Orange OR 120 - Google cant help me, can you?

[(s)aint]

Hi

Saw this OR 120 on a local ad site. I am wondering what it is, if its genuine, when it was made, what its worth, what it sounds like? and anything else you want to tell me about it.





Its being advertised for about 640 pounds if I convert directly.

What do you guys think?

[bclaire]

Orange made those combos in the 70's. Looks pretty cool - they usually seem to go for big money but where are you? In the USA, there are a couple for sale on ebay that have been there for quite a while, meaning priced too high.

One caveat is that they weigh a ton.... and as a vintage amp it could need caps or other work- definitely plan on replacing tubes.

[(s)aint]

I'm all the way down in South Africa (i used down because I assume you are in the uk or the states) so Orange amps are an unknown quantity here. My rocker 30 is the only Orange I've seen in person.

I would have to travel fairly far to go have a look at this amp. Could you point me to some information on it? Does it have a master volume? Is is usable in a loudish bedroom environment. What is the overdrive like on these bad boys? How many channels does it have? Is 640 pounds a fair deal considering the new tubes and servicing costs.

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply

[bclaire]

It's a non-master volume model so it will be LOUD before it breaks up for distortion. You could always pull two output tubes and "make" it an 80 watter but my experience is, it's still going to be very loud. Being in the USA, £640 sounds like a good deal, but I'd have to see a UK person weigh in. It's a single channel amp- no channel switching here.

It's a great amp but with your questions I'd suspect you're looking for something more modern...?

[a.hun]

Hi (s)aint.

Some good info on old Oranges here:
Orange Field Guide
Orange Amp Info Page

Agree with the above comments from Billy. These amps are ferociously loud and the combos especially are unbelievably heavy too. (Don't go thinking 'Fender Twin' heavy - these brutes are WAY heavier than that!) Realistically speaking while tremendous amps they are pretty close to being totally impractical for modern stages, especially if you have to shift them yourself...

The OR120 was designed when stage volumes were getting really extreme in the late '60s / early '70s. They were basically dirty rock orientated amps but to get a non master volume amp like that one to break up means cranking it right up. When the overdrive happens it happens pretty abruptly, but even with two power valves pulled (running as an OR80) this won't happen until the volume levels are seriously loud, and unfortunately the old ORs only really start to sound great when pushed fairly hard. At (even loudish) bedroom volumes they sound pretty naff. Louder, clean tones are great, really rich, and the distortion is very distinctive and aggressive. But you'd need a good attenuator with a high power handling rating (eg a THD Hotplate) to get the amp sounding great at modern stage volumes.

Basic tonal character is very low and low mids centered so they are fatter and ballsier than say high mids biased Marshalls which are 'shoutier' if you follow. Old Oranges make supreme electric blues and blues orientated rock amps. The ultimate gain levels aren't high but they don't need to be - the overdrive distortion is really rich and complex - quite a unique sound.

One other thing. These amps run the power valves at rather higher than typical voltages and you need very strong ones for decent valve life. If very lucky there might still be nice old '70s valves in it, but chances are they will have been replaced with cheap modern ones which would indeed need replaced pretty soon. Good quality ones like SED and JJ can last well enough if biased right though. And yes the amp may well need a 'cap job' as 20+ year old electrolytic capacitors can die causing messy problems if they do.

Not trying to put you off or anything, but I've mainly used my OR120 head for bass over the years. For guitar it is simply way too loud...

Couple more (mainly) OR threads to give you the general idea:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39963" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42429" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Andy.

[(s)aint]

Thanks Andy, that is a fantastic response and I now know that in another life (in which I am filthy rich) I would love to own this piece of Orange history but practically its not going to be worth the money.

Thanks again.