Articles – Page 27 – Orange Amps

Voice of Heritage

Orange have since the start in 1968 played an important part in British music history, from the likes of Cream’s Eric Clapton stopping by the original Orange store to pick up a left handed Fender Stratocaster for Jimi Hendrix (more on that here), to providing Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac with a full Orange backline during one of their early US tours. Here we take a look at a few artists who have played a vital role in Orange’s success over the years.

Fleetwood Mac, John McVie

Terror Bass
4 Stroke Bass
OB1-300
AD200 MK3
Fleetwood Mac’s story with Orange began in October 1968, when their road manager Dinky Dawson brought guitarist Peter Green to the Orange Shop where they placed an order for the first ever Orange PA, and just a few weeks later, the band got six 100-watt amps and sixteen cabs. The band took the backline for a spin around the UK, before taking them on a three month tour to the states.

Fleetwood Mac’s former guitarist Peter Green

Over the past five decades the band has had several line up changes as well as musical changes, going from classic British blues to melodic pop rock and soft rock. The only constant thing in the band since the early days if the solid rhythm section consisting of bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. With this sort of history with the band, Orange was proud to welcome John McVie as an official endorsed artist in 2015.

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder, one of the biggest names in funk and soul and another one of the earliest artists to use Orange. Stevie Wonders history with the company dates all the way back to 1969 when he used the then existing Orange Studios. He first used Orange Amps while recording Superstition for his 1972 album “Talking Book”, and can be seen using them in a seven minute version of the song on Sesame Street in 1973.

The single hit number one on the Billboards and the album was certified Gold in Canada and the United states. Decades after the 70’s funk and soul heyday, Stevie Wonder is still going strong and is an avid Orange user and ambassador to this day. He’s also stopped by the Orange stall at the NAMM convention a couple of times to reminisce about the good old days with founder and CEO Cliff Cooper.

Wishbone Ash, Andy Powell

Rockerverb 100
PPC412
Orange Matamp

Another band that brought Orange to the states and opened American’s eyes to it were Wishbone Ash, and who’s history started with Orange in 1970 when guitarist Andy Powell stopped by the old Orange shop in Soho. He was then served by founder and CEO Cliff Cooper who sold him a Gibson Flying V which later became his trademark guitar, and one of the original Orange Matamp heads, which incredibly enough is still going strong this day today. Wishbone Ash are known for their two lead guitars and guitar harmonies which got Andy Powell and former bandmate Ted Turner voted two of the “Ten Most Important Guitarists in Rock History”, and in 1972 described by Melody Maker as “the most interesting two guitar team since the days when Beck and Page graced The Yardbirds”.

They have also been hugely influential on other guitarists, and inspired later bands such as Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy.

Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page

Custom Shop 50
AD30HTC
This one is pretty self explanatory, don’t you think? We feel pretty confident when we say that Led Zeppelin was, and probably forever will be, the biggest rock band the world has ever seen. From “Whole Lotta Love” to “Black Dog”, “Kashmir”, and “Immigrant Song” to, well, “Rock ’n’ Roll”, Led Zeppelin produced jaw dropping, foot stomping mind blowing powerhouse rock ’n’ roll songs with elements of blues, folk, fairytales and – hmm, lemon juice.. Fronted by Greek God-like Robert Plant and mysterious Jimmy Page in his silky dragon suits with the drummer of all drummers John Bonham behind the kit and multi-instrumentalist and bassist extraordinaire John Paul Jones on bass, well, other bands stood no chance. Led Zeppelin was a force to be reckoned with, heavier than their name itself, and we could not be prouder or more excited to have Jimmy Page as one of our artists. He first started using Orange in the 70s along with a few other amps and have been an avid user ever since. Some of you may have noticed he also used Orange for Led Zeppelin’s 2007 Celebration Day? Yeah, pretty cool huh?

Oasis

The 90s saw a few bands fight for the throne of the Britpop empire, but as far as commercial success goes, none exceeded Oasis, fronted by the Gallagher brothers who were featured as much in the media for their, uhm, ‘disagreements’ and wild lifestyle as for their music. Disputes and partying put aside, their second album, 1995’s “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” became one of the best selling albums of all time, with 22 million copies sold worldwide. These were pretty quiet times for Orange, but towards the late nineties the company was making it’s way back to the top, and Noel Gallagher’s decision to use Orange on their 1997 record ‘Be Here Now’ as well as on their accompanying world tour certainly fuelled the fire.

5 Comments/by Ella Stormark

Articles, Interviews, Orange Embassy

Interview: The Wytches Bassist Dan Rumsey

It’s been quiet from The Wytches for quite some time now, what have you been up to?
We’ve been working on a new album. It’s been a long process but we were so conscious of not
just rushing into another one, which we did with All Your Happy Life. We are also excited to get out playing again because it will be almost a year since our last show.

