NAD 1970's Orange OR80

[HNB]

I picked this up from Thunder Road Guitars in Seattle. I wanted a slightly smaller amp to try out that is similar to my 90's OD120 reissue. It was priced well because it was modded at some point, but it seems to have been put back to where it was. There are just some extra holes. At any rate, here are pictures.

20221125_170421 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_170417 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_170433 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_170442 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_170448 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_171646 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20221125_171653 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Unfortunately it doesn't make any sound so I messaged Thunder Road to see if they might know what is up.

[HNB]

So it was my user error that was causing the no sound issue. The little toggle inside on the bottom is a standby switch.... With just the power toggle on the top, I assumed it didn't have a standby switch... LOL

Beautiful LOUD amplifier. Even at 80 watts, it is still super loud. I shouldn't be surprised. Even my 1 watt head I have is pretty loud.

[mackerelmint]

Dang, that's sexy! Happy NAD, Chris!

[JSett]

Oooh! Good catch! I know exactly what these sound like having used a '74 OR120 as my main amp for over a decade until recently. The lack of two tubes really doesn't stop them being FUCKING BRUTALLY LOUD still but that sound when they get there is something else Especially driven by WRHBs (which we all know is your preference). Nothing sounds like those old OR Oranges, the breakup on them is such a unique flavour.

Congratulations

[Chippertheripper]

An old OR is on my prettt short list of “must plug into at some point” amps.
Heckin rad.

[Embenny]

That looks amazing! Congrats.

I'm super curious about its mods and history. Looks like two preamp tube sockets were added to the chassis, but if that was a mod, then they would have had to refinish the chassis since I see orange paint on the inner lip of those sockets.

But the paint on the top matches the paint on the back, and the back has a blob of paint over the model number as though that was changed...

Very mysterious. I don't know enough about these amps to hazard any guesses as to what the story is there.

[Dr Tony Balls]

RAD.

FYI the standby switch is a mod. I'd just leave it operating mode all the time and forget about it.

This should be from 1974 or 75 which will have the DC coupled phase inverter and is a bit grittier distortion sound to me than the earlier versions that were AC coupled.

The power tube socket holes are original. Orange just had one chassis that they used for both power levels.

The speakers are likely replaced, as i've only seen Orange combos of the era with Orange labeled speakers (relabeled Greenbacks).

[JSett]

This should be from 1974 or 75 which will have the DC coupled phase inverter and is a bit grittier distortion sound to me than the earlier versions that were AC coupled.

The power tube socket holes are original. Orange just had one chassis that they used for both power levels.

Yep, my guess would be 74/75 too going by the one I had (and spent a lot of time inside). I'd like to see a gutshot to be sure. The extra grit on these ones sounds super gnarly...really 'in your face'.

I ran mine as an OR80 for years with no ill effects and it was still too loud for almost every situation.

If you find it particularly noisy at high volumes, disconnect the 'LO' input internally. That made a huge difference to the noise floor in mine (and no one ever really uses that input anyway).

[fever606]

/wants a “smaller” amp

/buys an OR80 combo



Seriously, though… a 70s OR is really the only amp I jones for. I had a 90s Overdrive 80 and regret letting that one go (it was to finance a Model T though soooo…).

Congrats!

[Embenny]

RAD.

FYI the standby switch is a mod. I'd just leave it operating mode all the time and forget about it.

This should be from 1974 or 75 which will have the DC coupled phase inverter and is a bit grittier distortion sound to me than the earlier versions that were AC coupled.

The power tube socket holes are original. Orange just had one chassis that they used for both power levels.

The speakers are likely replaced, as i've only seen Orange combos of the era with Orange labeled speakers (relabeled Greenbacks).

Thanks for that background info, it makes sense now why the chassis looked original and the two mystery sockets had painted edges.

[HNB]

Thanks for all the info. It is cool to know the standby switch is unnecessary. I read something like that online as well when I was trying to figure out if it was added. Online said that the switch would actually cause a larger power surge than just letting it gradually all power up at once since the standby would limit the power until it was switched causing the warmed up load to hit the tubes.

Thanks also for letting me know the sockets are stock. I wondered. I knew it had some mods because of the small hole on the front, but I didn't know those socket ones were always there. Makes sense from production standpoint that it would be cheaper to make one and just fill it in for the 120 version.

Any orange lovers want to pass on their favorite Faq position? I have it all the way left. It is brighter and a little gritty compared to the far right side.i have the treble turned pretty far right and the bass also turned right a bit from 12o clock. I like more treble. It is nice that this has plenty of low to use but can also get brighter. I guess the drive knob is basically a presence knob?

I suppose it is stupid to thing an 80 watt amp would be quieter than my 120. Honestly it is a little. I can turn this up to like three or so vs one on the 120. LOL

The pictures made it look smaller. Again having two 12's should have been a clue. LOL

The listing said the speakers were replacements. Might try something else. I want to give these a try first though.

[HNB]

FYI I like greenbacks but they are 25 watt rated. I am worried a pair of those would struggle with the 80 watt amp?

[JSett]

I don't think I ever in the decade or so I had mine ever found a use for the FAC control on anything other than the furthest left (the most bass). It might come in handy if you were getting some wild low-end resonance from a hollow stage or something, or recording with no way to high pass the signal to make room for bass/kick. It always seemed to sound worse if I clicked it right.

Drive is indeed a sort of presence. I used to run it about 9 o'clock for darker pickups but, again, rarely touched it. I mostly just adjusted bass and treble to taste and had the gain high enough to be nice and gritty if I digged in. A Super Hard On pedal was my weapon of choice to push it into oblivion.

I had mine tested (in 2 tube / 80w mode) by my old tech for output and it pushed about 110w cranked so it'll tear the ass out ofa pair of Greenbacks. Would not recommend.

[HNB]

Dang. I like how those sound a lot.

[JSett]

I don't know what to recommend instead, I always use some kind of Eminence with all of my amps and they have a very different sound to Celestions.