OR120 1974 or What?

[HeathworkOrange]

The attached pictures show an OR120 and bottom. I'd like help confirming the date of the head. The bottom is a 1974 based on the speaker codes. The head has the graphics and the descriptions on the face. The blue electronic components inside the head have 74 06 stamped on them. I am taking them as date stamps.

Does this look like a 1974 to you? Any other info I can get that would help?

Thanks, Steve

http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveHeath2 ... AndBottom#

[Orphin]

Do you have a reason to doubt that it is from '74?
Looks like a '74 to me.

[bclaire]

Actually, judging by the serial number it's probably a 1973.

Go to the Orange Field Guide and scroll down to dating Oranges. Yours is a pix and text Orange...

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

[a.hun]

The attached pictures show an OR120 and bottom. I'd like help confirming the date of the head. The bottom is a 1974 based on the speaker codes. The head has the graphics and the descriptions on the face. The blue electronic components inside the head have 74 06 stamped on them. I am taking them as date stamps.

Does this look like a 1974 to you? Any other info I can get that would help?

Thanks, Steve

http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveHeath2 ... AndBottom#

Hi Steve.

OR120 1974 or What?

Yeah, what! The head ser. no. looks like '73 to me too.
Tolex looks almost too good - very clean. Ditto on the cab. Apart from Mr. Warrens spray paint that is. Is he someone famous I just happen not to have heard of? If not thats a real pity!

What is happening with that speaker cab though? Odd speaker, strange wiring! Not sure what the square magnet speakers are, or what their power handling would be. (Maybe they are original Eminence drivers, maybe not. If so they should be 16 ohm drivers.) But that single Celestion is very unusual, and unfortunately all wrong for that cab. (For starters you can't make a 16 ohm 4x12 with one or more 8 ohm drivers in it!)

Very unusual Celestion in fact though. If original and without a recone it is a 25W G12M Blackback, but with a low resonance 55Hz 'bass' cone, instead of the normal 75 Hz cone. If original the cone would probably have '14' or '014' stamped on it. These are pretty rare, even the 'Rola Celestion' era ones like that...
See the 2nd pic on this long Celestion 'Greenback' thread here for a 'Pre Rola' example:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... adid=67646" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd advise real caution using that cab with your amp meantime. In fact to be blunt I wouldn't - even if you have already tried it out I'd not plug in again just now. Until you know what is going on here both the amp and cab are at real risk, especially if you were to crank the amp hard.

For starters that 25W speaker could easily be blown by that amp and that would be a real shame. If intact and original it'll sound great and be worth something - more than usual for old 'Green / Black / Creambacks! Someone who really wants it would probably pay decent $ / £ / € / ? anyway. Blown it would just be unfortunate history and not worth a lot. I'd take more photos of it showing all the date and other manufacturing stamps, chassis and cone. You can post them here and/ or send them to Celestion for really good info. See the 'ask Dr Decibel' page here:
http://professional.celestion.com/guita ... /index.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can anyone actually say what the other speakers are? Original US fitted Eminences? (I dont know those myself! ) Impedance, power handling rating? Until you know for sure HeathworkOrange, you'd be risking serious amp damage from potential impedance mismatch or from blowing (or possibly running into already blown) speakers which can also do serious damage. As I say even if you've tried it and it sounded fine you might be playing Russian Roulette with the amp and those speakers. Valve amps are designed to be correctly impedance matched with the speakers they are running. Going too far from that correct match can mean expensive damage, and if you blow the output transformer, even with a top quality replacement fitted the amp would never sound exactly the same again.


Andy.