Help me

[ET]

Ok, I just got a Orange 30r, and frankly, I know <u>nothing</u> about guitars or amps, especially. The amp I had originally went in and out as I moved around, so I got rid of it instead of figuring out what was wrong with it. I wanted an Orange amp anyway. Well, when I first tried it out earlier tonight, it was really quiet and had a lot of radio noise. A few minutes ago, it seemed ok, but I have no idea how to work it. It seems like none of the knobs do anything of much. The gain gives volume, but little crunch. Without any, there's no sound at all. Even with my guitar at 10 and the amp at 10, it seems a little quiet. I also have no idea how to work the high/low input, mid, low, high knobs, or channels. I don't think there's anything wrong with the amp, because the store owner tested it and it sounded fine, I just think I don't know how to use it. Help me, please.

[Oranges and Lemons]

Wow.

I'm speechless.



Edited by - oranges and lemons on 07 Apr 2004 04:02:37

[ecto coolest]

i already played this game with Trogdawn...

[filthy_rich]

... have you tried the amp with a different lead? It should be very loud and the gain should give you more than just a little crunch!

tell me the face you were born with before you were born

[User]

Also have you got any effects before your amp, if they don’t have a true bypass then if the batteries run (running) out then the signal wont get through, also if your pickups are Active then your battery might have run (running) out. i seriously doubt that it has anything to do with the amp.



Dave

[bclaire]

try a new cable first... with it as the only link between your guitar and amp.

Then get back to us.

Billy

[Andy H.]

After a shaky start, it's good to see people being a little more encouraging and helpful now...
Like an above suggestion, my first thought was ? a duff lead. Try another! Other possibilities are on the guitar itself. Try twiddling the knobs / wiggling the selector switch to see if this improves any bad contacts. If this helps the problem then spraying an electrical contact cleaner + lube (from your local electrical shop) should help more, and for longer.

Assuming you are getting a decent signal into your nice new amp, to answer your question...

The Basics:
Any guitar amp is really 2 amplifiers. Basically the pre amp comes first, and controls your tone. The power amp outputs the result into the speaker so you get to hear it. Okay. The 'master' volume control is the power amp control. The rest deal with the pre amp. (The reverb deals with the spring reverb - you'll hear exactly what that does).

The Quick Warning:
There are some serious voltages inside all valve amps, (well above mains voltages), so don't go prodding around in there unless you really know what you are doing. Likewise, I would say that you should avoid ever putting your beers, whatever, on top of the amp. That's really not cool, it's just asking for trouble...

The Fun:
Don’t just max the ‘master’ at first, at least not in too small a room. This can hurt. 30 watts can and should be really loud. Use the master to set your overall volume. Note also that when you do really wind it up, you get some really nice power amp overdrive. Just mind your ears, as the grin on your face heads east and west, yeah?

The ‘gain’ affects the amount of pre amp ‘distortion’. (More correctly “overdriveâ€

[ET]

Thanks a lot, that helps a lot. Still, my problem was not so much that I didn't know what to do with the knobs, but that they weren't doing much. I've worked with other amps and seen what they can do. I suppose I could try a different lead though.