Orange amps: yeah, they look cool but there’s a lot more to it than that! Orange are actually one of the few amplifier brands out there who have their own distinctive sound. We all know the Fender sound, and the Vox and Marshall Plexi tones. Many of us will also recognise the JCM900, 5150 and Mesa Boogie ‘Rectifier’ tones also, but apart from those, there perhaps aren’t too many amps out there with an instantly recognisable sound all of their own.
Orange are one of them. Their rich, harmonically dense distorted tones are the stuff of modern legend, and lots of the world’s most crushingly heavy guitarists swear by their Orange amps, be they Rockerverbs, Tiny Terrors or anything else from the esteemed British company.
Today, I’ll take you on a trip through the world of Orange artists, and see just who is doing what kind of sonic damage out there on the world's stages, alongside their favourite Orange heads, cabs and combos.
Orange Artists at a Glance
Jimmy Page
If Led Zeppelin’s mastermind chooses to play his vintage Les Pauls through your amps, you know you’re doing something right!
Although one’s mental picture of Page is him standing in front of a wall of Marshall stacks, apparently he’s been using Orange as far back as the latter-period Zep days. His amp of choice is the AD30BTC.
Billy Gibbons
Ol’ Reverend Willy uses a lot of gear for sure, but he never puts his name onto anything that isn’t absolutely stellar. As well as being an avid fan of the Micro Dark lunchbox head, Gibbons is quite taken with Orange’s Bax Bangeetar pedal: “The Bax Bangeetar Pre-EQ pedal has revealed itself as a true tone chameleon. It’s super versatile! We will have great success for tracking on both guitar and bass with it. The super-wide LOW and HI settings are very musical. And the full parametric mid band has a lot to offer!!!” Preach it, brother!
Brent Hinds
A wild man in an equally wild band, Brent Hinds is Mastodon’s wonderfully/notoriously loose cannon. As a player, he’s a great mix of impressive and surprising, and his amp of choice is the Thunderverb 50, to which he notes: “I get these ghost-notes that I can’t get out of any other amp”. Orange did also release a special signature Terror amp for him too, which even bore a graphic of his facial tattoo!
Matt Pike
To those who know him from either Sleep or High of Fire, Matt Pike is the rightful inheritor of the Stoner rock crown. 40 minute songs are nothing to this guy, whose lurching, detuned, post-Sabbath riffs have made him an alternative icon. It’s mostly Les Pauls for Matt, plugged into “massive mountains of Orange” (Rockerverb and Crush Mini). Well said, sir!
Orianthi
From being hand-picked to be Michael Jackson’s guitarist to jamming with Vai and Santana, Orianthi has packed a lot into her career so far. An impressive player, she also has a tone to die for, and for that, it’s Orange amps all the way.
Another convert to the Rockerverb cause, Orianthi has some very quote-worthy things to say about it: “This amp is the lion of amps in the rock jungle, check it out”. How can you not, when it’s described like that?
Geddy Lee
Everyone’s favourite prog multitasker (Lee provides lead vocals, bass and keyboards for Rush) is a firm Orange devotee. The AD200B head and OBC410 cab form an ‘important part of the Rush sound’. Given how many music fans worship at the feet of these guys, that’s a fine endorsement indeed!
Jim Root
Jim Root, 50% of Slipknot’s twin guitar attack and owner of the coolest mask in the band, has been an Orange amps user for ages now. His ferocious sound is part EMG (his Daemonium signature units sound brutal), part Orange Rockerverb and also the unadulterated savagery in his attack. For more on Jim, click through to our exclusive Jim Root interview.
Head
One half of Korn’s trailblazing guitar pair is Brian ‘Head’ Welch, and he gets his subterranean serial-killer guitar tones thanks to Orange amps. Once a Mesa/Boogie endorsee, Head nowadays plays through a (surprisingly small, given the sounds he gets) pedalboard and then into an Orange Rockerverb 100 MK III.
Steve Harris
Possessor of one of the mightiest bass tones in the world, Iron Maiden’s head honcho Steve Harris knows a thing or two about low end tone. He’s a fan of the Orange 4 Stroke 500, saying it’s “the closest I’ve ever got to my trusty sound”. Grab yourself a set of flatwounds, a West Ham United t-shirt, and you’re sorted!
Top Tone for Rock Royalty
There really are not many amp brands who can boast that level of artist endorsement! It’s impressive indeed, but then, if you’ve ever plugged into a roaring Rockerverb, you’ll know instantly why they are so popular.
And if you haven’t, well, now’s the time! Get yourself to your nearest guitarguitar and seek out the Orange amps: they won’t be hard to find!
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