NAD - Orange

DartmoorHedgehog

Been thinking about something Orange for a long time and finally took the plunge last week and bought a Rocker 30.  Arrived safely yesterday after its trip from near Liverpool with UPS. 

Only had a quick test in the evening just to make sure everything was OK, but first impressions are very promising.  I'd not played a Rocker before, but like Rockerverbs and the general opinion seemed to be that the Rocker was "similar but bigger sounding".  I don't really use the reverb much on my Blackstar, so the promise of a bigger sound an less money than a 'verb seemed like a good deal.  Hopefully it'll live up to expectations when given some welly at the next practice.

Here it is with my trusty HT-20 (I've had the Orange cab for ages).  I'm surprised how similar in size they are - the Orange looks enormous stood on its own - perhaps it's just the colour.

chrisj1602

Congrats, I used a Rocker combo exclusively for years, great amp.  Only sold it because it hasn't had much use recently.  I'm sure I'll regret it as soon as I get back in a band!

Drew_TNBD

Great amps. Congrats!

ThePrettyDamned

Love these, will never understand why they were discontinued...

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks folks.

It does seem odd they discontinued them when they seem so well regarded.  Perhaps people moaned about the lack of effects loop and no eq on the clean channel (the TH30 is the nearest to the Rocker they make now, with loop and clean eq, but a slightly different character).  Perhaps they felt they were too expensive for a relatively simple amp (but that doesn't seem to stop people selling Fender Champs with fancy names for thousands!)

From my quick low-volume test last night I'd say the voicing of the clean channel sounds pretty good for my tastes, so I'm not going to miss the eq.  The HT-20 only has one tone knob on clean anyway, which I never move.  The Rocker sounds much more "open" and "clear" (on both channels) than the HT, if that makes sense (not that I don't like the sound of the Blackstar, but it's very different).

BTW - does anybody know if the Blackstar footswitch will work with the Orange?  I like to switch channels without running back to the amp, but if the HT footswitch will work on the Rocker I won't bother getting an Orange switch.  Not sure if they're just plain switches or some sort of momentary thing.

ICBM

DartmoorHedgehog said:

BTW - does anybody know if the Blackstar footswitch will work with the Orange?  I like to switch channels without running back to the amp, but if the HT footswitch will work on the Rocker I won't bother getting an Orange switch.  Not sure if they're just plain switches or some sort of momentary thing.

The Orange uses a standard latching make/break switch, but the stock one has an LED in it. You don't need the LED to make it work. If the Blackstar one does have an LED as well, there is only one way of wiring it where it will work both the amp and the LED correctly, and at least three ways that won't! And at least one of those may blow the LED, so I would be careful...

DartmoorHedgehog

OK, thanks @ICBM. ; I've found a diagram of the Orange switch so I'll have a look inside my BS one and see if it's wired the same (it does have an LED).  If not I'll either make one or buy an Orange one.

not_the_dj

DartmoorHedgehog said:

OK, thanks @ICBM. ; I've found a diagram of the Orange switch so I'll have a look inside my BS one and see if it's wired the same (it does have an LED).  If not I'll either make one or buy an Orange one.

IIRC Bright Onion Pedals do a replacement Orange spec one (smaller and possbly cheaper than the official one)

*edit* actually it's not cheaper and needs two cables...

http://www.brightonion.co.uk/mini-dual-orange-footswitch-pedal/

 

 

I'd spend £30 on the Orange one.

DartmoorHedgehog

It's a pretty easy thing to make, I'd have to buy a box and switch but the other stuff I've probably got lying around (could even make a wooden box if I was feeling keen).

On the other hand, I sort of feel like I owe my local Orange dealer some business after they let me test a load of amps even though I made it clear I was not going to buy a new one, so I may well just go and buy an Orange switch from them.  All I ever buy from them is strings really and they're very friendly and helpful.  (Sound Unlimited in Plymouth, BTW)

ICBM

I would do that. The Orange footswitch is very well-made and extremely cool-looking .

