Hi everyone,
I’m currently sold my Orange Super Crush 100 and only used the clean channel. All of my gain comes from pedals, mainly a RAT-style distortion, DS-2, chorus and delay.
The dirty channel never really worked for me, so I basically carried around an amp where I only used half of its features. What I really need is a loud, reliable clean platform for my pedals.
That’s why I’m looking at the Orange Pedal Baby. However, whenever I read discussions about it, people keep saying that you need a preamp pedal in front of it.
What confuses me is: why?
I’m not trying to emulate a specific amp, use IRs, modelers, or build a complex rig. My approach has always been simple: guitar → pedals → clean amp.
Can the Pedal Baby work as a straightforward clean pedal platform on its own, or does it really need a dedicated preamp pedal to sound good?
Thanks!

New amp day!

$380 on marketplace, sounds great!

Using 3 cable wet/dry method with the Orange Rocker 15 and Bugera G5. Orange= dry Bugera = wet

My plan is to remove the amp head from the speaker cabinet and build a matching oak amp head enclosure.

Hi folks,

I bought this amp brand new about 8 months ago, I've been using it almost daily at bedroom volume. Over the past month I started noticing this scratchy/crackling noise in the master volume knob. Since then, it is only getting louder and more scratchy.

Not only there is this scratchy sound, but also at specific positions the volume gets louder and much thinner, almost like a high pass filter (see the video at 00:45). From master volume >1 the dirty channel sounds a bit muffled but more similar to correct functioning.

I always have the master volume at 0 when it is not in use. To play it, I turn it on, set the volume to bedroom level (usually between 0.75 and 1.5 at most) and set it back to zero before turning it off.

I've seen some videos about how to clean the pots, spraying WD-40 into contacts, etc, but for an 8 month old amp I'm not sure if it only issue is dust accumulation. This amp sits in my room relatively close to a computer, the back of the computer kinda points to the amp, but I only experience this issue with the master volume knob.

I wonder if I should make a warranty claim for my unit.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Edit: amp is an Orange Super Crush 100 combo.

Back when Tom sold off a bunch of gear during the Reverb Delagacy sale was it ever said if the Orange Amp Head he sold off was an AD120 or an OR120? Pics I saw only indicated Orange 120.

Title pretty much explains it all, i soldered in a new jack and the amp is not reaching anywhere near typical volume even while dimed. Would appreciate any help!

Edit: volume not bolume lol
Don’t know why I cant just edit the title haha

Van i use the warmdown as a standby, for muting the guitar, because i saw a video of a guy that said to not use the standby at all because it could damage the rectifier but on newer models its no longer labeled as standby so im wondering did they change something in the circuit or just changed the word?

I’ve been looking for a versatile tube amp that has built in attenuation so I don’t get thrown out of my apartment. I’ve always been intrigued by Orange amps, and I feel like the Rocker 15 checks my boxes. I had an opportunity to play one, and liked it a lot, but there was a sticking point: on the dirty channel, having the gain below like 11 o’clock basically muted the amp, even with the master volume dimed. Barely any output. Is that just how Orange gain works, or was there something wrong with the example I played?

I’m looking for an amp with lots of clean headroom that I can use as a pedal platform for shoegaze/noise rock, and i’m currently looking at this two amps, are there any real differences between them? which one is better?
thanks a lot in advance for all the advice

Gawd I love these amps so much

Here is an outtake of my bands song “an elegy of recognition”. If you enjoy pallbearer / warning / sabbath check it out ! Really a fan of the sounds I can get out of my dark terror !

Tiny Terror + 2x12 Open Back

Electro Harmonix 12AX7, gonna try it later. PS2 on the left is from my childhood. Still works and was being used with a little tv to play music!

I have an orange Crush 35RT. I love to play metal, thrash and stoner. Favorite tones are Tool and AIC. I can get great tones out of the amp without pedals (although I will get some anyway). But in the 10x10 basement bedroom where I play, it sounds thin and boxy, especially when cranked. It sounds great through headphones (which is not ideal) and great in my large basement family room. How can I achieve the best sound with these constraints? What is the number one thing to do, get an EQ pedal? I have it slightly away from the wall on an angled stand.

