Orange opinions needed!!

[Clark Kent]

Hey guys! I've decided I'm going to buy an Orange amp, basically because I feel they are "my tone". Modern and vintage at the same time and well made... amazing tone in a mix and soloed.

Wattage doesn't have to be huge. Sometimes I feel like 50W RMS is a bit too much for my use.

So I've been looking at Orange Thunder 30 combo and all the demos I've seen sound AMAZING! I mean the dirty channel on that amp just sounds like perfection to my ears and probably the most versatile channel I've even seen. Everything from vintage Marshall to modern scooped Diezel metal with two knobs. It's insane. Check it out!



Now for the same price that I'd buy that one new, I can actually get a Rockerverb 100 head used. The old "flagship". Ofcourse I'd have to get a cab for that but still... This is the 6V6 version of the Rockerverb.

The Thunder 30 has four EL84 tubes which are considered "not good" but god dammit... from what I've heard I LOVE HOW THE THUNDER SOUNDS! I don't dislike the Rockerverb, I mean I love the bands that use it and all.

Does anyone have experience with both. Any opinion will help me, thanks!

 

[amarshism]

No experience with the thunder but the rockerverb rocks.

 

[BLUElightCory]

I haven't used the Thunderverb, but have been very impressed when working with the Rockerverb amps for edgier rock and pop music. The AD30 and Tiny Terror are excellent amps as well for a more balanced, midrange-focused tone with slightly less gain than the Rockerverb.

 

[AEL89]

I have a thunderverb 200. I use it for my bass playing live. For studio I use it for cleans, crunchy tones, dirty tones, high gain tones, I reamp vocals through it and of course use it for bass. Its so damn versatile.

Check my thread in the rate my mix/tone sub-forum. Bass, guitars and vocals through a thunderverb 200.

Josh from Sylosis uses a thunderverb 50 now too.

 

[Clark Kent]

Yeah, I guess the problem with this question seems to be that people haven't tried the Thunder/Thunderverb. What I've been reading on some German forums (used to live there so I can understand what they're saying) is that while the Rockerverb is "the flagship", the Thunder/Thunderverb has more gain and is more of a direct sounding amp and makes the Rockerverb sound a bit muffled in comparison. I also see people using tubescreamers with their Rockerverbs to get "the tone" which is not the way I run things. Still.... for the same price an amp that's worth twice the money.... impossible to decide.

I have a thunderverb 200. I use it for my bass playing live. For studio I use it for cleans, crunchy tones, dirty tones, high gain tones, I reamp vocals through it and of course use it for bass. Its so damn versatile.

Check my thread in the rate my mix/tone sub-forum. Bass, guitars and vocals through a thunderverb 200.

Josh from Sylosis uses a thunderverb 50 now too.

Cool! Sounds very promising! Have you also tried the Rockerverb and how do they compare?

 

[Wisheraser]

I have my other guitarist's TH30 sitting right here and it sounds great to me. I like it a lot more than the Rockerverb 50's I've tried in the past. I still like my 5153 more, but that's probably just cause I'm more accustomed to the way it sounds. The only thing I wish the TH30 had was a way to select what frequency the "shape" knob was sitting at.

 

[jeid]

I have an AD30 here. It's a cool amp, definitely has a lower gain vibe, but boosted, it covers a lot more sounds. Not metal though.

 

[drew_drummer]

I'd suggest trying them out. Rockerverb Mk II 100watt gets my vote though.

 

[thefalloftheheretic]

Go and play the amp. /thread

 

[Clark Kent]

There are no Orange shops here so that's kind of why I wanted to ask opinions. The Tone King has a comparison video... but as we all know it's no good for judging anything:



Well the guy can't play but you can hear the differences between the amps.

 

[tgs]

I just bought a Dual Terror last week and I'm VERY, VERY impressed with it, couldn't be more satisfied. For reference, we have a number of nice amps (Mesa Tremoverb, 5150, JCM800, Engl Fireball) and I got this mostly to have something that is a bit more crunch-oriented (a Fender combo is also on the wishlist) but the gain on it has such a HUGE range, from cleaner than clean to high-gain, absolutely beautiful. I demo'd it for a band I work with a lot as well, both as producer and FOH, and they really, really liked it and wondered why we're dragging around 5150s when we could just have a couple of these instead, hehe.

 

[AEL89]

Yeah, I guess the problem with this question seems to be that people haven't tried the Thunder/Thunderverb. What I've been reading on some German forums (used to live there so I can understand what they're saying) is that while the Rockerverb is "the flagship", the Thunder/Thunderverb has more gain and is more of a direct sounding amp and makes the Rockerverb sound a bit muffled in comparison. I also see people using tubescreamers with their Rockerverbs to get "the tone" which is not the way I run things. Still.... for the same price an amp that's worth twice the money.... impossible to decide.



Cool! Sounds very promising! Have you also tried the Rockerverb and how do they compare?

