Zee Orange!

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:57 pm

Well people after a big fuckup by Courierpost loosing my amp they found it this morning and I went and picked it up. First thing I noticed was that it's pretty heavy, about 15kg. Second thing was the weird odor coming from it, however I choose to ignore that

So I plugged her in and first thing I thought was, this isn't very loud. However upon realising that the gain knob raises volume unlike on SS amps I was away! Man can this amp sing! It's soo creamy and warm.

However one thing I thought I would ask about, the metal area with the knobs and tubes attached to it is pretty hot, like 50 degrees hot. I know Class A amps run full bore but still it's rather hot, should I be worried?

Also should I get it biased? I have heard alot about this improving your sound.

And one last thing, if my tubes say that they are Mullards does this mean they are NOS?

philipnz · Post by **philipnz** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:18 pm

Hot? you betcha it will be hot. Thats class a. Enjoy warming your hands up on it on cold winters nights.

You can't get it rebiased. It is cathode biased class a. There is no biasing.

NOS means new old stock, in other words ancient but sitting in the box unised and unsold. The fact they are in your amp means they are not new. They may have been before they were put in but thats no big deal now. You can't regain your virginity. What tubes are mullards? Preamp tubes will last a long time but mullard power amp el84's well probably only last a year or so. Bit expensive to be running them.

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:52 pm

Okay good to hear that the heat is normal.

Yeah the El84s are Mullards, I might buy some JJs or something in the weekend and keep the Mullards for special ocasions.

I think the GZ34 is an EI brand tube, from Yugoslavia. Is there anyway to date the Mullards? He said he put new tubes in for me, however who would put Mullards in?

philipnz · Post by **philipnz** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:13 pm

I tried to buy a quad of mullards on ebay. Some guy in England is snapping them all up for over $500 a set. If they are genuine mullards (pair) by all means keep them for special occasions. There are reissue mullards around. Mixed reviews of them. A genuine mullard rectifier will cost you over $100 and remember, it only provides power, it has minimal effect on the sound. Thats said a genuine mullard rectifier should last 28 years.

JJ's seem to be the way to go these days.

Voxshall · Post by **Voxshall** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:21 am

A tube company has brought the Mullard name and are rebranding brand new tubes as Mullards so they could be brand new and not real Mullards. I've seen the new Mullard EL34's in NZ but I'm not sure about EL84's.

goldtop0 · Post by **goldtop0** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:42 am

Yep the new Mullards are marketed by New Sensor USA and are a Russian tube have a look on the tube itself and you'll see made in Russia.So far I've only seen the EL34 available here, at $100 suggested retail per pair I'd buy JJs, as previously noted, the reviews are mixed.

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 11:07 am

Just checked them, made in Great Britain. Wow that's pretty weird that someone would put Mullards in when selling an amp, not that I'm complaining.

Post by **GrantB** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 3:13 pm

I threw some Tesla EL84's in my Trace Elliott - i can recommend them. JJ's are good - if you go into Jansen to get them, buy some of the 12AX7's too - they are excellent value

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 10:52 pm

Who is good locally to buy tubes from? Or do I have to get them from the States?

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:55 pm

Just uploaded a pic of my guitar, pedals and amp if anyone wants to see the Orange.

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Sat May 21, 2005 11:11 pm

Well had the first true test with my Orange today, we played as a full band. However to my dissmay I had to run her almost cranked to get it loud enough to go over the drums. So goodbye clean....

When tubes are gone does the ouput/head room drop? I ask because I talked to someone who has an AD15 like mine and he says he could run it so it's just breaking up, I was on Gain - on 4 o'clock and master on full....

ant · Post by **ant** » Sun May 22, 2005 11:13 am

Well I guess it is a compromise having a lower wattage amp, you can crank it and get that sweet tone or you can get a higher wattage amp and have the power section clean at gig/practice volume. Best solution - get one amp for clean one for distortion which is what many pros do

The volume can drop if your valves are dieing (most likely the el84's) and it probably won't sound as good either.

It also depends on the speaker - if you have the vintage30 thats pretty much the best you can do without going to that neodinium model.

Did you try rolling down on the volume on the guitar? A good amp should be able to clean up substantially, although you probably will get a drop in volume (depends on amp).

angry_young_poet · Post by **angry_young_poet** » Sun May 22, 2005 1:00 pm

Red Fred wrote:Well had the first true test with my Orange today, we played as a full band. However to my dissmay I had to run her almost cranked to get it loud enough to go over the drums. So goodbye clean....

When tubes are gone does the ouput/head room drop? I ask because I talked to someone who has an AD15 like mine and he says he could run it so it's just breaking up, I was on Gain - on 4 o'clock and master on full....

maybe everybody was playing too loud?

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Sun May 22, 2005 6:37 pm

Heh yeah it could have been that, our drummer hadn't had a chance to properly tune his drums so he was using the tape method. This could have made them sound louder.

Also what is the best way to set up amps in relation to drums in a small room? It could just have been where everything was placed that we couldn't hear each other.

How would a 2x12 help the situation?

Optimus_prime · Post by **Optimus_prime** » Sun May 22, 2005 7:38 pm

you have to tune drums?
shit, I never knew that