Orange amps: how suitable for clean tones are they?

[Marcelo R]

Orage amps have finally arrived here in Uruguay from some months ago. They look absolutely cool and yes, the GAS has bitten me again, this time about these citric-colored appliances.

For reasons of comfortability, I'm thinking of having a head amp plus a 1 x 12 cabinet. There's a broad offering of several models, but my three candidates would be: the Dual Terror, the Tiny Terror or the OR15H.

The thing is that I play mostly rhythm guitar and I like a clean, sparkling sound - I already own a Vox AC15 that provides that tone. Most of the reviews that I've read or the video clips that I've seen they emphasize the "dirtier" sounds of the Orange amps. But what about their clean tones?

Out of the three models that I've mentioned above, which would you say that would be the most suitable for the kind of sound I'm looking for?

I'll be very thankful for your guidance and advices.

Best regards.

 

[brookdalebill]

They sound great "clean".
I'd gravitate to a bit more power, 30 or more watts.

 

[6BQ5]

They do a nice clean, but they do their own thing. It's thicker, and not especially sparkly. No one is doing surf with an Orange. The guy from the Decemberists tours with an OR50 and a Gretsch.

Here's a clip of them in which both guitarists are using an Orange set pretty clean. Though its not a very guitar heavy song, it'll give you some idea.

 

[Marcelo R]

They sound great "clean".
I'd gravitate to a bit more power, 30 or more watts.

Thanks! So, in your opinion, the Dual Terror would be the best choice, isn't it?

 

[6BQ5]

Here's a different artist that uses an Orange with a more isolated sample. Skip to the 0:56 mark to get past all the setup/tuning.

 

[brookdalebill]

Yup.
I sold them at my last day job.
They sold well, and were dependable.
Good stuff!

 

[6BQ5]

Thanks! So, in your opinion, the Dual Terror would be the best choice, isn't it?

You are going to run out of headroom fast. For clean at stage volume out of an Orange amp, you are probably going to want to start with at least 30 watts, so yeah, the Dual Terror is probably the best option out of those you listed.

 

[6BQ5]

Hell, I kinda want a Dual Terror now too. . . .

 

[Marcelo R]

They do a nice clean, but they do their own thing. It's thicker, and not especially sparkly. No one is doing surf with an Orange. The guy from the Decemberists tours with an OR50 and a Gretsch.

Here's a clip of them in which both guitarists are using an Orange set pretty clean. Though its not a very guitar heavy song, it'll give you some idea.

Thanks! It's precisely the kind of sound I'm looking for... but these are big stacks! - at least, compared with what I've got on my mind.

So, you would say that "I'm gonna need a bigger amp?"

 

[6BQ5]

Thanks! It's precisely the kind of sound I'm looking for... but these are big stacks! - at least, compared with what I've got on my mind.

So, you would say that "I'm gonna need a bigger amp?"

The Decemberists use OR50's, and My Brightest Diamond uses the Rockerverb 50 which are both 50w amps, and they both use EL34's. The Dual Terror and the OR15 are both EL84 amps. There are definitely going to be some differences, so probably. . . BUT considering you can pick up a dual terror for half the price of a Rockerverb or OR50, I'd say its worth the experiment.

 

[MilwMark]

As others said, they are a thick or muscular clean. Not sparkly. I gigged with a Dual Terror head for about a year. Loved it. But ultimately concluded the mid signature tended to dominate the mix too much, even when the volume was right. Moved back to Fender ('68 CDR). Fits much better for my band.

Loved the Orange sound so much I kept my Tiny Terror for home fun

 

[frankg11]

Here is a brief history of my Orange tour....

I play with Strats, Tele's and LP's.

Micro-Terror with a 1x12. Then upgraded to Tiny Terror on the 1x12. Then swapped out the 1x12 with a Orange 2x12 closed back. So far good clean's, not too bright except with one Strat (EMG's).

So I was very happy with this tour I decided to go for a Rockerverb 100, here is where it get's interesting. I started comparing/contrasting Rockerverb 50 and 100 against each other. It's a big jump in price for a home player to go to this extreme. So in my journey I discovered the CR 120. Yeppers it's the Solid State version of the Rockerverb 100. It's 99% of the Rockerverb, only with analog solid state components. In blind tests as good as a Rockerverb.

