Need Help Identifying Vintage Orange 4x12

[joshapark]

I came across this cabinet at a music store in New York for a decent price. They labeled it as a 70s Orange 4x12. It's pretty beat up, looks like the grille cloth was changed, cab handles are definitely changed as they are Carlsbro cab handles, Orange logo gone.. I realized when I got home that the dimensions of the cabinet seemed off. I took a tape measure to it and got 30 1/2" wide, 28 1/2" tall, and only 12" deep rather than 15" deep. I opened it up, and saw that there was no center post either. The speakers were Celestion G12M-70s and G12T-75s.. No black piping. The serial number plate is long gone if there ever was one. It does have however the wood skids on the bottom. It's got me wondering if this is even an Orange cabinet at all. On the inside there's a signature of a "JS Davis" and above it it's dated "24/10/1984". On the outside, on the back, there's some tape that has "AEROSMITH, Vinny! Case should be ready in time for Aerosmith dates."

[Randy Bass]

My best guess is that it was custom-built in the 80's by a small shop based on the info you found and the speakers in it. Little things like the off-center input jack and the baffle suggest to me that it was not made by Orange. I don't think Orange was even producing anything in 1984. The orange basketweave tolex might have been hard to get at that time though, as I think Matamp was the only one using it then.

[bclaire]

That's definitely an Orange cab. Beat-up, but Orange nonetheless....

The dates may refer to speakers being replaced since I would guess it originally had Eminence in it... The broken and missing corners look like 70's to me...

[joshapark]

The only thing that really bothers me is the depth of it is pretty off from every other orange cab I've seen. I'm hoping it is a genuine orange, but maybe I'll never know.

[z11111]

Hate to bring back a dead topic, but I just stumbled upon this and I am now the owner of this cab haha. A fellow vintage amp enthusiast told me it's definitely an authentic Orange and likely dates to the early 70's but was clearly heavily modified in presumably 1984 to it's current state. I bought it from the warehouse of a local New England music store chain that went out of business.

The two replacement G12M-70 speakers in it are awful

Additionally, after doing some research, looks like this cab was in fact used by Aerosmith on the second leg of their 1984-1985 tour. Here's a still from a video of them performing in Lynn, MA with a wall of badge-less identical cabs. I'm not an Aerosmith fan so I don't really care, but hey, it's a thing.

[bclaire]

What music store? Daddy's?

I sent the pic to a buddy of mine who worked for Aerosmith... he might know more about it....

[bclaire]

Two friends who used to work for the band have nothing on it but said they'd ask around. I'll let you know if anything turns up on it...

[z11111]

What music store? Daddy's?

I sent the pic to a buddy of mine who worked for Aerosmith... he might know more about it....

Yup, got it from the Daddy's warehouse in Manchester a few years back for a steal. Thanks for asking around!

I've done a bit of work on it and this is what it currently looks like. Sent photos to Orange for authenticity and was able to order a replacement badge. I took out the G12M speakers and replaced them with G12K-85s (older UK-made version of the G12K-100) and moved one of the G12T75's over so now the speakers are in an X formation. Sounds incredible with my amp and is an extremely solid cabinet.

[bclaire]

Cool... had a feeling about Daddy's. Still haven't heard anything back regarding Aerosmith authenticity but I'd bet it was theirs...

... or maybe an opening act. Just looked up who was on tour with them back then here but not really sure about anything:
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