OR15 does not sound right...at all.

[BJC]

I purchased a used OR15 and made the mistake of testing it with a crappy practice amp speaker. Now that I'm at home it clearly isn't working right. I've got it plugged into a sealed 2x12 cab with Vintage 30's and there is no bottom end at all and overall it sounds too nasally. Additionally, the eq knobs are not responding correctly. The mids and bass knobs do absolutely nothing to the sound. The treble knob doesn't seem to affect the highs either PLUS it seems to affect volume. All the way down there is almost no sound coming out and it gets progressively louder as I turn it up, but the highs aren't noticeably affected. I just attributed the less than stellar sound to the crappy speaker I was testing it with and stupidly paid up for it.

Could this be bad tube(s)? I don't have a lot of experience with tube amps. I should mention I also own a Tiny Terror and there is a drastic difference. The TT has WAY more low end and sounds so much better overall. So there clearly is an issue with the OR15. I tested them both back to back with the same guitar and cable plugged directly into the amp. I sincerely hope it's something as simple as a bad tube and that I didn't get ripped off. I appreciate any help you can offer.

Update: I swapped out the power tubes with some new ones I have. No change. I'd like to get some advice here before I try anything else.

[a.hun]

I BJC. Welcome.

Yes, it is very likely to be a bad preamp valve. Using a good working spare just swap them all out individually to try to find a duffer. If that doesn't work I'd make contact with the seller (quickly!!!)

Good luck!


Andy.

[BJC]

Hey Andy, thanks for the welcome and advice. I'll do it and report back.

[BJC]

Ok...a brief moment of elation followed by a quick let down.

Here's what I did: I took a 12ax7 out of my tiny terror and replaced each 12ax7 in the OR15 one at a time, testing it each time. No change. Then I took the other 12ax7 out of the TT and replaced both of the rear 12ax7's in the OR15. Powered it up, plugged in, and wow...it sounded great. I worked the EQ knobs and they worked! I was so relieved. But seconds later it went back to the way it was. I played with the knobs, turned the power on and off a few times. No luck.

What could have happened to make it work for about 20 seconds?

[a.hun]

Don't know. Sounds like there might well be a bad component in the amp causing problems (and potentially blowing the valves).

Frankly I'd punt it right back to the seller. Either that or bite the bullet and pay for a tech to investigate it. There is something not good in there at any rate, probably why it was sold!!!


Andy.

[BJC]

The seller is not responding of course. He has his money so he has no reason to reply other than to be a decent human being which obviously he is not.

Bullet will have to be bitten. I had a good phone call with Orange and I'm taking it to them in the morning. Their US headquarters happens to be 20 miles from me.

[a.hun]

The seller is not responding of course. He has his money so he has no reason to reply other than to be a decent human being which obviously he is not.

Bullet will have to be bitten. I had a good phone call with Orange and I'm taking it to them in the morning. Their US headquarters happens to be 20 miles from me.

That's handy. They'll get you sorted you out for sure.

Funnily enough I recently discovered that the European head office and repairs centre for Taylor Guitars is near me here in Amsterdam. Handy as my acoustic needs some adjusting.

Good luck with the amp and let us know how it goes.


Andy.

[BJC]

Craziest thing...

So I get ready to walk out the door this morning to take my amp to Orange and decide to power it up and make sure nothing has changed. Something changed. It sounded great. Exactly how it's supposed to. My first thought was, ok it's going to go back out any second. 45 minutes of playing later it was still going strong. I twisted and wiggled all the knobs, tapped the faceplate firmly, picked it up and gave it a gentle shake...continued to work great. So I called Orange and they're going to keep the RMA open and I'll follow up with them in a couple of weeks. And for now I'm going to rock out and melt faces. In fact, I just played it again for half an hour and managed to melt my own face. Oops.

The only thing I did between my previous test yesterday and the amp working today was put it back together. I had the amp completely out of the shell to make all the tube switching easier. I put the metal covers back on the tubes and put the amp back in the shell. Something must have happened to make it start working again. Anyway, I just hope it stays fixed.

[S&m freddy]

Sounds like it could have been a poor contact in the tube bases ....when the tubes are moved or replaced. The contacts can corrode and the new tubes pins will make contact in different places...maybe on a dull patch. Always good to run the tubes in and out a couple of times to clean up the new contact patch...with a bit of electrical switch cleaner if you have any.

I had some power tubes red-plate in a different amp because of this once.

Good news that its working now....I love my #4 Terror....which is a very close relative of the OR15...cracking amps.

[a.hun]

Could have been something like that. At any rate I hope it keeps behaving. Otherwise it'd be sounding like an intermittent problem, often total bar-stewards to track down.
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/intermit.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(Still, Orange's problem if it happens I suppose.)


Andy.

[BJC]

...with a bit of electrical switch cleaner if you have any.

Thanks for the tip. That's the aerosol can stuff, right? Would you spray that on the pins of the tube or a little down into the socket?

Otherwise it'd be sounding like an intermittent problem.

That's my fear at this point, but I just decided to put it out of my head until it goes out again. Been playing it today. Still good.

And can I just say for the record...I freakin' love this amp. I'm a player of many styles (master of none) and the amount of gain on tap is great, and I'm pleasantly surprised by the clean tone I get out of it. Maybe not for band situations, but for home practice (which is what this amp is mostly for) plenty loud enough. I feel like I could get a usable, slightly dirty clean sound at full band levels. The OR15 will definitely take some attention away from the Blues Junior NOS, though it'll never replace it for those sweet sweet cleans.

[S&m freddy]

Yep....a little (non-lubricating oooerr!) contact cleaner...down the valve bases is the way.

The #4 cleans up pretty well on the guitar volume at band rehearsal levels...but not fender clean of course....