Orange Crush 15 Combo

I'm giving this category a 7 - and that's about perfect for this type of amplifier. It's an incredibly light, very cool looking practice amp that can also be used for recording or mic'd up for live use with a good PA/monitoring system. Two channels are feasible; however, you'd have a hard time switching on the fly, so I'd recommend finding a great setting with the overdrive button "engaged" that lets you use the volume knob to drive the tone when needed. Three-band EQ is provided as well as a headphone jack...which works as advertised. Like I said, the features are pretty basic, but what do you want for a $99 practice box with an "Orange" label on the front? This thing is stupid light...great for carrying around and transporting to any location imaginable. It's also extremely small as a complete package - just right in my opinion.

Sound quality is surprisingly good for such an inexpensive, solid-state amplifier. I'm giving this an 8, and that is really a stupendous rating given that (I suppose) a handcrafted, point-to-point soldered boutique amp would be competing for a 10. This little monster sounds freakin' great for what it is.

Here's the thing - this amp, being as small as it is with very little box area for the speaker, is a bit mid-range forward, as it were. I find that this amp really takes well to a good chorus and reverb pedal - smooths out the slight honkiness of the tone. I play through a wah/boost into an EH Soul Preacher compressor, into a Bad Monkey overdrive, then an EH Clone Chorus, then an EH Holy Grail, and finally an Ibanez DE7 delay/echo. It takes this effects chain really, really well - tons of tones available. Where this amp shines is in the sustain tone as you let chords and long lead notes ring out. The harmonics really ring out - Orange and their Chinese factory counterparts got the solid state algorithym perfectly correct for overtones on the overdrive channel. Unbelievable how well harmonics and sustained feedback notes play through this tiny, tiny box. As someone else has said already, you'll need to spend some time with the amp to tweak your sound for the gear you're using. I run the input volume halfway, the overdrive channel selected, the "crunch" at 10 o'clock, the Gain (post overdrive setting) to taste. I like chimey highs with some meat on the bone, so my EQ runs about 2 o'clock on the high knob, 11:00 on the mids, and 11:00 on the bass. I use the guitar's volume knob to go "clean" or "dirty" with great effect, and then the Bad Monkey can kick in some serious overdrive on top of that as well. The box can be quite strong on the volume (or wail at low volumes with the overdrive setting cranked and the "gain" - actually it's a post pre-amp volume knob - set quite low).

Giving it an 8 as it arrived broken due to poor packaging by the shipper. I'm deployed in a war zone, and the amp was kicked around quite a bit. I opened it up, pushed around a bit on all the bits and bobs, and everything works like a charm. So...obviously it's not bulletproof; however, it seems solidly built for what it is.

Here's where they shine - see the section above...a new amp is on it's way to me as I type this, and I'll just return the one I'm using now (which is working fine, but arrived not working) when it shows up. Good show, Orange.

Again, anything higher than an 8 for an inexpensive, solid state practice amp would probably be overkill. This thing is GREAT, however, for what it is. I will definitely replace it if it is stolen or lost...tons of fun for about 100 bones.

2 channels w/gain & eq controls and a pretty wide range of dirty and clean tones, headphone jack as well. Minimal but for what it is you can't go wrong, a small lunchpail of a practice amp that ROCKS. Orange wasn't trying to make a kitchen sink here, just a badass tone box that doesn't NEED a gazillion knobs to dial in a good sound.

I am playing this amp with my les pauls loaded with EMG active 'buckers, 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck. This amp will bowl you over with the gain maxed out... I am talking a tight, British bark that sounds like a big Collective Soul album tone. Dialed back and cleaned up it's very nice and warm for a solid-state amp, suprisingly loud too for 15 watts. If you replaced the no-name speaker you'd have one killer practice amp. The clean breaks up if you crank the Master past 3 o'clock and does it in a very tubey way... like the old Cream tones Clapton had cooking, it's vintage-thick when run this way. If you engage the overdrive you will hear the clean channel's 'thump' in the background with the 'hair' of the gainon top of it(as if there's 2 channels going at once which is annoying to me) but when you max out the gain it overrides the clean and it becomes a solid ripping machine with sustain and BAROOOTAL distortion. With single coils the amp is not as pushed and sounds more polite but still does it's thing, it gives what you send to it and that is truly pleasing with a small package like this. I will be micing this thing up and recording with it, it sounds 15x bigger than it is.

