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Ambassador Steve Bello: How A Metalhead Became an Orange Fanatic

I first became aware of the Orange brand way back when Black Sabbath played on The Beat Club, a German TV show. (Remember when videos were played?) In the 80s, it was all about the wall of Marshalls ala Judas Priest/Iron Maiden/Metallica. Of course, being a zit-faced pre-teen, that was the most amazing thing to see. But what was this Orange?! Why weren’t metal bands using them?

I honestly was not familiar with the Orange brand as it was not really in people’s faces. But the first time I saw an Orange amp in MY face was when I worked in music retail. Another employee brought his amp head for me to listen to, and I remember it being SUPER loud, louder than any Marshall I ever heard. I think he had a Rockerverb 100 MKI. (Sorry but my aging brain can’t remember what I had for breakfast just now…) My attitude at the time was “Yeah it’s louder than hell but…” and that was it. I was more into amps that had super high gain. I felt I had to be “brutal”. Boy was I wrong!

Many years later, around Memorial Day weekend in 2013, my daughter was trying to learn guitar and asked to try out a pink Ibanez. She saw the pile of Orange amps and said “I want to try THAT one,” which was a Rockerverb 50 (that I do remember!) She hit the low E string and I exclaimed “Gimme that guitar!” This was not a brutal metal amp and something resonated inside of me. Was this THE amp for me? I bought a Crush 20 combo amp on the spot and did a gig with it that same night. That was the first time I heard nice things about my guitar playing, especially my guitar tone. “Best you ever sounded!” and “Orange! Wow! Something different for you.” And all I could think in the back of my mind was “This came full circle because of Sabbath.” (Oh and some guitarist Jimmy Page uses Orange too, as well as this guy Geddy Lee…I had to be part of this!)

I reached out to a friend who was a publicist and asked “Who can I talk to at Orange?! This is amazing stuff!” And he put me in touch with the AR rep Alex Auxier. I said something to the effect of “I found my sound finally!” and then when I met Cliff Cooper at NAMM in 2014, the deal was struck. Even if no deal happened, I would still sing Orange’s praises and play their amps.

In my million years of being a guitarist, it took half a million years for “that sound” to find me. And I am glad it did. I have never been happier with an amp as I have been with Orange. Every time I plug into my own rig, or a rig in a music store, I am captivated by how amazing the tones are. Always inspiring and truly blissful.

That’s my personal history of Orange. I admit that I am learning more and more about their history and it’s an amazing journey.

Thank you, Black Sabbath.

———–

Steve Bellow plays the Orange Crush Pro 120. For more about Steve Bello please visit https://stevebello.bandcamp.com/.

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Our interview with Dale Tonks from Wolf Jaw.

Hailing from the Black Country, Wolf Jaw are very much flying the flag for, as they describe it “thunderous rock and roll.” Listening to their huge songs and riffs, you can’t help but imagine their live shows are a force to reckoned with. Bass player Dale came in to try our amps and the O Bass and was blown away. In this interview he chats BMX accidents, Orange stacks and amp reliability.

Hi i’m Dale Tonks and i’m the bass player from Wolf Jaw.

I used to ride BMX with the guitarist and I actually broke my leg and I was six weeks off school. I ended up in a cast and my dad went out and bought me a bass and gave me a Black Sabbath album. So I listened to that and since then it’s been all that I have wanted to do, is play like Geezer Butler, the tones he gets and just the whole Black Sabbath thing is incredible.

I’m using the OBC810, that thing is a monster, it really lets loose, it pulls all the clarity and mids out, you get that bottom end that drives straight through you, its incredible. Playing the AD200 it just brings so much clarity to the sound and it has been something we have been able to work with Custom Shop 50 and the AD200 together, it is something we have been able to craft together. The tones they just work, you can’t describe it having a full valve bass amp is completely different to anything else. You get the feel when you try to drop down and play something a little quieter, you get the clarity. And when you want to go balls out, that is where the drive is.

