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Harjoitusvahvistimet testissä Rockway.fi-blogissa
Orange Guitar Pack +++ new product +++ uutuus
Orange Amplification are proud to launch, in time for Christmas, their new Orange Guitar Pack containing everything needed to start playing, all in one box. Created to get the next generation of guitarists playing, or encourage lapsed performers to get back in the saddle, this quality, affordable pack contains an Orange Guitar, Orange Crush PiX 12L amplifier combo, Orange branded gig bag, headstock tuner, guitar lead plus plectrums and strap. Also included is the new Orange Music Education Rock Guitar beginner guitar tuition course with access to over ten video tutorial lessons and backing tracks.
Orange Amplification tuo markkinoille ensimmäisen kitara- ja vahvistinpakettinsa. Orange Guitar Pack:iin sisältyy uusi Orange Guitar -sähkökitara, Orange Crush PiX 12L kitarakombo, topattu kitarapussi, klipsiviritysmittari, kitarajohto, sekä hihna ja muutama plektra. Paketista löytyy myös aloitteilijoille suunnattu Orange Music Education Rock Guitar -videokurssi.
Lisätiedot: Musamaailma
Musikmesse 2013 – Orange Crush Pro -sarja
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Orange Amplification esitteli Frankfurtin musiikkimessuilla upouutta Crush Pro -sarjansa, joka vie firman analogiset transistorivahvistimet uuteen ulottuvuuteen.
Crush Pro -sarjan soundillinen esikuva on Orangen suosittu Rockerverb-sarja, mutta transistoriteknologian ansiosta Crush Pro -sarjalaisia on kevyempi kantaa, ja samalla ne ovat myös muusikon kukkarolle erittäin ystävällisiä.
Crush Pro -sarjaan kuuluu tällä hetkellä kaksi comboa – CR60C ja CR120C – sekä yksi nuppi (CR120H). Vahvistimet ovat kaksikanavaisia, ja kanavanvaihtoa voi hoitaa jalkakytkimellä.
Crush Prot saapuvat kaupoille kesällä.
Lisätiedot: Musamaailma
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Review: Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212
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Orange Amplification have a long and illustrious tradition in the building of guitar and bass amplifiers, a fact that shows in many of the company’s current products.
But that doesn’t mean that Orange are a backward-facing company – far from it. The brand-new Terror Bass combo, for example, is very much a contemporary product – a compact, yet powerful valve-hybrid amp.
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The Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212 (current RRP in Finland: 994 €) melds the company’s 500-Watt BT-500H-head with their 2 x 12″ SP-212-cabinet.
The Orange TB500C is a valve-hybrid amplifier, which in this case means that its preamp section is powered by two 12AX7 valves. The tubes imbue the combo with a warm basic tonality, nicely seasoned with mild and organic compression. I’d also wager that a bit of overdrive will be on the menu at some point.
The power amp, on the other hand, uses modern technology to its best advantage: A Class D amplifier manages to produce lots of volume in a very energy efficient way. Because this technology cuts down drastically on heat dissipation as a byproduct of amplification, manufacturers are now able to build smaller and lighter amps.
Orange’s Smart Power bass cabinets are built according to the isobaric principle.
An isobaric speaker cabinet basically uses two identical speakers – in the TB500C’s case two 12-inch neodymium speakers – mounted one behind the other in a straight line, resulting in fatter tones and more sound pressure than you’d expect from a relatively compact design.
Take a look at Orange’s own video to get more of an insight into their Smart Power cabinets:
But we bassists needn’t trouble ourselves with too much theory, we only have to use the combo.
The front panel is typical of Orange-amps: There are the famous pictograms above the clearly labelled controls for gain and master volume, as well as the three-band EQ section, which make it even easier to know your way around the amp.
The amplifier section is connected to the combo’s speaker using the provided Speakon-lead.
Because the amplifier allows you to daisy-chain two cabinets…
…you will find the necessary impedance switch on the back panel underneath the Speakon-jack.
The other connectors on the back panel are for the effects chain and the balanced DI-output.
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Whoa, watch out – this combo is a real shouter!
I’ve got to admit right away that I tend to dislike the use of single 12-inch speakers in bass amps. More often than not I find these designs to lack real bottom end and transparency in their tonal delivery.
But this isn’t a thing that you could accuse the Orange Terror Bass of, by any stretch of the imagination! The isobaric Smart Power cabinet is quite a different beast, sounding large and muscular, with more than enough clarity and punch for most applications.