Issues: ZERO

You'd have to try to hurt it man, it's not the toughest box in the world b/c it's assembled in China and when I popped the back panel off to check out the speaker scene not only was the speaker un-marked but the box is made out of friggin' particle/press board. Now, at this price range you ain't gonna' have finger-jointed birch 13-ply my friend, but what you get for the money is as solid as it comes. Hey, it's an Orange so it's no piece of junk, their name went on it b/c they were happy with the result and so am I. I'm replacing the speaker in mine with an upgraded 8" Electroharmonix, Celestion or the like, not even necessary but the thing should absolutely scream after that.

Never had to deal with Orange and probably never will, issue-free thus far.

I've been playing guitar for over 23 years: Strats, Pauls, SGs, acoustics, Marshalls, Soldano-made Yamaha, Johnson, Line 6 and many others so I trust my ears to sniff out good from bad. IF this amp was stolen I'd get another one no doubt, it looks sexy and sounds even better than you'd expect. I dug this so much I turned right around and nabbed the Crush 10 just to have them both, I'm like a woman with shoes when it comes to gear man. Great value, can't say it enough, I bought mine off eBay on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. My main amp is a JCM 800 2203 reissue head through a Yamaha 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75s so I wanted something I could jam on at the house late at night and use to warm up at gigs. I love the sounds and the impressive volume for a 15 watter, not so keen on the clean channel butting in on the overdrive until it's pegged, that's my only beef... an additional gain pot like the Crush 10 I also own would have been killer but this Crush 15 gets it done. I guess I like both my 10 and 15 for different reasons.

The Features on the crush 15r are much the same as many other simple practice amps, low,mid,high , master, volume, level, phones, although the brilliant thing about the Cursh' features are that the quality produced by them is amazing.

I am using my Crush 15r with a Standard rosewood fretboard fender stratocaster (single coil pickups). The clean sound produced is of equal quality of my Fender 30 watt blues junior vale amp and I'm told that my fender amp is one of the best 30 watt valve amps on the arket (it cost me #350). The one place where the orange stumbles is on producing hard rock distorion. The 15r can produc a wonderful jazzy, bluesy crunch tone but for any hard rock sounds its honestly useless. I use a Boss distortion pedal, BD-1, instead.

I have only had this amp for a month but so far so good. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a 9/10

Orange is a good top quality brand and I would expect them to be good on such things as customer support so again I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

I couldn't decide wether to give this amp a 9 or a 10. I gave it a 9 because I think for the average electick guitar player it is good enough although it does no produce such a wide range of sounds that one might expect from such an expensive amp. For me though it produces just the right clean and slightly distorted cruch sounds I like. My BD-1 Boss distortion pedal handles the rest. The only amp which I think comes close to the quality of sound of this product is the Laney 15r (valve, 15 watts) but that is double the price and very expensive for a practice amp.

When I first got the amp the spring reverb had detached itself from inside. Very easy fix. I have almost a collection of mini-amps and mini-stacks for a studio in a residential neighborhood. This little orange amp is by far the most unique and different sounding then the other brands. I like the 3 gain knobs..Master,Level and Volume so you can blend in clean with distortion. Very cool with slide guitar,lap steel and Mandolin. The clean channel is what makes this amp. If you crank it up it will break up slightly. When using the overdrive channel you will have to experiment..

I play mostly blues-rock, and it has the perfect overdrive for it. There is a nice button to go to clean, and the clean is really great. There is a good 3-band EQ, and 3 gain knobs. I'm pretty sure the different ones are for how much gain, and a master volume.

I mostly play single coil guitars, a MIM Strat and a Epi '56 Reissue Les Paul with p-90s. The P90 Les Paul and this Orange are perfect for each other. Tune up to Open-E and use a glass slide and you'd swear you're playing through a $2000 Marshall or Orange. Just plain awesome bluesy overdrive. The strat is really good with it, too. With the rhythm pick-ups you get a fat sound and with the treble pick ups you get a really good lead tone.

This amp was actully a replacement for my first Orange Crush. My first kept blowing fuses, but they replaced it right away for free.

I didn't deal with the company, but the warranty was one year and so I got my first one replaced good.

Awesome amplifier. I will probably end up being a life long Orange costomer, this solid state brought me into the Orange family.

Continuing my quest for a litle practice amp. and after (unexpectedly) falling for a Brian May on my first attempt, I finally decided to buy me an Orange and the only Orange model I could actually afford...yep!
I knew they were manufactured in Korea and bla, bla, bla, but I also thought that would look wonderful next to the white/gold pinned Vox thing.
Then I discovered that they were discontinued but I found a great Texas seller on ebay who still had some in stock.

