orange

Duff_Man

hey just wondering whats everyones thoughts on these amps? im in the market for a decent amp at the moment with a budget of about 1500 and growing. coulld anyone recommend any amps i should check out?

Voodu Child

Duff_Man wrote:

hey just wondering whats everyones thoughts on these amps? im in the market for a decent amp at the moment with a budget of about 1500 and growing. coulld anyone recommend any amps i should check out?

Nice...:D That budget allows for some seriously amazing amps.

What kind of sound are you looking for though? Blues, rock, metal etc? Are you looking for a combo or a head? Do you need 2 distinct channels? Are you pushed about new/second hand? Yadda yadda...the more info you give, the closer the recommendations will be to what youre looking for.

Duff_Man

well anythin from blues to hard rock...no metal though! i was lookin at the orange rocker 30. got some great reviews and from what iv read has a really cool distortion channel. id like a 2channel amp. hass to have a great distortion channel though cause i dont want to have to use any od pedals!im open to combo or stack. dont mind if its second hand! any help would be much appriciated!

Voodu Child

Theres a lot of choices, ill stick with Mesa cos i love them:D , and im sure the other lads will mention the other brands.

Most lads associate Mesa with the Rectifier series, but there are tonnes of older (and newer) ones that arent voiced towards metal at all. Your budget will buy just about any mesa you can think of (2nd hand) if you shop on ebay in the US. Stick with heads and shipping wont go over $150-$200. Pick up a 2nd hand 2x12 over here for a couple of hundred.
Have a read up on
Stiletto Ace - Marshall voiced 50 watter, sounds better than any marshall ever made.
Lonestar special - Rock/blues - amazing amp
F-50 rock/blues again, gainier than the lonestars. Will do hard rock no problem, tamer than a rectifier though.
Mark IV - Best amp ever made (IMO;) ). Will do EVERYTHING. Clean, country, blues, rock, metal, you name it.

Edit- to give you an idea of what E1500 will buy you in the US -
E1500 less customs = E1200
E1200 => $1600
Less $200 for shipping = $1400
$1400 will buy just about any amp you can think of in the US - have a look at ebay.

Dord

Matamp ftw!

that'll be my next amp purchase, probably this summer. i want a Matamp XV :cool: theyre teh sex!

oh and their website is http://www.matamp.co.uk
plenty of custom options for very little money, and theyre made in the uk.

david

Dont underestimate the power of a cranked Orange with a booster constantly engaged and a guitar volume/tone knob! Play an Epiphone VJ and you'll see what i mean... Single channel amps are very liberating... I'd check out a single channel AD-30 if i were you (combo preferably, half stacks are a bit overkill even for gigging IMHO

Yakult

I would definally stay orange, feck Mesa and the alike. ^Definally check out the Ad-30, that can work wonders even without a booster!! So beautiful distortion imo! Can do many ranges from Blues-Hard rock easily! I would also suggest the Rockerverb 50. Very nice!!

John

Agreed, I'd take an Orange over a Mesa too. I'd take a Matamp over an Orange though. Sexy.

Quattroste

Have any of you lads taking Orange/Metamp etc over a Mesa actually done a comparison or are your opinions based on well, opinions?

I have a Mesa Lonestar Special and it can do Rock/Blues. I find it extremly versatile with a fantastic tone. I'm sure Orange or Metamp can do the same so I would suggest to the OP that any of these amps will do what you want. They are all well made, expensive amps and they should sound fantastic. €1500 will get you a fantastic amp providing you do not buy new in Ireland

John

I've never played a Mesa and one of the other amps at the same time but I've played all three brands at some stage. Don't get me wrong, Mesa make ****ing great amps but I prefer the sound from the other two.

Voodu Child

Mesa make a bunch of amps, none of them sound the same. Not to argue with your opinion, because of course everybody will prefer one thing over another, but you cant say you 'prefer the sound of the other two', without saying which models youre talking about.

Quattroste

That is kinda what I was getting at. I suppose the AD30 could be compared to the LSS or the MkIV. I'm not sure which Metamp model would be in that league. Then there's Cornford amps too. Plus the guitar that you plug into them, pedals etc, etc. I just don't think it is simple to say that Orange or Mesa or any high quality brand sounds better than the other.

