Revisiting The Orange Rockerverb 50 mkIII

[@thehiredgun]

Here’s a cool extra gain trick for the kids. If you don’t have the foot switch for reverb, get one. When a switch is in that jack and reverb is off, you can crank the reverb volume and it adds a gain stage. Pretty good stuff.

[@zacharyhaverkamp]

Do you know if this works on the super crush 100? The super crush is supposed to be a solid state version of the rockerverb and from what I've heard they sound just about the same

[@thehiredgun]

@@zacharyhaverkamp I do not. Pretty simple to check though.

[@ralpherl5657]

​@@zacharyhaverkamp The reason why this works on a tube amp by definition means it wont work on a solid state unfortunately. Get a distortion pedal and plug it into the front of your amp for extra gain!

[@douglasdog1]

When I had the MKll, unplugging the reverb tank would open the amp up with for a less compressed more raw tone

[@BazonBlades]

My buddy Adam has a 50 watt MkIII. I play through it when I am at his place. It sounds really good and I enjoy it. Then I go home and play through my 50 watt Stealth.....And I realize very quickly why I don't have an Orange. While the Orange sounds good, it just isn't what I hear internally when I think about my tone.

[@sadzidsmajkic6181]

Have you ever compared it next to each other. I'm interested to hear how an Orange 50W Rockerverb would stand against EVH 50W EL34 head

[@TobyKBTY]

Picked up one of these earlier this year, has since become one of my favorite amps that I've owned. Had an EVH 5150 III and 5150 Iconic, a real Peavey block letter, and a Marshall DSL100. The Orange is totally my flavor of high gain. It's so juicy and thick yet crispy... but when you boost it, it totally trades blows with the 5150's. It's such a joy to play.

[@stefanoberli5920]

Gotta boost it!

[@faspro8165]

I just got one, love the gain channel...

[@jesperbc]

I have the RV 100 Mk III, and the clean channels is way cleaner than what's being presented in this playthrough. Granted, it looks like the volume is up to noon, where I've always kept mine around 9-10 o'clock and been plenty loud. Definitely my favorite amp! The dirty channel is amazing on its own, with an overdrive in front, and with the extra gain stage trick of turning off the reverb and using the knob as a gain knob. Killer tones!

[@andyblakely7576]

Yep, I have 100w too, the 50w doesn’t have the same clean headroom if you get past noon like 100w does. Much cleaner and honestly a better pedal platform. But if you want that edge of breakup the 50w is the way to go, if you want clean cleans and a better pedal platform the 100w is the way. Plus it has better low end.

[@alaspoorjordan]

One of my favorite tube amps ever.

[@CJ-xb1cb]

I use the 100 watt for my death metal band. I don't even run a boost, and use passive pickups, and I get compliments on my sound after every show. Favorite amp ever.

[@kevindie]

*_I’m getting tired of the “boosted” sound everyone does these days. Tone seems very formulaic. Glad to see you taking a simple setup and putting it to good use!_*

[@IronSwan-ll5ju]

Who’s your band?

[@CJ-xb1cb]

Kuwabara

[@IronSwan-ll5ju]

@@CJ-xb1cbgood stuff, followed on Spotify.

[@rayzeus]

I scored this amp for a great deal a couple of weeks back. Without a boost, it's pretty cool, but nothing crazy. What amazes me with it though is how well it takes any overdrive, and just gets tighter, clearer and meaner. It seems nothing can boost the signal enough for the tone to break apart. Its a great tool to get very different kinds of boosted tones out of, and just craft a cutting, mid-heavy tone with.

[@stefanoberli5920]

Yeah I use a boost all the time, mxr micro amp. But a electro harmonix lpb-1 probably also works fine.

[@TheRhino2719]

Try an anaologman beanoboost maybe

[@markslist1542]

The Rockerverb is thoroughly in a class of it's own.

[@tyrannosaurusriffs]

These really are amazing amplifiers. When plugging the RV 50 in it's hard to not just smile everytime.

[@jasonsapp792]

This specific amp, even being the black shell has been on my wish list to try... You just reminded me why

[@robertdonosobuchner3129]

I like this amp because of its unique sounds.

[@craigswensen434]

Awesome, I love all things Orange. Cool review, thanks!

[@strydersound]

Touring with my MKIII and I love it!

[@parkkingery9216]

I have this amp and absolutely love it.

[@ForeverModified]

got mine a couple weeks ago love everybit of it!!

[@chrisreese2361]

Orange is sorta underrated in my opinion, I think their stuff is super sick

[@stefanoberli5920]

Some youtube channel claimed Orange is selling more amps than Marshall, and is probably currently the largest manufacturer. Also the best selling Marshalls are probably second hand JCM800s and 900s.. But yeah super sick, well deserved for Orange.

