Valve amps at home volume - Orange Rocker 15

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RustySpannerRustySpanner Frets: 553
edited November 2020 in Amps
My word. 
What an absolutely delightful bit of kit.

Picked up a Rocker 15 as an upgrade from a Crush 35RT.
Can't  leave it alone. 

Thick, creamy, complex cleans and a gain channel that seems to do it all. 

I knew I liked the Orange 'house sound', after auditioning the Crush against pricier alternatives, but this is objectively a much nicer amp. 
The headroom/bedroom switch really works - I tend to run it at home on 1 watt during the day and 0.5 watts at night. 

It can be done. 
Orange really deserve a big pat on the back for this.

It's  so much nicer at low volumes than the Crush, especially on the dirty channel. 

I think this amp destroys the myth that you can't  have a quality, lightweight all rounder. 

I'd happily gig it, but it's so much fun at home. 




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Comments

  • I had the Brent hinds one and I agree with you !
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  • photekphotek Frets: 1462
    edited November 2020
    I would consider one if they actually showed you the front panel on the website, it goes box, box, box, box, box, can’t quite see anything, black box, black box...yawn.
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  • Interesting! For some reason I never consider Orange when looking for amps. So would this be a competitor for the Blues Jr market?
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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    Nice. I’ve been thinking about one for ages actually. 

    On the 0.5watt mode, can you crank the gain and lower the volume for metally tones at low volume still? Ie home/bedroom use?
    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    I’ve been intrigued by both the OR15 and the Rocker Terror15 for ages is it the latter one that you have ?

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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9550
    Not generally a fan of that typical Orange breathy sound, but demos I've listened to would suggest the clean channel isn't typically Orange and could actually be very useful for those lower gain cleanish bluesy and lighter rock sounds.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • RustySpannerRustySpanner Frets: 553
    edited November 2020
    Hiya, thanks for the responses. 

    It's the standard Rocker 15 1×10 combo. 

    I really don't think it would be a competitor to the Blues Junior in terms of tone, it's a fundamentally different sound. 
    The clean channel is just amazing - emphasis on upper mids but plenty of complex harmonics and overtones coming through. It would make a good jazz amp at lower volumes!

    The dirty channel is very similar at low gain, becomes delightfully crunchy about 12 o'clock and increasingly filthy from there on.  
    It's all pretty much usable though, there's  not really a bad tone in it. 

    Surprisingly full in the bottom end for a 10" speaker, especially on a suspended wooden floor!

    I auditioned it against a Blackstar HT20II (more emphasis on the frequency extremes, cruder, scooped mids) a Marshall Origin 20 (much nicer than expected but less versatile and a bit bland). 
    Also tried a Laney SuperCub stack which had a wonderful old school Marshall tone, but the cab was a bit woolly and the cleans were nowhere near as pleasant. 
    A DSL 20 sounded one dimensional and lacked sparkle. 

    Yes, it can do proper metally stuff at low volume. 
    It's much, much better at this than the Crush 35 it replaced. 
    I loved the general sound of that thing, but it was a little crude in comparison. 

    I did consider the Rocker 32 as well, but the power switching options on the 15 along with the lack of weight make me glad I went with the smaller amp. 








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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    Congrats on the Rocker 15. Nice amp.

    I went through a similar set of considerations recently. Ended up with a DSL20C,  because Marshall, it was a v good price and has an aux in, which I wanted.

    V impressed with it for the price, but low power mode is still 10w and a bit loud (it works better with a bit of volume).

    I think the Orange Rocker 15 as more of a 'proper amp' mainly because of the price point I think. If it had an aux in I would have probably gone for that.

    JJN Blackstar looks decent too. Not sure how different it is to the regular HT20 mkii. The combo has a better speaker.

    I'm already looking at speaker upgrades for the DSL as it comes with a Celestion 70/80 (shrug!).
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  • BeexterBeexter Frets: 597
    I had an original Rocker 30 and the Natural channel highlighted differences between guitars and pickup positions better than any amp I've tried. Quite intrigued by the 15.....
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  • I'm looking for my first valve amp, something that can be used at home and as a pedal platform. Really like the  sound of the Rocker 15, with the attenuation and clean channel, is exactly what I'm after. I used to have an CR60, which was a great solid state amp, this looks a real step up though. 
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  • I'm close to buying this for my birthday next week. What's mad though is that whilst the orange one can be had for £520, the black amp is £650! I'd prefer the black one, but not paying over 100 quid extra for it. Makes no sense at all. 
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  • The black Rocker 32 was on offer at PMT for £499 last week!
    Doesn't have the bedroom/headroom switch though. 

    Pricing seems to be all over the place atm......

    I paid £519 for mine too, that's the cheapest I've seen for ages. 

    Haven't seen the black 15s any cheaper than £599.




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  • MagicPigDetectiveMagicPigDetective Frets: 2992
    edited November 2020
    The black Rocker 32 was on offer at PMT for £499 last week!
    Doesn't have the bedroom/headroom switch though. 

    Pricing seems to be all over the place atm......

    I paid £519 for mine too, that's the cheapest I've seen for ages. 

    Haven't seen the black 15s any cheaper than £599.




    Ah right, I had assumed they had the same specs. The bedroom switch is essential for me, so orange it is

    Edit: just noticed you referred to the 32 rocker. Too much juice for me! 
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  • Me too.  :)
    Too heavy as well. 

    The black and orange 15s are the same apart from the colour. They both have the bedroom/headroom switch, so 0.5, 1, 7 or 15 watts. 

    The 32 has 15 or 30 watt outputs. 
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  • MagicPigDetectiveMagicPigDetective Frets: 2992
    edited November 2020
    The reason for the big difference in price between the  identical 15 orange and black though? Very strange. Might give GAK a ring to see if the can price match their black with their orange!
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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    Well With the 10% black friday or fretboarders disq the Rocker 15 in orange is £467 from PMT
    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • grungebobgrungebob Frets: 3299
    I had a dual dark 50 with built in attenuation, what a wonderful amp that was. If only they could either add a third channel for more headroom cleans or adapt one of the channels slight it would be perfect. 
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  • skunkwerx said:
    Well With the 10% black friday or fretboarders disq the Rocker 15 in orange is £467 from PMT
    Too good a deal to resist. Mine's arriving tomorrow  =)
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  • There’s a fretboarders discount ??!!
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  • 10% of all orders over £149, for anyone not just fretboarders.
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