I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

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fiveightandten
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by fiveightandten » Sun Mar 05, 2017 7:03 pm

a.hun wrote:I'm with Nick - I've also long suspected that Orange simply don't have the rights to build the old OR80 / 120 amp models. Indeed just a theory, but I think it is pretty likely right.

Doesn't really matter TBH. They were designed and built in the days of massive stage volume levels, and were very very successful at that. Massively loud guitar amps, even the OR80s. However they just don't sound that good until cranked a fair bit. (And also need really good power valves for good performance and reliability!) They simply aren't really very practical guitar amps these days IMO.

Lower wattage amps like 30 - 50 watters are PLENTY loud enough for almost all stages now, and very few people who buy bigger amps get to push them properly very often. At least though most modern 100 watters (and many other vintage ones, but not the Oranges) will sound fairly decent at lower volume levels. Master volume circuits (and things like attenuators) are much more effective now than the really primitive MV on my '78 Overdrive. But then I almost always used that amp for bass. Truly great tones for bass, but pitiful clean headroom, so too loud for guitar but not really loud enough for bass compared to other '100 watters'. These days they are (IMO anyway) just glorious anachronisms...

Orange have simply moved with the times, but, as always, have done it in their own sweet way. I like the fact that they can take a look backwards while still moving forwards. The new Rockers (15 / 32) are an example, and I’d love (but can’t really justify) a new R.15 in black. Not going to sell my old R.30C for it though – no way! If you want something close to the old ORs in character and response, but actually practical to use properly, that remains the amp for me! (Though TBH for what I'm doing these days the R.15 would be even more practical!) ;)

What I think Orange have always done best is to come up with amps which are different but really effective, often with very simple controls – just the way I like it. But I have no beef with them going in different directions to suit guitarist with different needs. And they have even practically created new markets, eg the TT lunchbox thing. They weren’t the very first to come up with that style of amp, THD for one had them earlier, and my old 70’s 10W TOA PA amp fits the bill too. But they certainly made the whole thing popular, just look at all the other amp companies doing it now!

It'll always seem a bit strange when they discontinue great models, but it is also totally natural. Orange are a pretty sussed and successful company these days, and will always have to make commercial decisions. There will be new models coming along no doubt, though probably not as direct replacements for the discontinued ones. Because they just don’t work that way, and more power to them for that I’d say! :)


Andy.
Spot on. The OR-120 is a fantastic amp, and IMO one of the best sounding circuits ever invented for a guitar amp. But it's an absolute dinosaur in today's gigging world, and brutally loud. It's woefully impractical for most guitarists playing these days. I've been struggling with attenuation and other means of controlling the volume of mine for years, in an effort to actually use the damned thing!

It's a glorious sound when they're wide open. But most of us just can't do that anymore. Orange is making amps that people want and can use in 2017. As much as I prefer the older ones, they just aren't as practical.

-Nick
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by Gladmarr » Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:18 pm

If you really want an OR120, the closest thing out there right now is a GT-120 from Matamp. The GT-120 has a few more tonal options compared to the OR120. It would seem Mat Mathias kept a few tricks for himself.

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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by a.hun » Sun Mar 05, 2017 10:38 pm

Thanks Nick! :)

I'm still going to have to put in a good word for the Rocker 30. IMO it has probably about 90 - 95% of the gnarly punchy character of the old ORs despite the more standard EQ. Really not like either the AD30 or the Rockerverbs. Can't speak for the new R.15 / R.32, but if they have enough in common with the R.30 they should be well classy too.

You never get around to trying a Rocker yet Nick?


Andy.
aNDyH. :wink:

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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by fiveightandten » Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:54 pm

a.hun wrote:Thanks Nick! :)

I'm still going to have to put in a good word for the Rocker 30. IMO it has probably about 90 - 95% of the gnarly punchy character of the old ORs despite the more standard EQ. Really not like either the AD30 or the Rockerverbs. Can't speak for the new R.15 / R.32, but if they have enough in common with the R.30 they should be well classy too.

You never get around to trying a Rocker yet Nick?


Andy.
I never did, Andy. :oops: Actually, there was a forum member local to me that has/had TWO of them and was selling one. But I wound up buying a Hi-Tone HT30 instead. At the time, I had just finished replacing the entire output section in my AD30, following the heater failure, which cooked half the output section. I wasn't too fond of modern Oranges at that moment and went with the hand wired Hiwatt clone instead.