When you have got the reliability and the clarity behind you that Orange gives you, I have had amps fail on me before but I have never had an Orange fail on me! Just to have that reliability behind you, plus they cool as f#ck on stage! I’m not going to lie when you have got a stack one side and the AD200 and 810 on the other side, it looks incredible.

Last week I was doing Sweden Rock and to fly into there and know you have that sound behind you, that tone doesn’t change, that is the way it is and it always will be. You get there and it is so simple, you don’t have to set it up, to change your tone is a turn of four or five knobs and that is all it will ever need to be. That is what got me into the amp, the simplicity, I don’t need to be able to EQ every stage of my sound. I just want to get there, crank it and know that sound is going to be there, balls to wall, all the way through. That is the most enjoyable part of owning an Orange to be honest.

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Interview: The Wytches Guitarist Kristian Bell

Kristian, first of all – welcome to the Orange family! Can you tell us a bit about why you wanted to swap over and which amps you’ll be using?
Thank you for having me. Well my amp broke a while a go so I started using Dan’s touring Terror Bass that he’d left at my house. I’m not sure if that’s bad for the amp or anything, but it sounded great so at practise I started using an AD30 they had at the rehearsal space. My old amp didn’t have a gain knob, so I had a gain pedal for clean, but had to turn it off when a fuzz pedal was on. The big muff sounded better to me going through a clean amp, but with the gain of the Orange it seems to make the fuzz sound better. 
 
Do you remember your first ever encounter with Orange, whether it was seeing someone else play it or playing it yourself?
I remember seeing a Black Sabbath video with some Orange stacks in the background, and I loved how vibrant they looked matched with dark music. A friend of mine at school also had an Orange head and cab which I thought looked and sounded great, he was the first person I knew who actually had one. He is an amazing guitarist with a kind of Sabbath sound and I used to love hearing him play.
 
It’s been quiet from The Wytches for quite some time now, what have you been up to in the meanwhile, any other musical adventures?
I released an album with my other band ‘The Mark and Kristian Band’ earlier this year, as well as recording a few other bands, and I find it really beneficial working and recording with others as it makes me think more about guitar tones and sound. 
 
Can you tell us a bit about how you got into playing in the first place?
I initially started out playing drums as a kid, and didn’t really get into guitar until I was 17. I’d watch people play Nirvana covers on YouTube and just copy what their hands were doing, that’s how I learnt the basics. I guess already knowing how to  play an instrument was a bit of a head start but I wouldn’t really say I’m a real guitar player, I just wanted to be able to play the Nirvana songs.
 
What are you currently listening to?
I’ve been listening loads to these two Captain Beefheart albums, ‘Spotlight Kid’ and ‘Clear Spot’, and not much else. I didn’t know much about him before and was told those two albums were some of his more conventional ones, but they still sound pretty out there to me!
 
What would your dream rig be, and why?
I really like the 50’s and 60’s Gibson ES hollow body guitars. I used to have an ES120, but sold it a while ago. I’d love to buy that back and have a good quality tremolo pedal, the one I have was like £15 on eBay, but it does the job I suppose. I like the old hollow bodies because they have this ‘plonky’ sound that seems good for a lot of genres. Surf, jazz and rock ’n’ roll. 

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Ramble On: The Matt Pike Effect

A couple of weeks ago I was watching Sleep in London, or to be more specific, staring down a shirtless Matt Pike at the Kentish Town Forum. Of course, there’s plenty of shit-hot guitarists out there, but Pike’s something else, he’s like some larger than life icon, like the Godzilla of metal and doom – guys, have you got any idea how many amps we’ve sold because of this guy? I mean, I don’t actually have any legit numbers on hand as numbers ain’t my forte, but it’ll be tons, guaranteed – Matt Pike, and Black Sabbath using Orange in the ‘Paranoid’ video pretty much opened the doors for Orange to the world of stoner and doom – so thanks guys, for paying my bills. Anyway, back to topic.

