I've been playing for decades, and the OR15 is my favorite amp yet. It handles every genre superbly, and is dead simple to operate. You simply cannot make it sound bad. I'm in the process of selling off my collection going with the OR15 and slaving it to a power-amp if I need more wattage .
Nice job man! I’ve had one for years. I own several amps including a 50 watt Marshall JMP and a Dr. Z Maz 18. And the OR15 gets used more than any others for precisely reasons you’re pointing out... it’s versatile, can do a wide range of sounds from clean to mean, and sounds awesome at bedroom levels.
I'm in a Black Crowes tribute band and also a heavy band that is a mix of Isis/Pelican/Opeth and this amp works perfectly for both! Plenty loud for practice/shows too.
This looks cool and is kind of timely since I am looking for a good all rounder amp. How much clean headroom does this have? I mostly would need/use the clean. The demo of the clean at 1:35 let's say had the Master on 9 and gain on 2. That sounded pretty nice. And clean obviously. How loud was it?
@@AlexMessanoMusic Yikes. That's pretty loud. Over 95dB then. Which, I mean at that point it becomes unhealthy for your ears over the long term :). What kind of cabinet might you recommend with these? I'm really intrigued by the amp. It sounds great. The cleans are really nice and the gain knob is just crushing it seems. And it probably does every sound in between as well.
Great review!! I was looking for some way of mixing crunch and gain sounds with just one EQ on the amp. Your idea of using the EP boost helped me so much!
Hi mate; with the booster was just perfect. My main amp is a Fender twin reverb but couple of years ago I went to record some "mini" tunes for ytube videos and the recording guy had one of these so I connected both amps for a mix of clean reverb + dirty sound and was a blast. Playing here and there I had the ac-30 as one of the best natural over driven amp but these oranges specially the other valvular are even better so I really prefer to use 2 amps at the same time for a bigger fat sound. Also my guitar is a Gretsch nashville (pre Fender) with 13/56 strings and high action plus some of the filtertrons screws set up higher for even more power and tone and a half down so really thick with mid, big no sparkly sound.
Hey Alex! I must to say you’ve got some really sweet tones out of this little orangey guy :) I bought the OR15 too, and I really struggle at the time to get smooth tones like you’ve got. I’ve paired it with a 1x12 cab with Vintage 30, so maybe the speaker selection isn’t so good. What’s your cabinet and speaker/s are you using? Maybe that’s the magic, or something else?
@@AlexMessanoMusic I knew it!! In my mind this is exactly the tone I’ve imagined of the OR15 paired with the Creamback M-65! I guess now it’s time to switch to a Creamback!
Great demo! How you can compare to a JCM800? I use amps almost as the same way as you in the end: light crunch. Clean with guitar vol rolled down and neck pickup, high-gain pushing with any od/ds (from simple eqd Bellows to RAT as od)
I have limited experience with the JCM800 but have played through a couple before.....from what I can remember, the Orange definitely has more gain, is thicker in the lower mids, and of course way quieter
@@AlexMessanoMusic sounds great.. I guess with my strat, that mid/lows could compensate better. Any experience against Rocker 15 terror? Test this one, combo, 10" speaker. Awfull experience: not responsive eq, not good crunch, not good compressed gain. Maybe a full cab 1x12 could get better. I know OR15 is another beast
So I have a dt-30 that's 2 channel. Will adding the orange on top make it 4 channel? What if I add 2 oranges. Could I potentially have infinite channels with the juiciest tones ever created?
Can't say enough about this amp. Had it for years,but due to my ocd quest for tone, moved on to a Marshall dsl 40, evh 15, Multiple high end Randall's (that were great) and meny others. I'm going back to it. For me, I just can't top it. Crank the gain, set eq at noon, throw my strat on the neck pup and it's heavenly. Something about how this amp lines up the harmonics at high gain that just sings unlike any other small watt amp. The evh and Marshall dsl are in the same territory, but missing something compared to the orange. At least to my ears...
