What are peoples views on orange amps?

[GibsonKramer]

Eh... for what I paid, I expect a little bit better customer support than those forums. The dude deleted the picture I posted of their $3,000 (retail) amp I bought, one thread I posted asking where everyone was, and one response to a necro thread. Basically, he just deleted my account.

I recreated it, and then sent a PM to every administrator. See, I used to do this. I was a mod... and his behavior is pathetic. That is where Orange sends you directly for support.

He pissed off the wrong guy. This amp is well within the return period, and with everything going on right now... I'm not in the mood for shit customer service. Its not that earth moving and for what I spent, I can get pretty much anything I want.

 

[paul-e-mann]

Eh... for what I paid, I expect a little bit better customer support than those forums. The dude deleted the picture I posted of their $3,000 (retail) amp I bought, one thread I posted asking where everyone was, and one response to a necro thread. Basically, he just deleted my account.

I recreated it, and then sent a PM to every administrator. See, I used to do this. I was a mod... and his behavior is pathetic. That is where Orange sends you directly for support.

He pissed off the wrong guy. This amp is well within the return period, and with everything going on right now... I'm not in the mood for shit customer service. Its not that earth moving and for what I spent, I can get pretty much anything I want.

Kick some Orange @$$ man!

 

[GibsonKramer]

Kick some @$$ man!

I'll say this for Orange... you call them at their offices and they are WAY cool.

Just got off the phone with the UK asking about Customer Support, spoke with a guy named Harry. Real down to Earth, friendly and helpful guy.

We'll see where it goes from here.

 

[paul-e-mann]

I'll say this for Orange... you call them at their offices and they are WAY cool.

Just got off the phone with the UK asking about Customer Support, spoke with a guy named Harry. Real down to Earth, friendly and helpful guy.

We'll see where it goes from here.

I believe their USA support is in Atlanta, I've spoken to them there and they were way cool, sent me free bulbs for my amp and Orange picks and stickers.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I purchased a th30 head for my grandson at Xmas last year from GC, it was 750$, he had already purchased the 212 cab, must say that it sounds awesome,he is pairing it with a dsl40c in dualmono just fnn huge sound, and he is a System of a Down type tone and I have used it for stoner doom, sludge type tones, think Black Sabbath

 

[Satchmodog]

I love my Orange amps. My first was the Micro Dork Terror, then I got the Jim Root Dark Terror and picked up a crush 20 dirt cheap used and made it into a head powering a 212. It now sounds awesome, compared to those trash VotW speakers.

 

[Classicplayer]

Sorry to hear all the negative thoughts about their forum. Not too impressed, myself. I've only received or noted one or two responses to my amp questions that actually helped me....and thanked the authors. I'm beginning to think that my time could be better used on other amp forums.

Personal opinion: Sometimes I think members joined just to list their Orange gear...both current as well past “used to own”.


Classicplayer

 

[Classicplayer]

Orange’s customer support is very good. I had Alex get me onto their forum when I had technical trouble creating an account.

I got an informative response yesterday by email on how to acquire fuses for one of their amps that I own. Turned
out the ACE Hardware is the place to go for them; among others. Who knew?

classicplayer

 

[Classicplayer]

I'm pretty happy with the two Orange amps that I have now. I began with the Micro Dark and was using my Les Paul with it into the Orange PPC112 with the V30 speaker.
For a hybrid amp, it was perfect for me as I dwell on the clean side of Rock tone more than 50% of my playing time. It still has that familiar tube thump going on when called upon to do it.

Almost two years later I bought their Dark Terror and using it with the same cab and my Les Paul, I can still get my clean tones; only with some edge to it and with a twist of wrist and selector switch, move right into that Orange lower mids gain sound. I use both amps with just a TC Hall of Fame reverb.....that's all I really need these days.


classicplayer

 

[GibsonKramer]

Eh, after the wankers on their forum were exposed, a nice chat with the UK office, I've removed the stick from my butt. I think most of it, was due to paying that price, and it not being something like an original mint, 100w Plexi (which would actually be significantly more $$$). I just have to accept, it's a hand built, soldered, point to point Custom amp. It's going to cost a boatload, regardless who built it.

I'm used to spending that on my guitars. Not my amp heads.