Let’s rewind back a bit to the early 90s, 1992, to be specific. While Brit-pop was very much a reality in the UK, something way heavier was going down across the Atlantic as a baby Matt Pike at the tender age of 21 released Sleep’s iconic ‘Holy Mountain’ alongside bassist and singer Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius. One can only imagine the Earache rep’s reaction receiving the demos and ‘Dragonaut’ blasting out the speakers, Tony Iommi’s legacy embodied by the next generation!

With the release of ‘Holy Mountain’, Sleep became one of the earliest stoner rock connoisseurs, and pretty much created the genre alongside Kyuss. Following the successful release of ‘Holy Mountain’, the band ventured further underground and away from the mainstream, as they followed it up with the hour long track titled ‘Dopesmoker’ or ‘Jerusalem’. Unfortunately, Sleep didn’t last for long after that, and went their separate ways. However, if music’s what you do, a hiatus is gonna kill ya, so Matt Pike returned not long after, this time with High on Fire, where he, after a few hits and misses with various band members ended up on vocal duties as well as guitar.

In recent years, Pike’s been busy with both bands as Sleep returned with the spectacular The Sciences, which was conveniently released, in secret, I might add, on the 20th of April 2018 via Third Man Records – of course it had to be a 420 release! Now, this is one of those albums I remember exactly where I was when I heard about it, sat at some far too swanky (but amazing…) hotel in Tilburg getting ready for Roadburn Festival when all of a sudden my Instagram feed was filled with the surprise record, and I knew there and then that my instinct to haul my Bose speaker from grimy London to sweet, sweet Holland wasn’t for granted; I found the album and shut my girlfriends up and made them listen, and lo and behold – Sleep was back, as if they never left. Opening and title track ‘The Sciences’ builds up for a solid three minutes, before all hell breaks loose with ‘Marijuanaut’s Theme’, which I must just say is Sleep at it’s finest.

The following month I had my first ever on camera interview lined up with no one else than Matt Pike at London’s Desertfest, and this fantastic new release peaked my fear and excitement even more – I struggle at times to transcribe interviews I’ve conducted due to the sound of my own voice recorded, so adding my face into the mix with a camera monitoring my every movement caused for some sleepless nights, and I had about five of them before I eventually dragged my wreck of an anxious self to Electric Ballroom to conduct my biggest interview to date, and you know, without the exception of looking slightly out of place (who wouldn’t? It’s the ‘Matt Pike Effect’!), I didn’t fuck up! Plus, the positive comments I received after were just so enocoura… Ahhh, in a perfect world, eh? People love talking shit online, and here’s one of my personal favourites from the Youtube comments:

Classic comment section BANTER. It took every inch of self-restraint in my six foot tall Viking-self not to fire back at cool guy numero uno ‘MasterBait’ for questioning my Motörhead knowledge, but as I’m not a certified keyboard warrior myself I let it pass. For the record, it’s ‘Stay Clean’ – why? Cause of Lemmy’s sexy solo, duh, although the entire ‘Overkill’ record is a masterpiece on it’s own.

More than a year has passed since the interview, and in that time Pike’s released ‘Electric Messiah’ with ‘High on Fire’ who also won a Grammy award for ‘Best Metal Performance’ earlier this year, and he’s chopped off half his toe of due to diabetes, which is pretty god damn rock ’n’ roll on it’s own. While he’s been busy touring excessively with both bands after their latest releases, I do wonder what he’ll bring us next. Living in a time where the original rock stars are fading, I am thrilled about Matt Pike’s existence and continued contribution to music.

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Our interview with Brant Bjork at Black Deer Festival

Brant Bjork is a legend of the stoner rock scene of the 90’s, he was the drummer in Kyuss, he played in Fu Manchu and he has released a string of solo albums to name just a few achievements. He came into the Orange cabin at Black Deer Festival to talk inspiration and the Pedal Baby 100 which he had just started using.

