Orange AD30H 30-watt 2-channel Head Reviews

Title says it all, I play country/western style with a telecaster and I've used it with my lap steel with palm benders (essentially pedal steel guitar) and I have yet to find a tone that doesn't sound good, 30 watts provides the right amount of breakup you're looking for in a jam space or studio, unless you're trying to play in a football stadium without a PA this thing will do everything you're looking for ! Channel 2 is full of saturated vintage overdrive tones and the clean channel is sparkly and glassy

This amp does it all. I had a rockerverb 100 in the past and felt it was too much. The AD30 has the best tone out there and is CLASS A LOUD!!! I have it running through the orange 412 and it rips. The amp is beautiful all the way along the volume and gain knobs — something I've never been used to. I could never get a good in-between sound with the rockerverb, and prior to that I had a fender deville which was insanely loud/middle/unusable past 2 and a half on the volume knob.

If you're considering this amp, just pull the trigger. Tube amps are going to be harder and harder to come by, and all of the FX loop nonsense and bells and whistles of the other amps in orange's line don't hold a candle to the tone and usability of an AD30.

If you want "super clean" chimey sounds that make your ears bleed, get a fender amp. If you want some grit and badassery of creamy, tube-driven tone, go no further and get this amp.

PS it takes pedals great.

This is the rock and blues amp to buy. It does edge of break-up cleans like nothing else to juicy saturated overdrive tones. The AD30 sadly gets confused as being a copy or evolution of a Vox AC30 just because of the name. I want to clarify the naming of the AD30. This was one of the first amp designs Ade Emsley did for Orange. That's right the AD in AD30 are just the first two letters of Ade's name. This is not a Vox! The sound of this amp is that of a Plexi on 10 without but it does this at most volume settings. That's exactly why legends like Billy Gibbons, Prince, and Jimmy Page have been seen using these heads in the past. If you always wanted that overdriven Plexi sound but at sound levels that won't cause deafness and a much better EQ section at nearly half the cost of a new Plexi then this is the amp you need. It even has two completely separate pre-amp sections and each can go from clean to vintage overdrive. Channel two has a stiffer bass response and an added mid-range voicing which is great for crunch tones or cutting through during a solo. I can't recommend this amp enough (metalheads excluded).

I got one of these amps second-hand from a buddy I share a studio space with. It sounded great at first but after a while it started to sound really trebly and harsh. Not sure how long the previous owner had it but it has some visible wear so I assume it's been through a lot. I swapped out the tubes (with tung sol ax7s and EHX el84s) and now it sounds better than ever! It's exactly what I wanted out of an amp.

It can be clean, but I mostly use channel one as a light crunch/edge of breakup sound and channel two I run the gain wide open. It never gets too distorted, but it has a warm overdriven sound that has a sort of "ripped speaker" fuzziness that I love. It sounds great throughout the range of the master volumes but the sweet spot is definitely around 2 o'clock and up.

It does have a reputation as an amp that does one thing very well but isn't as versatile as other options. I agree with that, but with channel one in the edge of breakup sweet spot I can drastically change the amps character using drive pedals. More often than not, however, I prefer how the amp sounds on its own, maybe with some light compression and a boost. It's still nice to know I have the option to get a more modern sound out of it using pedals if needed.

And speaking of pedals, without an effects loop it does require some dialing in with reverb/delay pedals. It opened my eyes to using reverb/delay as tone shapers rather than just as effects that follow a sound I've already dialed in. Fuzz pedals need some dialing in as well, as if you run the gain high on the amp fuzz pedals with start to get muddy. Having two channels ensures you can have one channel set up to take pedals well and one that pumps out a great naturally overdriven sound.

I'd recommend it if you like vintage rock and roll, 70's punk, or overdriven indie rock tones. I wouldn't recommend it as a first amp or for people that want heavy distortion or pristine reverb and delay sounds mixed with overdriven tube amp saturation.

So I did a little research with mine and fed and learned a lot about this circuit, which I felt I needed to pass on. The main finding that people should be aware of is that this amp DOES have a crystal clean setting that sounds great. With the master volume all the way up on either channel (or lower, once you realize how loud that actually translates to) the amp will be perfectly clean at volumes that will easily work with a drum kit. People may miss this option because the Gain setting needs to be fairly low, but there really is no issue of head room once this is dialed in. This setting takes pedals well, from fuzz to delay and reverb--you're solid.

The second is that this amp can get a solid power stage distortion, just like a vintage amp. My AC30, on the contrary, cannot. Keep the master volume all the way up (removing it from the circuit, aka "vintage") and start to increase the gain setting. The power stage will distort before the pre-amp, giving a good odd-order distortion and allowing a full chord to ring clear but with a ballsy growl. This setting also takes pedals well, or can be combined with some pre-amp distortion at higher gain settings for a godly pure-tube break up that is really second to none. This will be at the amp's max volume though, and there is no way around that to get this tone.