I really wasn't liking the sound from my 1960AV (Marshall Vintage), so I started running it through my Mesa Boogie Recto 1x12. Wow... What a difference. They were made for each other. Reminded me of the original 2x12 I had tested the CS50 through. It finally proved to my mind, there is a significant difference between the Vintage and the V30. I see that argument go all the time. Definitely, 2 distinct speakers.

I'd like to try mixing them in a cab. Maybe in a 2x12?

I tried finding another Recto 2x12 vertical 16 ohm... But that was Mission Impossible. Decided to trade the Mesa cab, and my Tweaker 15 for an Orange PPC412 straight cab.

Yeah, that was the ticket. Good call. I liked the Tweaker, versatile little amp. Just never played it. Played the Mesa daily, but I can't really tell the difference between it and the Orange, except the Orange is bigger and louder. I will miss the Mesa.

Not something I would normally pull the trigger on, or even really look at. It's the color orange. I HATE orange. Just happened to line up right. I'd have a hard time parting with it now.

I thought my Jubilee was a beast... This thing is on another level pushing volume. I am not saying the CS is better, but I wouldn't want to make a choice, and wouldn't argue with someone that said it was. It really is an incredible amp. However, I constantly plug into the Jubilee to remind myself, there are things it does better.

I'd have a hard time saying which tone I like better. It'd be completely dependent on what I was playing. 70s stuff, the CS smokes the Jubilee. The Marshall takes pedals better, and has an incredible gain stack.

I like the options. Orange, despite social media issues... Is a fantastic company, and product. I don't get the bad rap, unless you dealt with the forums shortly after purchasing. Some of it Made in China... still built like a tank, sounds good. I really like their analog SS amps. I think they rule that market.

 

[solarburn]

Necro thread...however I love certain Orange amps just like I love certain Marshall amps. Two different voicings that rock.

 

[J E H]

They have a "citrus" tone
The do provide Vitamin C
As Zappa would say, I prefer muffins

 

[tidbit]

I have an Orange Rocker 30 head that I used for a Punkish band I was in about two years ago. It worked great. It reminded me of a modern "punchier" take on my old JMP with a little more grind and a mid voiced lower than Marshalls.. Unfortunately, that amp has been sitting unloved for a while. We got the band back together for one last jam over the summer before the bassist moved out of town. The Rocker 30 sounded glorious.

 

[JacksonCharvelAddict]

I want to reiterate that I am a Marshall fan fist and foremost. That being said I have been very impressed with what Orange has been able to accomplish since getting back into the amp game. They basically started the small amp trend with their tiny terror line. From what I have heard the Rockerverb and their other large amps really seem to be delivering the goods for bands looking for a modern high gain sound. The Rockerverbs seem to also be capable of more vintage tones as well. I have been wanting to try a Rockerverb ever since I found out Jim Root was using one since I would not have expected Slipknot to use a British voiced amp. I definitely think that Orange has made a massive impact on guitar playing and music in general over the last 10 years or so. I would never get rid of my Marshall stack but I would love to have an Orange stack right next to it.

 

[Classicplayer]

Do Orange amps require a different playing technique or style? I’m not really familiar with Marshall amps and never have owned one or had the desire to own one. When it came time to get a tube amp, I explored Fender and Orange; ending my search with an Orange Dark Terror. It's taken me almost a full 12 months to figure such a simple amp out.

I don't know if anyone here in this thread has gone through a similar exploration with an amp that appealed to them on one level, yet became a difficult process in understanding how best to use the amp for their own purposes.

My choice of a Dark Dark Terror with all the gain flavors going on in this amp has had me changing as to how I play this particular amp. I've had to be a more deliberate player and learn to slow my playing down in order to take advantage of the tones that I've discovered. When I play Fender amps, I seem to rip around the fretboard and
my tone seems to take care of itself. Everything to me sounds good on a Fender, but there are some things I play on my Dark Terror that just don't impress me tone wise; resulting in my experimenting to find a “workaround . a challenge which I welcome.


classicplayer

 

[Mystic38]

quite frankly i have no idea what anyone's issue is with the Orange forum.. There is a lot of very technically competent folk if you have issues with an amp, and a solid set of users who contribute regularly..

That said... Marshall amps outnumber Orange amps 10:1 probably, and this forum deals with everything incl Marshall, and the Orange forum does not.. so if you are expecting hundreds of regular posters..do the math.

