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King Loudness « Cool British amp »
Published on 10/31/11 at 16:13The Orange Rocker 30 is a great sounding all tube head in that classic tradition of simple and stripped down British fury. It delivers 30 watts of power and features two channels. The clean channel features simply a volume control, and the dirty channel features gain and volume controls. The amp has a basic shared EQ featuring bass, middle and treble controls, and it is run by a single pair of EL34 tubes in the power section. No effects loop, no reverb, just a pure and simple, stripped down British tone.
UTILIZATION
Dialing in this amp for a good sound is not too difficult. I find the EQ controls to be less responsive than I might like at certain times, but that's how many British voiced amps are for me... they don't have the defined parameters of low, midrange and high. It is almost as though this amp has a more narrow focus to the EQ, which isn't for everyone, but it does help in getting that more nasally classic British type of tone.
SOUNDS
I've tried this amp through various guitars and it's certainly got that aggressive British bark to it. The clean channel is decent, though there is not a lot of control with just a volume knob. It is the type of gritty clean that you might use for blues or rock stuff over more pristine textures. The drive tones have a great classic voice that excels for everything from Thin Lizzy to Paul Gilbert, great British fury that packs a serious punch. It's not the most versatile or dynamic drive sound, but the sort of crazy attack that it does, it does well. It's got a pretty loose vibe overall, very typical Brit rock tone.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Orange Rocker 30 head is a decent buy for the cash. They ran about $1,400 new which is a decent price for a great sounding British made tube head. The lack of reverb/effects loop might turn off players, as might the stripped down control layout, but overall it works very well for that simple yet effective application of rock n' roll.
UTILIZATION
Dialing in this amp for a good sound is not too difficult. I find the EQ controls to be less responsive than I might like at certain times, but that's how many British voiced amps are for me... they don't have the defined parameters of low, midrange and high. It is almost as though this amp has a more narrow focus to the EQ, which isn't for everyone, but it does help in getting that more nasally classic British type of tone.
SOUNDS
I've tried this amp through various guitars and it's certainly got that aggressive British bark to it. The clean channel is decent, though there is not a lot of control with just a volume knob. It is the type of gritty clean that you might use for blues or rock stuff over more pristine textures. The drive tones have a great classic voice that excels for everything from Thin Lizzy to Paul Gilbert, great British fury that packs a serious punch. It's not the most versatile or dynamic drive sound, but the sort of crazy attack that it does, it does well. It's got a pretty loose vibe overall, very typical Brit rock tone.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Orange Rocker 30 head is a decent buy for the cash. They ran about $1,400 new which is a decent price for a great sounding British made tube head. The lack of reverb/effects loop might turn off players, as might the stripped down control layout, but overall it works very well for that simple yet effective application of rock n' roll.