Orange AD200 Mk3 and OBC410

[mart3442]

This is probably the longest long term test ever, certainly the longest I've come across.
To cut a long story short, I was the Bassplayer in one of the resident Bands at Liverpools legendary Cavern Club and Pub Venues.
The band still holds the Saturday residency (11 years and counting) with the Weds slot being around 4/5 years. Factor in various Thursday and Sunday stints, and you see the hours adding up.
After flirting with various amp sponsorships, inc Blackstar, Vox and Fender, the venues finally settled for the rejuvenated Orange Amplification range.
The initial Bass setup was the Bass Terror, coupled with the Smart power 410. I was never too impressed with this setup. based on an experience in the 'States, I came to the conclusion that it was the Cab letting the side down.
After about six months of cajoling on my part, these were replaced with the AD200 and OBC410.
What a difference, like night and day.
I've owned and used 4 different all valve SVT heads, (a c2001 SVT2 Pro, a c2005 SVT Classic, a 1996 SVT2 Pro that was the best of the Ampegs for me...And one of the 500 reissue SVT's they brought out a good few years ago.), a Mesa Boogie 400+, a 1979 Marshall JMP SuperBass and an ancient Simms-Watt that I wish I still owned.
To my ears, the Orange knocked 'em all into a cocked hat, closest in tone was the Mesa but the Orange has a grind and bottom end that none of the others could match. The simplest of tone paths lets you dial in "your sound" instantly. My only beef is that it has no DI out but I can live with that. The amp and cab work really well together, as you would expect, producing some magnificent old school Bass tones, much more than just a rock workhorse, the AD is surprisingly versatisle, capable of a much more modern tone than you might expect from an all tube powerhouse.
The amp runs very hot and has no internal cooling apart from venting at the rear. Having said that, in over two and a half years of nightly use, the Orange has proven itself to be supremely reliable. One power tube needed replacing in all that time.
The highest compliment I can give the setup is that after I left the aforementioned Band, I bought the identical Orange setup to the house rig I'd been using all those years.......

Edited July 9, 2013 by mart3442