My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Maybe someone can help you date your Orange Amplifier?

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David Watts
New Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 3:31 pm
Location: France

My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by David Watts » Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:28 pm

Hi everybody.
This is my first post here.
I live in France and i think i have a nice story to tell you, about my Orange Matamp OR100 head.
It was my first tube amp back in 1980 when i was just a teenager. You can see her on the picture below (my first concert ever).
The hand you can see is of a friend of mine which was doing some kind of human clean boost, pushing up the volume for me when i was playing solos. :lol:
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After some years of use the head had problems, she stopped working, so, instead of taking her to a tech, i would put her in the cellar of my friend drummer of the group, and almost forgot her there.
At this time in 1991, we bought a new Rose Morris Vox AC30 with money earned by playing gigs (still own the Vox today) and forgot about the Orange.
I think the explanation is that we didn't care too much about gear in those days. they were just tools to make music... Or maybe we just smoked too much.
Anyway, time passed and one day in the beginning of the nineties, my friend gave the head to his young nephew, and he bring the head to his home in Germany and had it repaired.
Finally, last week, after almost 25 years, i traveled to Germany with my old mate, 1000 kilometers from my hometown, in order to bring back the OR100 to France, and here she is.
:)
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The tubes :
2 Mullard ECC83 preamps
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4 AEG EL34 . I don't konw if they are the original tubes
Here's what Watford says about that brand :
"A.E.G was the company that formed out of the demise of Telefunken. It carried on producing valves for a number of years under the A.E.G brand name. We believe that these were made by Siemens Germany due to the valves construction. This valve is a fantastic audio valve providing balance detail sound with good bass. In small guitar amps such as Marshalls and W.E.M the distorted sound is both large and rich."
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3 Partridge transformers 1969 ?
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Filter caps ?
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Circuit. Are the blue caps from a repair in your opinion ?
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The power cord has been hardwared, not in a very good way I'll have to have it fixed...
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Missing impedance selector. Do you think i can find a replacement as for the voltage selector ?
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Back view
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The white plate was a bit bent. Repaired !
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Serial. In your opinion 69 or 70 ?
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And here she is, cleaned a little, just waiting to go and see the amp doctor...
:)
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I can't wait to to hear it again after all this time.
Cheers.

Bendyha
New Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by Bendyha » Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:10 pm

Nice looking amp David, and well worth the trip to regain it.
I'd love to draw up the schematic and add it to the collection, we don't have one of those yet as far as I know. It certainly seems a bit diferent from my GRO 100. I'll see how well I can zoom in on those photos of yours to try and spot the differences.
B. Hickmott.

David Watts
New Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 3:31 pm
Location: France

Re: My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by David Watts » Thu Nov 27, 2014 11:26 am

Thanks Bendyha, that would be nice.
Tell me if there's something you'd need to specifically see better on the pictures.

a.hun
Duke of Orange
Posts: 9765
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2002 1:05 am
Location: Amsterdam, Hollandland.nl

Re: My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by a.hun » Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:28 pm

Hi David.

Sorry, wasn't much of a welcome here... :(

Great story. You started playing that amp about the same time I got my '78 OR120M Overdrive - I bought it in '80 as well! (20th March to be precise! :lol:)

Yeah if the amp doc knows what they are doing with old Oranges you should be in for a treat. (Not all do though - they aren't just funny coloured Marshalls!) What you may have forgotten is just how loud they are. Possibly why you went to an AC30, not that they are exactly quiet either...

Have fun! :D


Andy.
aNDyH. :wink:

Ever tried to outstare a mirror?

In the bathtub of history the truth is harder to hold than the soap, and much more difficult to find!

David Watts
New Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 3:31 pm
Location: France

Re: My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by David Watts » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:17 pm

Thanks Andy.

I've had some info from Matamp :
"Your serial number 106 gives the following info:

Input sensitivity for full power:

Studio 1 = 26mV
Studio 2 = 13mV
Stage 1 = 13mV
Stage 2 = 7mV

Watts at 7.5R = 120

Signal to noise -73dB

4.25% THD

Tested on 3/12/1970

It is almost 44!"
Too bad they don't send schematics, but it's nice to have had a reply to my mail.

Ruptor
New Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:05 pm

Re: My Orange Matamp OR100 is back home

Post by Ruptor » Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:57 pm

Can someone point me to a schematic of the OR100 like this one? Since Bendyha on this thread said he would like to draw one I guess it didn't exist two years ago but does it exist now?

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