I've recorded a few rockers before and I love them too. I'd choose the thunderverb over it though because channel B is amazing. You can't get that sound on a Rocker. Its all about the mid range on these amps. You can have it on 10 and your guitars will still sit in your mix nicely. Can't big them up enough. I picked up my thunderverb 200 for £800 second hand. If you're looking to do as much as I do with my amp you really need the Thunderverb 200. If not - you won't be disappointed with a thunder or rocker 50.

 

[Clark Kent]

Yeah I guess I'm still leaning towards the Thunder 30. Seems like the Thunder can sound like a Rockerverb if the shape knob is under 12 o'clock. Then it reachess mid scoopage and more gain than the Rockerverb when the shape knob goes over 12 o'clock. Can't say for sure since I haven't played them but ATM it seems that way.

Oddly enough the official Orange Thunderverb 2010 video clips were recorded with the Thunder 30 combo although they could've used the 50W and 200W versions:

 

[MicSlut666]

I LOVE Orange amps. My vote goes for the Orange Rockerverb 50 MK1 with 6V6 tubes. It sounds al lot better compared to the MK2 version with EL34 tubes. The RV50 MK1 is one of the most versatile amps i own and it records awesome. Clean, crunch, Rock, Metal - the Rockerverb can do everything like no other amp. It is more suited for rock and pop but has enough gain to do metal without a tubescreamer. But if you want to play exclusively metal on it i would go for another amp. The AD30 is also very nice but compared to the Rockerverb more of a one trick pony. It has lower gain but also takes pedals very well. I would say the AD30 with the EL84 tubes sounds more vintage where the Rockerverb sounds more modern. By the way the AD30 has one of the biggest bass i know from a guitar amp , works fine for Wolfmother / stoner rock type sound. Orange amps are a really good match with single coil guitars. In my opinion orange amps can only deliver their full potential with a matching Orange cabinet - it seems like they compliment each other to deliver the familiar Orange sound. Orange amps are really unique / very realistic sounding, organic like no other amp. Hearing is believing!

 

[Clark Kent]

I LOVE Orange amps. My vote goes for the Orange Rockerverb 50 MK1 with 6V6 tubes. It sounds al lot better compared to the MK2 version with EL34 tubes. The RV50 MK1 is one of the most versatile amps i own and it records awesome. Clean, crunch, Rock, Metal - the Rockerverb can do everything like no other amp. It is more suited for rock and pop but has enough gain to do metal without a tubescreamer. But if you want to play exclusively metal on it i would go for another amp. The AD30 is also very nice but compared to the Rockerverb more of a one trick pony. It has lower gain but also takes pedals very well. I would say the AD30 with the EL84 tubes sounds more vintage where the Rockerverb sounds more modern. By the way the AD30 has one of the biggest bass i know from a guitar amp , works fine for Wolfmother / stoner rock type sound. Orange amps are a really good match with single coil guitars. In my opinion orange amps can only deliver their full potential with a matching Orange cabinet - it seems like they compliment each other to deliver the familiar Orange sound. Orange amps are really unique / very realistic sounding, organic like no other amp. Hearing is believing!

Just called the guy who was selling the Rockerverb and he decided not to sell it. (I guess he noticed it had a low price) I love the Rockerverb but I just can't get over the tubescreamer thing. I know it can sound good without a TS but I heard a comparison with and without it and I just don't like the fact that it sounded better with the TS. I know it's a mental game for me. F.ex. I love the Mesa Mark IV because it doesn't need a tubescreamer to be 100% ballsy awesome.

Hearing the TH30 clips was what gave me this GAS so I guess the TH30 will be what'll take it away. Tomorrow I'll order my TH30 combo. I never liked the AD30. Just not the kind of gain structure I like, I mean it's probably a very good amp and has that vintage Marshall thing going on, just not what scrathes my GAS itch.

 

[iraobryan]

Saw Sylosis last night and they were all playing Orange. Josh's set up looked to be the Thunder, and it sounded great! ARV FOH did a great job running sound for them too.

 

[arv_foh]

Saw Sylosis last night and they were all playing Orange. Josh's set up looked to be the Thunder, and it sounded great! ARV FOH did a great job running sound for them too.

They had their own engineer, I mixed all the openers though nice meeting you dude, and I agree their guitar tone was pretty nice. I think they had a thunderverb and 2 rockerverbs

 

[iraobryan]

Nice meeting you too man. You could have had all the credit to yourself! I looked like Josh was running the Thunder from where i was standing anyway.

 

[iraobryan]

After hearing those Orange amps last night have been considering adding one to my rig.

 

[Josh Burgess]

Didn't like my Rockerverb 50 much at all.... loose, overly compressed, too bassy/warm, not aggressive enough... and the clean channel wasn't as clean or as bright as I'd like it to be. I've never played a Thunderverb, but I don't really see it being a huge improvement... Honestly, I wouldn't use Orange gear (neither the amps nor the 4x12 cab) for any type of metal outside of doom/sludge, which I'm not even into... but then again, if you don't like boosting with tubescreamers, you're probably not looking to use it for metal, anyways...