Orange AD30 single channel

[DADGAD]

Lately if been gassing for a Orange AD30 single channel. A few have come up but I wasnt in a position to jump on them. I have a Jet City which covers my Hard rock sound needs so my questions are basically this:

- I already have a handwwired Plexi. Will the Orange be too similar in British voicing and be somewhat redundant? I don't know enough about Orange amps.

- I know there isn't a huge difference in volume between 50 and 100 watts but will there be as much difference between a 30 watt, class A amp and my Plexi?

- how are the cleans on the AD30 Single channels?

Right now, I'm not really interested in a twin channel AD30

I do love unique tones and the ability to have variation available if my mood suits. I'm hoping some Orange owners can chime in on their experiences. I won't lie, I've been really digging Pagey's Orange tone, you know with the Foo Fighters at Wembley and O2.

 

[tom1965]

I can tell you that my Budda sd 30 2 x 12 combo can hold its own against anything out there so im assuming volume will not be a problem with the Orange ! Our drummer is a big hitter and i have no problems whatsoever being heard clearly .

 

[qpHalcy0n]

The circuit is similar to a Marshall 1959's in many ways, but the Orange does have it's own voice. I won't lie, it is distinctively British, however. It can definitely give you that nasal midrange "honk" tone. It's different enough that I don't think you can say they sound similar.


Your Plexi will be significantly louder. The AD30 is loud enough for practice and gigs for sure, though. Used one for a few years myself.

The single channels don't possess much of a "clean" to speak of. You can get "cleanish", but that's not really why you're buying this amp, right? You would want the dual channel if you need a spanking clean out of it.

The single channels in particular, though, possess one of the finest classic/rock tones I've had IMO. I run an AD15 now and love the thing.

 

[DADGAD]

Yeah, I'm definitely looking for the Orange overdriven sound. I do attenuate my Plexi to make it playable at home but I was thinking of a lower wattage British amp that won't need as much attenuation or won't knock walls down when I want to let it rip.

I do like to play cleans , but prefer to do so with my neck volume down low (about 3-4) and then switch to the bridge for dirt (8-10). Would a single channel
AD30 clean up enough? Im not really into switching channels as I dont really like foot switches. I like to play stuff that has "light and shade" if I may steal that phrase. I'm not looking for fender cleans. Just clean-ish if that makes any sense.

 

[qpHalcy0n]

Sure, you can do "cleanish". You may hear some slight fuzz around the note, definitely not fender clean, but should be clean enough.

 

[rxbandit]

As others have said, you'll have a clean-ish that can get to decent volume. But it also depends what preamp tube you use, you can get a great clean running a 12AU7. I love my AD30 twin channel, but my clean is more dependent on guitar's volume knob as well as the amps sensitivity (and compression, which is fantastic)

 

[screamingdaisy]

- I already have a handwwired Plexi. Will the Orange be too similar in British voicing and be somewhat redundant? I don't know enough about Orange amps.

- I know there isn't a huge difference in volume between 50 and 100 watts but will there be as much difference between a 30 watt, class A amp and my Plexi?

The beauty of the AD30 is the power section. The amp is tube rectified and sags like mad when turned up to any sort of volume. It's a very organic feeling amp to play through.

As for cleans... there are none. Once turned up to moderate volumes the cleanish tones have some EL84 hair on them. It's a cool sound that I really liked, but it's no Fender. The clean/neck pickup + crunch/bridge pickup switching works great, but there'll always be some drive on the tone.

I loved the sound/feel of my AD30 but it lacked the kind of headroom I needed. It was plenty loud... just that once I turned it up to drummer volumes the amp was too overdriven and lacked the punch and clarity I desired.

 

[DADGAD]

The reason I am not as interested in the twin channel is that I prefer to do my Clean/dirt switching between neck and bridge pickups. I like my neck pickup at about 3-4 for my cleans so I'm hoping the AD30 single channel will be cleanish enough. I don't see them come up for sale very often? Is that because people love them to death or were they made in smaller numbers?

 

[trmckn]

First off, I love the AD30. In my opinion, it's way different than a plexi (depending on the plexi I guess since there is such a spectrum.) Hard to know if you'll find it clean enough, but from my reading of your post, I'm guessing that if you set it up so that you're where you want to be on the bridge pickup with full volume on the guitar, you won't be happy with what you get on the bridge pickup at 3 or 4 on the volume. Impossible to say for sure though since everybody has entirely different requirements and expectations for clean tone.

I know you're only interested in the single channel version, but you might see if you can find a two channel locally to try out. It won't be the same but it'll give you a pretty good indication.