A
achillesx
New member
After playing through a Line 6 for about 5 years, I decided it was time to step it up. I play mostly rock, grunge, blues and metal. I'm looking to start a 90s grunge cover band sometime in the near future.
After some internet research I decided the Orange TH30 was the amp for me, so I went to GC and played on one and liked it a lot. I bought the combo so I could lug it around a little easier. When I brought it home, I noticed a high pitched squeal after playing it for 5-10 minutes. This was on both the clean and dirty channel. It wasn't super loud, but noticeable. I returned it to GC and they had another model, so I took that one home and plugged it in and none of the lights lit up, but it played fine. I decided, maybe Orange quality control in China wasn't quite what I expected.
So I decided to buy a Rocker 30, because they were made in the US. I bought one used online from GC. It arrived and I was underwhelmed by the clean channel (sounded very flat), and the dirty channel was just okay. It wasn't the perfect amp for me.
Returned that and picked up an Egnater Renegade. I had played one in the store and loved most everything about it. Very nice cleans, good overdrive, nice onboard reverb, good footswitch options. I took home the 2x12 combo, which I was pretty happy with except for it weighing 75 lbs. It's a back breaker to lug around. So I decided, to get the 1x12 combo. It arrived a few days ago, and it's pretty nice, if not a little more boxy sounding than the 2x12. But after playing it about 4-5 times, I fired it up and heard a loud pop. It blew a tube in less than a week! Ugh. It's going back to the store and I am back to square one.
I have a few more ideas I'd like to try out though. One is the Mesa mini rectifier with a 2x12 cab. I played one in the store and liked it a lot. Decent cleans, good distortion, US made, and very portable. I'm also considering an Orange Dark Terror, for most of the same reason (although I think it's Chinese made). Another blip on my radar is a Laney low-wattage head, like the Lionheart 20. My quest continues.
After some internet research I decided the Orange TH30 was the amp for me, so I went to GC and played on one and liked it a lot. I bought the combo so I could lug it around a little easier. When I brought it home, I noticed a high pitched squeal after playing it for 5-10 minutes. This was on both the clean and dirty channel. It wasn't super loud, but noticeable. I returned it to GC and they had another model, so I took that one home and plugged it in and none of the lights lit up, but it played fine. I decided, maybe Orange quality control in China wasn't quite what I expected.
So I decided to buy a Rocker 30, because they were made in the US. I bought one used online from GC. It arrived and I was underwhelmed by the clean channel (sounded very flat), and the dirty channel was just okay. It wasn't the perfect amp for me.
Returned that and picked up an Egnater Renegade. I had played one in the store and loved most everything about it. Very nice cleans, good overdrive, nice onboard reverb, good footswitch options. I took home the 2x12 combo, which I was pretty happy with except for it weighing 75 lbs. It's a back breaker to lug around. So I decided, to get the 1x12 combo. It arrived a few days ago, and it's pretty nice, if not a little more boxy sounding than the 2x12. But after playing it about 4-5 times, I fired it up and heard a loud pop. It blew a tube in less than a week! Ugh. It's going back to the store and I am back to square one.
I have a few more ideas I'd like to try out though. One is the Mesa mini rectifier with a 2x12 cab. I played one in the store and liked it a lot. Decent cleans, good distortion, US made, and very portable. I'm also considering an Orange Dark Terror, for most of the same reason (although I think it's Chinese made). Another blip on my radar is a Laney low-wattage head, like the Lionheart 20. My quest continues.
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