I wanted to get together with him just to do some amp oogling and compare the R.30 to other amps, but my schedule was so busy a few months ago I didn't get around to it. I'll have to send him a PM if he still has them.

In all honesty, I've been soured a bit on new Oranges due to all the problems I've had with my AD30. I kind of swore off modern PCB wired amps after that. I'm selling the AD30 (I got the Hi-Tone to replace it). I'll let you know if he still has one of those R.30s. Hopefully we can get together at my practice space and let it rip.

-Nick
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by alexauxier » Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:37 pm

It's not a matter of owning rights. That's not the problem. We own the rights. I'll say this:

1) We are growing rapidly. We are working actively to identify where we stand in the industry. We have no choice but to "trim the fat" right now. Anything that's been discontinued wasn't selling well. Now we are trying to reposition ourselves appropriately.

2) Reissues are hard to do for a number of reasons. Beyond legal and production issues, if we do it correctly a reissue of, say, the OR120 would cost as much as a small car. Finding the right components to pull it off is next to impossible. That's if we do it properly in a way that won't result in all you guys complaining about it on our forum...

Hahaha. Love you guys.
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by lunchbox » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:22 pm

Wendigo wrote:I'm afraid that as much as I love Orange, they have over the past 10-15 years drifted into the highly publicized "angst" scene and money-grab realm of compressed high gain nonsense. I see my personal fiends and customers returning to basic models of classic Orange, Matamp, Fender and Marshall designs. It's been fun though while it lasted. Orange should return to the basic no-nonsense powerful-when-cranked-stuff from yester-year, unless they want to become today's "Trace Elliot".
My worthless opinions:
1. '...high gain nonsense'; you can always turn the gain down and the master up. Personally, I love the high gain amps that Orange is making. I have a CR120 and the gain is great for my band. I don't use any other distortion or gain pedals.

2. The 'no-nonsense powerful-when-cranked-stuff from yester-year' probably wouldn't sell as well today as the OR15, RV, R30, CR120, etc. There's just no need for a 120 watt tube amp w. no MV that doesn't break up until it's at around 120 db's.

3. Music has changed, so Orange has changed along with it. Today's players dictate what the amp companies should make through sales, as Alex said. If it aint selling, then there's no reason to continue making it and losing $$$. In clubs today, with a good PA system that mic's the guitars, an amp even as small as a 15 watter can do the job nicely w/o blowing everyones ears out.

I'm interested to see if Orange will go down the modelling path. Some guitarists out there swear by them and think that in another 25 years that most amps will be modelling. I don't see that, but kids getting into guitar these days may prove me wrong and want that ability to have 500 different amps and effects. :?:
Last edited by lunchbox on Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by lunchbox » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:25 pm

...

misterfolkertsma
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by misterfolkertsma » Mon Mar 06, 2017 8:57 pm

Meh. I still see plenty of bands playing them, so things can't be going that bad. Especially in the stoner/doom scene there's plenty of Orange/Matamp going around.

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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by fiveightandten » Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:08 pm

alexauxier wrote:It's not a matter of owning rights. That's not the problem. We own the rights. I'll say this:

1) We are growing rapidly. We are working actively to identify where we stand in the industry. We have no choice but to "trim the fat" right now. Anything that's been discontinued wasn't selling well. Now we are trying to reposition ourselves appropriately.

2) Reissues are hard to do for a number of reasons. Beyond legal and production issues, if we do it correctly a reissue of, say, the OR120 would cost as much as a small car. Finding the right components to pull it off is next to impossible. That's if we do it properly in a way that won't result in all you guys complaining about it on our forum...

Hahaha. Love you guys.
Thanks for chiming in, Alex. I totally agree. You have to go where the money is. That's why you're still here!

Though, I can't, for the life of me, understand why the production cost of an OR-120 would be so high. There aren't any special components in the amp. Even if you're referring to winding true to spec transformers, Mercury Magnetics already makes them.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't think it would be a sound financial decision. But I can't imagine why it would cost more to build than any other amp.

-Nick
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by wrath » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:02 pm

fiveightandten wrote:
a.hun wrote:I'm with Nick - I've also long suspected that Orange simply don't have the rights to build the old OR80 / 120 amp models. Indeed just a theory, but I think it is pretty likely right.