What inspired you to start playing music?

I grew up in the Desert in southern California, in a very small boring town, my folks would play stuff like Little Richard, Bo Diddley in the house, Ray Charles. Then the kids in neighbourhood were listening to Kiss and Queen but it wasn’t until I discovered The Ramones that I thought I might be able to participate and play music. I bought Ramones records and I pieced a drum set together and I taught myself to play to Ramones records and when I was done I picked up a guitar and taught myself how to play Ramones records. Then I never stopped.

How did the desert scene come about?

I think we epitomised the DIY movement in the earlier 80’s we took that to heart, cuz’ there was nothing and we were super bored, frustrated and some of us were super creative and we just went to work. Part of it was entertainment but I think it was needing to do something, the energy, skateboarding and punk rock were synonyms back then and we just created a scene. I mean we didn’t know it would become this, that is just an ironic twist that we so motivated to do something for ourselves because we realised no-one or nothing was going to happen for us.

Do you prefer playing solo or in a band?

I currently have a band that I have been playing with for years and we are very much a band, even though it’s under my name. I recorded my first solo record in 1999 called ‘Jalamanta’ and I did everything myself but that was mostly because of the urgency and financial reality of that moment. I didn’t have the time or the means to put a band together and being a guitar player and other things, I just did it myself. I am mostly more excited to play with my band as music is about interacting and communicating with other musicians.

Tell us about your latest record ‘Jacoozzi’?

Well ‘Jacoozzi’ is a record I recorded back in 2010 and then I shelved it for many years, then it just happened that Gabrielle who owns and operates Heavy Sycs Sounds records out of Rome, we decided to work together and it’s a perfect platform for what I do and the catalogue that I have. These things didn’t really exist when I first started in 99′ and even in 2010, they’re wasn’t the platform and infrastructure, so I feel really lucky that I have been around long enough to be able to inject my past into the present.

How did you start using the Orange Pedal Baby 100?

I have been touring for quite some time and I have gone through a number of amplifiers and being in the rock world, I think I speak for most rock musicians, we want that classic rock sound. It’s not easy to obtain and when you do have it, it’s not that easy to maintain and lug around. I have to credit my guitar player Bubba Dupree who is way more of a technical wizard than I am, I just follow his lead! He discovered the Orange Pedal Baby and he was like ‘I think i have found it!’ We now carry the sound on our backs and we now go where we need to and do what we need to do, the way we need to do it and it’s pretty much because of that thing.

How does it work in with your set up?

We have spent many years located the pedals that will get us exactly what we want and it’s deep! We obsess and we are fascinated by these classic tones that will never really be gotten but we have fun trying to get as close to it as we can in the modern context. I mean Hendrix was playing out of three stacks but he was also playing in front of 5000 people, we are all not lucky enough to be doing that every night but we want that sound, we don’t want that sound to die with an era. There is elements of purity that you want to use the same stuff but in the end, it’s the sound you want and I will rub to sticks together if it gets that sound that I want. This here it works perfectly with our pedals and allows us to be mobile and it’s a really awesome, malleable, it wants to help you!

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Our interview with Bryce Paul from In Flames.

Swedish heavy metal band formed as a side project of Ceremonial Oath in the early 90’s and became a band at the forefront of the Gothenburg sound. Since then they have gone from strength to strength, releasing their thirteenth album this year (2019). We sat down with bassist Bryce Paul to chat amps and finger style playing.

Hi Bryce Paul here, bass player from In Flames and I play Orange amps.

I come from pretty diverse backgrounds of music, not just playing heavy metal but in the early days I was playing in Indie rock bands. So someone like Colin Greenwood of Radiohead, was very influential for me and I fell in love with the challenge of playing aggressive music with finger picking. Who do you go to? That is Steve Harris which is a great segue to my amp choice now which is the 4 Stroke series and the 4 Stroke 500. That was kind of part of the decision making and part of getting the right amps to use on the road. So we gave it a shot and it has been awesome ever since.

