Vox or Orange

[DeweyCox]

Hi all, first post and I hope it is not misplaced in a world of Pastorius Hartke's and Flea Gallien Kruegers.

The reason I am posting is that i recently recieved a (2 actually) Danelectro Longhorn I ordered as a, what could I call it, leisure bass. I bought a Longhorn since two of my favouriteplayers used them (Jack Bruce and John Entwhistle), well, enough with the bass.

Now I'm thinking of a small practiceamp to use with my longhorn, and sence I'm in to British invasion, and really most things British it's come down to two brits.
So I'm thinking about either the Orange Crush PIX 25BX or the Vox Pathfinder 10 Bass. I'm leaning against the Orange since it just got a bit more with 25 watts vs. 10 and an 8 inch speaker vs. two 5's and it's only something like 30$ more. The problem is that the Vox looks so good and if it would suffice against the Orange it feels like I could do with it.

So, any help would be greatly appreciated and I hope it hasn't been to terrible to read through this essay of a post I've managed to write.

Dewey

[Mr. Foxen]

I am pretty sure they'll both be far eastern made cheap practice amps, with badges stuck to them, and thus much of a muchness, and will owe very little to the legacy of Orange or Vox sound wise. Really you are paying for the styling, and if that is want you want, what you see is what you get.

[Spinal Tapper]

Ive heard great things about the Orange practice amps. That'd be my choice. They look great too!

[DeweyCox]

thanks for the replies and, yes, I know they will be made in china and that I won't be able to rock out Albert Hall or the late Shea Stadium with them but I still want it to be a fairly good practice amp.

I have also heard that Oranges Crush series are quite good, but I've heard some good about the Vox aswell, that is why I decided to ask here, since I've understood that this is the place fpr questions of all things bass

[christw]

If by practice you mean noodling in the living room, they'll suffice. If you mean band rehearsals, they'll only keep up with an unamplified acoustic group. For the price tag of either, you could afford a larger used combo amp I'm sure.

[recreate.me]

Well sir, i can add some input as i currently own a Vox Pathfinder 10, and in the past i have owned the Orange Crush 35B and the Orange Crush 20B...

They all look really great, you can't go wrong, the Vox is a bit classier since its not Bright Orange but hey, thats what they do.

Sound wise.... This is what i have experienced. Out of all three the Orange Crush 35B sounded the best, I got it for 300$ CDN NEW and it was rocking a nice 10" speaker and was able to get nice lows, and a nice british growl with the gain. It was also able to be heard in a practice setting if everyone else isn't playing really hard, and its dimed. However, when playing in the apartment living room, i had to keep it at 2 Vol, 3 gain, or i would get complaints, i think it would be fine in a garage though.

The orange Crush 20B was the worst of the three, its 8" speaker was very bright, and trebly. It had troubles getting low enough for me at low volumes, and the EQ abilities were lacking.

The Vox Pathfinder, is what i play now in my living room. Its more then loud enough for my playing on my own, and holds when i play acoustic sets with two guitarists. The Eq is pretty nice, and the 2x5" speakers are actually really nice. It gets lower then the crush 20B but still it could be better. It has trouble handling distortion, so if you use overdrives or gains it will all sound like fuzz cause the speakers cant take it.

Anything specifically you want to know about any of these amps ask away!

[DeweyCox]

@christw: well, it's just for noodeling around in the livingroom really, for kickin' it with my mates I have a big old Marshall 100 watter that does the trick and gives me goosebumps while doing so

@recreate.me: thanks for your input, this was just the response I was hoping to get. I haven't been able to find a lot on the Vox except that the 5's are better than you'd expect (I have never even thought about playing with 5's). So from the information you have suplied for me the Vox sounds better since I suppose the Orange has the same 8 as yours had.

I will think about it a bit more about it and if anyone has anything else to contribute it will be appreciated. I also might add that I'm thinking abit about the PIX 50BX aswell now, even though I think 50 watts is a bit mush for practice since my marshall is a 100…

[BassmanPaul]

For many of us a 100W amp IS a bedroom practice amp.

[DeweyCox]

hehehe, yeah, I guess, but I only play for leisure you know, no need to have more than a 100 i think, but I'm a bit oldschool. I mean, John Entwhistle was up in Jim Marshalls grill for a while before he got his hundredwatt bass head and now I have one of those (not one of Entwhistles, just a 100 watt head) and that feels good enough for me.

BTW Paul, I dig your influences and teachers on your profile. You know, I went to see Cliff and The Shadows on their last tour and that bassplayer was awesome. So, he wasn't one of the original members but he was a great player, just as the old ones were, although they might not have got the credit for it…

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by DeweyCox

BTW Paul, I dig your influences and teachers on your profile. You know, I went to see Cliff and The Shadows on their last tour and that bassplayer was awesome. So, he wasn't one of the original members but he was a great player, just as the old ones were, although they might not have got the credit for it…

The Young Ones was the first movie that I went to see by myself. Oh to be young again

Joined a band when I was sixteen and bought my first bass. The Shadows' instrumentals were what we all learned. I still love the tunes and recently went on a buying binge to find as much as I could.

[StrangerDanger]

Get the Urnge

[MAMMOTHvolume]

the little vox amps sound suprisingly good

[DeweyCox]

@ Bassman Paul: My mom is a diehard Cliff Richardsfan and she mananged to get hold of The Young Ones on dvd and I watched it with her. I have to admit there are better movies, but the music was brilliant, aswell as the performances of the music. Good Stuff.

@Everyone else, I think I'm going to go with the Vox. It's cheaper, all that I've heard about it makes me a bit curious and makes me want to give it a try. + From what Recreate.me could tell about the speakers in both it sounds like the Vox might be better.

Thanks everyone for your advice, it has been really helpful and I will definetly come back here next time I'm gassing for a new amp (probably a Tiny Terror…) with more newbie questions.

So thanks again, this forum has been far more helpful than other forums I've ever been to

[MikeyMcMike]

how loud is it? Im looking a practice amp to play loudish, my 300 watt amp is at my bands practice space and all i have at home is a 20watt starter amp which isnt very good