In terms of its basic sound the Orange TB500C is clearly a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying member of the Orange-family: If you’re looking for extreme clarity and hi-fi-style response, this isn’t really the right amp for you. We’re talking about earthy and muscular bass tones here. Dialling in more gain gradually adds delicious grit and graininess to proceedings. Above 3 o’clock on the gain control any bass will drive the Orange well into classic, glorious overdrive.
Even though the Terror Bass combo is part of Orange’s cost-conscious Terror-range, I am rather sure this powerful and compact bass amp will find its way into many professional backlines.
I recorded the audio clips using my trusty Japanese 1985 Squier Jazz Bass and my own P-Man bitser equipped with a MM-humbucker and passive controls:
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Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212
current RRP in Finland: 994 €
Finnish distributor: Musamaailma
Pros:
+ size
+ power
+ valve preamp
+ sound
+ weight
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Testipenkissä: Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212
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Orange Amplificationilla on hyvin pitkä perinne kitara- ja bassovahvistimien valmistuksessa, ja se näkyy monissa firman nykyisissä tuotteissakin.
Se ei kuitenkaan tarkoita, ettei Orange olisi avoin myös uudelle teknologialle. Esimerkkinä kelpaa hyvin upouusi Terror Bass -kombo, joka on kompakti, mutta silti tehokas nykyaikainen putkihybridivahvistin.
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Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212 (994 €) yhdistää firman 500-wattisen BT-500H-nupin ja kahdella 12-tuumaisella varustetun SP-212-kaapin yhdeksi kombovahvistimeksi.
Orange TB500C on putkihybridivahvistin, mikä tarkoittaa Bass Terrorin tapauksessa, että sen etuvahvistin on rakennettu käyttäen kahta 12AX7-putkea. Putkilla saa aikaiseksi lämpimän perussoundin, joka on valmiiksi höystetty miedolla ja orgaanisella kompressiolla, ja myös aitoa putkisäröä voi odottaa tästä kombosta.
Päätevahvistin taas käyttää huipputehokasta, mutta kevyttä nykyteknologiaa: D-luokan päätevahvistin pystyy tuottamaan paljon ääntä – tässä tapauksessa 500 wattia (rms) – hyvin kompakteilla komponenteilla ja energiatehokkaasti vähällä hukkalämmöllä.
Orangen Smart Power -bassokaapit rakennetaan isobaarisen toimintaperiaatteen mukaisesti.
Isobaarisessa kaapissa käytetään kahta samanmallista kaiutinta – TB500C:n tapauksessa kaksi 12-tuumaista, kevyttä neodyymi-kaiutinta – asennettuna peräkkäin samassa linjassa. Lopputulos on syvempi bassotoisto ja isompi äänenpaine verrattuna samankokoiseen perinteiseen bassokaappiin.
Tässä on Orangen oma video, jossa Smart Power -kaappien isobaarista teknologiaa esitellään tarkemmin:
Mutta Orange Terror Bass -kombo ei vaivaa basistia lainkaan sen sisäisellä teknologialla.
Ulospäin näkyy vain varsin perinteinen Orange-etupaneeli, joka tarjoaa gain- ja master-säätimien lisäksi kolmialueisen EQ-osaston.
Vahvistimen- ja kaappipuolien liittäminen tapahtuu mukaantulevalla Speakon-johdolla.
Koska kaksi Orange-kaappia pystyy ketjuttaa…
…löytyy vahvistimen takapaneelista kaiutinlähdön alla myös impedanssikytkin.
Muut liittimet ovat efektilenkin lähtö- ja tulojakki, sekä balansoitu DI-lähtö mikseriin.
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Whoa, watch out – tästä paketista lähtee rutkasti ääntä!
Täytyy myöntää, etten ole yksittäisellä 12-tuumaisella varustettujen bassokombojen suurin ystävä. Usein niiden soundi on melko honottava ja vähän puuroinen alhaisessa keskialueessa.
Orangen Terror Bass -kombo on kuitenkin ihan oma tapauksensa! Isobaarinen Smart Power -kaappi kuulostaa ilahduttavan isolta ja lihaksikkaalta, ja myös potkua löyttyy mielin määrin.