It can be used as an overdrive pedal when going into the input of the amp, which is how I used it in the video. If you run it through the FX loop of your amp, or use it post Distortion, then it will act as a simple volume boost.
man I bought one of these OR15's used and have noticed recently that whenever I turn it on and out of standby mode I get a constant humming noise, and with the 15 watt setting its slightly louder. Even with all the volume and gain back and no instrument in. Is this just normal or is something wrong with my amp? I feel like if I were to record with it, the hum would come through forsure and I wanted this amp as a studio amp.
It could be the electro-magnetic interference of the room you're using it in. Try it in multiple rooms and see if the hum remains the same. Mine is a bit noisy as well, but it depends what room, and what kind of outlet I'm using. Also, I recommend the EB-Tech Hum X, which safely removes the ground from the signal, getting rid of the 60 cycle hum. Hope this helps!
@@AlexMessanoMusic I will forsure look into that! I've contacted another OR15 owner and his amp has the same kind of hiss when turned on even without an instrument so maybe it is just the sound of the amp! I really only notice it when playing at quiet bed room volumes! I just wonder if that'd be an issue when recording and mic'ing up!
How old are the tubes? You may have one going bad from age/use or a hard bump can mess them up too. May want to try swapping out the set or one at a time to see if you can pinpoint the problem. Good luck!
@Far Stox yeah forsure, I meant like the hum with my fx loop! Im not sure what the issue is, but without my pedals in the fx loop its quieter, then when I have them in the fx loop its very slightly louder but if I turn on my reverb pedal or modulation pedal the hum gets WAY louder. I dont get it!
sweet bro, enjoy your playing. I'm on the fence with this amp. I have a couple 15 watt amps already, but no Orange amps. $500 bucks at Sam Ash used, too much or priced right? exactly, 1 channel amp take a lot of flack. new sub, all the best
@@farisdwimulya928 Oh cool! I made a video called "How to Record Your Tube Amp at Home," in which I go through the process. You can find it here on my channel : )
OK. Other big pointer: CV4004 tubes in the preamp. Tung sol in the power amp. Good as it gets. After that you would need modifications. Which I do. Let me know if you want that done. No change in values but change in components. Much better breathing. Try out those first two things first though. It turns into a monster after the modification.
I just bought myself an OR15! It's my first venture into true fully tube amps and I love it but I've heard many people talk about mods! So you suggest switching all the tubes first? JJ's are pretty decent though aren't they? I know one of the tubes is Chinese and a lot of people complain about that.
@@sid35gb yeah I figured, I quite enjoy the sound of my or15 minus the always on 60 cycle hum type sound.. (I've heard from some its normal and some it's not, but have just learned to live with it so far)
@Mike Limas Nice try I was and do. The signal to noise (low) was the issue there was not any hum. I use the Rocker 15 Terror and very happy to say they fixed that issue.
I've been playing for decades, and the OR15 is my favorite amp yet. It handles every genre superbly, and is dead simple to operate. You simply cannot make it sound bad. I'm in the process of selling off my collection going with the OR15 and slaving it to a power-amp if I need more wattage .
That’s a carvin at 3:45 isn’t it! I play carvins through this amp too!
perfect review, you also thaught me the old school way of using knobs, I am so happy!! Thank you.
Nice job man! I’ve had one for years. I own several amps including a 50 watt Marshall JMP and a Dr. Z Maz 18. And the OR15 gets used more than any others for precisely reasons you’re pointing out... it’s versatile, can do a wide range of sounds from clean to mean, and sounds awesome at bedroom levels.
I'm in a Black Crowes tribute band and also a heavy band that is a mix of Isis/Pelican/Opeth and this amp works perfectly for both! Plenty loud for practice/shows too.
I bet...Also, re-amping this amp through something like a Fryette power station could yield some truly sick results
@@AlexMessanoMusic I had considered that myself!
That Sienna Burst Strat is nice.
Great demo. I love my OR15. Clean to mean, it's got it all.
