my old Orange

Orange Amps Technical Q&A's

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Anders
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Post by Anders » Tue Apr 23, 2002 6:18 pm

I recently bought a '74 or '75 Orange OR120. So far, it's all honeymoon ... I love this amp (it kicks the crap out of my Marshall JCM 800). Anyway, I've got some questions. On the far left, there is a large knob that switches between several settings. While I notice obvious differences in the sound at each position, I'm wondering what exactly is going on. Also, the amp has what seems like an effects loop (with a picture of a mountain and sound echoing off the sides). What is that, exactly?

I suppose that's enough questions for now.

Anders

spider
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Post by spider » Wed Apr 24, 2002 10:29 pm

hi anders, i too have an or120 from the 70's, i have had it for about 15 years, the control on the far left you enquire about is what is called a 'F. A. C.' ( frequency analysing control ) what it does, and i quote from my 70's Orange manual is " A six positon control gives instant selection of tones ranging from a thick chunky sound to a breath taking presence ".

The sockets with the mountains on them are an echo send and return facility, again from the book i quote "An additional professional facility for effective use of almost all echo and reverb units without impairing the original sound "


i hope this has helped you, if i can be of further help please let me know. i am confident that you will enjoy every moment with your OR120, i have tried many bass amps and none can compaire to the good old Orange.

on a coutionary note however, i would advise you to have it professionally serviced every year or so, the best valves in my opinion are Seimens EL 34.

best regards, steve. (Spider)

twang
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Post by twang » Thu Apr 25, 2002 7:33 pm

Yeah those old OR120s are nice sounding amps. I generally leave the FAC in the furthest left position, but I'm using it with an early 90s Orange 4-12 with G12T75s which are fairly bright speakers. With darker speakers I might move it over a notch. I don't know how the old 25 or 30 watt speakers could hold up to those amps unless you were using two 4-12 cabs. Mine can knock you through a wall (and the new AD140 Lead amps are even louder).

eruhf
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Post by eruhf » Thu Apr 25, 2002 7:44 pm

I run my '74 OR120 through an old Marshall 4x12 w/ 25 watt greenbacks and it sounds phenomenal...though I was worried about blowing speakers at first. I just try to watch how much I push the cab, God knows the head is loud enough at half volume.

Anders
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Post by Anders » Thu Apr 25, 2002 7:59 pm

Thanks to all for the info. I run my amp (the overdrive version) into a Marshall JCM 900 1960 300 watt straight cabinet (I like to hear the tubes overdrive instead of the speakers break up, and it does the trick). The harmonic overtones are amazing.

twang
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Post by twang » Fri Apr 26, 2002 2:48 am

Anders, I'm with you re tubes overdriving rather than speakers, at least with these amps. I think the G12T75 is a great match for this amp. BTW how did you date your amp? I thought the Overdrive models didn't come out until 1976.

davidofdavidom
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Post by davidofdavidom » Sat Apr 27, 2002 11:30 pm

I had an OR120 but I aint anymore..story of my life really, enjoy

Anders
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Post by Anders » Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:01 am

twang ... I could be wrong about the date. The guy I bought it from told me that it was either a '74 or a '75, but that he wasn't exactly sure. My tech is going to look it over this week. He knows everything, so he'll be able to tell me for sure.

twang
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Post by twang » Mon Apr 29, 2002 4:46 am

Anders, maybe I can help date it.

1. What's the chassis S/N?

2. Is the power cord hardwired or detachable?

3. Is the backpanel tolex covered with small vent or is it vented metal?

Anders
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Post by Anders » Mon Apr 29, 2002 8:34 pm

twang ... I don't have the amp in front of me, so I don't know the serial number, but I can tell you that the power cord does not detach and the back panel (nicely barbequed on the inside) has a metal grille. Thanks for your help.

Also, ever heard of people putting KT-88s in an Orange?

Anders
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Post by Anders » Tue Apr 30, 2002 12:29 am

twang ... the serial number of my Orange overdrive: 13193.

twang
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Post by twang » Tue Apr 30, 2002 4:07 am

Anders, well it definitely sounds like a 70s model, and not an early 90s reissue. I only asked because I've run into many people that confuse the two ie claim to have a 70s model when they in fact have a reissue. Not that it matters as I've heard the early 90s reissues, and thought they were pretty faithful to the original. Others may disagree. Everything I've been able to find out about the OD models seems to indicate that they were made from about 1976 until 1978 at which time the Series II version of the OD came shortly before Orange closed down for a while. But another guy I know claims to have an OD80 from 1974, so maybe they were making them then. Hopefully somebody from Orange can clear this up.

twang
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Post by twang » Tue Apr 30, 2002 4:13 am

Forgot about your other question. There were a few 200 watt amps made in the early days of Orange. Pretty sure these came with KT88s. I imagine you could use them in the 120 watt amps, but there probably have to be some wiring changes in the amp that I'm not qualified to comment on. I guess it would be similar to the Marshalls that used 6550s ie more headroom and a tighter more focused sound.

KORTEZ
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Post by KORTEZ » Sun May 05, 2002 9:06 pm

i have a jcm 800 2210, fender princeton, soundcity mark 4 custom plus i have had most of the sought after amps, hi-watts, ac30's early marshalls, etc. give me my orange or120 head anytime. as for cbs this is a weird thing. my or120 head sounds great thru the orange cab (i have another orange cab that was a real crappy sounding orange 4x12 but i sold the speakers cos they sounded so harsh and brittle, rola celestions)however it sounds even better thru my soundcity 4x12. whats weird about it is this soundcity cab is so beat up even a person who plays a transistor amp wouldnt want it! all the chipboard (yep its made of chipboard) is blown cos of the damp barn it was kept in for years. the speakers have no gaskets and are nounted directly onto the plywood soundboard. two of the speakers have a slice in the cones fron the middle to the outer edge. none of the speakers have dust caps on them. it looks dreadful but is the best sounding cab i have ever heard even though it breaks all the rules for a 4 x12! it cost me a tenner and i aint even gonna touch it out of fear of upsetting some strange and unusual balance that must be responsible for it sounding so good when it really shouldnt.
actually i think we should raom the net telling everybody in all the forums that old orange amps are rubbish so then hopefully no-one will want to buy them anymore and then we can get them for a reasonable price, it will only work if we all do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he he he he he he he he kortez, killer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

boatsinbottles
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Post by boatsinbottles » Tue May 07, 2002 7:01 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
i quote from my 70's Orange manual is " A six positon control gives instant selection of tones ranging from a thick chunky sound to a breath taking presence ".
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Hey, Spider...where'd you get the owner's manual?! Is it available online? Or would you be willing to make it available online? We should make a Yahoo! Group for Orange Amp Owners/fans...then we could upload Orange manuals, pics, schematics, share tips, etc, more efficiently.

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