Orange Amps is a brand that has existed for almost 50 years, since 1968 – and since then, they have remained orange, and always sounded like Orange. They have introduced many different amps over the years, but like the distinctive color of the tolex on their products, the Orange sound has persevered. Through the years, their amps have been used for every stye of music imaginable, but to me, they have always been most recognizable as the sound of doom and stoner rock. So when it was time for me to write a demo song for the Orange Crush Pro 120, I pulled out all the stops and dumped all the stoner metal riffs I had into one monster doom jam, because when else was I gonna use them?
I mostly needed to know if the Crush Pro was gonna be able to reproduce the kinds of classic Orange tones I’d heard on records. Would the difference be so large that saving a chunk of money by going with this cheaper model would be rendered ineffectual, leaving you with only disappointment? Or would I be able to declare to the legions of young, broke Sleep fans, “You can have your amp and play it, too!”?
Lucky for them, and for you, the Crush Pro 120 is a home run. The amp is a very low priced and faithful reproduction of the classic sound I was looking for, with big, aggressive, kind of fuzzy distortion tones and very warm cleans. The controls were dead simple to use, giving you some control, but not too much – it’s not like you can make it sound like a Mesa, or a Dumble – it maintains its character throughout. Just different shades of Orange, if you will.
The layout consists of 2 channels – the Dirty channel and the Clean channel, with the Dirty sporting a 3 knob tonestack and Gain/Volume controls control while the clean has only Treble, Bass, and Volume. There is a master reverb control that has 3 different kinds of reverb to choose from (Spring, Hall, and Plate) with loads of ‘verb on tap. The reverb is also footswitchable so you don’t have choose between some or none for your entire performance.
Really, the amp is so simple and easy to use that it’s rendered a longwinded writeup kind of moot – I’ll cap this off by saying it’s an absolute steal if you’re ballin’ on a budget but want authentic Orange.
hehehehe / March 13, 2017 6:07 pm
Since this came out I’ve always said it was a killer amp. The reality is you do not need a tube amp nowadays to sound good. Tube amps are an unnecessary hassle and should not be considered at all unless you buy into the hype that tube is the only way to go and don’t mind putting up with the extra risks and maintenance costs. But if you’re just practicing at home and doing a few band practices and local shows – go with a reliable solid state like this that will be as loud as you would ever want and take any pedals like a champ.
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X88B88 / August 31, 2017 9:39 am
I’m 47 and have been playing in punk/hardcore and hard rock bands since 1984. For most of that time I sniffed the tube cork and would play nothing but tune amps. A few years ago, however, I needed a new amp and, having a family, needed to stick to a budget. I had sold my OR15 because it was underpowered and thin, and got. CR120H and CRPRO412. We recorded the other night, and the CR120 tone not only sounds exactly like a tube amp, but the tone is absolutely crushing. I can’t express how well Orange nailed the CR120. It’s an amazing amp for a fraction of the cost. No more tube rolling or hoping my tone will be ok depending on humidity. Just great, consistent tone. Get one and be thrilled.
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