Orange AD200B Clean Volume

[barteroo2002]

Hi guys!
Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on how much clean headroom/volume you can get with this? I'm after a bit of warmth in my tone - valve warmth - but not really overdrive.

The quality of this amp's Overdrive seems to get mentioned a lot, and obviously it's a natural bi-product of 'driving' the amp, but can you still get to a nice gigging volume (my definition being - You're on a stage, good few feet from the amp, and you can 'feel' it, not just hear it [i][with DI's and monitoring etc, you don't have to be super loud, but nobody can deny it is nice to feel the low end][/i]) without the real overdriven tone coming in?

I hope I'm being clear!?

I played through one in a shop recently whilst trying out some basses, but I've come away with the amp in my noggin far more than any of the basses. Any thoughts would be great.

Cheers.

(ps - anyone know of any shops stocking a decent range of Orange bass gear near Bath?)

[thebassman]

[quote name='barteroo2002' post='958563' date='Sep 16 2010, 05:14 PM']Hi guys!
Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on how much clean headroom/volume you can get with this? I'm after a bit of warmth in my tone - valve warmth - but not really overdrive.

The quality of this amp's Overdrive seems to get mentioned a lot, and obviously it's a natural bi-product of 'driving' the amp, but can you still get to a nice gigging volume (my definition being - You're on a stage, good few feet from the amp, and you can 'feel' it, not just hear it [i][with DI's and monitoring etc, you don't have to be super loud, but nobody can deny it is nice to feel the low end][/i]) without the real overdriven tone coming in?

I hope I'm being clear!?

I played through one in a shop recently whilst trying out some basses, but I've come away with the amp in my noggin far more than any of the basses. Any thoughts would be great.

Cheers.

(ps - anyone know of any shops stocking a decent range of Orange bass gear near Bath?)[/quote]

I don't think that is the ideal amp for clean tone at volume. You might be better off with a full digital or valve state amp.
I come from bath and can't think of any good amp shops, I always had to go to London.

[Mr. Foxen]

PMT in Bristol should have some orange bass stuff, been promising a while, but I haven't checked.

[umph]

it'll do 200watts clean - its a 200watt amp. 200watts is more than loud enough to gig with IMO

[barteroo2002]

Cheers for the input guys - it appears that there isn't a straight forward answer - except maybe "it'll do 200watts clean"!?
It'd be nice for some owners to chip in. I don't want super 'digital' clean, I want tubeyness, but just not 'Overdrive'.

'A bit of dirt, but not too much else.'

Anyway, cheers for the input, but please, keep it coming...

[obbm]

[quote name='barteroo2002' post='959675' date='Sep 17 2010, 05:06 PM']Cheers for the input guys - it appears that there isn't a straight forward answer - except maybe "it'll do 200watts clean"!?
It'd be nice for some owners to chip in. I don't want super 'digital' clean, I want tubeyness, but just not 'Overdrive'.

'A bit of dirt, but not too much else.'

Anyway, cheers for the input, but please, keep it coming...[/quote]

It'll do loud and clean but not sure about [i]very loud[/i] and clean.

Then again I've never had a problem with mine not being loud enough and clean.

Try one.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='obbm' post='959704' date='Sep 17 2010, 05:29 PM']It'll do loud and clean but not sure about [i]very loud[/i] and clean.

Then again I've never had a problem with mine not being loud enough and clean.

Try one.[/quote]

+1

A tiny bit of dirt is the sweetspot. Never been above 1/3 on the Master.

[Colledge]

imo a hybrid head would do all of the tube warmth and give more clean headroom. the main reason all tube heads are so sought after when compared to hybrid heads is because its so hard to emulate the sound of an tube power section.

the orange terror bass has the same preamp section as the ad200b but with a digital power amp or 500 or 1000w which might be a better option if you want clean sound but with the tube vibe / warmth.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Colledge' post='959884' date='Sep 17 2010, 08:21 PM']imo a hybrid head would do all of the tube warmth and give more clean headroom. the main reason all tube heads are so sought after when compared to hybrid heads is because its so hard to emulate the sound of an tube power section.

the orange terror bass has the same preamp section as the ad200b but with a digital power amp or 500 or 1000w which might be a better option if you want clean sound but with the tube vibe / warmth.[/quote]

This is true, but still only to an extent. There is still a pretty large difference and massive heft that only a tube amp can do. The BT is close, but you can tell when you compare it. The RH450 is also VERY close to sounding like a warm tube amp.