[@chrisb8193]

They make some good stuff, but a lot of it is way overpriced imho. An Orange Super Crush 100 1x12 combo currently retails for $1149 in Canada. There is no reason that a SS transistor amp built in China should cost that much. Especially when a Blackstar Debut can be had for a 1/3rd of the price and has the same features.

[@stefanoberli5920]

@@chrisb8193 Get the head and a Harley Benton cab... The head is like $500. That being said, I've yet to hear a better speaker than the 2x12 ppc.. I think they are in a sweet spot price wise, cheaper than boutique amps at least.

[@smelltheglove2038]

@@chrisb8193 agreed. And the build quality from the China factory is crap. I had a rocker32 combo and the transformer squealed this constant high pitch loudly. There wasn’t much I could do other than replace the transformer. So I traded it in. I almost paid 2k for it and was highly disappointed because for a few years all I wanted was one of their Amps. I didn’t know they were made in China. I figured at that price they’d still be making them in UK or EU somewhere.

[@patrickolivier1]

The one and only negative is the notched knobs. The Rockerverb is my all time favourite head for high gain, I owned one of each for a while, ended up keeping the MKI and MKIII 100s

[@countzero5150]

I actually got one of these in a trade recently. I didn't actually want it, I've always been a peavey or marshall guy. I figured it would just be easy to flip... so as I was testing it I went from, "I'll just check the bias and sell it." to "God damn.. I kinda like this thing... I REALLY like this thing." I think it's got a permanent place on top of my jcm 800.

[@TylerJohnstonGuitar]

Rockerverbs are pretty damn versatile. I honestly prefer their lower gain sounds.

[@LPresidantA]

The 50w mkii was/is my ultimate dirty amp, used to pair it with a mini rectifier and I was heaven!

[@MisterRorschach90]

When I was in the music scene in my town all the rich kids had orange tube amp stacks. This is specifically because NO ONE sold dual rectifiers anywhere for literally hundreds of miles. It might not be an exaggeration to say 1000 miles. You could get orange and Marshall, with crate being the cheapo brand. I went to buy a crate half stack for my band, but the music store wanted the price of a tube orange amp for it. I showed him the musicians friend ad where it was being sold for like 500 bucks with the cabinet, and he said “go there then”. Lol he actually still had that stack after crate went out of business or stopped making amps. I wanted to rub it in and be like “oh couldn’t sell that for 3x list price?” Lol

[@drivabletoaster417]

I’ve owned this amp for years, and at first I really wasn’t sure about it. It’s definitely not an amp that stands out when just jamming alone, but where it shines is how it sits in the mix in a band setting. Been wanting to go QCortex for a long time but I can’t seem to fathom letting go of my Orange.

[@TVoltG]

I had a first edition Orange Rockerverb 100 that was my main amp for a long time. Loved it. Got divorced and had to sell it. When the 100 watt version 3 came out. I bought it. I didn't gell with it. I wanted to so badly. I think I need to find another (1) version. This 50 sounds massive. Sounds good.

[@silverjaw138]

The MKIII is like 2 amps in one. The drive side is a modern high gain metal channel. The clean channel is very 70s Matamp and is perfect for big fuzz. The Rockerverb is a fantastic pedal platform and with an eq in the loop you can make it do anything, and it’ll do it well.

[@stefanoberli5920]

I love how the Rockerverb effortlessly nails a really great heavy sound. Just set everything to noon, grab a les paul, add a mxr boost, and you are set. That being said, I was able to get pretty close on a much smaller budget using a crappy Marshall g100rcd, a bad monkey and a linear boost. But took me like 2 years to get there, and it helped having the Orange as a reference. The main difference now is probably the cabinet, the 2x12 ppc is so damn smooth...

[@vladv5126]

The cabinet is like 90% of the tone anyway 🤷‍♂️

[@stefanoberli5920]

@@vladv5126 I wouldnt say 90%, changing the pickups from ceramic to alnico (gibson 498) made the biggest difference to be honest.

[@Stretchwreckedem469]

I usually boost my Orange Crush Pro 120 with a Boss SD-1 in front and the results I’ve gotten with that combination is nothing short of crushing. It gives me the treble bite that I love from more American sounding amps, while also really tightening up the low end of the amp to allow for cranking the low end all the way up for a tone that I can only describe as the sonic equivalent of a sledgehammer. Idk how well the Boss SD-1 would pair with the Orange Rockerverb amps compared to the Crush Pro 120 or the Super Crush 100 but I highly recommend looking into pairing the Boss SD-1 with one of these Orange amps. You won’t regret it!