This looks cool and is kind of timely since I am looking for a good all rounder amp. How much clean headroom does this have? I mostly would need/use the clean. The demo of the clean at 1:35 let's say had the Master on 9 and gain on 2. That sounded pretty nice. And clean obviously. How loud was it?
Loud enough for something like an R&B trio in a small club
@@AlexMessanoMusic Yikes. That's pretty loud. Over 95dB then. Which, I mean at that point it becomes unhealthy for your ears over the long term :). What kind of cabinet might you recommend with these? I'm really intrigued by the amp. It sounds great. The cleans are really nice and the gain knob is just crushing it seems. And it probably does every sound in between as well.
Great review saving for one
great review
Great review!! I was looking for some way of mixing crunch and gain sounds with just one EQ on the amp. Your idea of using the EP boost helped me so much!
Hi mate; with the booster was just perfect.
My main amp is a Fender twin reverb but couple of years ago I went to record some "mini" tunes for ytube videos and the recording guy had one of these so I connected both amps for a mix of clean reverb + dirty sound and was a blast.
Playing here and there I had the ac-30 as one of the best natural over driven amp but these oranges specially the other valvular are even better so I really prefer to use 2 amps at the same time for a bigger fat sound. Also my guitar is a Gretsch nashville (pre Fender) with 13/56 strings and high action plus some of the filtertrons screws set up higher for even more power and tone and a half down so really thick with mid, big no sparkly sound.
Hey Alex! I must to say you’ve got some really sweet tones out of this little orangey guy :)
I bought the OR15 too, and I really struggle at the time to get smooth tones like you’ve got.
I’ve paired it with a 1x12 cab with Vintage 30, so maybe the speaker selection isn’t so good.
What’s your cabinet and speaker/s are you using?
Maybe that’s the magic, or something else?
Thank you! Im using a celestion impulse response of a Creamback 65 speaker in combination with the amp
@@AlexMessanoMusic I knew it!! In my mind this is exactly the tone I’ve imagined of the OR15 paired with the Creamback M-65!
I guess now it’s time to switch to a Creamback!
amazing playing and awesome tones man, very nice!!
Great demo. Love my OR15
Orange are the absolute masters of amp construction and don't resort to packing them with unnecessary features. its mostly pug-&-play more or less.
Great demo! How you can compare to a JCM800? I use amps almost as the same way as you in the end: light crunch. Clean with guitar vol rolled down and neck pickup, high-gain pushing with any od/ds (from simple eqd Bellows to RAT as od)
I have limited experience with the JCM800 but have played through a couple before.....from what I can remember, the Orange definitely has more gain, is thicker in the lower mids, and of course way quieter
@@AlexMessanoMusic sounds great.. I guess with my strat, that mid/lows could compensate better.
Any experience against Rocker 15 terror? Test this one, combo, 10" speaker. Awfull experience: not responsive eq, not good crunch, not good compressed gain. Maybe a full cab 1x12 could get better. I know OR15 is another beast
Nice friend
So I have a dt-30 that's 2 channel. Will adding the orange on top make it 4 channel? What if I add 2 oranges. Could I potentially have infinite channels with the juiciest tones ever created?
nice review!, the strato guitar have a hum kind of pickup into the brigde position, it's a duncan ? , which model it's?
It's a Fender Shawbucker
Can't say enough about this amp. Had it for years,but due to my ocd quest for tone, moved on to a Marshall dsl 40, evh 15, Multiple high end Randall's (that were great) and meny others. I'm going back to it. For me, I just can't top it. Crank the gain, set eq at noon, throw my strat on the neck pup and it's heavenly. Something about how this amp lines up the harmonics at high gain that just sings unlike any other small watt amp. The evh and Marshall dsl are in the same territory, but missing something compared to the orange. At least to my ears...
Well said! I still need to try the 15 watt EVH
Nice job. You owe a g12h30 to yourself brother. 75hz heritage greenback if possible. Best speaker for this south of alnico blue money.
