Orange OR-80 Tube Amplifier (1974)
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Item # 10822
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Orange OR-80 Model Tube Amplifier (1974), made in England, serial # 10067, Orange Tolex finish.
The beginnings of British amp giant (and fierce competitor to Marshall) Orange, can be traced back to the West End of London in 1968. Company founder Cliff Cooper opened up a small secondhand instrument store called the Orange Shop, and before long a proprietary range of high-grade amplifiers. Several guitar legends frequented Cooper's shop, most notably Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, who would soon end up taking a full backline of Orange's first amps on their upcoming US tour.
The EL34-powered "Pics Only" amps were launched a few years later in 1972, infamously only featuring graphics for control indicators on the front panel. Beyond their charmingly quizzical hippie-era visual sense these powerful amps boasted crunchy overdriven tones, the genesis of the "Orange sound" and the benchmark for all future Orange amp designs. Soon after, Orange launched new renditions of the circuits, introducing their unique six-position F.A.C. tone switch. Later named the OR-100, OR-80 and OR-120, these "Pics Only" amps were rejigged in 1973 to include text on the control panel. The later "Pics & Text" amps were introduced in 1974, comprising the classic OR-120 head and OR-80 combo models.
This OR-80 combo is a well-preserved early "Pics & Text" model, bearing serial number 10067 on the chassis and OA3891 on the cabinet. According to various serial number records, these indicate the year of manufacture to be 1973-'74. Both Celestion speakers date to March '74. The unmistakably designed control panel features the fairly unique F.A.C. control; a six-position "Frequency Attenuation Control", which, when set fully counter-clockwise is neutral/full frequency range, and, with each clockwise stop filters out bass frequencies, offering a very nice and characteristic midrange boost when set in the middle. Following the F.A.C., there are bass and treble controls, a high frequency drive and gain/volume, alongside an "echo" effects loop send and return for use with Echoplexes and Echolettes of the day. A dual EL34 power section yields roughly 80 watts of power into two 12" Orange-branded ceramic Celestion speakers.
Height is 24 in. (61 cm.), 28 in. (71.1 cm.) width, and 10 in. (25.4 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this hefty combo remains in excellent shape. The defining orange-colored Tolex covering is largely unscathed with only minor signs of wear, mostly around the lower corners and edges. The grille cloth is in impeccable shape, remains taut and shows no signs of fraying or tearing. The large and colorful control panel is very clean with all its glorious graphics well-intact and all three original oversized bakelite knobs are present as well, though the F.A.C. knob is missing a piece of its skirt.
Electrically, the amp is nicely original. Both of the Orange-branded 12" ceramic Celestion speakers are original to the amp and are marked CG19, dating them both to March of 1974. Both the power and output transformers appear original to the amp, as do all the pots with all the associated solder joints appearing undisturbed. The amp has seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytic capacitors, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and biasing the power section to spec. The amplifier includes a voltage selector switch that is currently set to US input voltage (115/120V) and should only be operated with the specified input voltage when set to this setting.
This is really well-preserved example of an iconic Rock n' Roll amplifier design, a massive sounding combo capable of some truly raucous crunch and overdrive with a surprisingly wide-range of tonal options up its orange-clad sleeves! Excellent Condition.
The beginnings of British amp giant (and fierce competitor to Marshall) Orange, can be traced back to the West End of London in 1968. Company founder Cliff Cooper opened up a small secondhand instrument store called the Orange Shop, and before long a proprietary range of high-grade amplifiers. Several guitar legends frequented Cooper's shop, most notably Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, who would soon end up taking a full backline of Orange's first amps on their upcoming US tour.
The EL34-powered "Pics Only" amps were launched a few years later in 1972, infamously only featuring graphics for control indicators on the front panel. Beyond their charmingly quizzical hippie-era visual sense these powerful amps boasted crunchy overdriven tones, the genesis of the "Orange sound" and the benchmark for all future Orange amp designs. Soon after, Orange launched new renditions of the circuits, introducing their unique six-position F.A.C. tone switch. Later named the OR-100, OR-80 and OR-120, these "Pics Only" amps were rejigged in 1973 to include text on the control panel. The later "Pics & Text" amps were introduced in 1974, comprising the classic OR-120 head and OR-80 combo models.
This OR-80 combo is a well-preserved early "Pics & Text" model, bearing serial number 10067 on the chassis and OA3891 on the cabinet. According to various serial number records, these indicate the year of manufacture to be 1973-'74. Both Celestion speakers date to March '74. The unmistakably designed control panel features the fairly unique F.A.C. control; a six-position "Frequency Attenuation Control", which, when set fully counter-clockwise is neutral/full frequency range, and, with each clockwise stop filters out bass frequencies, offering a very nice and characteristic midrange boost when set in the middle. Following the F.A.C., there are bass and treble controls, a high frequency drive and gain/volume, alongside an "echo" effects loop send and return for use with Echoplexes and Echolettes of the day. A dual EL34 power section yields roughly 80 watts of power into two 12" Orange-branded ceramic Celestion speakers.
Height is 24 in. (61 cm.), 28 in. (71.1 cm.) width, and 10 in. (25.4 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this hefty combo remains in excellent shape. The defining orange-colored Tolex covering is largely unscathed with only minor signs of wear, mostly around the lower corners and edges. The grille cloth is in impeccable shape, remains taut and shows no signs of fraying or tearing. The large and colorful control panel is very clean with all its glorious graphics well-intact and all three original oversized bakelite knobs are present as well, though the F.A.C. knob is missing a piece of its skirt.
Electrically, the amp is nicely original. Both of the Orange-branded 12" ceramic Celestion speakers are original to the amp and are marked CG19, dating them both to March of 1974. Both the power and output transformers appear original to the amp, as do all the pots with all the associated solder joints appearing undisturbed. The amp has seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytic capacitors, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and biasing the power section to spec. The amplifier includes a voltage selector switch that is currently set to US input voltage (115/120V) and should only be operated with the specified input voltage when set to this setting.
This is really well-preserved example of an iconic Rock n' Roll amplifier design, a massive sounding combo capable of some truly raucous crunch and overdrive with a surprisingly wide-range of tonal options up its orange-clad sleeves! Excellent Condition.