My demand is just some options, we play different rooms from an arena to a festival to a smaller club sometimes, and that comes into play, the room and the vibe and what you need in the mix. Playing with your fingers vs a pick style, you need to still cut through because it is going to be a warmer, a different tone. So that is something definitely always take into consideration, the 4 Stroke with the four band EQ, I am able to be pickier about certain frequencies and get the tone that fits my playing style best.

My experience to describe Orange gear, I’ve toured a lot with the AD200. Durability, it lasted many, many miles, never had any issues with it, it’s pretty straightforward rock n roll, plug n play and that is how I like it. I like things simplified but I need options at the same time.

I would say Orange amps for our sound, for heavier, heavy metal, heavier rock bands, it gives you the tools necessary to give you the tone that you need. You can have a great clean tone, it’s so warm but then overdrive, you are cutting through the mix and its going to be great.

I have two 4 Stroke 500s on this rig, one is the main and then I have a backup in case anything disastrous were to happen, because it happens. Then as far the cabs itself, I have an isolation cabinet, we mic that so we can have a few different sounds and then everything else is direct. So it’s pretty simple and it works extremely well.

Just to be associated with a brand where it is truly loved by so many heroes of mine is amazing. Because of the show, the quality and the respect that Orange has, it is awesome, I’m super stoked!

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Our interview with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Crushing riffs and detuned guitars are what Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs or PigsX7 are all about, hailing from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, the band as mentioned a few times are influenced by Black Sabbath. We met up with them in the spring of 2019 and discussed the guitar gear arms race and what Orange adds to their sound.

Hi Adam Ian Sykes from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

Hello I’m Sam Grant from Pig Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Which artists inspired you to get into music?

Adam: Black Sabbath

Who are your main influences as a band?

Adam: ‘Changes’ by Black Sabbath

Sam: Yes!

Tell us about your sound goals?

Adam: Think as long as we sound 30% like Black Sabbath.

Sam: Would be ideal.

What has using Orange added to your sound?

Adam: Kick to the chest and a kick to the groin.

Sam: Yes! Just like that.

Adam: I recently got some Orange cabs replaced, I was using, there is a lot more kicks to the groin.

Sam: Followed by…

Adam: The chest, the head…

Sam: Then as you keep pushing the pedal forwards it goes over peoples heads.

Adam: Pull their spine out from the skull.

How has it made a difference to your individual sound?

Adam: Moving to Orange the cabs in particular, there was a big boost in the low mids. The low mids, it’s a big part of my sound I guess. As much as a lack of practice… they are both quite important to my playing style.

Sam: Distinct flavour you manage to get.

Adam: I always have my volume on full, I don’t touch any of the knobs on my guitar because something may go drastically wrong. There is enough response from the amps to get round my technical inability I think.

Sam: I tend to to love the low end, the frequency range…

Adam: The groin kick?

Sam: The groin kick, the frequency range, the high mids I’m not too fussed about them.

Adam: It’s of the face, don’t touch the face.

Sam : Can’t touch the face.

Anything else Orange helps with?

Adam: We are playing in drop C which the amps tend to handle pretty well.

Sam : That is important because I think we write everything in C.

Adam: Ye, we try out best.

Sam: So far so good.

How do you decide who uses what gear?

Sam: I think in part there needs to be some decision made in what each of us are using.

Adam: I think in part the consideration is one up manship of how loud, how many cabs.

Sam: An arms race!

Adam: It is an arms race, we are deep in the arms trade. Well I have got more cabs haven’t I?

Sam: You have got two more speakers but one less head. That’s a shame.

Adam: Well I best get another amp. I’d like to have more amps and cabs than Matt Pike, then I would be happy. Twenty four is not enough.

Sam: Twenty five?

Adam: Ye, twenty five.

Sam: And a little Micro Terror? Just one side.

Adam: Interesting, just in case they all go.

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Our interview with Monolord at Desertfest.