[obbm]

[quote name='Colledge' post='959884' date='Sep 17 2010, 08:21 PM']imo a hybrid head would do all of the tube warmth and give more clean headroom. the main reason all tube heads are so sought after when compared to hybrid heads is because its so hard to emulate the sound of an tube power section.

the orange terror bass has the same preamp section as the ad200b but with a digital power amp or 500 or 1000w which might be a better option if you want clean sound but with the tube vibe / warmth.[/quote]

Have to disagree with you there. Earlier this year I had both as I was looking for a lightweight replacement for the AD200B. Sadly the BT did not measure up to the job. It was far too aggressive and even with some valve swaps did not sound like the AD200B. The BT500 went and the AD200B stayed. I am now taking weight lifting classes.

[algmusic]

[quote name='obbm' post='959976' date='Sep 17 2010, 10:22 PM']Have to disagree with you there. Earlier this year I had both as I was looking for a lightweight replacement for the AD200B. Sadly the BT did not measure up to the job. It was far too aggressive and even with some valve swaps did not sound like the AD200B. The BT500 went and the AD200B stayed. I am now taking weight lifting classes. [/quote]


I have the Terror and I use it in a groove based band and a rock band.. and I always get complemented on the smooth tone aswell and when I turn up the gain.. and I still have alots of headroom clean, but it's all about the AD200 (the big daddy), if you can handle the weight.. I'm definitely getting the AD200 for the special gigs :-).. The terror is the gigging musicians choice for weight. The AD is warm or gritty.. full stop

Edited September 17, 2010 by algmusic

[attackbass]

The AD200B will do warm and clean no problems... I use it in a 4 piece rock band playing venues from 400 - 3000 people. I find the amps starts to break up at 12 o'clock on the gain with the volume at 9 o'clock... i've found if you back the gain down quite a bit and turn up the master volume you get a nice tubey clean sound without clipping the preamp tubes. hope that is of some help.

[Anders]

I don't understand why people say the Orange AD200 MK3 can do 200w clean.The only thing i have read from people who has checked it is that it doesn't.It's more like 150w at most.
Here for instance:
[url="http://www.chambonino.com/work/miscguitar/misc9.html"]http://www.chambonino.com/work/miscguitar/misc9.html[/url]
But,those 50w or whatever isn't much difference anyway.It has a meaty powerful,(full and bassy),sound so it sounds big.The efficiency of the cab makes up for it,almost.

Believe me i have tried an AD200MK1,Matamp GT200 and AD200MK3 side by side.The MK1 and Matamp is louder but the MK3 has a tiny bit deeper bass.
The Matamp and MK3 can distort about the same(maybe i found the Matamp distortion a bit more interresting),but the Matamp could get really loud when distorted and the bottom end was still there,where as the MK3's bottomend diappeared when it broke up.
Edit:
If you want full bottom end but a broken up sound you could get a box with the AD200MK3 that leaves the lowend clean.I'm no big user of boxes so i coudn't tell you what to get.Sorry.

Edited September 18, 2010 by Anders

[barteroo2002]

Brilliant feedback guys.
Really helpful.
I think I'm definitely going to pursue one of these. I was just concerned that it was all about one thing (the overdrive) but of course, it appears that it is quite versatile from people's comments. (As for how many 'watts clean', and loud vs LOUD, I'm sure it'll keep up!?)

As for the weight - by day I'm a landscaper - I lift heavy, HEAVY things all day everyday. The new standard of heavy is dis-used railway sleepers. I've done two gardens with them being incorporated recently, and I'm sure an AD200 won't compete.

I think I will hunt one of these down.

[i](By the way, I can't seem to get to the Matamp GT200 (Bass amp) page on their website - how do these compare? I know the story behind Matamp/Orange, but do they compare in tone/price etc?)[/i]

[Mr. Foxen]

Totally go for the Matamp. Not sure on exact prices, but the Orange is just another machine made amp, with the price tag of the handmade thing that the Matamp actually is.

[Anders]

They don't have the same sound though,so if you like the Orange AD200MK3 it's not certain you will like the tonalpossibillities or sound of the Matamp GT200.The Matamp doesn't have a mid level and the Orange has meetier and deeper bass imo.You might be able to tell them to make the bass more full when ordering the Matamp but then you would get a little lower output.Atleast that's what they told me.
The GT200 isn't on their homepage no,and i don't understand that either.

