Incoming NAD. Orange O Tone 40.

[dukewellington]

Interesting thread… I’m hearing Grab and go, high volume cleans, clarity with a mid bark, mid sized dive bar, usable eq… etc.

I have an old Bandit 65 that I fixed up a little bit though if you know what they do, you’ll know it’s still a Peavey. All of the above qualities are reasons why I keep one in the closet.

How would an O Tone stack up against a Bandit? I’ve never had the chance to bond with an Orange amplifier, although I’ve been tempted by an AD30 before.

I love el Bandito but let’s face it the black Orange looks much foxier. I’d consider updating.

 

[aging_rocker]

How about a purple Orange?
Glenn Hughes limited edition 'purple' bass combo:

 

[gimmeatele]

Liking that Glenn Huges

 

[Jakedog]

Interesting thread… I’m hearing Grab and go, high volume cleans, clarity with a mid bark, mid sized dive bar, usable eq… etc.

I have an old Bandit 65 that I fixed up a little bit though if you know what they do, you’ll know it’s still a Peavey. All of the above qualities are reasons why I keep one in the closet.

How would an O Tone stack up against a Bandit? I’ve never had the chance to bond with an Orange amplifier, although I’ve been tempted by an AD30 before.

I love el Bandito but let’s face it the black Orange looks much foxier. I’d consider updating.

I’d say they’re definitely not apples and oranges. No pun intended. The O Tone is like half a bandit. At 40 watts it’s half the power, and at 26lbs it’s definitely lighter. Cab is smaller as well. Tonally they aren’t the same, but they aren’t so different that one couldn’t fill in for the other.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I’d say they’re definitely not apples and oranges. No pun intended. The O Tone is like half a bandit. At 40 watts it’s half the power, and at 26lbs it’s definitely lighter. Can is smaller as well. Tonally they aren’t the same, but they aren’t so different that one couldn’t fill in for the other.

Does Orange make their own speakers, or are they ( just as an ex.) say import build, spec's to a classic Celestion or other British?

( kind of the same way Eminence builds spec old Jensen- style, for Fender or other...)
Just curious?

 

[Jakedog]

Does Orange make their own speakers, or are they ( just as an ex.) say import build, spec's to a classic Celestion or other British?

( kind of the same way Eminence builds spec old Jensen- style, for Fender or other...)
Just curious?

Orange uses proprietary “Voice of the World” speakers. Not sure who makes them of if they do it themselves. I’d be comfortable betting they contract that work out.

 

[jrblue]

Any decent SS amp will have clean headroom, as long as you've avoided an early-breakup speaker. IMO, the SS Orange amps are sort of the Epiphones of the amp world. Great value for money, and pretty much on target for what they're designed to do. I think there are more high performance SS amps out there, particularly as tube amplification is no longer the standard and lots of makers are looking to get into SS ASAP, be for usability, versatility, and ability to do a whisper or a roar, it's hard to knock this one. For many years, I played on Orange AD30, 2x12 tube combo (made in Great Britain) and absolutely loved it -- so much that I named both my hernia and my hearing aids after it. On the one hand, it was an absolute beast of an amp, and like most good Oranges, was not at all limited to heavy rock, despite its reputation in those circles. So that was great, as was its ability to deliver way, way more volume than its rating would suggest. It was also quite good at low volume. But it weighed tons, to the extent that moving it around to gigs was not just a pain, but a seriously major drag. I do not exaggerate. In the real world, the SS stuff can't really pound you like my Orange, but when you think of what you need most and what is not that critical, SS often fits the bill.

 

[dukewellington]

I’d say they’re definitely not apples and oranges. No pun intended. The O Tone is like half a bandit. At 40 watts it’s half the power, and at 26lbs it’s definitely lighter. Cab is smaller as well. Tonally they aren’t the same, but they aren’t so different that one couldn’t fill in for the other.

Extremely useful reply! I have to say I’ve enjoyed the tone of the Oranges I’ve played, which all started out “foggy” I think is the word but cleared up when I started twisting knobs on guitar and amplifier… there were more sounds inside than I first imagined. The Bandit I have — honestly, and I mean honest — I don’t love. Rather, I love what it can do. It’s just so darn simple, and seems to have a character all its own. So as infrequently as I use it for gigs, I still want it in the corral but I’m always shopping for the package of convenience and zero worries reliability that does close to everything I need, when I need it. A lot of solid state amps seem to fit that bill, and there are more bargains in SS castaways than tube amps.

