovhorus wrote:OR is very old school sounding. Thunderverb is a powerhouse with a healthy mix of vintage meets modern. More modern than vintage though. It really depends on how much you want a more modern toned amp. A high gain one at that. You can find some used 50's and 200's on ebay for great prices.

Just curious, since I don't own the TV50 anymore but I did for quite a while... I agree that it has a mix of vintage vs. modern, but to me the 2 channels were quite different that way. Channel A is total classic rock with a big low end, and channel B is more modern voiced unless you really set the shape knob low.

It sounds like you use channel B for most of your needs, which makes sense. I personally didn't think it was well suited for tight distortion on either channel, but both channels still had a lot to offer in their own way.

OrangeBoy · Post by **OrangeBoy** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 10:29 am

I play plenty high gain stuff, from mild to extreme, both with and without pedals. Amongst other amps I have an OR15, CR60 and Micro Terror, which I play plenty of different high gain stuff on. I can’t specifically label styles because I never sit on one particular style; I’m always tweaking to achieve what my brain wants at any given time.

I love high gain.

Bensnake · Post by **Bensnake** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 7:49 pm

I think the Rockerverb is Orange's best sounding high gain amp though I haven't played either the DD or the TV. The OR100 is also absolutely fantastic when it comes to high gain though with more of a classic fuzzy flavour. Love 'em both.

Chuck Ghad · Post by **Chuck Ghad** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 9:11 pm

Dual F'n Dark. It's the highest gain amplifier released by Orange, and is similar to the thunderverb in the respect that you can set two distorted channels, but it has an extra gain stage. Also the DD can nail killer high gain mid scooped rythem, or be used for screaming fat saturated leads. Honestly if you can afford the Dual Dark, it is high gain heaven.

Matty B · Post by **Matty B** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:33 pm

I use my DT for 80's style hardcore. Gain and tone on ten! I use the neck pickup on my Jag HH and I get this great dark almost fuzz tone.

eyeovhorus · Post by **eyeovhorus** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 12:43 am

DiabloS wrote:Just curious, since I don't own the TV50 anymore but I did for quite a while... I agree that it has a mix of vintage vs. modern, but to me the 2 channels were quite different that way. Channel A is total classic rock with a big low end, and channel B is more modern voiced unless you really set the shape knob low.

It sounds like you use channel B for most of your needs, which makes sense. I personally didn't think it was well suited for tight distortion on either channel, but both channels still had a lot to offer in their own way.

It's definitely not a processed, tight high gain that you get from the Thunderverb, no. It's a lot more organic, which is actually something I like. I do like really tight attack on high gain amps too though, something I'm not sure Orange really cares to aim for, which is fair enough. I personally really like Diezel, Blackstar and Randall for that sort of thing. I'm considering a Diezel actually. They're just so expensive here in the states...

But yeah, I like that it isn't really tight. I can make it just tight enough for what I usually like to play with my Durham Electronics Sex Drive Overdrive pedal and my ISP Technologies Decimator II G-String (which runs through my pedal train AND my FX loop! Oh, it's a noise reducing pedal by the way).

I use channel B for my dirty and channel A I have as my designated clean for most of my stuff. I do use channel A for less gain if I'm playing something a bit more old school though.