All user reviews of 4/5 for the Orange Rockerverb 50 MKII Head

Amp head tube 50 watts, 2 channels, reverb, 25 kg.
This is perfect but it is heavy! The reverb is in my opinion too. I think that 100 watts is still better than 50 watts.

UTILIZATION

The setup is extremely simple and well made, it's Orange, so there is no need for manual. We obtain immediately a very good sound just by putting all the buttons at noon. A low volume amp has a great sound: playable apartment without problem.

SOUNDS

I play modern rock and punk should be quite this style of music. It is a modern Orange and has a nearly infinite amount of gain. Its sound is very soft with a slight look "dirty" very friendly. I play with an ESP Viper (made in Japan), very modern guitar EMG, and it really is a great combo. Medium loaded this amp works perfectly live, it's clean it's clear this is clear: it is not for nothing that it is the most widespread of the Orange brand live amp.
But his sound in the studio is not my favorite. The attacks are not quite impactful and I find it too heavy to medium.
The Clean is good, but much less than clean the Orange TH30.
The reverb is not crazy, I use my reverb pedal boss, I prefer.

OVERALL OPINION

This amp is versatile and complete but is extremely simple - it's really great that side. I recently heard in the studio, it makes really cool, even if it is not my favorite sound. If you want to hear this amp in a big production they have put very forward with almost no effect here is where it goes ->
Youtube type: Pierce the Veil - Hell above
I also have an Orange TH30 and is more powerful than my Orange Rockerverb 50, at least until noon in volume; strange. Another strange thing: I prefer my Orange TH30 whether clean or distortion which is very strange because the TH30 costs € 750 and € 1,550 costs Rockerverb is the only thing that I find really unacceptable. I'm not very favorable to the amp to half measures and I would advise to buy directly Rockerverb 100 model.

I pass over the technical details, I write my test once I no longer have the amp ... Maybe the fact that separate me from head motivates me to write this review. In any case, all the details are here:

So I 50W version of this head, Made in England, it's handmade and it exudes quality from every point of view. The finishes are impeccable, and the inside of the beast is as good: Good ventilation, wiring and soldering hand ... well, expensive, but good job.

UTILIZATION

Two channels, a real clean, modern, round sound and accurate, but a reverb really unmanageable. After 4 to 10, you can not do anything, so the effect is impressive cathedral.
The channel is also saturated oriented modern hi-gain, even if it retains a grain orange. Everything is still versatile enough, the nice crunch to nasty distortion.

SOUNDS

I am a true fan of the vintage Orange, and then this amp is modern in sound and design. Apart reverb unmanageable, no particular concern. It's expensive, but it's very good material. I would say that it is a versatile amp, current in the sounds, while keeping its own grain, but still far from the classic Orange.

OVERALL OPINION

I kept this amp two years. I sold it because with orange PPC212 cab is really too powerful and unusable on stage. Such a beast should be pushed to give the best of itself and the sound engineers could not frame me ...
I have not been disappointed not this amp, but not really excited either. Certainly, the distortion is Orange always impresses and manufacturing quality is at the rendezvous.
This may be a good alternative to some hi-gain amps, but with the Rockerverb one moves away from the classic orange. But it's still super gear anyway.

The Orange Rockerverb 50 mkii is a twin channeled, el34 based design with a great classic sound. Featuring a redesigned, tube driven reverb unit and effects loop. The amp also possesses a bias switch on the rear panel if you want to swap out the el34 tubes for kt88's. Classic Orange tolex gives the definitive look.

UTILIZATION

Having the ability to engage the reverb via footswitch is a great feature. The Rockerverb is a very simple amp and as such, is not difficult to dial in. Unlike Mesa boogie amps that take lot of time to find a sweet spot, Orange's sound proper just about anywhere on the dial. The tone controls are very responsive, with low and high-mid eq controls attached to the treble and bass. Build quality is rugged, as to be expected from Orange. I know many people out on the road with Orange amps and I've never heard a complaint regarding reliability.

SOUNDS

I played through the Rockerverb with a 70s Gibson Les Paul Standard. Orange 4x12. No pedals.

The clean channel just sparkles. Of all the Orange's I've played, the Rockerverb mkii's clean channel is my favorite. It is a warm, full sound that's very signature to Orange amps and seemingly refined in this particular model. Conversely, I was less than impressed with the Rockerverb's dirty channel. Compared to the AD30, it just sounded dull. The onboard reverb was tasteful but lesser in sound quality to other amp's in the price point.