[@ClarkBarkly]

I bought this a few years back (a used Rockerverb 100, from the 2000s), then discovered the Dual Dark 100. The DD is what I was truly searching for, I just didn't know it at the time. Both great amps, and combined they make for a tasty mix.

[@brandonbryson3317]

I was interested in a dual dark in the past, but after seeing two local bands using them I noticed they were getting crushed in the mix. In one of the bands, the other guitarist uses a rockerverb MK1 and he legit buries the guy playing the dual dark. The other band uses a DD and a Marshall JMP and once again, the Marshall just eats the DD every time I’ve seen them. I wonder if those guys are just EQing the amp poorly. It always sound much darker and less cutting than the rockerverb and Marshall in those setting. My friend who was rabidly searching for a used DD was even like “yeah, nevermind, I don’t think I want that amp anymore.”

[@ClarkBarkly]

@@brandonbryson3317 Interesting. Yeah, I'd be interested to see how they were EQing them, could've been on the sound guy too, who knows. But maybe there is some truth to that, and maybe a reason for Orange discontinuing them.

[@harshtruth9148]

any amp Jim Root uses is awesome in my book

[@CBGypsy03]

Love my orange 🍊 😍

[@pCeLobster]

Great amp. It does everything well.

[@acidoxyde]

Can you put out a short playing with the dirty tree through the rockerverb?

[@Josh-Greene]

Fluff tapping? Sick!

[@TheRhino2719]

I had a 50 MkII 1x12 combo. Loved that mfer, hard times had to sell. I could play anything from the cleanest tones (with reverb), to 70s rock to Slipknot with no pedals.

[@_Arkenzie]

The cleans are fender glassy. Have you played with them through low output pickups like classic 57’s or A2 singles?

[@jaypeeroe]

I'd be interested in seeing a video where you give a bunch of boosts/od's a go with it!

[@RiffsAndBeards]

I like this idea

[@richobrien8862]

@@RiffsAndBeards For sure.. I run mine with an ever changing number of pedals in front as they all add something a little different and nice. It's a fun amp for crafting a tone.

[@caydespliff181]

lead playing in your full mix demo was giving my diamond in the witch house (mastadon) vibes

[@AnimalJohn85]

The Rockerverb series are absolute beasts, wouldnt be without my mark one 50, super versatile and loud enough to shake everything :) The main difference I find between Orange & marshallis the Orange is more like a fuzz, they called it right being dirty ;)

[@sonictemple2925]

I love the gain on my Rockerverb 100MKIII. I wish it was louder though. It’s nowhere near as loud as my Matamp. I have to play my Rockerverb on like 7 to keep up with my Matamp on around 1 1/2. There’s a crazy difference.

[@nathanielcava4128]

It’s probably not loud because you’re deaf now 😂

[@ja5304]

Nice dude. I dig the watch too Will we see a Rockerverb vs dual rec shoot off?

[@kingpriapatius5832]

Orange cabs rule.

[@deztruct0823]

An OR12 is my dream amp, I'm not even a metal guy I like playing Alternative Rock/Hard Rock and J-Rock stuff and have been using Orange stuff for a long time, I know everybody raves about the low end but the mids and treble are great too

[@TristanDesnos]

Thanks for posting 👍🏻 I’m about to get the 100, but there’s a waiting list for these in the UK. Got me thinking, what would be your desert island amp/ rig? 🤔 Curious to know, as I’m about to pay two grand on my first ‘big boy’ amp and I’d like to avoid becoming a collector (Yes, I can hear the gods laughing 😂) but the idea is this amp will do me. What do you think? Would it do you as your only amp or would you chose something different? Cheers Tris

[@ChristofferKeizer]

Great video, what's up with that cable?

[@chrisyyboy593]

funny you mention liking the 50 watt more than the 100. I had the same thought but decided to stick with the 100 cause I wanted to be a big boi

[@spookymulder5535]

Wait, is that a Spawn #1 I see in background? I have a #1 framed in my studio, too.

[@RiffsAndBeards]

Yep autographed too!

[@needsLITHIUM]

Orange and Laney are in their own little corner of British voiced amps. Aside from a JTM45 or 1960's or 1970's spec Superlead Plexi (seriously, get one of those, or an EHX MIG-50, and boost it with either a Metal Zone or some sort of chainsaw pedal; some of the most brutal metal tones), or maybe the Blackstar HT or St. James series, Orange is very much preferrable, with Laney as a close 2nd, and then any other high gain amp with that British voicing miles behind.