So if budget is a consideration, check out the CR 120 closely. BTW -- It's on the 2x12 and yes it's loud! Plenty of headroom, responds to guitar volume control well, and the SS reverb is as good or not better than my 63 Reverb pedal by BOSS. I also have a long spring reverb in a SS-22 by Fender and CR 120's verb is very good.

 

[telemnemonics]

I'd guess that the OR15h would give you the best chance of good clean sounds, but I haven't played the other two.
I do have the OR15h and an older AD30, and while there are clean sounds I prefer, they both have capable clean sounds at modest volume.

IME for an amp to have both useful clean and distorted sounds, it needs a full tone stack. My tone settings are not the same for clean and distorted sound.
Not sure about your clean sound needs though.

The other concern is how much clean volume do you need?
A pair of el84 power tubes runs out of clean headroom below a typical drummers volume.
Mic'd you should be fine.
If you won't always be mic'd then I'd look hard at the Dual Terror, and consider that if the bass is too much or too little you can adjust your pickup heights for some fine tuning of the bottom end.

There was a time when a single 100w Marshall wasn't loud enough unmic'd, so exactly what conditions you're playing in will make or break it.

In the US we have OSHA making outlaws of loud bands, is music still loud in Uruguay?

 

[stephen78]

I love my Dual Terror for clean Tele and Strat tones!

But I also love turning up the gain for that thick Orange distortion!

 

[Marcelo R]

... ultimately concluded the mid signature tended to dominate the mix too much, even when the volume was right.

Thanks! If I'm getting this right, you're saying that the tone control doesn't provide too much treble to the sound, is it so?

 

[telemnemonics]

Thanks! If I'm getting this right, you're saying that the tone control doesn't provide too much treble to the sound, is it so?

Orange amps have "a sound" that is not like any other amp.
I doubt MilwMark means not enough treble.
You have to like it or you'll probably hate it.
They make a lot of models though, haven't tried them all.

 

[Marcelo R]

In the US we have OSHA making outlaws of loud bands, is music still loud in Uruguay?

We have a very strange situation here in Uruguay: there are plenty of musicians of many styles - rock, jazz, folklore, tango, electronica, you name it. What is actually scarce around here is the audience. So the venues are mostly a few bars or pubs, the audiences are mainly friends and/or relatives of the musicians, and you may call yourself lucky if the payment that you receive just covers the expenses. Music - aside of some "big" names that actually perform just once or twice at the year - is no big bussiness here.

Ironically enough, in the last months there were some big complaints from the people who lives nearby these venues that I mentioned. They complained about the "noise", but not always about the music: the noise is made by people that spends the night outside the bar, they get drunk on the street, they spread the waste all around and they even relieve of their physiological needs on the sidewalk. Go figure!

Consequently, the City Hall has emitted several decrees that try to deal with this situation. But the response from the owners of the venues was mainly... get rid of the musicians.

So, yes, music is still loud - sometimes - here in Uruguay, or at least in Montevideo, where I live. Unfortunately, is the misbehaving of some people what is creating a tough time for the musicians nowadays.

Thank you very much for your reply, best regards.

 

[MilwMark]

Thanks! If I'm getting this right, you're saying that the tone control doesn't provide too much treble to the sound, is it so?

Hard to say. There is plenty of treble on tap. But the mid signature is just very unique. Again, I love the sound. But it is just very, I don't know, assertive (?) in a mix, in my experience. Which I attribute to the mids. The weird thing is, the Tiny Terror and Dual Terror are not "boxy" to my ear (depending on speakers and cab of course), but they definitely have that authoritative presence.

With a DR, I can click on a mid-rich pedal when I want to step forward in the mix, and click it off when I want to recede. The Orange was just always "there". Mind you - I love the sound.

And I play in a rock band with 3 electric guitars so we need to be more mindful than most about leaving space with parts and with "sonic footprint".

 

[adamsappel]

Dave Simpson, a UK YouTuber guitarist, has a neat series of "How many tones can you get out of the Orange CR120?" So far, the answer is 24.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9HMdGPrqA5C6-H0OYf5D-nKbqUdeoHuD

 

[frankg11]

Dave Simpson, a UK YouTuber guitarist, has a neat series of "How many tones can you get out of the Orange CR120?" So far, the answer is 24.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9HMdGPrqA5C6-H0OYf5D-nKbqUdeoHuD

thanks this guy helped me settle on the CR-120. Some studying tonight after work!!! LOL