After that it should be noted that the twin channel setup is super convenient. I now use a crystal clean setting on the clean channel and a pre-amp crunch on the second channel. It really does the latter well, by the way, so you can get good crunch at low volumes. The only downside, I suppose, is that you will need to buy a reverb/trem pedal because they aren't built in. This gives you some flexibility. The amp is also expensive, but you literally are buying two entirely independent pre-amp signal paths. Pretty neat.

I was skeptical about purchasing this amp at first. I watched a lot of demo videos on YouTube showcasing the AD30HTC & they all sounded like crap (with the exception of two). After learning that Jimmy Page himself played ( a single channel model) one of these at the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion concert, I decided to watch it. Jimmy's tone & overall sound was crappy. I was discouraged. My gut feeling told me that those videos might not have been a fair assessment of this amp. So, I bought one... BOY! I am glad that I did! This is a great sounding amp! I love it! What turned me on to Orange amps was one day I tested out the Orange Crush 12. I loved the sounds coming out of that amp...and that was just a practice amp! So I read reviews about the different amps from Orange & there was something that drew me to the AD30HTC. First of all, I heard a lot of negative comments about how terrible Orange amps sounded. Some people said that they don't have enough gain and that they sound frizzy. They didn't have the crunch or roar of a Marshall. Well, I'm here to tell you that the AD30HTC is a beast. ORANGE is better than Marshall!!! First of all, the AD30HTC IS LOUD!!! This is a rock n' roll BEAST! If you're into metal or thrash then this amp isn't for you. The AD30HTC has a lot of gain but not suited for metal. You would need an overdrive or distortion pedal to achieve that sound; which I think it could. This amp is perfect for classic, psychedelic, indie & blues rock. Country; Southern rock & rockabilly. I believe Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian Setzer, Billy Gibbons & Jack White would love this amp.This amp has great pristine, chime like tones that would be great for Blues, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Funk & Gospel. This isn't a "One Trick Pony!" The most important thing besides the sound that I love is the quality of the amp. I love the Orange tolex covering & end caps. This head is built like a tank. I love the AD30HTC! By the way, watch these two YouTube videos on the AD30HTC (2 Guys 1 Amp & Orange 212 Battle-Close back vs Open Back) these video give a excellent presentation of this wonderful amp.

I researched this amp and bought it. Outstanding tone. I am well pleased and always look forward to playing through it. Pricey but gives you tones that pedals wont give you. this amp has a very unique dynamic that can only be appreciated by playing through it. I am using this amp for blues and it is killer!

I've been playing bars and clubs since 1975. I've had about a dozen amps over the years. The AD30HTC is first time I've ever had a "THAT'S IT !" moment. It has the tone I've been searching for all these years. Great drive, great cleans and dirty cleans. Built like a tank. I play Southern Blues Rock, and plug this head into an Avatar 2x12 Contemporary cab. it's a match made in heaven. Tone and sound is a subjective thing, and you can't describe it. You just know it when you hear it. I've sold my Marshall, and keeping the Orange & Traynor combo.

The sound of the AD30 is deep, smooth, unique and tough. It produces consistently strong and inspiring tones. It is superbly built. Simply put, a "sensible investment" I can always depend on. I love this amp. Really, I never tire of the sound. If I needed (!) another amplifier I would most certainly go for an even larger Orange.

I play pop punk music and was looking for a high gain amp. I initially was set on the EVH 50 watt head and was happy with the pounds and pounds of gain that amp had on tap. Then I found this amp. It has a shockingly low amount of gain, the second channel holds JUST enough to play my style of music, but the tone is incredible. In fact I bought two OD pedals just to compliment this amp's natural tone because it is an INSANE amp. Not at all what I expected, not even the typical Orange tone, but SO good I can't get over it.

This thing is LOUD! I was shocked by the various tones you can get here. so much control. There are only a few things I will say about this amp that I wasn't pleased with. 1, no effects loop. But, if you buy an ISP technologies noise reduction pedal (only like 200) it has a built in effects loop! 2, no headphone out, but really the tone here is so good I don't think it would be worth recording without a cab. 3. The major setback here. The second channel has a LOT more gain, and maybe this was because my cabinet is a 212 and I'm running at 16 ohms but, with the gain turned all the way up on the second channel, once you get past half of full volume, you really don't hear a big increase in volume. I mean, this thing feels like it's maybe 45, maybe even 50 watts, but I wasn't impressed by the fact that it couldn't push that gain at the volume I wanted. Needless to say, this is an inexpensive orange compared to other models. The tone is so unique I'd actually consider getting an ABY switch and running through 2 of these. One of the guitar players for "The Mars Volta" uses 4 of them when he plays live! All that set aside, this is a great amp. Unique Orange sounds, great range of tones. It truly feels like there is two amps in one here. The first channel is VERY clean and the second channel has about 65% more gain, but is still VERY clear. I personally wish it had more gain, but run an OD pedal in your signal chain and you're set.