[@kevinanselman]

Bought my rockerverb for the high gain stuff, ended up keeping it for the clean channel. Found the disorted tones to be a bit boring for metal, but those amps are incredible for anything rock and roll or hard rock. I also found mine to be insanely noisy with the gain past 1 o’clock.

[@jackbuchanan6441]

Orange amps are fuckin awesome, don't get me wrong, but they're just a tad on the fuzzy side for my general taste in metal/rock. Peavey always hit that sweet spot for me but I wanted a change [hence trying out orange years back]. I eventually decided to take a leap of faith and bought a Blackstar HT Club 50 MKII online without ever playing it [or any Blackstar for that matter]. I'm glad I did - it's easily my favorite amp I've ever had! Got that Marshally snarl [gotta EQ it well to get that snarl, it isn't just 'there'] but with the balls of a Mesa! It doesn't quite hit the high point of either a Marshall or Mesa, but it's a great mix of both sounds! And tbh.. I've been thinking about doing my first stereo setup lately with an Orange head as the second amp or something similar [Victory RD1, maybe?]

[@CodyBarnette-GNARK]

What camera did you use for this video?

[@MetalHead7446]

Fluff, can you do one of a ThunderVerb 50? I'm a huge Corrosion of Conformity, Down & Crowbar fan. Thanks dude. Mike

[@kevinfeatherstone6062]

You think Synergy will ever make an Orange Rockerverb module?

[@adamkahn8645]

ive always wondered Fluff.... you make all these gear reviews but i havent seen you put a video out about your signature Fluence pickup. im rocking it in an RGA right now and love it compared to the regular Modern i had in it, but i would love to know from YOU what all you tweaked about it :)

[@RiffsAndBeards]

I absolutely put out a video about my pickup man haha

[@Hrian_Bayes]

looks cool but odd choice to have the amp angled away where you couldn't see the settings. great sounding amps

[@666thsense]

these are interesting. they always have a tight and dry overdrive to them, but i always buy and then sell my oranges because they have a paper quality to the texture.

[@kimmop9460]

Great vid of a Classic amp ! I know you've said you liked the OR15 but I haven't seen you do a vid on that one yet ?! As an owner of one, I would love to hear your take on it.

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

I own an OR15 as well. It sounds awesome through a 4x12 and it plays nicely with my 8 string. No complaints.

[@Chuck5691]

Do you own a Dual Dark?

[@Matt_on_life]

It’s a fantastic amp! I love mine 😁

[@RemySmith0114]

do you know how to add a limiter to the xvive u4?

[@jjulch]

I caught that STP riff in there…

[@gretchman]

There’s a pretty good deal on a 2x12 combo at my local GC, but I keep getting spooked by it being 95 pounds lol.

[@jeffisrael3773]

did you play the same full mix riff as in the old OR100 demo on purpose? I bought an OR100 instead of a Rockerverb MkII because of that demo.

[@RiffsAndBeards]

I did yeah haha

[@jeffisrael3773]

Hell yeah. I still have my OR, I'll never get rid of it.@@RiffsAndBeards

[@loschain2224]

i dare say that you should redo the firebreather ep using that

[@ofeldtc6]

Dude, maybe I just noticed this and it could have been there forever but Exo man o war, Spawn, and Solar. Classic Comics.

[@dgcorozco]

OUTSIDE OF ORANGE WHAT IS A GOOD TUBE AMP FOR CLEAN - KORN TYPE OF SOUND --- A STANDARD TO BE STANDARD TUNING (THANKS)

[@chrispoints4554]

Fluff weren't you a Orange artist at one point? I have the Mki and its one of my favorite amps of all time, would never give it or my TH100 up.

[@RiffsAndBeards]

Yep I sure was

[@TargetHHH101]

I would love a mk3 rockerverb 100, I have a rectifier a 6505+ and a marshall dsl 100 the orange is the only 1 left on my wishlist.

[@wheresallthezombies]

I don’t understand the blackstar comparison. The Marshall comparison I can kind of see, sorta. Like you mentioned, they have great low end but they also have this crazy warm mid range that’ll destroy everything in its path. Lol. Plus the character of the gain is a bit different. I also honestly think orange have underrated clean channels. I really miss the clean channel from my rockerverb mkii. Really just my rockerverb mkii in general. It was such a killer amp.

[@juanmacaceres2702]

R9 Murphy Labs?? Since when

[@sadicohp8881]

I have got this amp 1 month ago, but now what I'm needing is to get my cab 😅, of course the same brand obiuosly but it will be the orange PPC2x12 but i want the 4x12 too it looks a hard dessision 😅.

