Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

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steamboat
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Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by steamboat » Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:30 am

Hi guys,

Been a while since I've been on the forums but I'm excited to be more active again. Anyways I am going to be seeking out some more vintage 70s orange amps and I've always wondered that the main things would be to look for to know the real deal from possibly buying a 90s re-issue that someone might be saying is from the 70s?

Thanks
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

Hellavision
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by Hellavision » Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:12 pm

Hardwired power cable is my quick go-to for identifying an original. Also different ohm and voltage switches. And I think the 90s ones had a metal back panel

steamboat
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by steamboat » Thu Jul 19, 2018 1:16 pm

Thanks for the reply, now that you mention all those things, I think you're right about all of them.
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

bclaire
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by bclaire » Thu Jul 19, 2018 2:58 pm

I made a graphic

Image

steamboat
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by steamboat » Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:01 pm

Awesome! Thats very helpful. Thanks Billy!
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

fiveightandten
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by fiveightandten » Thu Jul 19, 2018 9:59 pm

Billy's graphic is very helpful and well constructed. But feel free to post up pics or links and we can confirm for you.

That being said, the 90's amps are not inferior to the 70's ones.

70's - Circuits changed a number of times, so the sound isn't consistent across all of them. You may play an early 70's and like it, and not really dig a late 70's...or vice versa. Transformers are higher quality than the 90's transformers. PCB's are thicker and nicer quality than the 90's amps. Lead dress, wiring, and soldering is generally sloppier than the 90's amps. Whoever was making these back then just wasn't super clean. I cleaned up a lot of the wiring in my '71 head, and I've done it to a few 70's amps I've worked on. They're fine, but just not tidy builds, and they can be noisy because of sloppy lead dress. Component replacement can be more difficult if you have to re-cap the amp. They run hotter and can have plate voltages that are too high for most current production tubes. You have to watch the internal voltages on the B+ rail components, as basically everything runs hotter than it was intended to run.

90's - Consistent sound from amp to amp, as there was really only one production run with the same circuit and same components. It's not like the 70's ones, where you hear a friend's amp, buy a different one and find out it doesn't sound the same (but that's also part of the allure of a 70's amp, they're unique). If you hear one 90's amp and like it, you'll like another one too. Transformers aren't as nice as the 70's ones, but are decent quality compared to most modern mass produced iron. PCB's aren't quite as nice as the 70's, but again, they're decent quality. Wiring, lead dress, and soldering are very neat and tidy. They're nicely built amps and very clean builds. There are no issues with high voltages or components running over spec, as they were designed to run off modern wall voltages. Component replacement is easier as the PCB holes and lead spacing are designed for modern components.

I've owned some 70's amps and some 90's ones. I've actually to gravitated towards the 90's amps I've had most often, but there are some killer sounding 70's amps out there too. You can't go wrong either way.

Hope that helps.

-Nick
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'71 GRO100 || '96 OR-80 || AD30 || '64 AC-50 || AC-30TBX || Hiwatt DR504 || HI-TONE HT30
LP Standard || LP Studio || LP Custom Lite || Ric 620 || Ric 360 || MIA Tele || SG 61 RI

steamboat
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by steamboat » Sat Jul 21, 2018 4:49 pm

Nick,
Thanks for all that info. You have definitely given me some things to consider and think about. I appreciate you taking the time to write that.
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

fiveightandten
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Re: Best ways to identify a 70s orange vs a 90s reissue?

Post by fiveightandten » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:04 am

steamboat wrote:
Sat Jul 21, 2018 4:49 pm
Nick,
Thanks for all that info. You have definitely given me some things to consider and think about. I appreciate you taking the time to write that.
Any time. I figured I'd mention it. The 70's amps are great. But they do come with voltage issues and inconsistencies (comes with owning an old amp like that). 90's amps do not play 2nd fiddle to the 70's units. FWIW, the 90's amps follow the "post '74" schematic, and are electrically identical to late 70's amps. It's the most aggressively voiced circuit of the different iterations.

Earlier 70's amps sound less aggressive, warmer, and stay cleaner a little later. I recorded a comparison and you can hear the difference. This is my 90's OR-80 and '71 GRO100, which is not the same circuit as an OR-80/120, but it sounds similar to an early 70's OR-120/80.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGM7RBTRbuw

FWIW, it's simple for any competent tech to mod an amp to make it into a different circuit. I wired my old 90's OR-120 up to every circuit iteration Orange did (and combinations of them). So you can make a 90's amp into an early 70's circuit, or vice versa.

They're all great and you can't go wrong with any. I'd just make sure you know what comes with buying an old 70's amp, so there aren't any surprises. Make an informed purchase, and play the **** out of whatever you get. I have yet to hear a bad sounding OR-80/120. They all kick ***.

-Nick
Image
'71 GRO100 || '96 OR-80 || AD30 || '64 AC-50 || AC-30TBX || Hiwatt DR504 || HI-TONE HT30
LP Standard || LP Studio || LP Custom Lite || Ric 620 || Ric 360 || MIA Tele || SG 61 RI

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