First post/Replacement Head-shell

[CosmosInAshes]

Greetings all board members~

My name is Mike and I am from Nashville, TN USA.
I just bought an Orange TH100 and was curious if it is possible to buy a replacement head shell in BLACK? Orange is fine but you know...I play the Devil's music and tend to like all black everything.

Also... any tube replacement suggestions , mods etc suggestions?

Thanks!
Mike

[Boy_Narf]

IMO it is cheaper to get one built. If you have even the most basic level of wood working knowledge (and access to a table saw) it's a pretty easy project, otherwise look for a local cab builder.

Another option, if you don't care, would be to re-tolex the stock head shell. I watched a few YT vids before I did my cab, and it turned out pretty good.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

You could email Orange to see if they will sell you a black one, although I've never heard of them doing this.

Tube wise tungsol preamp tubes , JJs and Ehx are popular.

[Boy_Narf]

Oh I see you also asked about tubes

I have put full JJ re-tube kits in all of my amps. Great tubes IMO. Brings a bit more clarity to the gain structure and eliminates a bit of the fuzziness/fizziness aswell. I will say if your amp is brand new from the store you probably don't need to replace the tubes. I usually give it a year or two before shelling out for a set. TH100 is not a cheap amp to re-tube either.

I just re-tubed a Traynor IronHorse, and for the first time the new tubes didn't make a difference. Turns out the guy was really telling the truth when he said he barely used the amp.

[caldurham]

probably wouldn't cost much to have one built or build it yourself. the hardest part would most likely be applying the tolex, if you wanted tolex. if you were just making a shell you could finish it however you wanted. btw welcome i am from portland tn so just a little northeast of you.

btw i am really liking genelex gold lion tubes at the moment. i dunno if anyone else in here has used them but i find them to be really nice tubes.

[fiveightandten]

Find a guy on eBay or the forums that does custom cabinets and have them build one to spec. Orange won't sell you one. I tried getting one to turn my AD30TC into a head about 6 months ago and they refused to sell me a bare head sleeve.

-Nick

[Oraison]

Well there's always this option.

While it might be the cheap route I think black would be the easiest and most clean looking of them all.

http://m.imgur.com/a/SB3nq" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CosmosInAshes]

Thanks for the infos.
I emailed them over the weekend. We will see what they say. Might try and call the Atlanta branch too.

I guess as far as tube suggestions, I was meaning more preamp tubes for tone differences etc. Thanks for the suggestions thus far!
Mike

[FleshOnGear]

Congratulations on the new amp! Do you have an idea of how you'd like to change the tone of the amp? Most people here have a favorite preamp tube, and each has settled on a favorite based on personal preference. There is nothing wrong with the tubes that come in the TH100, unless you bought a used or very shop-worn TH100, but you can make subtle changes with different ones. I doubt it would do you much good if I told you all about my favorite tubes, but maybe folks here can make suggestions based on how you want to change the tone.

[orangebassman]

Look up a guy named Jerimy Mcneil on facebook. He made me a custom head shell case for my terror bass 1000 and it was perfect. Very reasonable price too and he makes a ton of stuff like that. If you can't find him just PM me and I will connect you two.

[Hellavision]

I got a spare headshell from a guitarstore here in sweden. Another guy ordered it for his amp but changed his mind before it arrived so I got a deal on it. Sadly it's the larger version so it's too deep for my or80. But someday I'll get a tablesaw and cut it down to size.

What I'm trying to say is talk to some orange-dealer close to you and see if they can order one for you. Seems like they can.

[Kristian Ford]

Hell, back in the day, they just painted them black!
(to the chagrin of many vintage Orange users...glad mine escaped that!)

I also have a Marshall checkerboard cab that the grill cloth was painted black, I literally cleaned it off, with acetone and a qtip, square by square...I might not ever want to do that again, but it was worth it!