[@stefanoberli5920]

The ppc 2x12 is more than enough, no reason to get the 4x12 imo. Just dont cheap out and get the open back cab.

[@Ryan_Q3L]

If these amps are good enough for Andreas Kisser, they are good enough for me!

[@Stinger_1995]

I just let go of my MkIII. Great amp, but not my sound. I love the Orange midrange but I found it lacking in top end.

[@josephrusso7069]

I really wish they would change their logo and esthetics.

[@Mancomb_Seepgood]

I never remember what the symbols mean.

[@HeadfirstAmps]

Jim Root using Alta100’s now…just sayin’! Great riffs here in this clip Fluff!

[@geet77777]

I watch your channel and I wonder how someone has a decent place to live when spending so much time on music. all I wanna do is not have to get destroyed at work every day just to have the basic shit. you should do a video on surviving when you also spend time on music.

[@Tognar]

I didn’t want to smash “Like” at 666 Likes! 😎🤘

[@xlilxillx]

Yep, sounds like a guitar amp

[@Spoon8lld]

I like rockerverbs, but they’re honestly overpriced for what they are

[@jesperbc]

Hand-wired, made in the UK, two channel amps with an FX loop, reverb, power scaling and an attenuator? And built like a tank. Yeah. Definitely overpriced. 😂

[@Spoon8lld]

@@jesperbc as an amp tech, they’re not as well made as they used to be. By a long shot. And where they’re assembled doesn’t matter when the parts are coming from china. And those other features are just standard at this point. They’re nice amps, but they’re not justifying their price imo

[@stefanoberli5920]

It is guaranteed to give you a killer tone with no efffort. If you know what you're doing, you can buy something much cheaper. Having a rockerverb mk1 as reference let me dial in a crappy marshall g100cdr.

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

An Orange amp…… but it’s black?! 🤷‍♂️

[@guitarz]

Totally dog this amp bit my back hurts just watching this 😢

[@Bcwilderness]

find the right guitar pups n wgs alnico blackbird 100 watt 12 then boom

[@smelltheglove2038]

I had a rocker 30 made in China. It was a piece of junk. The cabinet was crap. The transformer made a gross high pitch squeal constantly. I traded it in for a fantastic vibrolux.

[@jesperbc]

The Rocker 30 was made in the UK. You might be thinking of the Rocker 32?

[@smelltheglove2038]

@@jesperbc yeah, the stereo combo. I’ve been calling it the 30 for over a year, hahaha. I only had it for like two weeks before I traded it for the vibrolux. I had to shell out another 900 dollars for it but it’s a real drip edge and not the reissue. I think I got a deal, honestly.

[@andrewbecker3700]

Gets too flubby too fast. Sounds OK with "stuff" dialed back a bit. But then it kinda sounds thin. Useable, but maybe not that versitle. They'll definitely benefit from something besides Vintage30's. Maybe Greenback 4x12 cab. Just not my thing, I guess?

[@K707OR30]

He does this with everything. Not sure he boosted it either. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I think he typically runs all his amps through the Ox and they all come out the other side sounding thin. Check out Euge Valovirta’s demos on the Rockerverbs, even if they’re mkii models. They sound killer.

[@andrewbecker3700]

@@K707OR30 There's useable tones there, which IMHO would benefit from certain speakers more. Like he said at the beginning, some lower output pickups will most likely work the best, then some boost or overdrive to get more saturated tones, without having the flubb take over. Workable no doubt, but just never gonna be for me.

[@K707OR30]

@@andrewbecker3700I used to say the same thing about Orange and now I own three. I get your aversion to the general sound, just saying don’t base your opinion on this video - it isn’t doing Orange any favors in general. Play a few, boost them, run an EQ in the loop and you may be surprised. I used to think Orange amps were stoner metal flub machines, and they can certainly do that, but you can really dial them in to have a thick but not overwhelming tone that has a really tight low end. Kyle Bull and John Browne’s demos of the OR30 are perfect examples.

[@cshepard4723]

ima be honest. the way you mix the guitars in the "full mix examples" of your videos, just ends up making all amps sound pretty much the same. obviously they're not identical, but you loose a lot of the character of the original tone.

[@thatguyinaband6341]

low end transfers so crappy over the internet

[@0megalul309]

yep, still not a fan. not defined and clear enough to keep up with technical work.

[@HVACRTECH-83]

Boring

[@RiffsAndBeards]

Oh man I’m so sorry my free content you willingly clicked on didn’t meet your standards I will try better

[@HVACRTECH-83]

@@RiffsAndBeards I was just being honest