Orange CR120 Head. Any experiences/Opinions?

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Arktik83Arktik83 Frets: 431
So I'm looking at picking one of these up and I just wondered what people thought of them?  Dave Simpson on YouTube does a superb job at demoing them and I've messaged him for some opinions but have yet to hear back so I thought I'd ask on here too.

What's the volume taper on these like?  Is it off or bastard loud?  Does it get really muffled below a certain volume level as some amps tend to do?

How does it take pedals?

Ta!
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Comments

  • bingefellerbingefeller Frets: 5723
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  • benmurray85benmurray85 Frets: 1395
    Dave Simpson is clearly too busy counting his Go Fund Me donations to reply! ;-)

    jokes i I actually really like him! 
    How very rock and roll
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    Arktik83 said:
    ...What's the volume taper on these like?  Is it off or bastard loud?  Does it get really muffled below a certain volume level as some amps tend to do?
    How does it take pedals?
    Well, I love this amp.*  I found Dave Simpson's channel about a year after I got the amp and I love it even more as it happens because you can indeed get a lot of good sounds out of it.  I tend to stay in rock territory for most of a gig though.

    Volume wise with the taper it's quite sensible when you're gigging insofar as you can balance it to exactly where you need.  I'm using a 2*12.  Having said that, I don't think it's a home amp unless your neighbours are deaf/ tolerant/ non-existent.  Because you do have to get the MV to about "1.5" before the full flavour starts to appear.  It absolutely can taper all the way down to 0 but below 1.5 the tone is a bit thin - not muffled - no matter what you do.  By 2 and above it sounds lovely.  

    The clean channel takes pedals well; the dirty channel, less so -- but that's probably because I've got the dirt doing that Orange high gain thing which isn't so subtle but sounds lovely.  Basically, most of the night I'm using the clean channel on the classic verge of break up, with ODs to kick it over.  This will do rock and cleanish pop (with the guitar rolled back)  And the dirty channel is for the punk stuff. 
    I used to think it took pedals differently to valve amps but it's fine.  I actually set my overdrives a lot more normally with the CR120 than used to with other amps and if I'd done it this way with valve amps then I'm sure it would have been better.
    I'm not sure about the FX loop but this is because the loop was too different to the JVM when I first got it so I started putting everything into the front of the amp.  I've now got a sound I'm really happy with so I'm not going to change it.  But everything including echo, reverb, and modulation, is going into the front.  (I had a really nice compliment about the sound the other week as it happens.)

    I'd get another one if I had to in a heartbeat.  I love it.

    *Of course what you might also be interested in is my utter total bargain Marshall JVM 410head at an utter total bargain price.
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  • Arktik83Arktik83 Frets: 431
    Grunfeld said:
    Arktik83 said:
    ...What's the volume taper on these like?  Is it off or bastard loud?  Does it get really muffled below a certain volume level as some amps tend to do?
    How does it take pedals?
    Having said that, I don't think it's a home amp unless your neighbours are deaf/ tolerant/ non-existent.  Because you do have to get the MV to about "1.5" before the full flavour starts to appear.  It absolutely can taper all the way down to 0 but below 1.5 the tone is a bit thin - not muffled - no matter what you do.  By 2 and above it sounds lovely.  
    Ah that's a bit of a shame as I was planning to use it as a home amp as in Dave's YouTube vids it seems to cover all the tones I want and I'm kind of fed up with valve amps because they have to warm up etc and most of the sub £500 ones only sound great when cranked!

    Thanks for the thorough write up though @Grunfeld!  Appreciate it!
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    Arktik83 said:
    ...Ah that's a bit of a shame as I was planning to use it as a home amp as in Dave's YouTube vids it seems to cover all the tones I want
    He usually has his on about 2 or so. 
    This is ferkin' loud!  
    I suspect neighbours are not an issue for him.