Doesn't really matter TBH. They were designed and built in the days of massive stage volume levels, and were very very successful at that. Massively loud guitar amps, even the OR80s. However they just don't sound that good until cranked a fair bit. (And also need really good power valves for good performance and reliability!) They simply aren't really very practical guitar amps these days IMO.

Lower wattage amps like 30 - 50 watters are PLENTY loud enough for almost all stages now, and very few people who buy bigger amps get to push them properly very often. At least though most modern 100 watters (and many other vintage ones, but not the Oranges) will sound fairly decent at lower volume levels. Master volume circuits (and things like attenuators) are much more effective now than the really primitive MV on my '78 Overdrive. But then I almost always used that amp for bass. Truly great tones for bass, but pitiful clean headroom, so too loud for guitar but not really loud enough for bass compared to other '100 watters'. These days they are (IMO anyway) just glorious anachronisms...

Orange have simply moved with the times, but, as always, have done it in their own sweet way. I like the fact that they can take a look backwards while still moving forwards. The new Rockers (15 / 32) are an example, and I’d love (but can’t really justify) a new R.15 in black. Not going to sell my old R.30C for it though – no way! If you want something close to the old ORs in character and response, but actually practical to use properly, that remains the amp for me! (Though TBH for what I'm doing these days the R.15 would be even more practical!) ;)

What I think Orange have always done best is to come up with amps which are different but really effective, often with very simple controls – just the way I like it. But I have no beef with them going in different directions to suit guitarist with different needs. And they have even practically created new markets, eg the TT lunchbox thing. They weren’t the very first to come up with that style of amp, THD for one had them earlier, and my old 70’s 10W TOA PA amp fits the bill too. But they certainly made the whole thing popular, just look at all the other amp companies doing it now!

It'll always seem a bit strange when they discontinue great models, but it is also totally natural. Orange are a pretty sussed and successful company these days, and will always have to make commercial decisions. There will be new models coming along no doubt, though probably not as direct replacements for the discontinued ones. Because they just don’t work that way, and more power to them for that I’d say! :)


Andy.
Spot on. The OR-120 is a fantastic amp, and IMO one of the best sounding circuits ever invented for a guitar amp. But it's an absolute dinosaur in today's gigging world, and brutally loud. It's woefully impractical for most guitarists playing these days. I've been struggling with attenuation and other means of controlling the volume of mine for years, in an effort to actually use the damned thing!

It's a glorious sound when they're wide open. But most of us just can't do that anymore. Orange is making amps that people want and can use in 2017. As much as I prefer the older ones, they just aren't as practical.

-Nick
Nick,
what are your thoughts on OR120 Overdrive...I'm talking about vintage ones...the first line I guess which were made sometime in the mid 70s (I know that those made in the late 70s had a completely different Orange logo). I have one and a Rockerverb 50 (MKI...first version with 4 6v6 in power section). Different amps, but definitely beasts. I in fact don't see Overdrives around much. Do you know how different they are from the classic ORs? My friend has a classic OR120...brutal, huge beast...probably the loudest amp I ever heard. My Overdrive on the other hand seems quieter, of course it has much more gain, and the FAC seems less "sensitive". I've had the amp for around 10 years now and no problems with it...it never got more quiet, or had any problems with the sound, it burned a fuse only once (and this was due to partly my mistake...I totally cranked it and the vibrations of the cab made the speaker cable go out of the amp a bit, just enough to lose concact). Now, my amp needs big servicing, which is finally happening next week...all new tubes, recapping, and all that needs to be done. I'm like a 3rd or 4th owner and the first one, very smart, took off the tolex, installed some ugly handles on the sides (this actually makes it easier to carry although aethetically it's done terrible) and painted the wood green. My tech will now take care of the gut section but aesthetics will have to wait a bit...because money. I'm not sure if I even want to dress her up or just leave it like this...naked and ugly :D. And if I do dress her I'm thinking of maybe putting some other tolex colour...black or some dark green...something that doesn't show every little spot of dirt :). Anyway...what's interesting about this amp is that it has a huge low end...a low end that is expected from a 120 watt amp, if not more (much more than my RV50 and I've heard 100 watt amps with less low end), however it's quieter compared to that OR120 my bandmate has. I mean the amp is loud, but when I push the volume to around 3/4 then it really opens up and it just gets enormous...before that you just get that big low end but not that much volume (I say again, the amp is loud...it's not that it sounds like it has half the power). I mean this has some positive sides because like you said the OR120 is practically unusable these days. I tried playing through my mate's on rehearsal...I like tube amp distortion...I don't use distortion, overdrive or fuzz pedals...none of them come near to a good amp's natural distortion. It wasn't doable...I would just kill all of us in that room. I had to use a distortion pedal. But Overdrive can get that nice distortion without killing everyone. It in fact has quite a good amount of gain. Now after servicing I will see (hear) how much difference will there be volume-wise to the OR120. I'm planning on ABYing my RV50 and my Overdrive. We're a loud three piece playing heavy, downtuned music (we tune to A). My bandmate is a bassist, but also plays a guitar that's why he got the OR some years ago. He will ABY his solid state bass amp (made by this local tech who makes great valve and ss amps) and his OR120, considering how loud and how much low end the amp has I think he will get a godly tone out of all that. As will probably I with the more modern voiced RV and the beautiful vintage fuzziness of the Overdrive combined. So, any thoughts on my story? Why don't I see Overdrives often around? Are they somekind of a rarity now? Are they different from the classic ORs in a way that they might be quieter a bit?

