This
vintage Orange guitar amplifier is fresh from our workshops where it
got a thorough going-over. A very original example, showing plenty of
gigging wear, but with no modifications. The knob is missing from the
F.A.C. control switch, but otherwise surprisingly complete and original.
Tone
to die for with the original CTS speakers.
The
first Orange amplifiers, in the late 60s and early 70s, were the so
called Graphic Amps. They got this name because the first models had
only images and no text to describe the knob functions.
In 1976
the Overdrive Amps were introduced. They were Graphic amps equipped
with a Master Volume. There were no other major differences. This amplifier
is one such amp. 80 watts of British tone. You thought the Vox AC-30
was built like a battleship? Wait until you see this Orange! Unbelievable
build quality, from the chassis to the cabinet itself.
The
Orange factory closed down during the disco era. The name has been revived
by its new owners, and a new range of Orange amplifiers is being offered,
but it's the real deal ones that tone hounds and collectors are interested
in.
Orange
Amps have been used and endorsed by many rock guitarists, including
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At The Drive-In
and The Mars Volta, Wata, guitarist for Boris, Rivers Cuomo/Brian Bell
of Weezer, The Edge of U2, and Noel Gallagher of Oasis.
There
is an interesting Matamp lineage with Orange amps. The most generally
accepted version is that Matamp was a name used for marketing Orange
amps into the northern, more conservative parts of the UK, where amps
which were Orange in colour as well as name might have been too much
for the locals. Other historians suggest that Orange grew out of Matamp,
or that the Orange brand only arose after the split between Cliff Cooper
(Orange) and Mat Mathias (Matamp). Either way, the lineage with another
revered name in amps is there.
Sold
to Michael