A couple of months ago I was offered a job in The Falklands so I'll be there for at least the next couple of years and quite possibly longer. Taking the TH30 there was completely impractical so I concluded it had to go, though I've kept the Orange 1X12. The question was, what to get in its place. I decided I needed something that would need to be compact, light and capable of low volumes as well as gig levels. It came down to a choice between a Yamaha THR100HD and a BluGuitar AMP1. Both seemed like a huge step down but needs must and I went for the AMP1, which I picked up nearly new for £300.
Negatives of my choice? The ultimate tone isn't as good as my TH30, there's no doubt about that. I also find it to be less convincing the more gain is added so of the 4 channels available to me, the Modern one is the channel I like least. It also has a built-in noise gate that is too harsh on the 'Metal' setting and too ineffective on the 'Soft' setting. That's about it.
Positives of my choice? It's certainly small as it now resides on my pedalboard and I LOVE that convenience it has. I plug in the power supply, connect the guitar at one end and connect it to the speaker at the other and that's me ready to go as everything else is already connected on the pedalboard. It's also light at only 1.2kg but the key question is does it sound good? The simple answer is yes, it's astonishingly good. I've played modelling amps and hybrid amps before and always found them to be wholly unconvincing but this is different. The 100w nanotube in the power section really does give it a valve tone and more importantly, it 'feels' like a valve amp to play. It's a difficult tone to describe as it's quite definitely valve tone but different as it also sounds a little solid state due to the Class D section that comes after the nanotube in the power section. The preamp is all analog. The Vintage and Classic channels are voiced on Marshalls and that's fine by me as those are my favourite tones anyway. The Modern channel is voiced on America high gain amps, which I like for leads but not rhythms. The clean channel is quite Fenderish and breaks up just like a full valve amp when pushed. The built-in Reverb and Boost functions are both excellent and amazingly, it seems to take pedals even better than my TH30.
The acid test is, would I change back to my TH30 if I wasn't going to The Falklands? I do miss the tone of my Orange but the more I play the AMP1, the more it feels just like a conventional valve amp and its tone doesn't seem 'better' or 'worse', just different and it's a 'different' I like. On top of that it's made life a lot easier and offers me options the TH30 didn't. It even does some things better than the Orange so I'd have to say that for what I do with my guitars (home, band rehearsals and pub gigs) I honestly feel completely content with what I have and I have no desperate desire to suddenly reverse my decision. It's obviously not an amp that will suit everyone and I don't claim it is, just as I don't claim the ultimate tone is better than my TH30 but it's very good, it's a lot closer than you might imagine and it simply suits my personal circumstances. I'm sorry to be leaving the Orange family as they're incredible amps but at this particular moment in time, the AMP1 suits me better.
Sadly leaving Orange
Moderator: bclaire
-
- Tiny Terror
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:24 pm
- Location: Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England
Sadly leaving Orange
Gibson Les Paul Studio
PRS SE Floyd Custom 24 with Creamery Double Six and '59 pickups
Fender Stratocaster with DiMarzio Virtual Solo, Area 58 and Area 61 pickups
Orange TH30
Crybaby 535Q Wah
Hardwire Overdrive
Nova System
PRS SE Floyd Custom 24 with Creamery Double Six and '59 pickups
Fender Stratocaster with DiMarzio Virtual Solo, Area 58 and Area 61 pickups
Orange TH30
Crybaby 535Q Wah
Hardwire Overdrive
Nova System
-
- Duke of Orange
- Posts: 9765
- Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2002 1:05 am
- Location: Amsterdam, Hollandland.nl
Re: Sadly leaving Orange
Hey, interesting times. Actually I'm the sort of guy that would find spending some time in the Falklands just fascinating. The relative isolation and harsh conditions wold just make it more interesting for me. My wife doesn't agree BTW, our holiday to Iceland last year was very much an exception to the rule, so it is unlikely to happen. But I can't deny a real pang of jealousy. I've no idea what you'll be doing there, but I think it'll be interesting!
Personally I'd have taken the BBg and plugged it into anything fairly decent sounding in the way of clean amplification, valve or solid state wouldn't matter so much ultimately. Glad you've found a workable solution to keep you happy meantime, but I've got a feeling you'll be back in the Orange fold at some point in the not too distant future. That'll just have to be something to look forward to then...
Andy.
Personally I'd have taken the BBg and plugged it into anything fairly decent sounding in the way of clean amplification, valve or solid state wouldn't matter so much ultimately. Glad you've found a workable solution to keep you happy meantime, but I've got a feeling you'll be back in the Orange fold at some point in the not too distant future. That'll just have to be something to look forward to then...
Andy.
aNDyH.
Ever tried to outstare a mirror?
In the bathtub of history the truth is harder to hold than the soap, and much more difficult to find!
Ever tried to outstare a mirror?
In the bathtub of history the truth is harder to hold than the soap, and much more difficult to find!
Re: Sadly leaving Orange
I've used a BluAmp,on 4 or 5 gigs,i think it's a really good Amp.
-
- Tiny Terror
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:24 pm
- Location: Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England
Re: Sadly leaving Orange
I'll be teaching in the secondary school down there and yes, it's more for me than my wife and that does concern me a little as she's no frontierswoman. I'm not sure how she'll cope without shops! I'm just looking forward to trying new things like the amateur dramatics group and volunteering at the penguin sanctuary. The initial contract is two years but I hope to stay for up to eight years as that will get me close to 60 years old, at which point retirement looks appealing. I imagine most of my playing will be at home, though the headteacher says he can see me making a guitar contribution in assemblies etc. We'll see. Plenty people think I'm crazy but if you don't take chances, all you can do is ask 'What if?' at the end of your life.
Gibson Les Paul Studio
PRS SE Floyd Custom 24 with Creamery Double Six and '59 pickups
Fender Stratocaster with DiMarzio Virtual Solo, Area 58 and Area 61 pickups
Orange TH30
Crybaby 535Q Wah
Hardwire Overdrive
Nova System
PRS SE Floyd Custom 24 with Creamery Double Six and '59 pickups
Fender Stratocaster with DiMarzio Virtual Solo, Area 58 and Area 61 pickups
Orange TH30
Crybaby 535Q Wah
Hardwire Overdrive
Nova System
-
- Orange Master
- Posts: 3148
- Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 3:39 am
- Location: In the beautyful North , UK
- Contact:
Re: Sadly leaving Orange
Sounds to me like there could be an opportunity to provide guitar lessons here ......I'd take an acoustic ....and a good coat.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
-
- Orange Hero
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2013 2:11 pm
Re: Sadly leaving Orange
Not really sure it's true, I was looking for pictures and found this, supposedly from Port Stanley:Slartibartfarst42 wrote:I'm not sure how she'll cope without shops!
But getting back to the topic, I haven't posted about it earlier, but I got a Micro Dark. It's pretty versatile, sounds like a Marshall with the gain maxed, can also get good cleans with the gain dialed down, and not a bad crunch with the gain in the middle, kind of makes think me of 1940s or 50s amps in that setting.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 123 guests