btw. What I did notice with all these three amps that when they're all set to clean (meaning using RV's clean channel) they all sound quite similar. It's the volume and the gain what makes them different.
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by Wendigo » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:22 am

lunchbox wrote:
Wendigo wrote:I'm afraid that as much as I love Orange, they have over the past 10-15 years drifted into the highly publicized "angst" scene and money-grab realm of compressed high gain nonsense. I see my personal fiends and customers returning to basic models of classic Orange, Matamp, Fender and Marshall designs. It's been fun though while it lasted. Orange should return to the basic no-nonsense powerful-when-cranked-stuff from yester-year, unless they want to become today's "Trace Elliot".
My worthless opinions:
1. '...high gain nonsense'; you can always turn the gain down and the master up. Personally, I love the high gain amps that Orange is making. I have a CR120 and the gain is great for my band. I don't use any other distortion or gain pedals.

2. The 'no-nonsense powerful-when-cranked-stuff from yester-year' probably wouldn't sell as well today as the OR15, RV, R30, CR120, etc. There's just no need for a 120 watt tube amp w. no MV that doesn't break up until it's at around 120 db's.

3. Music has changed, so Orange has changed along with it. Today's players dictate what the amp companies should make through sales, as Alex said. If it aint selling, then there's no reason to continue making it and losing $$$. In clubs today, with a good PA system that mic's the guitars, an amp even as small as a 15 watter can do the job nicely w/o blowing everyones ears out.

I'm interested to see if Orange will go down the modelling path. Some guitarists out there swear by them and think that in another 25 years that most amps will be modelling. I don't see that, but kids getting into guitar these days may prove me wrong and want that ability to have 500 different amps and effects. :?:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO no modelling! :lol:

Don't get me wrong, I have a Dual Dark 50 with tons of gain on tap for those "moments" and I love it....it's prety flexible. It's 50 watts though and just the head cost 2000+ euros. I just thinks it's like going to a chinese restaurant: If the menu has 100 items on it with numbers, you know it's gonna be crappy food. An amp that aims for less of a spectrum of sounds will inevitably excel at that range as opposed to an amp that trys to cover all bases. Has anyone here played the chinese made V22 from Bugera? Dirt cheap, full tube amp with plenty of options, that you can CRANK and sounds absolutely stellar for a fair range of tones. I'd like to see Orange do some low/mid wattage gigging amps like that, with better reliability for a small price increase perhaps. Instead they seem to be focusing on lunchboxes with scooped mids and loads of gain for the Youtube crowd. I get that the market is there, but why be Orange if your not going to make "Orange" amps. Remember how Jefferson Airplane was Starship by the 80's? We don't want that happening with our oranges. :D

