NAD Orange Rocker 30 Head

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:08 am

Along with paying for some fillings for my daughter, I was also looking for a new tube head to try out. I was mostly looking at Orange OD120's but also was thinking maybe a Mesa Rectifier or Mark 5:25. I like the Mesa distortion, but the more I thought about it, I tend to like to play more overdriven sounds vs heavy metal. That steered me back to Orange. I was digging the OR15 head, but I had read some people complaining about Orange quality control. I kept listening to demos on YouTube to try to figure out what amp would work best for me. I wanted one with a master volume so I don't piss off the neighbors. I happened to stumble on a Rocker 30 head online. Sounded interesting on YouTube so I picked it up. I am guessing it is similar to a Rockerverb except no reverb.

Hoping this one is an Orange not a lemon.....

SAVEStheDAY · Post by **SAVEStheDAY** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 5:40 pm

I was a Mesa person until I got an Orange TH30 a year ago. I bought it used and absolutely love it. I haven't had any problems, and the build quality is great. I've got to think the British made amp would meet or exceed the quality of my Chinese amp. Have fun with it!

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:31 pm

Thanks!

Mattsican · Post by **Mattsican** » Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:01 am

I had a Dual Terror for a couple years and it was great, I just wish it had an FX Loop. I ended up selling it and bought a Mesa Mini Rec though and i couldnt be happier. It sounds really good through two Orange 1x12 cabs. Kinda a mini stack. I borrowed my buddies OR-15 for a little bit and HATED it.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sat Feb 11, 2017 8:25 pm

The head arrived! It is in great shape. It is missing the handle (which I ordered.) I hope it uses #10x32 screws like Fenders do.... I ordered a new handle but they don't come with the damn screws... LOL

Only got to play it a little. I tried it through my 1x12 cab and my 2x12 cab. I like both, but am going to use the 2x12. It is closed and the lows sound a bit nicer though that cab. The partly open 1x12 sounds better with my Silvertone head. (Probably because that was intended for a bass so the less bassy sound works better with that head.)

It has two 8ohm outs and one 16ohm out. Some people said they had trouble matching the clean channel volume with the dirty one. Not sure why since the dirty channel has a master volume. I had no problems matching them with different gain settings. I like the dirty channel around noon where it adds a little overdrive to the clean sound. The full gain sound is fine, but I think I will likely use pedals for the over the top settings and use my amp's sound for a more natural overdrive/clean. If you can grab one of these, I would go for it. Really nice clean channel. I don't miss the eq on it. Works great! (ALSO VERY LOUD. I think I didn't go much over 9 o'clock with the volumes and it was as loud as I would want in my living room. Would be no problem to piss off the neighbors with this amp.

20170211_114448 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170211_114502 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170211_114306 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170211_114312 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 1:48 am

Back from the hardware store. If anyone else suffers from the same situation as me where you need screws that will work with the tee nuts in the orange amp already, I can confirm that #10-32 fit the Orange tee nuts. I got the same length Fender uses (1 1/4") for their handles and looks like it will work just right.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 5:27 am

The amp came with matched JJ power tubes but five different preamp tubes. I know this isn't a big deal, but I figured I could look up what kind of preamp tubes people tend to use in the Rocker 30. I saw Tung Sol mentioned several times along with JJ's (stock) or EHX tubes. I decided to go with Tung Sol because one person complained that there was less headroom in the clean channel with them. Since I like overdrive as part of my clean sound, I thought they might work well for me.

Thoughts on preamp tubes? This amp has three 12ax7 tubes. I believe half of v1 is the clean channel. The other half and v2 is the dirty channel. I forget what v3 was for.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:06 am

Got this crate kit because I wanted to use it for smaller pedalboards. Works great! New patch cables came today also.