    If you get the chance check one out in a store and see what you think.  The "thinness" that I notice might not be an issue for you.  And they do a CR60 combo but I have no idea what that is like.
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  • Arktik83Arktik83 Frets: 431
    Grunfeld said:
    Arktik83 said:
    ...Ah that's a bit of a shame as I was planning to use it as a home amp as in Dave's YouTube vids it seems to cover all the tones I want
    If you get the chance check one out in a store and see what you think.  The "thinness" that I notice might not be an issue for you.  And they do a CR60 combo but I have no idea what that is like.
    Yeah I might have to, shame is that music stores are literally two hours away in shitty London traffic here, nearest bigguns are Andertons in Guildford or GuitarGuitar in Camden/Epsom.  Camden is way easier to get to than Guildford/Epsom but doesn't look like GG have one in stock at Camden, typical!  :(
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  • I had the CR120H going into a Laney 2x12 and can confirm it was epic as fuck in all senses: it was huge, it sounded massive, it was heavy and totally impractical for me.

    I too found that it needed to have a bit of volume behind it to sound 'good' though it could be tweaked to bedroom level very easily (infact, a good deal more easily than most other amps I've tried).

    I got shot of it because frankly, who needs a 120w head in their home office?
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  • Arktik83Arktik83 Frets: 431
    Cheers gents!  The search for a good quality solid state guitar head that doesn't blow out the windows but sounds decent at low volumes continues (I guess I'm kind of in moon on a stick territory here!)
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    edited July 2017
    I got my CR120 H from PMT in Romford -- which is only a bit out of East London and might be easier to get to.
    As it happens there was very little thought behind the purchase -- I just needed something to play a beer festival that afternoon after my regular amp had died at a gig the night before.  I'd actually gone in for another Blackstar but the fella in the shop suggested the Orange solid state.  Happy days!
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  • timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
    I think i'm the only person who found the CR120 a bit bland and uninspiring. I'm not a valve snob, i love old solid state peaveys, laneys and marshalls, but i just found that the CR either had to much gain or not enough, there didn't feel like a middle ground. The EQ was great for high gain but i couldn't get any real weight to the sound and moderate/mid gain, even with a few different cabs.
     They're decent amps, they seem to be reliable and simple to use, but theres nothing in there that a Peavey Supreme can't do better. 

    If i was looking for solid state, my choices would always be:
     Marshall VS65/100r
     Peavey Supreme / Studio pro / Express / Bandit (the silver stripe ones)
     Laney GC80/120
     Trace Elliot Super Tramp 80 (mk 1)


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  • thomasw88thomasw88 Frets: 2316
    Quilter pro block ..  I've used the orange at rehearsals and gigs where backline supplied but the quilter blows it away at cleans to medium crunch. Plus takes pedals brilliantly:-)p
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  • MagicPigDetectiveMagicPigDetective Frets: 2992
    edited July 2017

    Dave Simpson has a couple of videos on this very subject.

    I really enjoy his channel, in fact of late he has been inspiring me a lot, I love the way he plays. .

    For what it's worth I have a CR60 which sounds great at low volume at home (even with a baby in the house).


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  • Arktik83Arktik83 Frets: 431
    I agree Dave does a tremendous job of showing off the amp, it was his videos that made me want one but I'm kind of fed up with an amp having to be like really loud to sound good so I think this might be a bridge too far for me.  They only seem to have the 60 watt version in combo's now.

    I was thinking of maybe an Egnater Tweaker or a Line 6 DT25 instead.
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  • You could look for a used one, then if you don't get on with it you won't lose much (if anything) if you sell it on.
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  • jellybellyjellybelly Frets: 734
    I tried one in a shop as I'd heard good things. No idea what the fuss is about, no feel to it. As mentioned, no middle ground in terms of gain. It was decent at full-tilt British distortion but didn't enjoy anything else in there I'm afraid!!

    Solid state wise, an old Peavey will smoke it. IMO etc etc. Each to there own, I'm sure some will love it!
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  • LooseMooseLooseMoose Frets: 908
    I've a CR120C the combo, and I freaking LOVE it. Amazing amp!
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  • I ended up mostly using the CR120 on the clean channel, with a JHS AT infront of it  - IMO sounded a good deal better.
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9550
    edited July 2017
    I've got the CR60C. Does everything I want it to. Here's my review...

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/73640/orange-crush-pro-cr60c

    The volume, gain, and master volume seem to interact quite a bit so it can take a bit of fiddling to get the best from it. However, it really is possible to get quite a range of usable tones from it.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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