OVERALL OPINION

The Orange Rockerverb mkii retails at $2149 new. In this price point the Orange is weak competitively. Amps like the Bogner Goldfinger and the Reeves Super '78 dominate it. Even Orange's own AD30 faired more favorably in terms of rock tones. Is it a decent design? Yes. Is it worth the price of admission? In my own opinion, no.

I had been waiting a while to try out the Orange amps since they claim they are the Marshall killer. I was a Marshall guy so I needed to be convinced what they claim was true. So I went down to the shop to try it out. The first thing I noticed was that it did sound very good. But I thought to myself which Marshall are they claiming to beat....Plexi, 800, 2000, 900....maybe it was the MG series to which I would completely agree with them on. Perhaps they beat the 900 series or maybe even a unmodified 800. Maybe not that far since the 800 is a classic in rock music. Well it did sound very excellent! This is the latest version of this model and the best in my opinion. Not much has really changed but the great sounding Orange tone is all there.

One cool thing that this amp does top any Marshall in the ability to change different power tube from EL34, 6L6s, KT88s, or 6550s which makes this a very cool feature. Being able to tailor your power tube section to your liking is very beneficial. Marshall has dropped the ball on something like this.

UTILIZATION

50W
4 ECC83 preamp tubes
4 EL34 power tubes
Accepts EL34, 6L6, KT88, or 6550 power tubes
Clean channel controls: Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble
Dirty channel: Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble
Reverb
FX loop

SOUNDS


I used this amp with a Les Paul and a fender Strat. I was able to get some good Zeppelin tones and dial up some Angus Young setting pretty easily. The attack was something I noticed very quickly. It had a touch response similar but more dynamic than a Marshall. It had that midrange but was different in that it felt a little more comfortable if I played sloppy than I would with a Plexi amp. I think it was a little more forgiving and a hair more saggy which would constitute the forgiveness of the amp. I pretty much stayed on the gain channel but occasionally switch over for some smooth warm cleans.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the vintage vibe it had and the better clean channel than say a JCM 2000. I was able to get a very good tone that could play in a band setting very well or record with. I would recommend this amp to anyone looking for something different than a Marshall that wants to get a good OD channel and a smooth clean channel all in one amp. It is priced a bit high for where i think it is worth, but then so is a reissue JCM 800. I would pick this amp up on the used market since they hold a good value and seem very road worthy. I was impressed with this amp. I think it had many attributes that put it above some Marshall amps.

Controls:

CLEAN CHANNEL: Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble
DIRTY CHANNEL: Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble
REVERB: Footswitchable for both channels
Features:

Reverb * FX Loop
Output:

Class A/B 50 / 100 watts (RMS)
Valves:

Preamp: 4 x ECC83, 3 x ECC81 Output – 4 x EL34 (RK100H) 2 x EL34 (RK50H)
Speaker Out:

(1) 16 Ohm, (2) 8 Ohm
Dimensions:

(W x H x D) – 55x28x28cm, 21.6x11x11in
Weight:

RK100: 23kg/50lb, RK50: 20kg/44lb


UTILIZATION

Pretty simple to use. It's just a basic 2 channel amp, each with their own set of EQs and a global reverb it seems.



SOUNDS

I have to say that orange amps almost always sound the same to me. It's as if they all make the same version of the same amp with small tweaks and extra features, or less features etc. Sort of like different packages you can get when you buy a car, the sports package or luxury package etc. But essentially they're all sort of the same.

I'm not saying it's a bad sound however, the orange sound has always been to me, like what a marshall should sound like. It's still got that vintage midrange but it's slightly smoother and thicker, not so harsh and brittle as some marshall amps can be. I've always liked how they've sounded and they always seem to have enough gain on tap to do anything. Not only that but the signal cleans up well with the volume rolled down as well which is great.

This is the improved version II so it has more knobs as opposed to the older version which I believe was with a shared EQ for both the clean and the dirty channels, and some other things such as a tube driven reverb and a better FX loop.

The cleans have always been quite good and can get quite crunchy if you want. The distortion is of course infamous. With a very vintage vibe and great sound, never too harsh. Yet of course you do sort of have to get the volume up high this is not a bedroom amp! You can get any sound you want out of these amps, clean, bluesy, classic rock, rock, metal, heavy metal, even death metal if you tweak it right!


OVERALL OPINION

Great amp for both cleans and dirt. Like I said before it's what a marshall should sound like. Just wish it was maybe not so pricey and sounded good at relatively low volumes too. Otherwise great amp for that vintage high gain stuff! Or anything for that matter!