Monolord formed in 2013 and hail from Gothenburg, Sweden. The trio have been releasing sludgy metal since then and show no signs of slowing up. Their new album No Comfort was released to rave reviews in September 2019 and their live shows are legendary. Orange caught up with the band at Desertfest 2018 and chatted all things Orange.

Mika: We are Monolord.

We just played at the Roundhouse, it is amazing the feeling, really amazing when come on stage and see all those people in that huge venue, it’s marvellous.

Thomas: Now in London we have played Koko, we have played the Roundhouse and Royal Albert Hall, I don’t know what we do after this.

Mika: What is there left to play?

Thomas: I think most of ones that recognise Orange amps was the early beat club, the German music show where Sabbath and all the other bands played on Orange stuff. After that the Hellacopters used Orange from like early 2000 when it wasn’t that common to play Orange, not in Europe. Around then I bought my first Orange amp, been using it since.

Mika: For me I got my first Orange when I started Monolord but ever since I was a teenager I have been seeing those here and there. A good friend of mine had a dad who had a combo.

Thomas: I am using two full stacks, one on my side and one on Mika’s side. Mika does the same he has one bass rig on his side and one bass rig on my side. On my side I have an old OR120 and the standard cabs and on Mika’s side I have an OR100. Together with that I have the High powered cabs.

Mika: I have the AD200 on my side with an 810 and on his side we have an OB1-500 with an 810.

Thomas: It’s a bit loud!

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Voice of Metal

It’s October and ‘Voice of Metal’, this might get heavy – which we do well, really well. This one doesn’t really need an introduction, so without further ado, let’s get to it.

Sleep and High on Fire, Matt Pike

Rockerverb100 MKIII
Crush Mini
PPC412

You’re probably not surprised we started this list with Matt Pike, are you? Our favourite shirtless hero and alien expert, singer of songs and player of electric guitars. Whenever Matt Pike comes to town we clear out our backline suppliers within a 50 mile radius before his crew gets given the most exhausting job any road crew has had since the days of Terry Bozzio touring with Frank Zappa, a heavy load (in – and out..). Matt Pike has pioneered doom and metal with his bands Sleep and High on Fire, and has become sort of a legend while still alive. His average Sleep set up, which is bigger than the High on Fire one, normally contains of nine heads, mostly Rockerverbs and Dual Darks, and twelve cabs. Haters will say they ain’t all plugged in, but haters are wrong. For those of you who’s ever been lucky enough to attend a Sleep show and have had the same religious out of body experience as oh so many others while watching Matt Pike tear shit up, you know they’re plugged in and turned up to 11.

Slipknot, Jim Root

Rockerverb100 MKIII
Signature #4 Jim Root Terror Head
Signature #4 Jim Root PPC212
PPC412

Shock rockers Slipknot have been twisting stomachs, turning heads and upsetting parents since the 90s, and Jim Root has been on the front of it all since ’99. Jim, who’s also known by his number #4 is a massive Orange fan, so much that we developed a head and cab for him, the Signature #4 Jim Root Terror Head and Signature #4 Jim Root PPC212. 

“I really like the creamy mid-range, big headroom, and ‘less is more’ philosophy of Orange amps. And all I have to do is plug straight into it with my guitar. That’s my tone.”
-Jim Root, Slipknot

Mastodon, Brent Hinds

Brent Hinds Terror
PPC412

Mastodon’s Brent Hinds might just have one of the most famous face tattoos out there, alongside Mike Tyson, a feature we included on his signature Brent Hinds Terror. Orange and Brent have a longstanding relationship of working together, we’re good to Brent, and Brent’s good to us – just look at all the stupid shit he agrees to do for us!

KoЯn, Brian ‘Head’ Welch

Rockerverb 100 MKIII

KoЯn were one of the first bands to pioneer nu metal and bring it to the masses, with guitarist Brian Welch playing a key role in how the bands sound developed, defining the nu metal sound of the early 90s.