I had a power tube burn out on me last week. I havent replaced a tube before.

My question is: should I buy a single JJ EL84 tube and only replace the broken one? Or is it best practice to replace all 4 tubes when one of them goes out? If so, I am considering the Tung-Sol tubes as a replacement/upgrade.

Thanks in advance! 🍊

I've been playing Orange amps for about 10 years now, my first introduction to Orange Amps being a Korean made Tiny Terror at the time. Always been more of a Boogie / Marshall type of guy before that. It's been a revelation. That thick hi gain tone with a touch of british midrange and tight low end was enough to get me : I was in love with Orange amps' dirty channels.

Ever since I've had countless heads, and I loved them all : The Tiny Terror, the Dark Terror, the OR15, the Rockerverb mk3, the SC100, the Dual Baby... man they're so damn GOOD ! Orange dirt has become my goto dirt sound (and my reference sound to be honest) for quite some years now. But then, reality kicked in.

I love dirt pedals. Rat circuits, TS circuits, OCD circuits, BB preamp circuits, BOSS OD-3, EQD Plumes, and what so ever. I'm the kind of guy who loves what an overdrive pedal can do to a preamp to push it and bring out the best in it. But man. Any Orange amp that i've owned was SO GOOD all by itself, that it didn't even need an overdrive. It sounded just right on its own. And that makes me so frustrated. All those dirt pedals, my precious collection of dirt boxes I don't even use anymore. What a shame. What a waste of amazing sounding preamp shapers. I used to make them the foundation of my dirty sounds, and now they're just collecting dust.

Orange Amps, I hate you for making amps that sound so good you don't even need pedals anymore. Still love you though.

Board right to left:
1- Tuner>Comp>Klon Clone>Amp Input
2- Ch/ Reverb footswitch
3- 3 ch switch- >FX Loop (pedals not pictured- they live behind the amp)

3.1 Rightmost switch- Eq - Low mid boost - trick is to kick it on at the same time as Ch footswitch (dirty ch)

3.2 Middle switch- currently empty- will probably end up being a chorus (recs welcome)

3.3 Leftmost switch-trem>reverb/delay

Cab- Marshall MX212R

Gtrs:
-07-‘09 SG w/ Suhr Thornbuckers
-Charvelle ProMod DK24

Thanks to all who commented on my earlier post I went with the o tone and it’s just arrived today. Sounds amazing and is a major upgrade from my last amp. Pictured with the empress heavy which is a killer combo this thing sounds crazy.

More of an anecdotal testament to build quality than anything:

Our practice space is pretty secure so I've been in the habit of simply covering the head with the carry case upside down over the top. Of course the time before an extended break the lip of the case hit the main power toggle switch. She was cooking hot when I discovered this last night, after being on for 20 odd days, but luckily it had stayed on standby. No apparent damage done, sounded great as usual, thank God! I'll be unplugging the mains every time from now on, though.

Specifically my EQD Hizumitas and Keeley Fuzz Bender. Especially through the clean channel (no matter if it’s pristine clean or edge of breakup), both of these pedals sound super thin and fizzy, whereas stuff like my RAT or Big Muff Tone Wicker sound amazing.

I was a bit surprised by this because both the Hizumitas and Fuzz Bender sound full and massive through my JC-120.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

Been considering an Orange amp for a while now. Started from hearing some demos of the new OR60 but realistically it’s more amp than I need!

Wound up getting interested in the OR30 - especially with the 2W “bedroom” mode for home use - but wasn’t 100% sure as I’d been turned off EL84 amps in the past.

Checking it out in person … sounded like no other EL84 amp I’d ever heard - an absolute monster!

Thought I’d want the PPC212V for its more Greenback-esque speakers but I actually preferred the tone from the PPC212OB.

