As well as looking after Orange for 50 years I have also been lucky to have had, a long and special friendship, with John Miles, a most talented musician, singer and songwriter whose record “Music was my first love and it will be my last” topped the charts in many countries worldwide.

When John’s daughter Tanya was very young he wrote a beautiful song for her called “Angel” and she has always carried it in her heart.

Tanya’s son has learning difficulties and the name given to this rare syndrome is “Cri Du Chat” (cat’s cry) syndrome, The disorder is characterized by intellectual disability and delayed development.

Tanya asked her dad for permission to pass on this song to her son and to share it with everyone, giving all income, royalties and charitable donations to the “Cri Du Chat Syndrome Support Group” John explained the song was only made as a demo but he would be only too pleased to agree to Tanya’s request.

If this special song, written with so much love can touch you, please click below and make a donation.

Like so many genetic illness we have so much to learn.

Intro

When we’re in the market for an amplifier, more often than not we’ll have an idea of what we want from the get-go. We might know, for example, that our band is progressing to larger venues and we need something that can pack the right punch. Or we might want something to fit in with the new ambient death jungle direction we’re heading in.

Given enough time, and a budget in keeping with our ambitions, we mostly get it right. Particularly in this day and age, where the internet offers us all manner of reviews (both from critics and real people), sound tests, videos and blogs, it’s easier than ever to make informed decisions way in advance of parting with your cash.

That said, there are certain traps even the most experienced of us will fall into. Here we’ll look at some of the common pitfalls guitarists face when buying amps.

 

 

Features (too many or not enough)

 

Early on in your playing career, if you’re anything like me, you wanted to cram as many features into your amp as possible. I wanted something that could do quality crunch, metal, clean and blues sounds, along with some effects built in, and ideally a tuner.

Of course, all these requirements filtered my search down quite significantly. And the biggest sacrifice I had to make? Quality. Sure, I found something that could do all of those things, but you know what? It sounded worse than awful. Honestly. I don’t know where that amp is now, but I hope it’s burning somewhere, slowly.

The flipside is getting an amp that does only one thing. If that’s all you’re going to use then fine, but you can find yourself quite restricted if you’re in a covers band, for example, and all you can get is mid-heavy blues sounds.

Work out what’s important to you, and what’s just ‘nice to have’ and make sure you tick the boxes in the first column.

 

Buying on brand (and brand alone)

 

There’s nothing wrong with following the path set out by your favourite player. They might be synonymous with certain guitars or amps, and you decide that’s the brand for you. Fine. But perhaps give yourself a bit of credit too. At some point you may want to find your own voice, and your own style, and if your gear is limited because of blind loyalty to certain brands then you might have a problem.

In short; have an open mind. Try stuff out. Case in point; in writing for a UK guitar mag last year, I tried one of those huge semi-acoustic Gretsch guitars for the first time. I’d never even considered one before and was amazed at how quickly I came to love it.

Try it. Ignore the name on the faceplate. You’ll love the right tone more than you’ll ever love a logo.

 

 

Volume does not equal power

 

Ah yes, the ‘volume’ issue. Closely linked to the ego. We know guitarists are unfairly maligned for having large egos, but turning up to a small open mic with a full stack won’t help that. The simple fact is that, more often than not, you don’t need 100w of power. You probably don’t even need 50w. Heck, 30w nowadays will pack out most things under the stadium bracket. The benefit of this is that you can perhaps put the same amount of money you had in mind for an entry-level 100w head into getting a much higher quality 30w model.

 

 

Practicality

 

Tying into the previous point about volume, consider the practicality of your amp. Be realistic. If you’re playing four shows a week, you’ll soon find yourself resenting that enormous double-speaker-cab setup that you have to shift up 3 flights of stairs each time.

 

 

 

The intangibles

 

Finally, the point that’s hardest to quantify. Matters of the heart.

You can almost ignore each previous entry. Yes, it’s all very sensible but I’m not your dad. When you’re buying an amplifier, whether it’s your first or your 101^st, you have to allow yourself a bit of emotion.

Music is, after all, a creative pursuit. And we tend to be creative people. So make sure that ‘that’ side of your checklist is met. Otherwise you’ll end up with a sensible, practical amplifier that you love in the same way you love your lightbulbs or your tumble dryer.

Orange celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018, our founder and CEO Cliff Cooper shares his thoughts on this milestone:

Few would have thought, including myself, that half a century ago, Orange would have risen to the dizzy heights it has in the global music arena today. From those very humble beginnings in 1968, my love of music and sound assisted me in my vision of producing amplifiers and speakers that were quality built, reliable and with a sound truly pleasing to the ear. This vision was then and always will be, my goal in life. Musicians are far more demanding these days and not satisfied with just singular loud distortion. Of course, the world today is much more interconnected than it was 50 years ago and we continually strive to service the need to produce the finest working tools for the apprentice through to the master musician.

Orange has always been and always will be an innovative company, but if innovation means gimmicks without improving the quality of sound, then we will not incorporate them into our designs. Our team’s willingness to listen to feedback generated from our global dealer network is of great importance and benefit, allowing us to continually adapt to the needs of the musician.

I feel so proud of our achievements since we started in 1968 and I, with Orange, will always do our utmost to provide the very best tools to assist that wonderful desire to listen and appreciate music, with a sound that is as close to perfect as possible. Finally, on such a significant landmark as our 50th Anniversary, it would not be complete, without a full appreciation of the efforts of all those past and present, who have worked so hard and contributed so much to the success of Orange. To them and all our supporters, I truly thank you. As always, I wish you every good wish in your special world of music.

Cliff Cooper | Founder & CEO