It's HEEEEERRREE..... In all it's Orange-y goodness...

[baimun]

Just got my Orange Rockerverb 50 head today...... Special thanks to forumite 46and2 for taking such good care of it and packaging it so well for shipment to me.



Initial impressions:

I A/B'd it with my buddie's Mesa Rectoverb head (I just sold a Rectoverb combo). It's a bit taller and deeper than the Recto head, but narrower... and heavier. (still lighter than the Recto combo though. ) Clean channel isnt' quite Fender sparkley, but a bit warmer and rounder than the Mesa clean. Only downside is that Treble and Bass are the only controls. Mesa has Bass, Mid, Treble and Prescence. Reverb is WAY more lush than the Mesa reverb. Anything past 9:00 is echo-ey room type.
Now the Dirty Channel.

First off, I would say this is a HEAVY ROCK amp... not a "Brutalz Metalz" amp. The Mesa is a bit more aggressive, but tougher to dial back to a blues or classic rock sound. Dialed back half way on the gain is like vintage Van Halen. The Orange makes you dial the gain up a bit higher for the heavier stuff, but it's much more versatile all the way around. You can get great blues crunch, through classic rock, up into the more molten realm (think Gary Moore on full gain).

There's definitely a difference between GAIN and DISTORTION. I would say dialing up the Mesa's gain adds more distortion. More hair, but can get a bit tubby so you need restraint if you don't want your chords to mush together.

The Orange pours on GAIN as you dial it up. It never gets too ratty, boomy, or out of hand. It grits it's teeth and then lets notes sustaaaaaiiiiiin.... The Mesa could probably get a bit brighter, but is also capable of getting ice picky if you go crazy on the upper controls. It's pretty difficult to dial in a bad tone with the Orange. As you roll through the possibilities, they're all different without any being bad. Once I found my favorite ranges, I just noodled for about 40 minutes straight.

Overall... It's an incredibly musical amp and I'm looking forward to exploring the sounds it can make.

[46and2]

Man, I am so glad it made to you ok. I just showed my wife this picture and she said she thought she was going to cry, lol It really was a great amp for me. I hope it works out for you as well as it did for me.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

That sounds like comparing Mesas and Oranges .....

[trpullen]

So, I hate to say it but...now you need an Orange 212 cab. Nothing else sounds quite as good with the Rockerverb. Brings a whole new dimension to the amp.

[bilbal]

Originally Posted by Dr. Tweedbucket

That sounds like comparing Mesas and Oranges .....

Ha - nice Tweedy.

I'm stoked for you. Orange amps are great - enjoy it.

[46and2]

Originally Posted by trpullen

So, I hate to say it but...now you need an Orange 212 cab. Nothing else sounds quite as good with the Rockerverb. Brings a whole new dimension to the amp.

I know, I tried to sell him my 2x12 too!

[Mr. Kite]

Congratulations!!:AOK I went through so many dirt boxes and found all I want in the rv50h, killer amp.

[jmecale72]

That so awesome! Congrats!!!

[Mr. Brady]

Very cool. Glad you dig it!

[VanR]

I'm jealous!

[baimun]

Originally Posted by trpullen

So, I hate to say it but...now you need an Orange 212 cab. Nothing else sounds quite as good with the Rockerverb. Brings a whole new dimension to the amp.

If I was still playing lead with a band, I'd be all over an Orange 2x12...

... most of the time when I do stuff with a band, I'm a lead vocalist, or the other guitar player. So the 1x12 works fine in the home as well as inbetween the bass player and the drum riser.

Master Trax... are you using an A/B switch and each amp feeding one half of the 2x12?

[hamfist]

Rockerverbs are certainly great amps, and very versatile. Congrats on the new amp !!
None of the smaller Oranges really do it for me, but the RV50 seems to be in a different class.

[newking70]

that clown poster is pretty disturbing...:NUTS

[jamison162]

Originally Posted by trpullen

So, I hate to say it but...now you need an Orange 212 cab. Nothing else sounds quite as good with the Rockerverb. Brings a whole new dimension to the amp.

Depends on the style you're/he's going for. My RV50 head sounds best through an OS 2x12, Open Back with G12-65's. I've gone through quite a few cabs and speakers with this amp. The clean and dirty tones are clearer and breathe more, just has a real open and more organic nature to it.

The cleans I'm getting rival any Fender I've ever played. Your pickups, tubes and speakers can really make a huge difference in the RV50's clean channel. And the better the cleans, the better your pedals are gonna sound. The bass and treble work together to shape the mids on that channel, they are interactive.

I went out on a limb and bought an Evidence Audio Speaker Cable from Lavaman....whoa, that was another huge improvement. Stronger, louder, punchier output. Clearer, sparkly highs, no harshness. More bass. Highly recommended.

What tubes are you running? Has it been checked out, biased lately?

[baimun]

Originally Posted by jamison162

.... And the better the cleans, the better your pedals are gonna sound.

What are these... distortion pedals... that you speak of????



The Recto cab can be a bit dark... I may try mixing it up with the sealed 1x12 and an open back 1x12 and I may see some surprising results. I also bet an EQ pedal in the loop could do drastic things if I wanted to treat it like a 3 channel head.