Soundillisesti Orangen TB500C kuuluu selvästi samaan perheeseen kuin muut Orangen bassovahvistimet: täällä ei hifistellä, vaan tarjolla on reilu annos maanläheistä bassottelua. Gain-namikan avaaminen lisää menoon aluksi vain hieman lämpöä ja särmikästä rosoisuutta, mutta liikeradan loppupuoliskolla astuu kuvaan myös herkullista putkisäröä.
Vaikka Terror Bass -kombo on osaa Orangen edullisemmasta Terror-sarjasta, olen melko varma, että tämä voimapesä löytää tiensä myös monen ammattibasistin backlineen.
Äänitin seuraavat esimerkipätkät japanilaisella Squier Jazz -bassolla, sekä passivisella MM-humbuckerilla varustetulla P-Man-bassollani:
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Orange Terror Bass TB500C-212
994 €
Maahantuoja: Musamaailma
Plussat:
+ koko
+ teho
+ putkietuaste
+ soundi
+ paino
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Review: Orange AD200 Bass Mk3 + OBC410
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British amplifier makers Orange have a long history going back all the way to 1968.
Even if many of their current products are manufactured in China these days – to keep the prices down – the company still make their top-of-the-line products in England. Apart from their guitar amplifier range Orange also caters for bass players – this time we will review their AD200 Bass MK3 all-valve head (current price in Finland: 1.510 €) together with the OBC410-cabinet (current price in Finland: 799 €).
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The combination of the Orange AD200 Bass -head and OBC410-cabinet carries all the famous hallmarks of the company. There’s the pictogrammes explaining the functions of the control knobs on the huge, white front panel, as well as the huge black knobs for gain and master volume. Both the head and cabinet are covered in the famous orange vinyl and have black metal corner protectors.
This stack has been built to take the beatings of a life on tour, with both head and cabinet crafted from 13-ply birch plywood. The OBC410 also features stiffening internal partitions, which also greatly reduce unwanted resonances.
The speaker cabinet is a rear-ported design with tough metal skids underneath.
This uncompromising build and sturdiness are sure to satisfy the professional bassist (as well as his techie), but they naturally add a hefty bit of weight to this stack – the AD200 Bass -head weighs in at 25 kilos with the OBC410 weighing a whopping 43 kilos. Greetings to the road crew…
The OBC-cabinet is rated at 600 Watts (RMS), meaning it can stoically take whatever the AD200 dishes out. Its four ten-inch speakers are complemented by a treble horn, which has its own three-way switch on the back panel.
The Orange AD 200 Bass’ design is as classic as it is straightforward: The controls comprise gain, master and a three-band EQ section – that’s all.
The back panel sports three speaker outputs, as well as separate fuses for each of the two power amp tube pairs. The slave output makes it possible to chain several AD200s together, which comes in handy for stadium-type large scale gigs, or if you want to rattle the drummer with some choice notes on your low-B string.
Behind the metal grille on the back you have direct access to the head’s valves: Orange’s large bass head can be run on either four KT88s or the same number of 6550-valves, which is what out test sample came supplied with. The AD200’s front end is catered for by two ECC83/12AX7s and one ECC81/12AT7, which have been placed behind the power amp tubes.
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Let’s make one thing clear for starters – this stack isn’t the right choice for your living room.
The pairing of Orange’s AD200 and OBC410 results in an extermely muscular stack that moves some serious amounts of air. Yes, you can turn down the head’s smoothly functioning controls and bring this rig down to small rehearsal levels, but this amp stack truly thrives best in large settings, where its bags of volume can really shine.
This stack’s sound is surprisingly versatile, with the gain control taking you from earthy cleans all the way to warm valve distortion. The EQ section is very powerful and musical. The Orange AD200 isn’t really the best amp fors delicate Hi-Fi meanderings, but it really offers more versatility than what its Rock-image may suggest.
The following examples have been recordid using a Jazz Bass, as well as a sel-assembled P-type bass with a passive MM-pickup:
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Orange AD200 Bass Mk3 + OBC410
Finnish distributor: Musamaailma
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Orange AD200 Bass Mk3
Current price in Finland: 1.510 €
Pros:
+ sound
+ versatility
+ power
+ very sturdy build
+ workmanship
Cons:
– weight
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Orange OBC410
Current price in Finland: 799 €
Pros:
+ sound
+ power handling
+ switchable treble horn
+ very sturdy build
+ workmanship
Cons:
– weight
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