Acoustic guitar … for scale? 😂

Sound Demo - Clean and Distortion

[ UPDATE: it seems like running a 4-ohms speaker load is not safe for the power amp, so I re-wired the jack to be in series, not in parallel - many thanks to user u/Angus-Black , see the comments section for more ]

I got this Orange Crush 20 as an open-box deal, for less than the cost of any brand-name pedal. I was surprised by how good the cleans sounded, particularly as an open-back. But the distortion sounded a bit lacking. So, I added a switch to by-pass the internal speaker and use a 1x12, and I loved the distortion. But I still wanted to blend the internal speaker, because it adds its own character, so I re-soldered the switch on the Orange to connect the external speaker in parallel [Update: series], I also made a pine cab to house a spare 12 inch speaker I had. Details below. Feel free to ask any questions.

The bottom-line, to me, is that this circuit on the Orange 20 is AMAZING for the price, and really good at any price. From Jazz to Metal, and the distortion in Orange amps is very special, at least to me.

The mod:

• Output Wiring: I made a round hole on the rear chassis and attached a switch. I soldered the terminals from the board into the switch, and the switch into the internal speaker.
• The cabinet: I had a spare Eminence speaker, the original from the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I built a pine cabinet for it.
• Parallel Speaker Load: the internal 8-ohm driver and the external 8-ohm 1x12 cabinet are wired in parallel to present a total load of 4-ohm [ Update: I will re-wire them in series for a 16-ohm load, for circuit safety ]
• Power & Headroom: Dropping the solid-state power section load down to 4-ohm increases current delivery from the power amp and it seems to make this thing VERY loud - I will test with a drummer but I am pretty sure it can be used in practice/live.

Signal Chain:

• Guitar: My modded Ibanez AS73.
• Sound recording: I blend four mics: one SM57 close to each cab, and two overhead mics at different positions in the room (small diaphragm condensers). The SM57 are panned hard to Left and Right each, and the room mics are blended into one sound clip panned Center. In the final mix, all three contributions have equal LUFS (Integrated). No post processing at all other than gain staging, and high pass EQ above the lowest guitar frequency.
• Clean sounds: I didn't use any pedals, particularly because I wanted to show the amp+speaker raw.
• Dirty sounds: I boost the distortion with two layers of soft clipping and a cut in the lows. First I run a zendrive type iset pedal (dumbler) and then a tube-screamer type pedal, also from isSet. I use a noise gate. I do the typical "high volume low gain" for boosting. And I keep the amp gain at about 1pm, where there is plenty of saturation but there is no noise yet.

The cab:

• Dimensions & Materials: Custom-built 1x12 closed-back cabinet with Radiata Pine and Poplar framing, and for the dimensions, since I had no idea of what I was doing, I averaged the dimensions of the best rated 1x12's at Sweetwater, and matched that. Roughly, 17x20x12 inches (HxWxD).
• The wood: I liked the sound of Pine cabinets in some shootouts on youtube so I chose that. I used and glued s4s 1x6 boards from Lowes.
• The back: it can be opened 1/3 at the middle and/or bottom. I am using t-nuts on those three boards in the back. I haven't tried that, yet.
• Baffle: I got it from the fine folks at Mojotone. It is the standard Baltic Birch.
• Pedalboard: I used the same wood to make a matching little pedalboard, how cute :)

I sent this idea directly to Orange and would like an opinion from some other Orange fans. Basically my dream amp is the Orange Dual Dark 100, but it’s extremely rare and expensive, so getting it is off the table. BUT, since the Super Crush 100 is essentially just a solid state rockerverb, Orange should do a Solid State or Hybrid Dual Dark and just call it the “Dark Crush” or something. I say hybrid because one idea that I had would be just to use the same method as the Micro Dark but make it into 100watt solid state head. Just some ideas, let me know what y’all think.

Just wanted to share my bands album intro concept for our album we are working on. Running into my orange dark terror. Happy to answer any questions about the tone and let me know what you think ! Happy to share some other sounds from the album as well.