Attenuator for indoor use of an old OR120

[patingermany]

Hey folks, it's Pat (formerly in Mexico) in Germany, now.
I signed up here years ago with my usual username "pacafeliz", but i can't remember the password, and the "replacement" is being sent to an old email addy i don't remember the login anymore, either... (mods help?)

Anyway, at age 37 i finally got myself an old Orange head. A dream come true. I've never played one before, but i always thought there is none cooler looking, and they sure sound amazing.

So while i was backpacking thru latin america with my GF (7 months...), i saw an amazing (?) deal of an old OR120 with an old Sound City cab, near to where we'd be living in Germany. Long story short, a friend of mine picked it up, and i gotta pick it up one of these days!
In Mexico i had been lucky enough to find a beat to crap '73 4x12 cab, but i had to sell it before i moved here... along with lots of other stuff.

Well now, I know that these amps are INCREDIBLY loud, and that makes me a bit worried. We haven't got jobs yet, and we'll be moving to whatever city we find jobs in. And I guess our apartment will be rather small.

So... how will I be able to play the OR120 until a get a band (and/or pratice space)? I've been thinking attenuator.

So far the Weber Mass 200 or Mega Dump look attrative, cuz they don't care about the impedance of the cab. Price is kinda right too, but the shipping is about $100. OUCH!

...my question is, are you guys (and gals?) also using an attenuator? Which one? Why?
Tell me everything!

Thanks! I'm psyched to be part of this club now!

Pat.

[bclaire]

Hey folks, it's Pat (formerly in Mexico) in Germany, now.
I signed up here years ago with my usual username "pacafeliz", but i can't remember the password, and the "replacement" is being sent to an old email addy i don't remember the login anymore, either... (mods help?)

Hi Pat-

Welcome back. I don't think there's much you can do if there's an old email account that you can't access.... I don't have access to any of it. Not sure Alex Auxier can either...


I think even if you pull two power tubes and run an attenuator it will be difficult to get down to a good sound. If it was me, I'd use the clean headroom available and get a decent distortion pedal to get a good usable sound at bedroom volumes...

[Dunky]

Hi,

I'm using the fryette power station, really great piece of kit.
Kind of a dummy load, reactive attenuator come reamp device.
It does manage amps upto 150 watts so not sure if a 120 amp is pushing it a bit too Vlose to its limits.

[Kristian Ford]

Hey folks, it's Pat (formerly in Mexico) in Germany, now.
I signed up here years ago with my usual username "pacafeliz", but i can't remember the password, and the "replacement" is being sent to an old email addy i don't remember the login anymore, either... (mods help?)

Hi Pat-

Welcome back. I don't think there's much you can do if there's an old email account that you can't access.... I don't have access to any of it. Not sure Alex Auxier can either...


I think even if you pull two power tubes and run an attenuator it will be difficult to get down to a good sound. If it was me, I'd use the clean headroom available and get a decent distortion pedal to get a good usable sound at bedroom volumes...

Yep, your only chance of apartment playing an OR120 is definitely gonna be a good pedal...

I do it everyday.

[patingermany]

Thanks guys!

I'll let you know how it goes as soon as i have it here!
I have quite a collection (hoarding) of cool old pedals, so it'll be fun to find out how it reacts to which.
My main amp has now for years been my '68 Twin Reverb. So, now for something completely different!

Pat.

[OrangePaul]

I run a Blackstar HT-Dual into my OR120 and it works a treat for me.

I also have a THD hotplate but I would only really use that in a recording situation personally.

[fiveightandten]

There's just nothing you can do to that amp to make it into a bedroom amp. It's built to play stadiums.

Even with the best attenuators, the more attenuation you use, the worse it sounds. To bog an OR-120 down to home practice levels, it's going to sound terrible. It's not worth the money, IMO. I've bought a few of the best attenuators on the market at various points in time. There's just no way to make a 100W+ amp sound proper at home practice volumes.

Enjoy the amp with an overdrive pedal (you'll hear the pedal, not the amp), or just wait until you can use it with a band. Good luck with that, by the way, as it's still quite loud.

-Nick

[patingermany]

There's just nothing you can do to that amp to make it into a bedroom amp. It's built to play stadiums.

Even with the best attenuators, the more attenuation you use, the worse it sounds. To bog an OR-120 down to home practice levels, it's going to sound terrible. It's not worth the money, IMO. I've bought a few of the best attenuators on the market at various points in time. There's just no way to make a 100W+ amp sound proper at home practice volumes.

Enjoy the amp with an overdrive pedal (you'll hear the pedal, not the amp), or just wait until you can use it with a band. Good luck with that, by the way, as it's still quite loud.

-Nick

HA! thanks!
but yes, i figured this is just what i'll do. i always have.
still, thinking of getting myself an overdrive model someday too.

there'll be enough stage action for me to hear it in POWER mode, as it should.
thanks all!

Pat.