Custom Shop Early Days (1999)

From the hand-wired AD5 to the AD200B Mk3, Orange’s AD series redefined valve bass tone with increasing power and production efficiency.

The AD5 began life as a much-lauded Custom Shop combo and has since become a prized collector’s piece. Only 64 of the original hand-built units were ever made. In 2003, a PCB production version was launched, followed by a third iteration in 2008. Compact, characterful, and unmistakably Orange, the AD5 set the tone for the Custom Shop's reputation.

From Custom Shop to AD Series

“The AD140 actually started as a Custom Shop bass amp, the AD140B,” remembers Ade Emsley, Orange Technical Director, “and with it, a return to the original late-60s Orange logo. Cliff asked me to make a 120-Watt bass amp to fill the gap left by the Super Bass reissues. It ran as a Class AB amp using 6L6 valves, which gave it a cleaner, punchier sound. Those same valves had also been used in the Super Bass reissues.

“We eventually upgraded it to 200 Watts by switching to 6550 tubes, and that kicked off the AD200B bass series.”

Scaling Up: AD140 and AD200B

In 2001, we hand-built a limited number of AD140 lead heads. These were fully wired by hand and aimed at guitarists who wanted classic tone with modern muscle. We also introduced the AD140HTC, a twin-channel version built on a high-quality PCB. That became the production model, and it proved incredibly popular.

“It was the massive demand for AD200B Mk1s and Mk2s that led us to move towards production models”, recalls Damon Waller, former Orange Managing Director. “We just couldn’t make enough by hand wiring.”

“The AD140B laid the groundwork for the AD200B Mk1,” Emsley remembers, “though it had different transformers and used 6L6s. With the Mk2, we tweaked the preamp and added some negative feedback to tighten things up and give it more headroom. The Mk3 was the first to go to PCB. Until that point, every AD bass amp had been Custom Shop and hand wired.”