The one annoying detail I can’t shake in the Bandit is the infamous Peavey honk. I can work around it, but it’s still in there. A Texas Heat 12” speaker did wonders over the speaker it arrived with, but a hound dog still sounds like a hound dog from any distance. I don’t hear that in the Oranges I’ve demoed.

Hmmm.

 

[atcsam-Next]

Im kicking off tonight’s gig in about half an hour. It’s a duo show, but in a loud and lively dive bar, so I’ll be able to turn it up to real world levels. I’ll report tomorrow.

Curious how well it held up at the gig? O tone 40, Aviator cub and the Lionheart foundry sf60 is on my short list of SS grab and go.

 

[markal]

Curious how well it held up at the gig? O tone 40, Aviator cub and the Lionheart foundry sf60 is on my short list of SS grab and go.

Hadn’t seen that Laney before. I have a Lionheart L5t combo, class a tube amp. Love it. But it’s heavy for 5 watts. Might have to listen to some demos on that SS Laney.

 

[Jakedog]

Curious how well it held up at the gig? O tone 40, Aviator cub and the Lionheart foundry sf60 is on my short list of SS grab and go.

It did great. I got several compliments. With my “always on” clean boost and the rest of my pedal board it had plenty of volume at about 9 o’clock on the dial. Duo show, so no drummer. But the guy I was backing up was run through the PA with his acoustic, as well as both our vocals. It’s not a big room, but my amp was not mic’d and sounded just fine in the room.

 

[atcsam-Next]

Lionheart L5t combo

The L20T-112 was nice but too loud for home use and weighed even more..

Could buy two O Tones for a little more than one Aviator.

Laney LF Super 60-112, 2 ch, Reverb, Tremelo/ Chorus, + XLR DI for an extra $159 over Orange

O tone seems to have the better balance of clean, reverb, and Tremelo between the 3.

​

 

[imaginary_bid]

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Sold some more stuff I wasn’t using, and wasn’t going to buy anything else. Then I was up late, fell down a YouTube rabbit hole, and discovered this amp. Never heard of it. Wasn’t aware of it at all. Yet somehow I convinced myself I had to have one.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OTone40Bk--orange-o-tone-40-practice-amplifier-black

40 watts, 1x12, 26 lbs. Single channel with TMB tone stack and a volume. Reverb and trem. Supposedly headroom for days, killer cleans, and a great pedal amp.

I’ll find out more when it arrives this afternoon.

Hi Jakedog I love my Crush 20 with my BD-2--the distortion I get from that just sounds amazing. Wondering if the O-Tone 40, without the 'dirt' channel that the Crush series has, can still get me those kinds of tones at low-ish volumes? Worried that the O Tone is *too* clean

 

[AquariumRock]

I’m a big fan of Orange amps, must have missed this one somehow. I guess I’m a little confused why this exists vs the 35RT. How does this one differ from just using the clean channel on the RT?

 

[fsone]

The shark fin is for depth. I love the way they do their thing. The first time I ever saw one I had no idea what to make of it, but just looking at it and using my head for a second I figured out all the controls.

The 35RT is a beast of an amp. Great grab and go. I used mine for hundreds of gigs. It only went away because I told myself (rightly so) that I didn’t need eleven amps. I mean, that’s nuts. I got all the way down to three and now I’m back up to six.

My 35RT is a great amp, I have others, but its my main go to.

 

[RCDUKE83]

Had the Orange O Tone 40 since March. Not a single complaint.

 

[RCDUKE83]

It's hard to take Orange amps seriously.

Why??

 

[RCDUKE83]

I’m a big fan of Orange amps, must have missed this one somehow. I guess I’m a little confused why this exists vs the 35RT. How does this one differ from just using the clean channel on the RT?

According to Internet videos and etc, Ade Emsley technical director of Orange was doing his version of a solid state Princeton type amp.
And I think they nailed it. Blown away daily by my O Tone 40