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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by fiveightandten » Thu Mar 09, 2017 4:01 am

wrath wrote:
Nick,
what are your thoughts on OR120 Overdrive...I'm talking about vintage ones...the first line I guess which were made sometime in the mid 70s (I know that those made in the late 70s had a completely different Orange logo). I have one and a Rockerverb 50 (MKI...first version with 4 6v6 in power section). Different amps, but definitely beasts. I in fact don't see Overdrives around much. Do you know how different they are from the classic ORs? My friend has a classic OR120...brutal, huge beast...probably the loudest amp I ever heard. My Overdrive on the other hand seems quieter, of course it has much more gain, and the FAC seems less "sensitive". I've had the amp for around 10 years now and no problems with it...it never got more quiet, or had any problems with the sound, it burned a fuse only once (and this was due to partly my mistake...I totally cranked it and the vibrations of the cab made the speaker cable go out of the amp a bit, just enough to lose concact). Now, my amp needs big servicing, which is finally happening next week...all new tubes, recapping, and all that needs to be done. I'm like a 3rd or 4th owner and the first one, very smart, took off the tolex, installed some ugly handles on the sides (this actually makes it easier to carry although aethetically it's done terrible) and painted the wood green. My tech will now take care of the gut section but aesthetics will have to wait a bit...because money. I'm not sure if I even want to dress her up or just leave it like this...naked and ugly :D. And if I do dress her I'm thinking of maybe putting some other tolex colour...black or some dark green...something that doesn't show every little spot of dirt :). Anyway...what's interesting about this amp is that it has a huge low end...a low end that is expected from a 120 watt amp, if not more (much more than my RV50 and I've heard 100 watt amps with less low end), however it's quieter compared to that OR120 my bandmate has. I mean the amp is loud, but when I push the volume to around 3/4 then it really opens up and it just gets enormous...before that you just get that big low end but not that much volume (I say again, the amp is loud...it's not that it sounds like it has half the power). I mean this has some positive sides because like you said the OR120 is practically unusable these days. I tried playing through my mate's on rehearsal...I like tube amp distortion...I don't use distortion, overdrive or fuzz pedals...none of them come near to a good amp's natural distortion. It wasn't doable...I would just kill all of us in that room. I had to use a distortion pedal. But Overdrive can get that nice distortion without killing everyone. It in fact has quite a good amount of gain. Now after servicing I will see (hear) how much difference will there be volume-wise to the OR120. I'm planning on ABYing my RV50 and my Overdrive. We're a loud three piece playing heavy, downtuned music (we tune to A). My bandmate is a bassist, but also plays a guitar that's why he got the OR some years ago. He will ABY his solid state bass amp (made by this local tech who makes great valve and ss amps) and his OR120, considering how loud and how much low end the amp has I think he will get a godly tone out of all that. As will probably I with the more modern voiced RV and the beautiful vintage fuzziness of the Overdrive combined. So, any thoughts on my story? Why don't I see Overdrives often around? Are they somekind of a rarity now? Are they different from the classic ORs in a way that they might be quieter a bit?

btw. What I did notice with all these three amps that when they're all set to clean (meaning using RV's clean channel) they all sound quite similar. It's the volume and the gain what makes them different.
The Overdrive *is* an OR-120. I don't think I've ever seen one marked "OD-120". They're all OR-120. The Graphic model doesn't have a master volume, and the Overdrive model does. They're essentially the same amp. The only difference is the addition of a master volume to the circuit. Now, Orange did change the circuit a number of times in the 70s, so you will find variation from amp to amp. But the Overdrive was no different from the Graphic amps being made at the same time.

That being said, the master volume circuit itself does affect the sound slightly. People say it's "out of the circuit" when it's turned up full. But from my experience there is a slight difference in sound.

There could be a few things going on with your low volume Overdrive amp.

First, the master volume circuit on these amps is pretty poor. Well, more accurately, the amp wasn't designed with one in mind, and the sound relies heavily on the output section. As such, the amp just plain doesn't sound proper until the master is up over at least 7 or 8. And you get an appreciable amount of volume added in the last few notches. So if you're playing the amp on 7 and thinking it's not loud, that's why. Peg the master volume all the way up, and that will get you full volume. This isn't like a Marshall or Fender, where the amp doesn't get any louder after 5 or 6.

Second, earlier 70s amps had a different phase inverter circuit. It did make these a bit more powerful than the later amps. If you're comparing one with an old style PI to one with the later style, you will have some variation.

Third, due to component tolerances, every amp sounds different. When amps have huge amounts of low end, it takes more power to push those frequencies. Think of a bass amp vs a guitar amp. If you have one OR-120 with tons of bottom, and another that's less bottom heavy, the latter amp will seem more powerful. This is also true of a given amp, depending on the FAC and bass knob settings.

