Closet find, OR120, help dating

[deaddragon]

Just rescued this beauty from a basement closet. Any help determining what year it is, and if it looks stock or modified would be great. The guy that sold it thought it was from '76 but was unsure.

[bclaire]

Check out this site- and scroll down for serial numbers/ age, etc.

http://users.telenet.be/orangefg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Welcome to the forum- nice closet find!

[BLS]

That's awesome! What a great find! Congrats and welcome to the forum!

[bclaire]

Oh, and where can I find a closet like that?

[a.hun]

Hi deaddragon. Welcome!

Oh, and where can I find a closet like that?

Yeah, thats a very tidy looking amp!

Best to have it checked over by a good tech to make sure all is well. The main things which might need attention are the big filter capacitors which can degrade with age, especially if unused for a period of time. If they degrade badly apart from going way off spec they can actually blow (literally) which is unpleasant...

Once checked over assuming good strong valves that should be one great sounding amp.


Andy.

[deaddragon]

Thanks for the link. It appears that this one would be from 1975 based on the serial number.

I'm definitely getting her in to a tech to get checked out. Been sitting in the closet for at least 20 years, and it has some issues right now. The tubes are old Mullard's, and I'm hoping there is still some life in them but we'll see.

I've been using an Orange 4x12 on stage lately (with an Ampeg v4), and at a show a friend mentioned that their neighbor had an amp "just like that" in their basement. Put a word out, and the owner was finally ready to admit that he was never going to play it again. The cabinet has original speakers, but the grill was used as a scratching post for a cat, so it's going to need some work as well, but the tolex on both pieces is pristine, so they'll clean up nicely.

[a.hun]

I'm definitely getting her in to a tech to get checked out. Been sitting in the closet for at least 20 years, and it has some issues right now. The tubes are old Mullard's, and I'm hoping there is still some life in them but we'll see.

I've been using an Orange 4x12 on stage lately (with an Ampeg v4), and at a show a friend mentioned that their neighbor had an amp "just like that" in their basement. Put a word out, and the owner was finally ready to admit that he was never going to play it again.

Great find. You're very lucky!

Yeah, chances are that those old Mullards will have been the originals fitted in the amp. And if so, well the amp doesn't look to have had a lot of time on the road, so they could well be fine for a lot of good use yet. Hope so!

Put it this way, I grabbed a '74 Hiwatt 100 this past year via an old tech friend who had only replaced the original Mullard power valves a couple of years ago. We know for a fact that the amp has been regularly used over the years because the filter caps are still in very good nick. So compared to modern valves old Mullards can last a lot longer - between 5 = 10 x longer in fact!!!

My Hiwatt now has replacement (part used but testing fine) Mullards and is putting out a very healthy 135W RMS clean. I'm hoping these current ones will last me a good while. but I also grabbed 4 similar part used tested ones as backup.

At any rate I'd definitely make 100% clear to any tech that if they want to replace the Mullards you want the original valves back. A few less honest ones will fit (and ? overcharge you for) crappy new valves (ORs need GOOD ones), and either make a big profit on the Mullards or keep them themselves. So just grab them back - no problemo they are YOURS!!!

I'd hope they'd have plenty useful life though. Be an extra bonus. If so ask the tech to bias them carefully to the lowest plate dissipation possible without crossover distortion. That will still get great tone and will maximise the valve lives. They may still have to be run hotter than eg in a Marshall though as the OR tends to hit them harder voltage wise - by design. Mullards will cope with that fine.


Andy.