The forward-thinking all-tube amp does it all – with just one channel. Here's what you need to know about the British amp legend's crowning achievement
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(Image credit: Orange Amps)
Orange’s first British-built head since 2015 represents the culmination of 55 years making tube amps – balancing the elegance of classic tube design with the player-first instincts that can only come from decades of really listening to guitarists.
As the five stars reviews and YouTube demos attest, the OR30 has quickly established itself as a forward-thinking all-tube amp that is comfortably at home in the modern age. A straightforward, yet beautifully musical all-analog amp design. Essentially, it’s a digital detox in amp form.
It’s a single channel head that somehow pulls off the unique trick of also being incredibly versatile – and equally comfortable operating at a quiet(ish) home setting, or with unhinged levels of volume.
As such, it's a build that could only be produced by a brand like Orange – and a designer like Ade Emsley – a legend of British amp design with an unrivaled ear for addictive, magical tube tone.
Based around a classic pairing of of 3x 12AX7 preamp tubes, with a 4x EL-84 power section – it is brought to vivid life with all tube rectification and a tube-buffered effects loop – ensuring a truly all-analog signal path.
Orange devotees will tell you that the sound and dynamic response of their amps makes them want to play for days – and the secret of that tone is in the powerful bell-like upper-mids and treble response, alongside the interplay of the volume and gain controls.
The OR30 delivers that sound and then some – running from stunning cleans, to roaring gain-y metal – but here, the tube rectifier’s organic attack and release opens it all up into something that is much more alive and dynamic.
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(Image credit: Orange Amps)
(Image credit: Orange Amps)
There’s also a first for Orange on the OR30 – in the form of a three-position bright switch. The middle setting is neutral, but flick it to the right and you’ve got a wide-band treble boost, great for saturated tones. Flick it to the left and you get a narrower treble boost that opens-up chiming clean tones.
Elsewhere, there’s a footswitchable volume – which behaves exactly like the master volume, meaning you can easily boost or cut without altering the character of your core tone. While a cross-line presence control lets you tame your presence at any volume – ensuring you’re not restricted to just high-volume settings.
Finally, there’s a nod to the realities of the modern rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle with the headroom/bedroom switch, which takes the power rating down from 30-watts to a handy 2-watts for practise or low volume applications.
Ultimately, the OR30 is about that elusive and, frankly, overused tonal term: feel. We can describe it, we can record it, but to truly understand it for yourself, you need to plug-in and hear how it brings your playing to life.
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