And lastly, there may be something wrong with the amp. We could make a laundry list of things to check out. But if it's going to the tech, he should sort out any issues with it. Old tubes can yield weaker power output, by the way.

Hope that helps. It could really be any of the above, or a combination of these. It's hard to say without seeing the amp. But if it's not sorted out by a visit to the tech, proper bias with new tubes, and the volume on full, open up a thread or PM me.

-Nick
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wrath
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Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by wrath » Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:53 pm

Nick, no I haven't seen one marked OD either. On the back of my amp it's written OR120, and on the front panel it's written Overdrive (as you can see in the pic in my signature). Then there's this version http://guitar-auctions.co.uk/wp-content ... 0320-1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which I believe is the Overdrive from the late 70s, maybe even early 80s. Now, I'm not sure about those 90s Orange amps...it's somewhere in the back of my mind that I saw one of those marked as OD in front.

Anyway, although my old amp might have some issues (I honestly don't think it has been serviced properly for years and I think it still has original preamp valves...I changed the power amp valves a few years ago, and then a guy who did that for me told me that an extra resistor has been put in there, for god knows which reason...anyway he didn't remove that resistor as I didn't ask him...that's one of the things the tech will do now. Oh and I didn't experience the amp getting quieter or louder after replacing the valves) it basically works fine. And one thing you mentioned is quite true...it in fact gets extremely loud in that last 1/4 of the volume...then you feel like you're playing through a 120 watt amp...like I said, when I pushed it that far, the vibrations of the cab pushed the speaker cable out of the amp's input a bit. This is however not the case on the early OR120 my mate has or on the RV50...they are getting louder more gradually. And my mate's OR gets extremely loud ever before noon. I heard the AD140 had a similar problem...that it starts sounding good only when you get to that last 1/4 of the volume. I wouldn't say mine sounds bad (well it kinda does if you keep volume at one and push the gain a lot...then it just sounds like crap...if you set it clean and keep it quiet then it sounds actually really nice) on lower volumes it just sounds...kinda muddy I would say...like that huge low end drowns out other frequencies and when you turn it up to that "sweet spot" of its, then you feel it really "opens up", and you hear everything great...only at that point it's just loud as dollywaggle.
Image
Amplification: 70s OR120 Overdrive, Rockerverb 50 MKI, Rockerverb 100 MKII, PPC412
Axes: Tokai Love Rock LS-80, ESP LTD Viper 400
Synth: Novation Bass Station II

wrath
Orange Hero
Posts: 450
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:52 am

Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by wrath » Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:59 pm

oh and really, is it me or do these pop up less often than the classic ORs?
Image
Amplification: 70s OR120 Overdrive, Rockerverb 50 MKI, Rockerverb 100 MKII, PPC412
Axes: Tokai Love Rock LS-80, ESP LTD Viper 400
Synth: Novation Bass Station II

a.hun
Duke of Orange
Posts: 9765
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2002 1:05 am
Location: Amsterdam, Hollandland.nl

Re: I fear that Orange will suffer a decline...

Post by a.hun » Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:59 pm

wrath wrote:Nick,
what are your thoughts on OR120 Overdrive...I'm talking about vintage ones...the first line I guess which were made sometime in the mid 70s (I know that those made in the late 70s had a completely different Orange logo). I have one and a Rockerverb 50 (MKI...first version with 4 6v6 in power section). Different amps, but definitely beasts. I in fact don't see Overdrives around much. Do you know how different they are from the classic ORs? My friend has a classic OR120...brutal, huge beast...probably the loudest amp I ever heard.
Nick about covered it. The Overdrive (about '76 - '78) wasn't that uncommon, and basically just added a master volume to the OR120. Not higher gain than the non MV amps, though the '90s OTR apparently had a little more gain tweaked in. According to Ade Emsley the OTR was just the Overdrive with 18 minor changes.

There was also a Series II, (about '79-79), much less common. Was that what you meant by different logo?
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The logo and some other small visual details were also slightly different on the '90s reissues.
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Yep you need to wind the Master up to get the full effect. And as Nick says they were maybe slightly less loud (due to the PI change) than the earlier '70s OR120s, though still massively loud for guitar.


Andy.
aNDyH. :wink:

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