orange head

[StratDudeDan]

a friend of mine just picked up an orange head. he's playing it through a marshall 4x12 half stack. i don't know any model numbers or anything, but here's the dilemma:

his guitars are very toneful and sustainful axes. he's playing through an LP studio and a gibson 335. when he's plugged into this head, however, his tone and sustain craps out on him, almost like the amp is choking it instead of sweetening it and adding that common orange grit to it.

he's come to me before with questions about guitars and how to do this and that, so he's come to me again with that dilemma on his amp, a subject i don't know much about. so what can we do to this head to make it sound better?

switch out the tubes? clean the connections/jacks/solder joints and make sure everythings good? junk it and find a new one?

[Scott Rosenberger]

First thing to check is to make sure he's not using an Instrument Cable between the head and Cab.

Next I would suspect the tubes are going south

[StratDudeDan]

i don't suppose you could be cool and recommend a type of tube? i must admit, i'm an idiot when it comes to amps, so any and all advice is awesome.

[Scott Rosenberger]

Amp Tubes are like guitar strings. every person has a reason why theirs are the best. I say research a bit and see what others with this particular head are using

[lovekraft]

I've had the best luck lately with EH/Sovtek and JJ/Tesla - what ever you do, don't buy from Ruby Tubes/Magic Parts, unless you support corporate bullying and litigation threats (see this thread: GuitarNuts.com - Newsletter). Which Orange head is he using? Original or reissue? Some of the older Oranges have "issues" that require a qualified therapist (amp tech).

[StratDudeDan]

i do believe (from the looks of the thing) that it's an older one. we were thinking that if we couldn't figure anything out, it'd go to the local amp guru to see what he can do with it.

[tsl602000]

I suspect the tubes are gone bad, or the filter caps have to be replaced. Take it to an amp tech. DO NOT open the amp and touch anything. Tube amps have lethal caps inside that could kill you even if the amp is not connected to the mails.

As far as tubes.. .I think those Orange amps have EL34's... My choice for EL34's are Svetlana's. If those are too expensive, try the EH's. For pre-amp tubes I always use JJ's... those are really sweet.

[Drak]

Yup.

It's worthless to spend a dime on it if you have no clue whatsoever what's wrong with it, that's like buying a new set of pistons for your car because it won't start.

Take it to the tech, make sure you know the guy and he has an established reputation around town. There are crappy techs out there.