Last time we spoke you mentioned running an illustration business called ‘Oh So Grim’, is that still going?
Yes it’s still going and I’ve a few new shirt designs that will be ready to go into my store soon. I’ve also just finished illustrating a children’s book for a friend. She is publishing it very soon so I’m excited to see it in print.

Are you behind The Wytches’ artwork? If not, who is, and does the person work closely with the band to do so?
No, I don’t do the art, it’s an artist and friend called Samuel Gull. Sam did all the artwork for The Wytches’ previous records and I think our music and his art go perfectly together. But no, we don’t work that closely with him on it, He’ll listen to the music and come up with his own interpretation of it. He’s never come back with anything we have thought was wrong for the record.

You mentioned a new album, what can you tell us about it?
Well all I can say is it’s written and demoed, so we haven’t been in to record it just yet. We are still looking at studios and deciding who we want to work with but it will most likely be self produced. The aim is to record it before the year is out and release next spring.

What do you look for in an amp?
It needs to be able to work with my bass in a way that feels right to me. I’m not that tech minded so I just go by feel most of the time. The head I’ve used since 2014 from Orange feels like it was made to work with my bass and I can get the tone I need really easily from it.

You’ve been using Orange for quite some time now, can you tell us about
your current set up and why you’ve picked it, as well as any other Orange amps you’ve
used?
I currently use an Orange Bass Terror through a black Orange 810 cab. I originally chose the
terror head because I loved how simple it was and how easy to use it is, and I chose the black 810 cab because I’d used a 410 cab previously when we toured in the States. I loved the tone, but I found I was always leaning down to hear it onstage so it just made sense to get the bigger one.

What would your dream rig be, and why?
Not sure about dream rig but I’ve always been interested in the idea on running my bass through my current setup as well as a guitar rig and blend the two together.

by Ella Stormark

Articles, Orange Embassy

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/.

1 Comment/by alex

Articles, Interviews

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.

by Orange Amps

Articles, Interviews, Orange Embassy

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.

3 Comments/by Ella Stormark

Articles, Opinion

Which Orange amp is good for metal?

Orange amps has often been associated with heavy slow riffs, the type that knock the filings from your teeth and would blow the speakers in your car. This has always been something we have been very proud of, we make loud amps and we think they sound great. Our amps are perfect for a genre that spans from classic metal such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath all the way through to the new boys of djent and progressive metal. But which amp works for each sub genre of metal? Well we are here to help!

Classic Metal

It feels a bit wrong to call bands like Sabbath and Zeppelin ‘classic metal’ but this is a way to show their older statesmen role in the genre. Basically if these guys had chosen another calling we all wouldn’t have a job or a record collection. So if you want to play like Jimmy Page, Orange has the amp for you, in fact he uses an Orange… see what we did!

The AD30 was used at the Led Zeppelin reunion show in 2007 (they were the single channel versions.) The current AD30 has two channels, channel one is cleaner, with channel two being the heavier channel, use this one for Page riffs!

Sludge Metal

Heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, sludge metal came about through bands mixing elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. What came from these two joining forces was heavily detuned guitars, lots of distortion and tempos switching from slow grooves to punk styled riffs. If this sounds like your thing then the Crush Pro 120 would be the perfect amp for you, none other than Kirk from Sludge Metal legends Crowbar uses it to create a wall of sound.

Taking inspiration from the Rockerverb 100, the Crush Pro 120 head is a solid state amplifier which delivers warm, rich analogue tone. Kirk started using one on the road and it has taken the place of an amplifier metal great Dimebag Darrell gave him. If this doesn’t make it the perfect amplifier for all those low tuned riffs, then we don’t know what will!

Nu Metal

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s this was the genre in rock, behemoths like Slipknot, Linkin Park, Korn and Limp Bizkit all came to the forefront of the music scene. Mixing rap, rock and metal elements they forged their own path, recently these bands have established themselves as some of the biggest rock acts in the world. Headlining every major festival Slipknot have become giants of the genre and Jim Root uses a Rockerverb to achieve his distinct, signature sound.

The Rockerverb was designed to be an amp for all genres and has been used by so many different players across its over ten year history. With two channels and four stages of gain it has become perfect for this genre. Not only does Jim Root trust the Rockerverb every night on stage but legendary guitarist Head from Korn calls the clean channel ‘buttery’.

Progressive Metal

Finally if you want to sound like a rock behemoth, then progressive metal is where it is all going off. Titans of the genre are Tool, Opeth, Rush and Mastodon and Orange has so many amplifiers that are perfect. The Brent Hinds Terror was built by men in mountains with googles (as told by Mastodon’s Brent Hinds) so it is the perfect fit for this genre.