When it arrived it was buzzing badly w/ the reverb up, I opened it up and found the reverb spring loose, was super easy to put that back in. Problem solved, the circuit board was dead clean, no issues.

Is a solid state amp. yet when you overdrive it w/the crunch it sounds super nice, I reaaaally like it. On clean also does a good job.
What I like is that unlike other amps within its class this one a nice warmth on its sound.

I'm not too keen on the reverb quality all the way, I prefer it in a low to mid setting.

Going back to the crunch, is super nice. We used it for some recordings and it brought up an excellent result. Cool continued.

The eq's do their job as they should. There is plenty of volume too.

I wish it had all the features of a rock-verb in this tiny package but...is a wish...I like it as it is and is a super cool amp. Love the orange tolex btw.

Normally I do not use it with effects though, when I use effects I go to a bigger amp. For definition purposes.

I tried all my guitars through it. Everything perfect.
Succeeds in bring out the natural sound of each guitar.
Not noisy (unless you pump the reverb up, there you'll find a little hum).
Its sound suits vintage/classic rock if looking for a reference.
The Crunch delivers a very nice and warm saturation. Very vintage flavored and...believable.

I wouldn't gig it unless appropriate (e.g. supporting an acoustic act at a cafe, playing in a very small venue or so) If that is the case it will do its part nicely.
It is very well built so no reliability concerns so far.

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I'm fond on this little comrade.
If lost or stolen I don't know if I would rush to buy another or maybe check on something else, but chances are that I will get me another one if available.
What is a little inconvenient sometimes is to have the power switch at the back of the amp.
Wish it had a foot selector option for the crunch.

A robust compact solid state 15W practice amp. Pre-amp controls to select drive and distortion levels. 3 band equaliser. Panel switch to select clean or overdrive. Headphone socket for private listening.
This is an entry level amp manufactured in the Far East presumably to keep costs down and compete in the low-end market.
It's only had limited use to date but my initial comment is that it is a good sounding amp, ideal for home use and capable of producing a wide variety of sounds.
In this price range there are other amps with more features than the Crush 15. This was not a concern for me since all effects and reverb are taken care by a multi-effects pedal. However, the addition of a clean/overdrive foot switch would be welcomed. Despite the low features, I still award this amp with a 9 because it's main function is to 'Amplify' and in my opinion, it does this very well.

My first test was to crank up all the controls with nothing connected in order to check the background noise level. Even in a room full of fluorescent lamps, it was remarkably quiet and only minor hiss with the overdrive switch in.
The input setting could be a little confusing though. The control panel states 'Gain' under the 'Master' volume control. This should not to be confused with the Input gain. The single sheet manual explains the function of all the controls but how many of us read the manual first! Having read some of the negative reviews after placing my order, I was a little worried and even considered cancelling the order but I needn't have been, once you understand the input controls, few players will disappointed with the Crush 15.

Unable to comment on reliability but the robust construction suggests it should take a few knocks without falling apart. Solid-state components these days are generally very reliable but without taking the amp to bits it is difficult to comment on the manufacturing quality.

12 months warranty which can be registered on the Orange web site. I'm never sure what this buy's you apart from increased emails in many cases. The manual suggests that a warranty card should have been enclosed but this was missing in my case.

I've been playing for over 35 years but never seemed to improve. My arsenal of guitars include mostly Yamaha instruments (which I believe are grossly under rated) and most recently a Line 6 Variax.
When I first starting playing the electric guitar, both guitars and amps cost a fortune for anything playable. In the case of the Orange Crush it costs me the same price as a full tank of petrol for my Land Rover!.
If it got stolen I'd probably buy another or just take the opportunity to try something different.
Summary: Sounds good, perfect for home use and it's looks set it apart from the competition.

2004, brand new, in the box. the features are decent, after all this is a <$150 dollar practice amp. it has a headphone jack, bass mid and treb controls, dist. switch, one input, no ext. speaker connection. i would have liked that-- even though i bought this thing for practice, driving a cab with a little amp can sound cool. i got the one without reverb, 'cuz i got a reverb pedal i like (EH holy grail) and i thought i'd save myself a few bucks. remember, the vox pathfinder (which i'd consider a competitor for the crush) gives you a tremelo effect too, for @the same dough. closed back cab, so there's no place to put the power cord (irritating)but let's face it, the nicest feature is how this thing looks-- it's a baby orange, and it's gorgeous.

