Orange Crush 20?

daveyh

Thinking about a new practice amp, any thoughts on the various Crush models?

ICBM

There’s a Crush 35 in the shop I work for just now. Excellent clean sound, great reverb, *terrible* fizzy/grainy overdrive... from memory the 20 is similar, although I haven’t seen one for a while.

It might be the speaker, but unfortunately the amp doesn’t belong to the shop so I can’t really try swapping it for something better. If I have time next week I might see if it sounds better with a pedal into the clean channel.

HAL9000

As I understand things, Orange redesigned the Crush range a few years back so that they are now analogue - previously they were digital. I assume you’re looking at buying new so the age thing isn’t relevant. However it might be something to be aware of.

FWIW, my only experience of the Crush (as opposed to the Crush Pro) series exactly echoes @icbm ‘s - a Crush 35RT with very nice cleans but a fizzy gain channel.

ICBM

HAL9000 said:

As I understand things, Orange redesigned the Crush range a few years back so that they are now analogue - previously they were digital.

I don't remember any of the Crush series ever being digital (other than the reverb/effects), but I could be wrong.

HAL9000

ICBM said:

HAL9000 said:

As I understand things, Orange redesigned the Crush range a few years back so that they are now analogue - previously they were digital.

I don't remember any of the Crush series ever being digital (other than the reverb/effects), but I could be wrong.

I suspect if anyone’s wrong it’s more likely to be me. Certainly the Crush range was completely redesigned in 2015 and I recall reading that they are now analogue. I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean that they were digital before.

Article here...

https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com/issues/issue-31/reviews/orange-crush-20-35-rt-combos/#

ICBM

HAL9000 said:

I suspect if anyone’s wrong it’s more likely to be me. Certainly the Crush range was completely redesigned in 2015 and I recall reading that they are now analogue. I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean that they were digital before.

Article here...

https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com/issues/issue-31/reviews/orange-crush-20-35-rt-combos/#

They're definitely a complete redesign. Before they were also analogue, but had very basic controls if I remember rightly - gain/distortion/master (distortion not switchable) and 3-band EQ, and if there was a model with reverb it was a small spring.

I was really disappointed by how poor the overdrive channel is on the 35RT, despite what they say in that review! (No surprise.)

darthed1981

Just remember if you bring it to jams, to bring your spine as well.

Had that stuck in my head all day thanks to this thread.

guitarcookie1

We’ve got crush 60’s (I think) in our rehearsal space. Good, loud cleans but a horrible, nasty drive channel.  

I’d also question their longevity. These were bought to replace Peavey Envoys that were really still going strong after ten years, but the Orange amp are dropping like flies after a couple of years. 

Philtre

I had a Crush 35RT and (very briefly) a CR60. Horrid drive channels...fizzzz....phut. CR60 had a meh clean channel, and the 35RT was OK on clean as a practice amp but a bit boxy, lacking oomph. Just get a s/h HRD.

HAL9000

darthed1981 said:

Just remember if you bring it to jams, to bring your spine as well.

You may have spotted me at one of those jams. That was me in the corner under the spotlight.

ICBM

guitarcookie1 said:

We’ve got crush 60’s (I think) in our rehearsal space. Good, loud cleans but a horrible, nasty drive channel.  

I’d also question their longevity. These were bought to replace Peavey Envoys that were really still going strong after ten years, but the Orange amp are dropping like flies after a couple of years.

That’s disappointing. I haven’t seen any dead ones yet...

I actually think the Crush 60 and 120 have pretty decent overdrive channels too - not outstanding, but perfectly usable. There’s one in a practice room we sometimes use, it sounded fine when we used it - instead of the guitarist’s usual Rocker 30 - except that it reacted a bit differently to his pedals.

Nothing beats old Peaveys for bombproof reliability though. It’s a shame so many players seem to turn their noses up at them...

dazzajl

I have a 35rt and I like it for a little home amp. It’s not up to doing anything with a drummer so the 20 will definitely not be more than a practice amp. 

I’d agree with all that’s been said, except that I quite the like the drive side. It’s much more Fuzz than OD and since I rarely want more than a nice smudge of dirt, I find it fine for practice and noodling. Plus... most importantly... I think it looks cool