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Orange OR-80 or OR-120


davidM

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Can anyone share their thoughts on these heads? They aren't exactly easy to get your paws on so you pretty much have to score one from the bay, and hope for the best. (this is after a crazy bidding war)

 

anyone have sound threads?

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Can anyone share their thoughts on these heads? They aren't exactly easy to get your paws on so you pretty much have to score one from the bay, and hope for the best. (this is after a crazy bidding war)


anyone have sound threads?

 

 

awesome, awesome amps, but loud as piss.

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I"ll be going in blind.

 

I hear nothing but good about them, and my last Orange head was really good to me. I'm not going to be getting on immediately, but if i have a "gear goal" I usually find a way to meet it within a year.

 

I'm just trying to learn EVERYTHING possible.

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I"ll be going in blind.


I hear nothing but good about them, and my last Orange head was really good to me. I'm not going to be getting on immediately, but if i have a "gear goal" I usually find a way to meet it within a year.


I'm just trying to learn EVERYTHING possible.

 

If I were you, I would definately try and play through them before you buy one. I had a OR120 come through the shop used a while back and it sold the same day to a guy who bought it without playing it and he only had it a week before he dumped it. He said it wasnt for him and he bought a RV100. I really really like em, but they are not for everyone.

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What kind of sound are you looking for?

I have an '73 OR120 Pics and text model and it sounds very good. It's surprisingly versatile because of the FAC switch- it can go from a thick, fat, bassy sound to brighter direction. I use mine for Rock, hard rock, pop rock, and jazz stuff. Mainly Rock 'N' Roll. These beasts can get real aggressive if dialed that way. They don't have a ton of gain, but can sound like Black Sabbath in terms of gain. I cannot describe the sounds well enough so I'll leave that to others..

An Overdrive model (or an OTR, which is a reissue model made in the 90's) would distort quicker because it has a master volume. Your best bet would be getting one of those two, or an OR120 with a master volume mod, if you want to get distorted sound at small club volumes/whatever.

 

Of course its volume has to be turned up to get a distorted sound. I'd guess that volume level is too much for many players.

 

Mine has no master volume.. I usually run it at 11-12 O'clock, depending on what I'm playing. If I want some real distortion, I use an overdrive pedal like Boss SD-1. The OR models are quite picky when it comes to pedals, because they can have a huge low-end, which might get missing with pedals. The SD-1 takes away some bass, even though mine's been modded to have an improved bass frequencies. But in a band situation that doesn't matter that much. I just turn the bass a bit higher on the amp.

 

Here's mine:

DSC_0266e.jpg

 

I only have one Fender, a Mexican strat with 2x single coils and a humbucker as a bridge pickup. When using the humbucker (no idea about its model), the amp begins to distort at 10:30 on the Hi-input. I don't know if it should be that way.. that humbucker might be a crappy one with too high output levels. I'm just starting my trip on the path of gear.

 

With single coils it needs a lot more volume to overdrive and starts to be scarily loud. Earplugs are must to me at least after 12 O'clock..

 

And, it sounds very good as a bass amplifier too! Not too much clean headroom, but I like a dirty bass sound in some situations.

Got it a some months ago, but it was on a tech's desk for a month. Now it's recapped and -tubed.

 

I've got to get a better cabinet and some decent pickups to get a better idea of it.

After that I'm going to buy a THD Hotplate to tame it a little bit. -4 or -8dB should do the trick so I can get the most out of it.

 

-------------------------------

 

Here's some general info and pictures of the different models:

http://www.orangefg.com/

http://www.soulbuzz.de/orange/frame2.html

 

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If you want to get a better idea of what they can sound like, check these links. Most of them are Orange Overdrives, but here's some anyway:

 

The Hellacopters- OD120's for guitars, OR120 as the bass amp:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u6hGfr0C7C0 - 3 Orange in the same music video!

 

Free- an early Orange/Matamp OR100, I think. Pretty close to the OR-series:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zuM2LM7BtIY

I could nail that tone, if I could play like Kossoff.

 

Dead Meadow- an OR120 or OD120 I'd say:

 

Mars Volta use vintage Oranges as well, or at least have used.

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excellent, i'll check the clips when i get back on my machine tomorrow (sidekicking today)

 

I play guitar in a post hardcore band so it needs to be a pretty thick gain, but not heavy metal but heavier than the sabbath ACDC tones.

 

The real dilemma is that its almost impossible to try one of these because you pretty much have to get really lucky and hope your local shop gets on. There is a shop in town that carries a lot of Orange products, but the used stuff doesn't stay long.

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I play guitar in a post hardcore band so it needs to be a pretty thick gain, but not heavy metal but heavier than the sabbath ACDC tones.

 

 

I'm not too sure about that..

There's a Swedish band called Generous Maria. Their ex-guitarist had an pix-only Orange full stack. Here's some examples of that tone, mixed with a different amp, unfortunately:

 

 

Those are probably played with Big Muff though.

 

From studio:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=71386369

 

'Bootlicker' and 'The Chilling Effect' should be guitar straight to the (almost) cranked amp. There's another amp too..

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i know a lot of people are reverting to stomp boxes for distorion/OD again.

 

and Orange has a great clean tone.

 

i'd like to avoid that. sounds too... processed, and sterile. i want the tubes to do the work, not a little box.

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i know a lot of people are reverting to stomp boxes for distorion/OD again.


and Orange has a great clean tone.


i'd like to avoid that. sounds too... processed, and sterile. i want the tubes to do the work, not a little box.

 

 

If you are looking for the dirt to come from the amp and not pedals in front of the amp. DO NOT GET ONE OF THE OR SERIES AMPS. you will hate it. They are very loud and clean amps for the most part. I have cranked them and at best , youre gonna get into early Sabbath type gain, if even that much. Try the Rocker series. They are unbelievable amps!!!

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