What Orange amp & what to look out for?

rico

I'm gonna go with Orange I think mainly due to there being hardly any Matamp's on the s/h market. I am currently considering the following:

• Rockerverb 50 (what is the difference between Mk I, MkII, MkIII?)
• AD30
• Dual Terror
• Another model that is comparable?

I would prefer a three band EQ, EL34's and an FX loop but they are by no means deal breakers. 

I would love some user comments and any common faults please.

ICBM

Rockerverb Mk1s use 6V6s and sound softer and more compressed than Mk2s/3s which use EL34s. I haven't seen any problems with any of them.

AD30s blow rectifier valves because the standby switch is in the wrong place. Luckily, if you fit a simple plug-in solid-state rectifier it both fixes this and makes the amp sound better - less muddy and overcompressed.

Dual Terrors seem reliable enough but have a quite a fatiguing tone in my opinion. Some people like them though.

Both the last two use EL84s and are quite hard on them. They're all well-made and generally reliable apart from the AD30 rectifier problem though.

Personally I think the Rocker 30 sounds better than any of them and also uses EL34s, but it has no EQ on the clean channel and no FX loop, and is discontinued although not that rare.

terada

Bit of a wildcard, but I picked up a retro 50 a couple of years back and have basically stopped buying amps since. Has 34s and 3 band eq. Does everything I need. No fx loop mind. 

You'd only find one second hand at this stage, but if you can find one, they are certainly worth testing to see if they scratch your itch. 

jpfamps

Re the Rockerverb, the reverb on the reverb on the MkII is a bit over the top.

There were a couple of issues with the MK I and MkII that have been corrected in the MKIII, which in my opinion is the best built of the 3.

ragingben

I agree on the Rocker 30, took a while to find a head in good condition though, and then 2 or 3 others came along right after. The lack of EQ on the clean channel was a concern for me but I've never missed it. Only thing I've found is that the dirty channel volume gets loud very quickly and then kind of stays there and just gets more compressed, makes it hard to use as a practice and at some gigs I've had trouble getting the volume low enough to keep the sound man happy.

bbill335

ragingben said:

I agree on the Rocker 30, took a while to find a head in good condition though, and then 2 or 3 others came along right after. The lack of EQ on the clean channel was a concern for me but I've never missed it. Only thing I've found is that the dirty channel volume gets loud very quickly and then kind of stays there and just gets more compressed, makes it hard to use as a practice and at some gigs I've had trouble getting the volume low enough to keep the sound man happy.

I found the best way to use the rocker30 was to treat it like a single channel amp. Forget the token clean channel, crank the volume up full and use the gain as volume. Powerful cleans with a diverse EQ, pedals for dirt. 

ICBM

The token clean channel is fantastic with heavy distortion and fuzz pedals though - the dirty channel is better with overdrives. You can also get a great wide-open sound if you simply whack the clean channel up full and run a clean boost into it, but obviously only at one volume!