Orange Acoustic Pedal review

Amp legend Orange takes another step into the acoustic field with its Acoustic Pedal, which is essentially a DI box with frills… and what frills they are. As you can imagine, anything coming from such a renowned stable is not only going to follow through on its promises but do so with great user-friendly functionality and transparency in use. 

That is, if the traditionally reserved acoustic crowd can get past the somewhat psychedelic artwork on the pedal itself! So, what exactly is on offer? For starters, there is basic volume, plus treble and bass EQ, which, we’re told, benefits from a single-ended design for an ultra-low noise floor. 

Then there’s a notch filter that operates over the 68Hz to 1.2kHz range and works hand-in-hand with the midrange rotary to offer control over feedback issues. The Q knob determines whether the midrange frequency band you select is wide or narrow – useful for pinpointing troublesome resonant peaks in your acoustic guitar’s range. 

Add to this a buffered effects loop so you can line up your favourite acoustic pedals and invite them to the Orange party. Another handy asset is a choice of an unbalanced jack output for connection to an amp or a balanced XLR, complete with its own phase switch to tame prospective feedback issues even more.

It’s all controlled via an 18-volt power supply (that Orange has thoughtfully included) for the extra headroom needed for the unit’s smooth, trouble-free performance. Once you see past the swirly artwork and get used to the control layout, everything is simple to understand and a real doddle to use.

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We hooked it up to our AER Compact 60, turned the volume up and listened hard. The claim that the pedal operates at an extremely low noise level is spot on; we couldn’t detect any additional hiss creeping into our signal. Our test guitar was a Fylde Goodfellow with no onboard preamp controls and so this was a perfect companion.

Bass and treble did exactly what you’d expect with transparent clarity, and the notch-filter and Q controls were easy to dial in, too. It took us a matter of moments to come up with a fully usable sound and from thereon in we could forget about the pedal and get on with the job in hand. Bravo, Orange!

Specs

• PRICE: $169/£139
• TYPE: Acoustic JFET preamp and DI 
• FEATURES: 3-band EQ, Buffered effects loop, balanced XLR Output with Phase Reverse Switch
• CONTROLS: Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Q Factor, Notch, phase switch
• CONNECTIONS: 1/4" I/O, balanced XLR out, Send, Return
• CONTACT: Orange Amps