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mooseherman « Great sounding head, great for fuzzy rock tones »
Published on 09/19/10 at 11:49This is a tube amp made by Orange, one of my favorite amp manufacturers. The amp only has one channel, but it is versatile enough that it will work for most rock situations. There are two inputs, for low and high sensitivity. There are knobs that control Master volume, gain, treble, bass, and middle. There are 30 watts of power, which doesn't seem like much, but you don't really need that much wattage anyway.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound with this amp is easy. Some players might be put off by the single-channel, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. If you have an overdrive/distortion pedal that you really like, you can simply dial in a clean sound that you really like, and use the pedal. If you are really into the distortion that the amp provides (which is fantastic, by the way), then you could simply dial in a great distorted sound and use your volume knob to roll back some of the gain (this works great on my Strat, I'm not so sure that every guitar will work this way). There's no need for a manual unless you run into trouble with the tubes, something breaks, etc. but even then you'd probably have to take it in to fix it.
SOUNDS
I really like the sound of this amp with my Stratocaster, as well as my Les Paul. I've heard guys like Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) use a Jazzmaster with this amp to great effect as well. I really think that there are great clean sounds as well as great distorted ones to be had with this amp. It's got great clarity but also can rock really hard when you need it to. The clean tones have a nice edge to them as well.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the versatility that this amp has for only being one channel. It runs a large gamut in terms of tone. It's a little pricey but most good things are nowadays. It's totally worth it if you are sure that it's the sound you want. A lot of great indie rock bands have used these amps to great effect, and alternative/rock bands tend to do the same. I wouldn't recommend it to blues/jazz/R&B guys as much, given it's tendency to be dirtier. Overall a fantastic product.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound with this amp is easy. Some players might be put off by the single-channel, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. If you have an overdrive/distortion pedal that you really like, you can simply dial in a clean sound that you really like, and use the pedal. If you are really into the distortion that the amp provides (which is fantastic, by the way), then you could simply dial in a great distorted sound and use your volume knob to roll back some of the gain (this works great on my Strat, I'm not so sure that every guitar will work this way). There's no need for a manual unless you run into trouble with the tubes, something breaks, etc. but even then you'd probably have to take it in to fix it.
SOUNDS
I really like the sound of this amp with my Stratocaster, as well as my Les Paul. I've heard guys like Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) use a Jazzmaster with this amp to great effect as well. I really think that there are great clean sounds as well as great distorted ones to be had with this amp. It's got great clarity but also can rock really hard when you need it to. The clean tones have a nice edge to them as well.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the versatility that this amp has for only being one channel. It runs a large gamut in terms of tone. It's a little pricey but most good things are nowadays. It's totally worth it if you are sure that it's the sound you want. A lot of great indie rock bands have used these amps to great effect, and alternative/rock bands tend to do the same. I wouldn't recommend it to blues/jazz/R&B guys as much, given it's tendency to be dirtier. Overall a fantastic product.