Orange amp history & Australia orange amps
Orange was founded all the way back in the swinging 1968's by musician, and genius electronics designer Cliff Cooper in London. Cliffard original opened an Orange store at 3 New Compton Street in London's West End - and some rather funky pictures from the completely Orange store on easy to find online. Initially, Cooper used the Orange store basement as a pro recording studio. But because orange studios and Orange Publishing failed to make enough money, the ground floor were then turned into a music shop - the Orange Music Electronic Company, selling Cooper's own amps and equipment to pay staff. What a legend!
Difficulties in building products meant that Cliff and Orange first sold only second-hand equipment and the Orange shop led Cooper to design the very first Orange amplifiers. In late 1968, the Huddersfield company called Radio Craft, owned by Mat Mathias, produced the first Orange-branded amplifiers that Cliff designed. Pace of production was hard to keep up, and so perhaps the Orange product range was not as large as Cliff would have liked, although big power was the norm back then, a range of practice amps may have been on the cards given Cliff's background. But, the Orange name and place in every guitarists heart was made.
Who uses orange guitar and bass amplifiers
Orange have since 1968, played an important part in the now iconic British music history, including a little known artist called Eric Clapton stopping by the Orange store to pick up a Fender Strat for Jimi Hendrix, providing Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac with a huge Orange backline, the events all played a vital role in Orange’s success to this day as a leading English amplifier manufacturing company.
Major artists in all genres use and swear by Orange Amps, with Clifford Cooper origonial design at the core. Blues, Country, Doom, Metal, Psychedelic, Rock guitars including (but absolutely not limited to) Fleetwood Mac, John McVie, Stevie Wonder, Wishbone Ash, Andy Powell, Led Zeppelin, Geddy Lee, Paco AyalaApril, Jimmy Page, Oasis, Wolfmother, The Kaiser Chiefs, the Pretenders, Jimmy Eat World, Supergrass, Switchfoot, Marc Bolan in T. Rex, Screaming Trees, P. J. Harvey, Cheap Trick, Weezer, Jim root, Rush, Beyonce, Deftones, Iron Maiden, Foals, and Catfish and The Bottlemen across both guitar and bass ranges.
Are Orange Amps good value?
They sure are! With the new recent release of the Orange crush, you can pickup a new Orange amp for a great price - like the Orange Crush Bass options or ORANGE Crush 20RT Combo Amplifier is a remarkable price with the distinctive sound, original orange sound and looks super cool as. But even the full Valve gear is great value - checkout the ORANGE DA15H Dark Terror Guitar Valve Head or ORANGE OR15 Guitar Amp Head a high-gain 15W amp capable of a huge range of Orange tones. This EL84-powered beast can do everything from classic brit clean tones to cutting-edge Metal, oozing massive amounts of character and cool. We also love the Orange Micro Terror Head, Orange Bass Amps, Orange MD Micro Dark Guitar with one of the biggest sounds around.
Are orange amps good for metal?
Orange amps and speaker cabinets are one of the best choices around for modern metal, stoner rock, psych rock and hard rock - with bands like Mastodon rocking Orange amps. They are also a great choice of guitar amp or bass amp for a classic rock or punk band. While Orange amps can cater to various styles of music, if you’re looking to play only clean music like jazz, then we'd suggest checking out a Fender or Vox amp, or if a custom shop style amp from one of the more boutique builders - but expect to pay a lot more. But if you want a killer combo that can do dirty, Orange make Beautiful vintage amplifier heads and combos. At Coleman's we always love the Rockerverb 50 and Rockerverb 100, but there's so many great options.
Does an Orange Amp take pedals well?
When the Coleman's Music online team did some research, and the general consensus is that some Orange amps handle pedals well, some don't. Orange amps are awesome for most effects like delay and wah, but when it comes to distortion fuzz and dirt pedals, not all Orange amps handle them well - and this makes sense. Not all transistor, hybrid or valve amps love pedals, especially dirt pedals.
Distortion pedals that work well with most Orange valve amps include the RC Booster, the original Timmy, OCD v4, White Face Rat Reissue, Zvex Box of Rock and more boutique pedals. We have heard some amazing Boss pedal and Orange amp combos, Ibanez pedals too - so it really is best to do a little research before pairing your Orange amp with a dirt pedal.
Which Orange Amp model to buy? Orange Amps for sale Australia:
Orange Amps are probably one of, if not, the funkiest guitar amp company to exist, ever. With the amp of choice throughout the psychedelic 60's for many guitarists, the legacy carries on with bands like Wolfmother, Weezer and thousands of others.
Orange might not be as famous as Marshall or Fender amps and they also don't focus on just one thing like many amp brands. Mesa has their super high gain modern distortion, Fender is famous for their warm tone and reverb, Marshall is famous for their bright lead and mid tones.
Orange Amps however are very neutral and that's why they are ideal for so many styles of music and different output levels - home to stadium. Here's are some of our favourites:
- ORANGE Crush 35RT Combo Amplifier
- ORANGE Crush Bass 25 Combo Amplifier
- ORANGE DA15H Dark Terror Guitar Valve Head
- ORANGE Pedalbaby 100 Watt Power Amp
- ORANGE PPC212OB 2x12 Open Back Cabinet
Looking to buy an Orange Amp online, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart or Australia?
Ay Coleman's Music and guitar shop online, Melbourne or Lynbrook, we're always keeping up with the Orange Amp guitar news and latest models. If you would like to know what Orange Amp models are right for you, be sure to get in touch with Coleman's Music in Melbourne, Lynbrook or online, we love Orange Amp and have product specialists on our team, so please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Just give us a call at our Lynbrook store on (03) 9799 5400 . We also provide fast and secure shipping that arrives in 1-3 business days, and even more lay-by options and delivery options if you need it, just let us know!
Here's our fav vintage Orange Amp pic, checkout the Orange store from the 60's!