Voodu Child

Quattroste wrote:

That is kinda what I was getting at. I suppose the AD30 could be compared to the LSS or the MkIV. I'm not sure which Metamp model would be in that league. Then there's Cornford amps too. Plus the guitar that you plug into them, pedals etc, etc. I just don't think it is simple to say that Orange or Mesa or any high quality brand sounds better than the other.

Exactly. Matamp are fantastic amps, but they don't make 10 models that sound the same, so obviously if youre after high-gain a First Lady isnt going to be on your shopping list, and if you need a 30 watter you wont be looking at a minmat. Just the same as your Lonestar isnt going to sound like my Rec, and vice versa.

Definitely have a look at Cornford alright. Again, like mesa, matamp, orange, top-quality hand made stuff.

Theres a shedload of other stuff to consider too, especially at that budget. If the OP doesnt get too many more recommendations, i'll have a think about it and see what else might suit.

Duff_Man

im narrowing down my option to an orange of some sort. thinking maybe the ad-30 head and a cab or a rockeer 30. the ad combo is very pricy but is just about in my budget! is the head a tad over-powering though?

fish-head

Isn't there one going on Adverts?

Duff_Man

na there was one last month but duno think it got sold!

John

voodoo_child wrote:

Mesa make a bunch of amps, none of them sound the same. Not to argue with your opinion, because of course everybody will prefer one thing over another, but you cant say you 'prefer the sound of the other two', without saying which models youre talking about.

Of course I can say what I prefer or not

Anyway, I meant in general, I've played a few Mesas (Dual Rec, Lone Star, Mark IV) and Oranges (AD30, Rockerverb, some other one that I can't remember the name of) and had a go of one Matamp (GTO) and in general I'd go with Orange over the Mesas (and for my scene points go for the Matamp but out of any stacks I've played the Matamp GTO slays them all). Build and design quality wise they are all on level pegging but it comes down to playing them and deciding what like (which is what I've done). As I said, Mesa are a far cry from being bad amps but my tastes in general lie elsewhere.

Voodu Child

John wrote:

Of course I can say what I prefer or not

Oh aye, that you can, but to sum up a whole brand versus another is too simplistic.

You may say 'I prefer Ford to Renault' or whatever, and thats fair enough, but only an idiot would JUST go down to the Ford dealer to decide what car to buy next. You have a look at your budget, what you need it for, what kind of use its going to get etc. and then you check a whole load of brands and see what fits the bill.

Otherwise you may end up with a little Fiesta just cos you 'prefer' Ford, and find out your 10 fat kids dont fit in it, and youd a been better off with a hi-ace

Same with amps, if you dismiss a whole brand in one sweeping statement, with probably 20 or 30 different amps in their back-catalogue, you very probably are dismissing one or two that might fit the bill very nicely, and cost less than you think.

But eh...the OP is leaning towards Orange anyhows, so...:D

Yakult

Quattroste wrote:

Have any of you lads taking Orange/Metamp etc over a Mesa actually done a comparison or are your opinions based on well, opinions?

I have a Mesa Lonestar Special and it can do Rock/Blues. I find it extremly versatile with a fantastic tone. I'm sure Orange or Metamp can do the same so I would suggest to the OP that any of these amps will do what you want. They are all well made, expensive amps and they should sound fantastic. €1500 will get you a fantastic amp providing you do not buy new in Ireland

Well you cant compare them. Its all down to what you prefere, They ae both two very different amps so..

Quattroste

R_H_C_P wrote:

Well you cant compare them. Its all down to what you prefere, They ae both two very different amps so..

Ehhhh, what?

Why can't you compare them? What two amps are very different?

The original question was did you compare ANY amps to make your recommendation or was it just opinion based on heresay.

Keyzer

Bumping this thread....

OP, did you get an orange in the end?

I'm looking at the rocker 30 head and the 212 cab.
Some amazing sounds being showcased on you tube with this rig.

Let me know if you did.
I would love to hear the rig in action.

punchdrunk

i've got a marshall master mkII,an ad 30 twin channel head and a matamp 1224 mkII head
i prefer the orange out of the three,easiest to dial in,love clean sound
tonnes of character,plenty of gain on the brighter second channel

punchdrunk

Duff_Man wrote: »

na there was one last month but duno think it got sold!

Duff_Man

no i ended up goin for a marshall bluesbreaker! was a close call though!haha