[umph]

[quote name='Anders' post='960462' date='Sep 18 2010, 03:14 PM']They don't have the same sound though,so if you like the Orange AD200MK3 it's not certain you will like the tonalpossibillities or sound of the Matamp GT200.The Matamp doesn't have a mid level and the Orange has meetier and deeper bass imo.You might be able to tell them to make the bass more full when ordering the Matamp but then you would get a little lower output.Atleast that's what they told me.
The GT200 isn't on their homepage no,and i don't understand that either.[/quote]


tone stack in the matamp is much more flexible if you know how to use it. The orange is also voiced for more low mids, so it'll generally sound like theres more bass going on.

Matamp are technophobes best way about it is phoning jeff up and having a bit of a chat

[algmusic]

You need to try both.. if you like Orange it sounds different, but Meta might work for you..

Be warned you need to gig it really. In the shop it's never the same, unless you can bring your band in the shop ;-)

[BassBod]

I used an Orange stack as backline on a jazz gig last year, and couldn't get clean volume. Tried all the usual gain adjustments, but it seemed to have a low distortion threshold. Looked great though!

I was using a fairly high output Alembic Epic, so I'm sure that didn't help.

[Anders]

[quote name='umph' post='960866' date='Sep 19 2010, 02:48 AM']tone stack in the matamp is much more flexible if you know how to use it. The orange is also voiced for more low mids, so it'll generally sound like theres more bass going on.

Matamp are technophobes best way about it is phoning jeff up and having a bit of a chat[/quote]
I have owned one GT200 which was unaltered soundwise exept for some extra clean headroom.
I tried all possible settings but i cloudn't get less mids without loosing clarity on top for instance.
And with bass i mean bass,not low mids.It simply doesn't go as low as the Orange AD200MK3.
Ofcourse you can call Jeff and speak to him.I did that before buying mine.He told me that I really needed to come over and try it to really know what it sounds like.I should have gone there and tried it before i bought it.

[Musicman20]

Goes to show that it does all come down to the 'tone' you want.
I agree, test them all out.

I barely use mine due to it's sheer immense overkill power for some gigs. I love it, and I won't sell it, but it really has got some ummph behind it.

One great thing is the popularity, even outside of the bass world, means if I do sell I won't lose that much. Not that I'm selling!!

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='960975' date='Sep 19 2010, 10:12 AM']Goes to show that it does all come down to the 'tone' you want.
I agree, test them all out.

I barely use mine due to it's sheer immense overkill power for some gigs. I love it, and I won't sell it, but it really has got some ummph behind it.

One great thing is the popularity, even outside of the bass world, means if I do sell I won't lose that much. Not that I'm selling!![/quote]

+1
I had the guitar version (ad140htc) and I got more than I paid for it once it eventually sold.

But on topic- I'm always going for a warm clean tube sound. I've got the Orange terror bass, and it does the job amazingling well for the price, still I may shift it to get something smaller and more powerful.

The AD200 will go pretty loud with some great headroom but you'd need some speakerage to go with it, I prefer it's clean tone to the dirt anyway.

[algmusic]

[quote name='BassBod' post='960937' date='Sep 19 2010, 09:15 AM']I used an Orange stack as backline on a jazz gig last year, and couldn't get clean volume. Tried all the usual gain adjustments, but it seemed to have a low distortion threshold. Looked great though!

I was using a fairly high output Alembic Epic, so I'm sure that didn't help.[/quote]

Hi output on valves is never a good start.. that's why it seem those who want total clean stay on the solid state..

It still depends.. I heard an DB on an Orange Rig and it was lovely..

[sk8]

for a clean valve amp try the Hiwatt Custom or Webber Mywatt. Really clean even with the gain maxed!

[umph]

[quote name='BassBod' post='960937' date='Sep 19 2010, 09:15 AM']I used an Orange stack as backline on a jazz gig last year, and couldn't get clean volume. Tried all the usual gain adjustments, but it seemed to have a low distortion threshold. Looked great though!

I was using a fairly high output Alembic Epic, so I'm sure that didn't help.[/quote]

ooer, how high is the output from the alembic if you can't get a clean sound? Best place way to get clean sounds out of any amp is master on full and use the gain as a volume control