TH30 vs TH100 personal story (in real time June 2015)

[Ricked Wicky]

Hi guys, also my first post to the Orange forum, and my first real experience with Orange amps, other than fetishing them over the years and being very aware of what they are, being a huge 60s/70s English rock fan and long time pro musician that plays that kind of stuff on a nightly basis. I just thought I'd chime in and tell my Orange story, which is really only a few days old.

I made the decision to pull the trigger and get an Orange head last week. I'm going to be touring extensively with Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) and wanted that definitive English tone to go along with, or maybe even replace, my '74 MusicMan 212HD 130. The MusicMan does cleans better than anything I've ever had, including a Black Face Twin. I've been on this forum all week, along with reading every review and comment I could find on the TH30, and whether it had enough clean headroom to fill large stages when playing with a band.

First let me say, I've been dealing with Dave Snow at Sweetwater, and the guy couldn't be more helpful and knowledgeable, and got me unbelievable pricing. We finalized my cart on Friday at 2pm Eastern time, and it was at my door Saturday morning before I could shake off my hangover from the previous nights gigs and get to the door!

Now, the amp...gawd do I love it. I love love LOVE it. BUT...even after reading multiple posts about how awesome the clean channel is, and how it is plenty loud before breakup...it's not. There's nothing wrong with the tubes, nothing wrong with the amp at all. There's just no way it comes close to a Fender Twin or my MusicMan for loud, crystal clear headroom. I should have known better, and went with the TH100, which amazingly is only about $300 more than the Th30.

So, I'll report back, probably by Tuesday knowing Sweetwater's amazing service, and let anyone who's curious know how big the difference is. I'm confident it's going to be more than enough. I'm also springing for a Crush Pro 4x12 cab. I have a Marshall 4x12 cab, but after seeing that beautiful head sitting on top of a Marshall cab, I just have to spend the extra $500 or so and get a matching cab. Yes, I know the Crush cabs aren't the "real ones", but I really, really don't understand what the difference is in the "real" cabs that makes them more than twice the price.

I'm as giddy as a little kid being in the Orange family now, and Bob and I have a ton of recording work to do this year in advance of getting out on the road in 2016, so the TH100 is going to be all over the upcoming Robert Pollard solo album and any future Ricked Wicky releases. I'm really stoked. I've never spent this kind of money on an amp, never had a half stack in my life (I just acquired the Marshall 4x12 cab). I'm a life long Strat/Twin guy, and it's been really, really fun. Can't wait to mike it up on Tuesday and track with it. I'm going to be tracking tonight with the TH30 as well.

All hail Prince Of Orange! (XTC reference there for you fellow Anglophiles)

Full report henceforth,
Nick
____________________________________________________________________
Nick Mitchell-Any Road Studio, Dayton Ohio USA
singer, multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer/producer
http://www.robertpollard.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.rickedwicky.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/nickmitchellmusic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.skepcat.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.facebook.com/skepticalcats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ronnie Robinson]

Nice story, let us know how u get on with your new amp and your thoughts on it.

Not familiar with Robert Pollard but I've just checked him out on the Internet and he seems to have a large back catalogue so you've sure got your work cut out for you!

[floridaweather]

i had the th 100(only sold it becuase it was too much amp for bedroom playing)
it will give you much more headroom i used an attenuator with mine but i still found it had the same problem but probably no where near as soon as the th 30.
that being said i loved loved loved my th 100(far more than the th 30s i played) and i think it will suit you well.
i hope all turns out well

[Hubaxe]

Nice story!
A 30 watt cannot deliver big large headroom at stage level. Only a 100w can provide this. And the TH100 is fabulous at this.
I have the same setup, Marshall 4X12 and a TH100 + Strat, and nothing goes wrong

[bclaire]

Cool - sounds like a good tour!

Whenever I do a long road trip, I set my iPod to shuffle - and songs come on that I really like and I don't know who does them (drives me crazy) but often, it will be a Guided By Voices song!

[thinspirits77]

You shouldn't have any problems with clean headroom on the TH100. I don't even run mine on full power and I don't get any breakup on the clean channel. I believe this amp's clean channel is considered to be the cleanest of any channel in the entire line of Orange amps. It also works really well with pedals - I run 3 through the loop and they sound fantastic.