The Brent Hinds Terror is a two channel, all valve, lunch box amplifier which was designed specifically to play Mastodon riffs loud. The bedroom/headroom switch makes bedroom practice a simple click of a switch, so nothing will get in the way of thundering riffs!

3 Comments/by Orange Amps

Articles, Real World

A Day in The Life of My Crest Edition Bluetooth Headphones: A Horror Story

11:45 AM – I wake up.

12:30 PM – I actually get out of bed.

12:45 PM – Finished on the toilet. My Crest Edition Headphones haven’t gotten out of bed yet.

1:15 PM – My Crest Edition Headphones finally wake up but they’re super hungover. I bring them a cup of coffee but they’re in a terrible mood. We speak briefly about what they did last night; however, they seem coy. Their attitude worries me. They keep repeating something about how they “hope it’s not on video.”

1:30 PM – I ask if my Crest Edition Headphones are going to work today. They say ‘yes,’ but they want me to call their boss to let him know they won’t be on time. While on the phone with their boss my Crest Edition Headphones are audible in the background, whimpering and crying in between heaves of puking. Their boss exclaims “this is not the first time this has happened” and asks me share the news that my Crest Edition Headphones’ services will no longer be required at Applebee’s.

1:45 PM – My Crest Edition Headphones take the news of their firing surprisingly well. Too well actually. I’m noticing an excitable change in their demeanor. They ask to borrow my car, to which I firmly reply in the negative. A brief shoving match occurs. Nothing too serious though.

2:00 PM – Despite my firm denial, I hear my car tires squealing and run to the window just in time to watch my Crest Edition Headphones barrel down the road and out of sight. I ponder reporting my car stolen to the police but then remember my Crest Edition Headphones already have two strikes. One more strike, especially for grand theft auto, and they’ll be spending the next decade behind bars. I resolve to waiting it out, hoping against hope that my car is returned safe and sound.

5:30 PM – After 3 and a half hours of texting and calling my Crest Edition Headphones finally pick up. There’s a lot of background noise but I can make out the distinct sound of clinking glasses and a rough-voiced bartender calling out orders. It’s obvious that my Crest Edition Headphones have already had too much to drink by the way they’re slurring their words. It’s not even dinner time yet.

6:00 PM – As I’m in the kitchen preparing my Hot Pocket I hear a loud boom from outside. My Crest Edition Headphones are back from the bar and showing off their grandfather’s shotgun to a few “friends” who they invited over. They’ve accidentally fired off a round into the ceiling of the garage, which ricocheted into the hood of my car. It’s barely noticeable, and far from my biggest problem, because my Crest Edition Headphones have run my car straight into the work bench while parking. The front-end is crumpled and the airbag has deployed. A fist-fight ensues, which I lose miserably.

6:15 PM – Bloodied, and with a significant portion of my pride missing, I stumble back into the house to find my Crest Edition Headphones lying on the floor in a pool of they’re own vomit. I take my Hot Pocket and retreat to my bedroom, too tired to even bother wiping the blood from my nose.

7:00 PM – I awake to find my Crest Edition Headphones standing over me, fists clenched, wearing a menacing grin. I begin to ask what’s happening but before I can get the words out they strike, wrapping around my neck. It’s clear that my Crest Edition Headphones, featuring Bluetooth, are trying to strangle me. I ask myself, “is this really how it ends?”

“Not today,” I think. I reach up and pull them from my neck. They stay tightly wrapped around me but now they’re on top of my head. I’m fighting for my life when suddenly I hear what sounds like music playing. The Crest Edition Headphones have cupped themselves over my ears. I reach up in attempt to fight them off but I instead swipe upwards on the controls and the volume of the music goes higher. Much higher. The song is so clear now: The Doobie Brothers “Takin’ It to The Streets.” As my energy drains and I fade into the darkness, I hear the soothing, throaty bass of Michael McDonald’s voice…

“Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty’s despair
……..
……..
……..
Takin’ it to the streets.”

10:00 PM – I regain consciousness. Everything is blurry, hazy, almost as if I’m in a dream state. Is this a dream? No. It can’t be. This must be reality. The music has stopped.

Was there ever actually music?

In the corner of the room sits an unopened box of Crest Edition Headphones. There’s a note on it. I crawl slowly to the box and pull the note closer to my eyes. In the darkness it’s difficult to read at first. But as my vision begins to adjust, the text begins to sharpen:

“Enjoy these Crest Edition Headphones featuring Bluetooth Technology and up to 27 hours battery life. They have multipoint connectivity and wireless controls.”

Suddenly a cold chill washes over my body.

At the bottom of the note,
scrawled in what appears to be blood,
is written…

“Sincerely,

YOUR DEAD ROOMMATE.”