my main axe is an am. std. tele (2 single coils, of course) but i really like the way this amp sounds with my danelectro DC reissue...go figure, cheap guitar, cheap amp, made for each other. the clean channel sounds rweally nice, but a little brittle cranked up. the dirty channel rocks, just gets a little fuzzy with the gain past 2 o'clock. i'm not sure if you're gonna get any metal tones outta this, certainly not with my gear. my fave setting is to roll back the treble, boost the mids and bass, and add just a touch of dist... it's that kinda dirty, funky, organ combo jazz guitar sound (think kenny burrell, or later grant green)so all in all, pretty good, but not for everyone-- remember, this is a SOLID STATE PRACTICE AMP!!! those expecting the greatest sounding amp ever should calm themselves. but it beats the crap out of any little fender, peavey, or marshall, in my opinion.

you don't gig with this kind of thing, but it seems pretty solidly built. i hot glued a velcro strap to the back or holding the power cable, so i worry less about the dog shredding it or the vaccuum cleaner sucking it up.

register it online, and you get a year warranty... yay! i guess that's enough.

i've been playing for 13 years, and this is the first practice amp i've bought since the little crate 15R i had back when i was 12. i've owned half stacks and 100 watt heads, a well worn fender twin, and a lovely vox modeling amp in the days since i started out, but i sought out the orange for three reasons: portability, sound and looks. i'm shallow, okay? looks mattered. i think it delivers on all accounts. it's small enough that my girlfrind lets me keep it in the living room, it sounds good enough that i can actually record with it, it's loud enough that i can take it with me and jam with other folks. it's never gonna replace my valvetronix 120, but that's not what it's meant to do. i think if your the kind of person who would even be interested in an orange, you'll be pretty pleased with it.

Built in 2002, Korea, it has reverb, bass, mids, highs, master volume, gain, and input volume dials. In addition, there is a phones socket for headphones and an overdrive button which is used together with the gain dial. The names given by orange differ to what I?ve used so check with the instructions. When shopping around for similar priced practice amps, this has noticeably more functions which for me makes me look and feel a little more pro.

This solid state, single channel amp has everything I need for my bedroom performances and little amateur jam sessions with friends. If required, anything else comes from my effects. Materials used are basic but the orange box along with hay like speaker covering makes it a great piece of furniture too.

I play a Yamaha Pacifica 112J. Without the use of effects, I?ve never been able to produce strong overdriven, distorting, or metal sounds. With the knobs turned up, rich and warm are the two words that came into my mind. I think my quiet Yamaha will remain so with no exception here despite the pretty controls on this Orange.

The reverb is sufficient although not quite as strong as some effects I?ve heard. I?ve also noticed rattle at high volumes coming from the reverb springs inside (I quite sure). When the dials are up, noise is there too. It however does not distort or crumble and remains true throughout. If your like me and like old school rock, all these put together give it a nice warm vintage feel. On the other hand this may not be yours if your into metal, industrial etc. sounds. Other amps have produced more overdrive, distortion and cruch.

I?ve never put this amp through any torture test. All I can say is that it?s a fairly sturdy structure.

I've never had to deal with the company. The official Orange site has plenty of contact details. The amp too comes with a standard 12 month warranty

I've been shopping for a practice amp for over one month and missed it since we first met early in my shopping journeys- I think its detail and build quality is the best in its range. The 8" speaker does make it sound better than others which usually are 6".

As I said its not the most versatile amp. If you dont like that soft British sound, this ones not for you and goodluck trying to find a decent one in this price and size range. If you do however, its the type of amp you'll learn to love because it does have that character.

low, mid, high, reverb, gain, all that jazz. Its headphone jack is a plus, but the power switch could be in a better location. reverb is pretty powerful, probably all one could ever want out of a 15 watt.

I've had the orange for only a couple of days now so I haven't experimented with everything yet but so far it sounds alright. The main problem is the panel buzz. I play through either my les paul classic or my les paul Jr. (it has single coil pickups) but both buzz when I want a growling bluesy sound. Other than that the amp sounds great for a solid state of its size. the buzzing does get annoying though

like I said, I've only had it for a couple of days but the buzzing is the only thing worrying me.

I've never owned an orange before, and I don't anticipate dealing with customer service.

So far I'm enjoying this amp. I do have a suspicion that the buzzing will bother me, I think I'm going to try the 10. my other amps are a fender stage 160 (solid state) and a mesa triple rectifier (w/4x12 cab) the orange is without a doubt formidable, but the buzzing really gets to me.