Do Orange amps generally have a very particular voicing?

[playas]

Who is an orange fan?
What other amps do you like?

I´ve only played through one orange amp...and I can´t even remember the model at this point as it was years ago, but I just never seem to gel with what I hear of them in clips either. Are there any classic recordings that I should listen to to get a better idea of an orange amp giving up the goods?

I´m guessing that they may have a particular voicing that I just don´t appreciate. Even some amp models which in theory should be right up my street just don´t have any appeal.
Is there some secret trick that I´m missing to get the best out of them?

I know this is very general, but I wouldn´t expect to get on with every amp from any brand in any case and "in general" I´d say I get along with Marshalls, Fenders, Vox and many other brands and I´m curious to hear opinions.​

 

[Wattage]

Well an Orange Dual Terror has been one of my main amps for about 10 years and I love it. It has JJ12AX7 pre's and JJ EL84 power tubes, I tried Ruby's as well but the JJ's seem to work better sonically for me and they have held up ridiculously well. The DT doesn't have a lot of clean headroom but that is not something I have ever been concerned with. What it does have is stellar midrange grind from mid to hi gain, it is literally the sound I always had in my head and as soon as I played my first chord thru it I was hooked. The Vox Night Trains I found very similar in a lot of ways.but they were a little thinner sounding. The other thing I love about it is the power scaling switch (7/15/30wt), I find it changes the character slightly, mostly in regardless to bass response. I have had 2 different AD models as well both excellent but I didn't keep them, kind of wish I held onto the AD30 head, it was great. I really don't know who all uses Oranges so I can't tell you what to go listen for unfortunately.

I run thru several different cabs and the DT works well with all of them, I don't dig it with Vintage 30's though which is funny to me because Orange seems to love to put them in their cabs. I also have a EVH 5150 III 50wt w/6L6s and a Friedman Little Sister that I run thru the same basic cabs and while I dig them both the Orange is still my fave.

 

[beaubrummels]

I only have experience with one Orange amp, my AD50. When everything is dimed, they do have a flabby buzzy fuzzy low end that is characteristic and awesome. But if you roll the bass back to 70% it starts to sound like a really clean even Marshall a bit, though it still has it's own character. For me, I made sure I picked a model with a Presence control, that gives me more versatility and enables me to get the old Matamp/Orange sound as well.

To hear the classic Orange sound, try early Black Sabbath, early Fleetwood Mac. There are live vids of Free and AC/DC playing with them and you can hear what they sound like. In recent years, Sleep / Matt Pike is the quintessential Orange sound for me.

 

[Mincer]

Sabbath only used Orange for those German Beat Club videos, as Orange sponsored the show. Apparently Sabbath hated them, as well as many others who were used to Laneys, Marshalls, and Hiwatts.
Early Sabbath is certainly Laney.

 

[Securb]

I hear other people play Orange and I love the tone. When I play one I can not gel with the amp. I am thinking maybe the response is a bit different than what I am used to. I would love to get my head around the issue they are unique and interesting sounding amps.

 

[Securb]

Early Sabbath is certainly Laney.

...and VOX

 

[playas]

Early Sabbath is certainly Laney.

That was my impression too.

 

[Mincer]

...and VOX

Early Deep Purple is Vox (and is a better tone than Blackmore got later). BTW, modern Orange amps are nothing like the ones that Sabbath hated. But I swear, Orange based their comeback on the circulation of the Beat Club videos on TV and online.

 

[xxxplorer]

Old Oranges and new Oranges are different animals. Both cool. Old OR80 and OR120s do that Doom/Stoner thing when dialed in. A thing you feel more than hear. Just a really thick knarly tone. The FAC knob changes the coupling caps and really affects the tone and feel.

Modern Oranges... to me... thicker modded Marshalls. Not a bad thing. But they don't really sound or feel like the old OR's at all. So I just use actual modded Marshalls lol.

 

[Aceman]

I hear other people play Orange and I love the tone. When I play one I can not gel with the amp. I am thinking maybe the response is a bit different than what I am used to. I would love to get my head around the issue they are unique and interesting sounding amps.

This is me. Know people who play them and dig them.

I could never get along with me playing them though.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I used to have a Dark Terror which was a fun little amp that recorded well with a very light mod I did, but toy-like in the grand scheme of things.

I have a friend with a Rockerverb Mk. II half-stack which is great, but kind of expensive for what it really is IMO.

Their cabs are really hard to mic because of the thick grill cloth, and I hate the straight cabs' baffle being completely parallel to the back.

I'm not a fan, honestly, but with the right boost, they're kind of pretty decent amps for stuff other than Doom/Sludge/Stoner or whatever genres they're targeting them towards.

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

OG Oranges and the Matamp's they were designed around in fact have a plethora of distinctive sounds. They can range from huge bottom heavy beasts with a low end girth and raunchy fuzzy tone that is unlike anything else to a vintage Marshalleque kerramg that has more gain on tap depending on the FAC/Depth knob, gain, and MV settings.

Most modern Oranges do not sound like their vintage ancestors, nor do they have the same design architecture or componant quality, whereas Matamp has stayed true to their roots in terms of tone and design

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

My Matamp GT150.

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

Gut shots.

 

[BenPerkins]

I can only speak for the OR15 and Micro Dark (my travel amp). The Micro has a 5751 and can get a decent woman tone, all the way to Sabbath and higher with a pedal (though it is a little noisy). OR15 reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s “The Rover”. Add a Phase 90 and you’re there. I would also reference Matt Pike for this topic.

Other amps… these days I’m loving my Friedman Little Sister through a cab with Greenbacks. Even Sabbath and stuff like that sounds great with just the amp’s gain. You hardly need a treble booster since you’ve got the bright switch. One night we even played Surf through it (with Fender 6G15 and Weber Cali 12F) and it sounded great.

 

[El Dunco]

I think of mid-late Clutch. They don’t go full doom or modern metal, just ‘Pure Rock Fury.’

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I always think the old seventies Oranges sound fantastic in clips...

That old OR120 is the clear winner here for me :bigthumb:

What a sweet sounding amp!

Next up the OR50...

But yeah, they all sound great to my ears..

I love my two SS Oranges (CR120 & Super Crush 100) as well.

 

[solspirit]

I kind of like my Orange crush 50, but it's a bit too saggy.

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

I think of mid-late Clutch. They don’t go full doom or modern metal, just ‘Pure Rock Fury.’

I love all of Clutch's albums, but yeah those tones are bad ass. The opening to "American Sleep" lets you know exactly what kind of ride you are in for. I love playing that song. Never played it through my Matamp funnily enough. I may have to change that fact this week for shits n giggles.

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

I always think the old seventies Oranges sound fantastic in clips...

That old OR120 is the clear winner here for me :bigthumb:

What a sweet sounding amp!

Next up the OR50...

But yeah, they all sound great to my ears..

I love my two SS Oranges (CR120 & Super Crush 100) as well.

Nice, one of these days I may have to hunt down an OR120 to compare directly with my Matamp GT150.