Use coupon ‘Wireless2’ to get 10% OFF our Crest Edition Headphones (shipping worldwide)

Crest Edition Wireless Headphones

by alex

Articles, Interviews, Orange Embassy, Ramble On

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.

2 Comments/by Ella Stormark

Articles, Interviews

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!

by Ella Stormark

Articles, History

Orange Amps and How They Were Used on Specific Metal Albums

It’s #VoiceOfMetal month and we’re focusing attention on our hard rocking, dope-smoking dooming, metal shredding artist Ambassadors. Here are a few of the metal albums we know for a fact were dripping in Orange tone, some with quotes from the artists themselves about how they used their amps.

Monolord – “No Comfort” (2019)

“For bass, Mika used an AD200B into an Orange OBC810. And just listen to the new record, the bass tones are thick yet clear with lots of string. Mainly he used the Dunable R2 model bass.

Rhythm guitars were put down with one OR100 into an 8ohm PPC412HP cab. The Dual Dark went in to a 90’s Orange cab at 16ohm.

For lead guitar we recorded the whole thing with the Black Country Customs Tony Iommi Boost (and sometimes a few other boosts/overdrives) through the Micro Dark and the PPC112. The tone is really angry in the low-mids and I love it.”- Thomas Jager

Slipknot – “All Hope Is Gone” (2018)

Jim Root had been using a Rockerverb 100 MKI for live touring before Slipknot recorded 2008’s All Hope Is Gone. However, that record would be the first time Root used an Orange for the majority of his guitar parts in the studio. He used the Rockerverb 100 MKI, along with a Diezel Herbert, for rhythm and lead. For the more subtle clean parts he used a Rockerverb 50 MKI 2×12” Combo.

SLEEP – “Holy Mountain” (1992)

Many people think the resurgence of Orange in the 90’s was due to Noel Gallagher using the amp in Oasis. That might have some truth to it, but before that came the liner notes of SLEEP’s Holy Mountain and the Orange OR120 guitar amp featured therein. Matt Pike famously used both the OR120 and a Matamp on Holy Mountain. For a whole new generation of stoner rockers vintage Orange amps became a must-have.

Beartooth – “Aggressive” (2016)

“The Micro Dark has honestly been an amazing tool for me in the studio. It is crazy how much air I can get moving between the speaker and the microphone with this head. It takes pedals great and can be as transparent or violent as you want. The reason I used it was for that pushed crunchy sound in the power section. The sheer amount of volume needed in something like a 50 or 100 watt head for that sound without an attenuator is unrealistic for a basement studio like mine. I’d be tearing the walls down. The Micro Dark has all that beef, low end, and air that I needed without being so loud it’s offensive to the entire neighborhood.

Tube screamer, eq pedal, micro dark through a 4×12… If you want the Beartooth guitar sound, that’s all you need.”- Caleb Shomo

Khemmis – “Desolation” (2018)

“We used a pair of Rockerverb 100 MKIII heads—one into an Orange 4×12, one into an Atlas 2×12 + 1×15—for all of the guitars on Desolation. On our previous records, Phil and I both ran dirt pedals into vintage clean amps for a big, raw wall of guitars. We began using the RK100 as we incorporated more complex chord shapes and single note lines in our new material, as they allowed those nuances to shine through without compromising our ability to be heavy. Not only did the Rockerverbs yield gnarly rhythm and lead sounds, the clean tones we dialed in were glassy and articulate.” – Ben Hutcherson

Chron Goblin – “Here Before” (2019)

“I think an overall goal for the production of ‘Here Before’ was to have it real and organic sounding, avoiding the use of digital enhancements as much as possible. There was a strong focus on capturing the organic input as opposed to editing the output with after effects, which you can hear in the guitar tone. I only used two of Orange’s finest guitar heads, Orange Rockerverb MKIII and OR15, and no other guitar pedals and very minimal after effects. We also made a conscious effort to only have a very moderate amount of gain and treble (opposed to all of the previous Chron Goblin albums in which they were cranked) to ensure the individual notes are very clearly defined, while still maintaining a vicious bite in the tone. For all clean guitar sections we used the Jimi Hendrix approach of rather than use a clean channel, we just turned down the volume and tone knobs of the guitar, which creates that warm, toned-down clean sound while keeping the gain channel settings intact. I think the result is a very organic and honest guitar tone throughout the album that we are super pumped about!” – Darty

“I went into recording the new album knowing the tone I wanted to hear. I tried out a couple basses, and decided to go with my stock 1972 Gibson Grabber (complete with a sliding pickup). After talking with our engineer and general studio jack-of-all-trades, I went with the AD200B with a relatively standard EQ – extra mid and treble, gain around 10 o’clock and master at noon). We re-amped it through the head and OBC810 … and VOILA!” – Richard