Orange has now adopted a larger amp sleeve for the AD Bass Models.
  10" High x 11" Deep x 21.5" Wide.  The sleeve size
has changed from the 9.5" depth [1968-2005 era] to 11" deep.
The chassis is now an inch bigger in depth too.
The origin of the Orange amp sleeve and chassis used for their first 44 years
initiates from Mat Mathias's GT-120.

The vent on the top is a new addition to the ORANGE Amp made from metal and
recessed nice.  The metal vents are nice and sturdy however, heat dissipation
formula for glass is actually intensified when the tubes are
surrounded by metal vents within a 4" radius.

The amp runs hot, historically like all of the Orange's and tech work becomes routine
to maintain normal performance.  This unit has top and front metal venting.
Backing the bias back runs the amp a bit cooler and with longer tube life.
 

This amp arrived as a repair because it had overheating and failure issues
right out of the box from US Dealer in Utah that imported it.
The EQ never worked and a fog tone came from the amp during it's 15 minutes to hour
play time before crashing under the chassis or torching tubes above the chassis.

The amp bounced from tech to owner with the combined frustraton of no helpful
support from Orange USA or the main shop in the UK.  After several rounds of tubes
at $40+ dollars per tube the amp owner contacted the "Hardwire Military Grade
Tube Amp Tone FFFreaks" of Electric Amp USA.

The guys at EA-USA have the longest history with Orange and Matamp gear
in the USA and really enjoy making those amps sound right with reliability.

K N O W L E D G E !

Holy MicroGatesAudio !  Get me a Keyboard and Mouse !
Printed Circuit [PC Boards] The Mother Board with screened Union Jack !
The ORANGE AD200 MK3 featurs an "everything on PC" construction.
Top to Bottom of the interior chassis include:

Rock, Hammer, Pliers and Attitude.
This ORANGE Amp is going to get gutted and dressed.

OVERHAUL LIST:
1 Mercury Magnetics AD200 Output Tranny ent Tranny
1 Blank Turret Board
72 Double Turrets
4 Tube Sockets and hardware
3 Pre Amp Tube Sockets and hardware
1 Filter cap and bracket
2 Fuse Holders
20" Hardwire 20 gauge
30" Hardwire 18 gauge
 Heat Sinks
1 handfull of caps and resistors
Silver Solder

Call ELECTRIC AMP USA for your Replacement  ORANGE AD200 Transformer !
The Best Output Transformers wound on Planet Earth and the #1 Choice
for Replacement Upgrade, Vintage Restore/rebuilds and New Amplifiers!

The new Output Transformer brings the output up to the level
the Orange front Panel Adverts. Output prior was about 145 clean
and 163 total output wattage.  The EQ was insignificant,
having no range from any of it's PC Mounted Pots.  By the time you stroke
the bass, it blows tubes and fuses.

The ORO-200 output Trans shown above brought the amp up to 206 clean
and 231 total output.
The EQ is now VAST in Range and many tones are found with the combinations
of settings from it's 5 Knobs.    One place every amp company seems to cut it's
corners on build cost is it's transformer choice.  It is amazing to see how companies
with incredible history of original tone sacrifice the foundation of their amps
and attempt to make up with it in the circuit.

Tone comes from the output tranny and a simple straight to the "Point" hardwire design!

New Tranny, Fuse set up and 6550 Tubes !
The original power tranny's feet are bent, leaning the tranny to the right as shown.
The metal on the UK Trannys is like pot metal and easily breaks if tweeked
back and forth.  In this case, the tranny was made secure, and routed to
a hardwire harness.  Leaving the feet is probably best in this situation because
they are part of the tranny cans.

SHAZAM !  The PC Microamp Unit is NOW a Hardwire Tube Amp !
The list of parts above, formated to the original recipe but in a hardwire , turret board
point to point construction.

Some guys like to Spank, and some guys like to Crank.
The guys at EA like to YANK and CRANK, but don't wake to Thank !

ELECTRIC AMP, USA knows where the "dope tone" comes from.
Send your amp ELECTRIC AMP, USA for service, rebuild and overhauls like this.
Hardwire Conversion/Overhaul Parts and Labor is about $1750-$1900.

Sonic tones and volume require parts to be secure and able to tolerate heat and vibration.
PC boards provide neither and that is why they were yanked and tossed !

Hook this awesome unit to an EA-USA 2x15 and get ready for some real bass tones !
Biased and Blessed it is time for final testing.

Ahhhh, now the boogie of loud solid bass tones are back  !
A Buffet of HUGE MONDO [yes Mondo!] vibes from sonic tribes are now found in this
clean Fresh Orange Box.

ELECTRIC AMP USA's Pro Audio Shop put the Juice back into the Orange !
Fat and Juicy to Thick and over-ripe distortion.
Clean Headroom is amazing.  The ELECTRIC 2x15 was huge and clean
and the Distortion is that range found from the tonal spirit of Sleep and
the first Om releases.  Testing the cap of the clean tones,
8-10 and the 4x15 cabs from Electric Amp, USA served this amp like a King.

It is good to be the King.

Front to Back the Unit is ready for tone and volume assault !

Seeing an amp in need of an overhaul "just to see" how awesome it will "turn out"
and to rectify the unstable issues was very expensive, and time consuming.

However, there is no way around it if you want the dope.

Orange Voice of the World is a very very cool amp company and Great Britains
poster child for unique and awesome old school pro audio.

With musicians like Jimmy Page maintaining occassional presence
and old photos of Black Sabbath using ORANGE amps, the company
has always maintained popular for bands with style.

Even the Sex Pistols stold some Oranges from another band
and used them for a year.

Prior to these heavy enameled chassis, he utilized folded Aluminum versions 1958-1968.
[Mat Mathias created, started MATAMP Pro Audio in 1958]

From first site the new Orange Voice of the World amp looks like the same old chassis.
However, it is a lighter gauge steel that is spot welded and has a tang bend on each
end with a press-tooth nut insert for the chassis screws.

Due to the weight of the creature, the tangs are easily bent because
they are not welded on either end.  The thinner gauge steel, and the
fold in the chassis with the cut out between tangs creates an easy bend
spot when a 60 pound amp is shipped or dropped at the show.

Gear gets dropped at several points in it's life if it is being used.
Chassis are really important to be secure for those expensive components that
weigh ALOT !

A couple of direct pounds with the rock and a cotton cloth puts them in order.
Also, a pair of Channel Lock toothless pliers bend it back simple with no marks at all.

No weld and the gap between "tangs" on each end of the chassis is weak
as shown on the right brand new out of the box from just shipping.

Bending the chassis back and making sure these 4 buggers are
firm is important.  A washer between the rubber and the wood sleeve helps.

Part of the problem with not being able to secure the chassis with the rubber feet
screw head lugs is the 1/4" of spongy rubber between the head of the screw
and the wood.  The chassis impact when dropped has a 1/4 slap capability
and bends the chassis and whiplashes the transformers.

Orange used to use two plywood black wood strips and the chassis lugs were
seperate and secure.  Going back to this is probably as important
as cancelling the order for the next round of PC Boards at the computer shop.

RETURN

 

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