I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

[some_dude]

Finally had a chance to play out last night. Overall it went pretty good. We had the cops by just before dark, but they left us alone providing we turn down a little bit.

Unfortunately, this confirmed something that I had dreaded for a long time now... the AD30 doesn't do gain worth sh*t unless it's pegged at 10, and even at 30w 10 is too loud for most peoples comfort. The problem is that the amp's natural preamp gain is old school, and thus pretty thin sounding compared to a modern amp unless the master volume is dimed.

Anyway, I used it on 5 for the rest of the night and primarily used it for cleanish playing, which made for some interesting covers. For the next little while I'm going to rock it on 5 during practice in order to figure out how to make it sound best at that volume.

Overall, it was killer sounding at both 10 and at 5... it's just that at 5 the gain is a touch weak. I'm going to experiment with tweeking the amp for two clean channels (one with max headroom and the other with more overdrive), then use some sort of distortion pedal for those times that I need to do chugga chugga type stuff.

Next year I am so buying a Rectoverb or Roadster combo. Don't get me wrong... I love my Orange and playing it brings me alot of personal satisfaction, but for live use playing the kinda music I play a Recto is the better choice due to it's broader tonal pallet.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

So does that mean you'll sell me one of those Oranges on the cheap? 'Cuz I mean, y'know, that'd be pretty sweet.

-X

 

[Brow]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

I have a single channel AD30 myself and agree with what you say about the gain being 'thin' or 'weak'at lower volume levels.

I find the best way to run this amp is to set the gain at about 3, so that it breaks up slightly if you play hard (depending on your playing dynamics, pickups etc) and then use OD or boost pedals to kick the amp into overdrive.

 

[some_dude]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

So does that mean you'll sell me one of those Oranges on the cheap? 'Cuz I mean, y'know, that'd be pretty sweet.

-X

No.

I have a single channel AD30 myself and agree with what you say about the gain being 'thin' or 'weak'at lower volume levels.

I find the best way to run this amp is to set the gain at about 3, so that it breaks up slightly if you play hard (depending on your playing dynamics, pickups etc) and then use OD or boost pedals to kick the amp into overdrive.

I typically set it with the gain on 5 and the master volume on 10, then I use my guitar's volume to move the gambit from dirty to clean.

What I'm thinking about doing now is using the amp as a clean amp in that I'll still leave the MV on 10, but I'll adjust the gain to suit the venue, then I'll use a dirt pedal for rhythm high gain and another one for leads.

Basically, I want to be able to carry around one amp with enough tones to fulfill what I need in a live gig, which is one of the reasons I'm looking at grabbing a Mesa again for live use.

 

[34029324079]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

thats a bummer - what do you think of the rockerverb 50 paired up with a 2x12 orange cab? they read good for clean, and a couple gain stages, and take pedals well on the clean channel, but not the dirty channel. I think the rectoverb would be alot less versatile than the roadster but want to learn more.

 

[some_dude]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

thats a bummer - what do you think of the rockerverb 50 paired up with a 2x12 orange cab? they read good for clean, and a couple gain stages, and take pedals well on the clean channel, but not the dirty channel. I think the rectoverb would be alot less versatile than the roadster but want to learn more.

I have a Rocker 30 that I normally use when playing out, but I had lent it to a friend to play this time.

The thing is that I really like playing the AD30. For some reason I find it really satisfying to play at home. The trouble is that I just can't seem to get it to work for me at lower volumes, which also means that it generally doesn't work for me when playing out.

The Roadster would be alot more versitile.... it has pretty much everything I'd want in a live amp. Unfortunatly it also costs like it has pretty much everything I'd want in a live amp.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

Try a Cornford mk50 II dude!You will like it.You have everything you need.
BTW ,the Rockverb 50 is great too!I use it in studio now ,it#s a tad loose but the crunch is great.even with 20 watts!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

The thing is that I really like playing the AD30. For some reason I find it really satisfying to play at home. The trouble is that I just can't seem to get it to work for me at lower volumes, which also means that it generally doesn't work for me when playing out.

That's some terrible news, not being able to play at the volume you want or need to. Have you tried any attenuation or anything like that? I'd try whatever I could to keep the amp tone that I want.

-X

 

[Imp]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

sounds like it's looking for a tube screamer or an sd-1 or something in front there.. i love the sound of a vintage voiced amp getting wicked up with the boss pedal, in particular!

tom

 

[some_dude]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

I've been experimenting with a TS-808 this morning. There's some hope, the trouble is finding the right balance. I'll need to play around more.

 

[34029324079]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

That's some terrible news, not being able to play at the volume you want or need to. Have you tried any attenuation or anything like that? I'd try whatever I could to keep the amp tone that I want.

-X

+1

attenuator like a hot plate might be the ticket

sorry to hear

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

The roadster is very different to either of your Oranges, and to my ears is as thin as any amp with the master low. Cool amp a higher volumes, though. I played one a month ago and liked the two lower-gain channels a lot.

you may want to look at the new express amps from Mesa, as they do variable wattage. And they're not brutally expensive.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

Why not mod your AD-30 for an effects loop and then put a EQ in the effects loop? Let me know if you are interested in this idea as I have a link to show you how...

 

[some_dude]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

Why not mod your AD-30 for an effects loop and then put a EQ in the effects loop? Let me know if you are interested in this idea as I have a link to show you how...

The amp has two completely seperate preamps in it. From what I understand, to do it correctly I'd have to run two complete FX loops with an EQ in each. I was checking into installing a reverb unit awhile ago and was told that it was pretty much a no-go.

 

[jony]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

Doesn't the AD30 have a wattage control on the back? So you can run it at less than 30. Somewhere down to 1 or something. Might help you out there.

 

[some_dude]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

No.

That's the Tiny Terror.

 

[34029324079]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

hot plate and 2x12cab that is not vertical/slanted

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

I think some are confusing the AD 30 of Vox Valvetronix with the Orange AD30 head!
Daisy is talking about the Orange Head!

 

[jony]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

I think some are confusing the AD 30 of Vox Valvetronix with the Orange AD30 head!
Daisy is talking about the Orange Head!

Yup. My bad.

 

[RushOfBlood]

Re: I finally had the chance to play the AD30 out last night.

I was going to say...I love the natural EQ of orange amps, and was wondering why anyone would buy/use one of these amps if they didn't like the tone and had to use an eq to shape it. They are usually not something people just have laying around and are trying to "make work''