Is the EP booster an overdrive pedal?
It can be used as an overdrive pedal when going into the input of the amp, which is how I used it in the video. If you run it through the FX loop of your amp, or use it post Distortion, then it will act as a simple volume boost.
Cool
Cool that you know songs/riffs from various genres - nice job \m/
man I bought one of these OR15's used and have noticed recently that whenever I turn it on and out of standby mode I get a constant humming noise, and with the 15 watt setting its slightly louder. Even with all the volume and gain back and no instrument in. Is this just normal or is something wrong with my amp? I feel like if I were to record with it, the hum would come through forsure and I wanted this amp as a studio amp.
It could be the electro-magnetic interference of the room you're using it in. Try it in multiple rooms and see if the hum remains the same. Mine is a bit noisy as well, but it depends what room, and what kind of outlet I'm using. Also, I recommend the EB-Tech Hum X, which safely removes the ground from the signal, getting rid of the 60 cycle hum. Hope this helps!
@@AlexMessanoMusic I will forsure look into that! I've contacted another OR15 owner and his amp has the same kind of hiss when turned on even without an instrument so maybe it is just the sound of the amp! I really only notice it when playing at quiet bed room volumes! I just wonder if that'd be an issue when recording and mic'ing up!
How old are the tubes? You may have one going bad from age/use or a hard bump can mess them up too. May want to try swapping out the set or one at a time to see if you can pinpoint the problem. Good luck!
@Far Stox yeah forsure, I meant like the hum with my fx loop! Im not sure what the issue is, but without my pedals in the fx loop its quieter, then when I have them in the fx loop its very slightly louder but if I turn on my reverb pedal or modulation pedal the hum gets WAY louder. I dont get it!
sweet bro, enjoy your playing. I'm on the fence with this amp. I have a couple 15 watt amps already, but no Orange amps. $500 bucks at Sam Ash used, too much or priced right? exactly, 1 channel amp take a lot of flack. new sub, all the best
Thanks man! I say do it! It sounds great and is extremely reliable. I actually got mine for around the same price.
Doom machine right there folks.
what cab you use?
Hi Faris. I was using an impulse response of a Celestion Creamback 65 speaker, inside an open back 1x12 cab
@@AlexMessanoMusic i have or15 too, how you connect or15 to your soundcard use cab impulse response?
@@farisdwimulya928 Oh cool! I made a video called "How to Record Your Tube Amp at Home," in which I go through the process. You can find it here on my channel : )
@@AlexMessanoMusic Thanx for the review Alex! What would I earn if I were to use the OR-15 with the Orange 2x12 open cab? Thanx!
@@gordospeti No prob Peter. Hmmmm....not sure I fully understand your question.
OK. Other big pointer: CV4004 tubes in the preamp. Tung sol in the power amp. Good as it gets. After that you would need modifications. Which I do. Let me know if you want that done. No change in values but change in components. Much better breathing. Try out those first two things first though. It turns into a monster after the modification.
What’s your email?
I just bought myself an OR15! It's my first venture into true fully tube amps and I love it but I've heard many people talk about mods! So you suggest switching all the tubes first? JJ's are pretty decent though aren't they? I know one of the tubes is Chinese and a lot of people complain about that.
Billy Ards clever!😁😁 I love it too!! Help us out here, with the tubes!🤘🤘
@@DelScully don’t change the tubes unless they’re about to fail. Like it or not you won’t hear a difference by changing brand’s.
@@sid35gb yeah I figured, I quite enjoy the sound of my or15 minus the always on 60 cycle hum type sound.. (I've heard from some its normal and some it's not, but have just learned to live with it so far)
Had to sell mine as was too noisy at any volume. Of course this was 7 years ago or so.
@Mike Limas Nice try I was and do. The signal to noise (low) was the issue there was not any hum. I use the Rocker 15 Terror and very happy to say they fixed that issue.
Noise gates work wonders :)