Secondly, given that you actually cannot post a picture in the Orange forum, but only a link to an image on a photo server (eg google photos) then nobody can "delete" your image, AND like many sites, you cannot post links to photos until a certain post count has been reached... so the "i posted a photo of a $3000 amp and the mod deleted it" is real hard to believe.. however the photo not showing up?.. thats really EASY to believe..it happened to me a lot early on.

fwiw, imo the mods are neither jerks nor slackers, but actually have day jobs, and are in bands so their time is limited, and in truth.. if I was a mod, and somebody resurrected a 10yo thread in order to be a d**k and started whining yup, i would toss them out too...but hey.. its a nice place, but that means you need to play nice....

 

[Mystic38]

I had the TH30 which has the same tonestack (aka shape control) as the Dark terror..

All Orange amps have a heft of low mids, and if you are used to emphasizing the low strings to exert more bass from (say ) a Marshall, then that may result in confused tones in the lower registers, particularly if you are looking for classic rock tones.. but hey..thats just my view so take it with salt.

What defintely DOES need to get used to is the shape control. on the DT which many folks have a love/hate perspective of... if you want some better insight on what it does, then if you look in the technical section of the Orange forum from a couple/3 years back you should see a bunch of plots i did showing the eq curves of the shape control on the TH30.. where a small change accounts for a lot of tonal change.

For classic rock i was at 11 o clock on the shape control, 10 o clock on the gain (with a les paul) but if you are not getting the tone you want, the best bet is an eq in the loop, of if wanting a tighter sound some sort of low cut is in order..any OD will do this..so classic TS with output high and gain low drops off the low end..

dunno if this helps..but DT is a real nice amp.

Do Orange amps require a different playing technique or style? I’m not really familiar with Marshall amps and never have owned one or had the desire to own one. When it came time to get a tube amp, I explored Fender and Orange; ending my search with an Orange Dark Terror. It's taken me almost a full 12 months to figure such a simple amp out.

I don't know if anyone here in this thread has gone through a similar exploration with an amp that appealed to them on one level, yet became a difficult process in understanding how best to use the amp for their own purposes.

My choice of a Dark Dark Terror with all the gain flavors going on in this amp has had me changing as to how I play this particular amp. I've had to be a more deliberate player and learn to slow my playing down in order to take advantage of the tones that I've discovered. When I play Fender amps, I seem to rip around the fretboard and
my tone seems to take care of itself. Everything to me sounds good on a Fender, but there are some things I play on my Dark Terror that just don't impress me tone wise; resulting in my experimenting to find a “workaround . a challenge which I welcome.


classicplayer

 

[Classicplayer]

I had the TH30 which has the same tonestack (aka shape control) as the Dark terror..

All Orange amps have a heft of low mids, and if you are used to emphasizing the low strings to exert more bass from (say ) a Marshall, then that may result in confused tones in the lower registers, particularly if you are looking for classic rock tones.. but hey..thats just my view so take it with salt.

What defintely DOES need to get used to is the shape control. on the DT which many folks have a love/hate perspective of... if you want some better insight on what it does, then if you look in the technical section of the Orange forum from a couple/3 years back you should see a bunch of plots i did showing the eq curves of the shape control on the TH30.. where a small change accounts for a lot of tonal change.

For classic rock i was at 11 o clock on the shape control, 10 o clock on the gain (with a les paul) but if you are not getting the tone you want, the best bet is an eq in the loop, of if wanting a tighter sound some sort of low cut is in order..any OD will do this..so classic TS with output high and gain low drops off the low end..

dunno if this helps..but DT is a real nice amp.

Good post. I’ll have to search your shape control plots on that forum. I agree about micro e.q. tone changes that can happen with the shape control on the Dark Terror....I own one, and I've spent an inordinate amount of time tweaking that knob to see what happens to the tone. Moreover, to complicate things further, the shape knob seems to also be dependent on where the volume and gain knobs are set too. Maybe this why some owners are in a love/hate status with it. I prefer a Page-like bright tone, so the shape control is usually found to be set between 2 and 3 p.m.

Agree also: The DT is a nice amp, but it's taking me a long time to get it dial'd in to my Les Paul so that I get a consistently good Rock (not Metal) tone each time I use this amp.


classicplayer