Orange Amplifiers news round-up
By MNJ
| Posted in Guitar
Orange has introduced several new and updated models to its range of British designed guitar and bass amplifiers, including MKII versions of the Rockerverb and a redesigned Crush range, plus lower power versions of the Thunder series.
The Rockerverb 50MKII is available as a head, a 1×12 combo or a 2×12 combo. The amplifier itself has some significant improvements to the original design but without compromising tonal integrity. There is now full EQ on the clean channel, which includes a mid control, and an extra 12AT7 valve incorporated into the reverb circuit. The rear panel now includes a selector switch which enables the end user to swap the output tubes to KT66, 6L6 or 6550 without rebiasing. The redesigned effects loop boasts a lower impedence to afford greater transparency and less degradation of the original signal. The lead channel has been left alone and is identical to the MK1 version. The Rockerverb 100MkII includes all the upgrades but remains available as a head only.
Available as a head or 1×12 combo, the new Orange Thunder 30 amplifier is a replacement for the discontinued Rocker 30 but incorporates the ‘shape’ control on the dirty channel which gave the Orange Thunderverb its distinctive voicing. It also has a step down power switch enabling the user to reduce the volume to 15 or 7-Watts, and an effects loop.
The Orange Crush range of affordable combos has been completely revamped and the guitar combos now look more like their bigger counterparts, with basket weave tolex grilles and the distinctive picture frame edging. They also feature the Orange hyroglyph legends for the control markings. The range includes the Crush PiX12L and PiX20L which feature three-band EQ, switchable overdrive, master volume, auxilliary input for iPod or MP3 player and a built in tuner.
The Orange Crush PiX CR20LDX and PiX CR35LDX have the same features as the L amplifiers but with the addition of digital effects which include reverb, delay, chorus and tremelo. The 35 Watt version has footswitchable overdrive. Bass players are catered for by three new combos, the PiX CR 25BT, the PiX 50BXT and the PiX 100BXT. The 25BT features gain, three-band EQ, master volume, an input for an iPod or MP3 player, headphone socket and an 8″ speaker. The PiX 50BXT has the same features with the addition of a tuner, line out and speaker out, and an extension speaker socket. The Pix 100BXT features a 15″ speaker.
Finally, the Tiny Terror is continuing its pursuit of world domination with the the introduction of the Terror combo, which boasts a smaller cabinet housing a 10″ speaker. This new version offers a considerable price advantage on its larger counterpart and could well push Tiny Terrors into a lot of new homes.
Tags: orange amps, orange crush, orange pix crush, orange stereo micro crush, orange thunder 30, rockerverb 100mkii, rockerverb 50mkii, tiny terror
Nice roundup – but DV doesn’t seem to have the new Orange range in stock?!
Rich