“KoRn has always been in the game of matching different amp tones and blending them together in the studio. And Orange has always been right there in the mix! One of the reasons I started using Orange amps live is because I was able to get such a smooth tone for my clean channel on classic KoRn songs like “Falling Away From Me” and “Here to Stay.”
– Brian ‘Head’ Welch

Sepultura, Andreas Kisser

Rockerverb 100 MKIII
PPC412

The year was 1983 when Andreas Kisser attended his first gig, seeing one of his all-time favourite bands in his hometown playing his football team’s stadium. The band was KISS on their ‘Creatures of the Night’ tour, and that night changed everything for him. Picking up guitar, his initial goal was to be able to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Starting out with acoustic Brazilian music, Andreas swiftly found Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Jimi Hendrix who’s vintage sound influenced him massively. When given the opportunity to play Orange, he instantly took it; 

“You can watch Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ video where both Iommi and Geezer Butler are using Orange, so when I was given the opportunity to try it for myself I took it straight away – Orange always just had that ‘aura of the masters’. Orange offered more of an organic sound then what I was used to, because what I really love is when I’m able to just plug in and play. There is a lot of demand for distortion and heaviness with Sepultura, and I was very surprised that the Rockerverb II had all of that. A warm, and heavy guitar sound that kind of seemed to expand a bit more.“
– Andreas Kisser, Sepultura

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Our interview with Jose Rios from Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals

Jose Rios has been part of the Free Nationals since it’s inception, he has also produced a number of the tracks across their four album career. Jose has been using the Rockerverb 100 MKIII since it’s launch and has been one of its biggest advocates. We met up with Jose before the band played a sold out show to 10K people at London’s Alexandria Palace in spring of 2019. He was relaxed but excited about the show and talked at length about his influences and how Orange is to him the voice of quality.

What’s up everybody, it’s Jose Rios from Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals.

What inspired you to pick up the guitar?

I picked up the guitar because of Stevie Ray Vaughan, my father listened to quite a bit of his music. That’s the whole reason I play, he introduced me to that stuff and I was hooked immediately. I learned about a lot of other people through him and I realised where he got his style from, through learning and listening to other records. But he is the reason I started playing the guitar. Jimi Hendrix obviously as Stevie Ray Vaughan was influenced by him, I think a lot of soul music, like the Motown stuff, that real clean chordy music. I really loved Jazz music but I wouldn’t consider myself to be a Jazz guy. But I do listen to a lot of that stuff, I incorporate it in my sound.

Why did you choose Orange?

Orange was just gritty, had a big sound and kind of sounded different than the other stuff in my genre/style. The reason I picked it up and started using it. Orange had the 412 and the Rockerverb head and it was a beast. I wanted that specifically, I wanted power!

What is it about the Rockerverb you love the most?

First of all the quality, how it’s made and how it looks, it’s incredible. I think it’s real sleek and clean, it’s built well and good quality all around. Speakers through to the tubes it’s just a solid amp, it’s clean, I don’t use the reverb on it, just the EQ. I don’t even have to turn it up that much because it is so loud! I have never gone past four I don’t think, because it is just so damn loud and i’m barely using the power that it has. But it breaks up nice, it has a nice clean tone basically the foundation for my board , I incorporate my sound through that, that like my medium, that rig and the pedals.

Talk us through your set-up at the moment.

Right now i’m actually using a Mexican Jag, that I put the same humbuckers into that were in my strat. The humbucker sound with that amp combined is like heavy duty man, it’s really powerful. My distortion pedal its a really creamy tone, cut through solo nastiness!

Do you prefer analogue or digital?

I’m just old school, I love the old guys and how they did it. They didn’t use digital, it was like amps, it was like analogue. I don’t know maybe I will one day switch over but right now I love my amp and I love having it on stage, I feel comfortable and i’m still as a player learning about it every day. Like tone and options on stage but right now i’m sticking to my guns and saying I need that 412 with me on the road!

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