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Posted by: Francis Viviers Sep 14 2007, 09:33 PM

Hi Guys

A guy that plays in a church band with me needs some money so he is selling his old "Orange OR120 1973" All valve amplifier for £230. I still have to go listen to it, but i wanted to know your guys opinion on it. Is it worth buying that amp ?

Posted by: DeepRoots Sep 14 2007, 10:02 PM

I'm not sure how the amp is rated- but be sure to knock the price down a bit before you shake on it. Remember- guitar shops or people just selling their equipment need your money so they will be obliged to knock the price down slightly. Try for £200 or below if you can. Anyone have experience with this amp?

EDIT: spelling

Posted by: Hungus Sep 14 2007, 10:15 PM

I dont have any persional experience with these amps but my friend who is abit of a guitar nut seems to think they are very good amps. Also its old so it must be good haha

Considering he is your mate you should just organise some time to go round then and jam on it for an hour or two to get a good feel for it.

Posted by: Francis Viviers Sep 14 2007, 10:19 PM

QUOTE (Hungus @ Sep 14 2007, 11:15 PM)

I dont have any persional experience with these amps but my friend who is abit of a guitar nut seems to think they are very good amps. Also its old so it must be good haha

Considering he is your mate you should just organise some time to go round then and jam on it for an hour or two to get a good feel for it.

Posted by: Hungus Sep 14 2007, 10:27 PM

Yhea it does seem like quite a good price. I just recently bought an 80's mesa boogie 130watt valve amp for about 180 pounds and I am pretty stoaked with it for what I payed (it was off my brother mind you)

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 14 2007, 10:40 PM

Orange are generally good valve amps with a definite character/tone that you may or may not really like- so you do need to try it first. If you do like don't forget that you may need to replace the tubes depending on when they were lasted changed and how much use the amp has had.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: MickeM Sep 15 2007, 07:34 AM

I was never especially fond of Orange myself but I'd say you got a fair deal, my guess is that you'd need to take it for service (new tubes etc). If it was mint it would be more expensive.

I saw an orange in an old Sabbath Video from the early 70's, maybe it's this very same model
Never bothered to check it up what model that was

So, I'd think it's worth the money even if needs service but if that's the case probaby the seller can cut off the price a bit even.

Turn all knobs and listen for wierd noices. With 120W and such an old amp you should really test it on the volumes you'll be playing. No doubt it's loud, and no doubt it will sound great when loud, but how does it sound at bedroom levels, if that's what you'll be doing.

Posted by: Francis Viviers Sep 18 2007, 03:19 PM

QUOTE (MickeM @ Sep 15 2007, 08:34 AM)

I was never especially fond of Orange myself but I'd say you got a fair deal, my guess is that you'd need to take it for service (new tubes etc). If it was mint it would be more expensive.

I saw an orange in an old Sabbath Video from the early 70's, maybe it's this very same model
Never bothered to check it up what model that was

So, I'd think it's worth the money even if needs service but if that's the case probaby the seller can cut off the price a bit even.

Turn all knobs and listen for wierd noices. With 120W and such an old amp you should really test it on the volumes you'll be playing. No doubt it's loud, and no doubt it will sound great when loud, but how does it sound at bedroom levels, if that's what you'll be doing.

Posted by: Hungus Sep 18 2007, 03:23 PM

If you had the spare money you could even just buy it and sit on it for a few years and eventually it will probably be worth alot more as it is already fairly old..


Be sure to post an update here after you have had a jam on it too eh

Posted by: Francis Viviers Oct 1 2007, 04:25 PM

So i went to play on the Orange 120 yesterday.

Even if it says its 120 watt its not all that loud. Has four EL34 power amp tubes and two pre amp tubes ( dont know which, their in metal housing ). High / low input, Mhz and Khz knobs ( Basicly bass and trebble ), this knob that switches the sound to Mesa / Marshall / Fender and Orange EQ's and then a Gain Knob.

The power amps are allways running on full output and the gain knob just pushes the the preamp tubes so it controls the volume of the amp. These valves never get to the point of breaking up Thats why i say its not as loud as you think. The clean sound of this is nothing to talk about much, its average much like a JCM800. Being not all that impressed at this point i plugged in my distortion and delay pedals .... The sound was absolutely gorgeous. Fat, Warm, Nice saturation and the amount off balls that came out of the cheap cab the guy has was amazing. Plug a nice distortion pedal into this thing and you have a huge metal amp on your hands.

Oh yeah and did i mention it weighs a freaken TON! and the previous owner before him is a moron cos he painted it black

Should here from him in two weeks if he is gonna sell the thing to me or not. Well if he is im gonna buy it.

QUOTE (Hungus @ Sep 18 2007, 04:23 PM)

Posted by: tonymiro Oct 1 2007, 07:04 PM

Shame about the paint job Francis otherwise sounds great .

Hope you get a go on it in a fortnight.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: Hungus Oct 3 2007, 10:12 PM

That sucks about the paint job man.... maybe you could clean it off with some solvents or something.

As for the volume are you sure there wasnt 2 volume knobs on it, like a "Volume" and "master"

I talked to my brother the other day about orange amps too and he said he knew someone who sold one for well over a grand so I think you will be getting a pretty good deal on this

Posted by: VinceG Oct 4 2007, 06:45 AM

orange amps are monsters.

If you know the band boris, they sometimes use those kind of amps. I could honestly say, they are the heaviest band I have ever heard in my life.

Posted by: Francis Viviers Oct 16 2007, 03:54 PM

QUOTE (Hungus @ Oct 3 2007, 11:12 PM)

Posted by: MickeM Oct 16 2007, 04:23 PM

QUOTE (Francis Viviers @ Oct 16 2007, 04:54 PM)

Posted by: Francis Viviers Oct 17 2007, 04:30 PM

QUOTE (MickeM @ Oct 16 2007, 05:23 PM)