Dave_Mc

nice

samzadgan

ICBM;207243" said:

I would do that. The Orange footswitch is very well-made and extremely cool-looking .

This.

And congrats on the amp...you'll have a good time with orange. One of the only amps where the clean was so well voiced that they didn't bother with an EQ pedal!

Loobs

I've been using one on recent gigs. Pretty nice sounding amp. Try it through a 4x12 with Greenbacks. Sounds great. 

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks - only cab I've got at the moment is the 2x12 with a pair of V30s.  Sounds pretty good through that, although I'm not averse to a bit of speaker swapping sometime.  I had a blast at slightly higher volume earlier this evening - surprisingly I turned the mids up a bit even though V30s are meant to be quite middy speakers.  Don't think I've ever played through anything with greenbacks (odd as they seem so popular), what do they sound like? - my experience has been mostly T75s (which I'm not that keen on) and V30s, and some Peavey- and Fender-branded speakers in combos.  I'm tempted to try the V30 + H30 mix sometime. 

ICBM

These amps sound fantastic with G12H-30s.

Greenbacks are a bit like a more subtle V30 - they're also quite midrangy and slightly dirty-sounding, but they have a softer bass which can get farty when pushed if you overdo the bottom end, and a bright jangly top-end - and not quite as loud. Unlike the V30 they don't sound 'stiff' or harsh at low volume, in fact they're one of the very best low-volume speakers. I tend to find they lack a little too much bottom end until you have four of them together though .

They also mix beautifully with the G12H-30, you get the midrange and richness of the GB combined with the depth and clarity of the H30. I much prefer it to the H30/V30 mix, also partly because it's better balanced for power rating.

samzadgan

not that i've too much experience with speakers…I've always have V30's…but in the last year i got a cab with Cannabis Rex speakers and they sound great…like a V30 but smoother and more bottom end. I've also heard a lot of guys on the Orange forum rave on about how Cannabis Rex works well with the Rocker 30.

DartmoorHedgehog

Hmm, thanks...  I'll get a bit more used to the amp through my V30s before I start fannying around with speaker swapping, but it does sound tempting.  Most of the people I play with or bump into at our rehearsal place seem to use combos or Marshall cabs with G12T-75 and/or V30s, so I don't know if I'll get a chance to try anything more "unusual" without having to buy one.

Anyway, for now I'm well happy with the sound of the V30s.  Anything "better" would just be a bonus.

ThePrettyDamned

It's a great amp. I can see it becoming very desirable in the future.

I just don't know why they discontinued it, it was priced right and sounded really great.

DartmoorHedgehog

ThePrettyDamned said:

It's a great amp. I can see it becoming very desirable in the future. 

Ha, I seem to have a knack of selling things off just before they rocket in value.  Had a few bits of Roland analogue kit (TR808 and some mono synths) I sold off in the late 80s for relative peanuts to fund a nice new digital drum machine.  A few years later stuff like that was considered the dog's by all the dance music people and worth a fortune.  Grrr...

So if you want to get rich, buy any music kit I may sell

ICBM

Presumably it either was too expensive to make at the price point they wanted (it is very well made) or it just didn't sell well enough at the time. I can imagine a lot of people being put off by either the lack of EQ on the clean channel, lack of reverb or FX loop - none of which matter in my opinion, and I normally like those things! But it just flat-out sounds great as an old-school overdriven amp, with a clean channel that takes heavy distortion and fuzz pedals very well.

For what it's worth, I think it captured the character of the old 70s Oranges much better than any of the other modern models (including the Rockerverb) too, despite being quite a different circuit.

samzadgan

ICBM;207835" said:

For what it's worth, I think it captured the character of the old 70s Oranges much better than any of the other modern models (including the Rockerverb) too, despite being quite a different circuit.

I agree with that...but another amp builder said that the Rocker 30 was more Marshall based than vintage Orange...but to me it sounded more old orange than marshall...idk