I am in the market for a new solid-state or hybrid head as I will be moving to Nashville in the coming months and want something with some heft behind it for gigging and jamming with others. My Ampeg flip-top is nice for practice and recording, but lacks the ability to shout over a metal or punk drummer.
I've considered and tested many amps, but only one keeps coming back to me as "the one that got away," and that's the Orange 4-Stroke 500. I only ever tried it once at a store, but that was all I needed. What a sound! What clarity! What wonderful analog glassiness! A simple four-band EQ that you could sweep to fit your own specifications! It was a phenomenon for me. Sadly, I was out of work at the time and wasn't in a position to spend a bunch of money on a new head. But it stayed with me.
Now that I'm in a more gainful situation, that 4-Stroke I demoed a while back has sadly long since found itself a forever home, leaving me bereft. "Just go on Reverb!" I'm sure you'll say- and you couldn't be more wrong.
The Orange 4-Stroke is a ghost among bass amps. Despite a glowing endorsement from Steve Harris, Orange themselves have discontinued it after what seems to be a very short production run- I suspect because sales weren't great compared to their Little Bass Thing and classic OBM heads. Secondhand models are rare as hens' teeth since it seems that everyone who has one wants to keep it, and those that do come up are usually well outside the US. With international shopping in the US heavily tariffed, if you can even find a seller who's willing to ship to you, I wasn't able to get very far with the few listings I've seen. I've even talked with my local Orange dealer to see if they maybe had one lying around the warehouse somewhere that fell off the inventory sheet, but I'm not expecting much.
That's where you come in, Talkbass: if you live in the US and have a 4-Stroke 500 (NOT a 300) that you no longer need or want, I humbly ask that you consider selling it to me. I am happy to pay a competitive market price as well as cover shipping expenses, or meet up in-person somewhere in the upper Midwest or in Tennessee if you're close enough. Let's work together and bring this sucker home!
I've considered and tested many amps, but only one keeps coming back to me as "the one that got away," and that's the Orange 4-Stroke 500. I only ever tried it once at a store, but that was all I needed. What a sound! What clarity! What wonderful analog glassiness! A simple four-band EQ that you could sweep to fit your own specifications! It was a phenomenon for me. Sadly, I was out of work at the time and wasn't in a position to spend a bunch of money on a new head. But it stayed with me.
Now that I'm in a more gainful situation, that 4-Stroke I demoed a while back has sadly long since found itself a forever home, leaving me bereft. "Just go on Reverb!" I'm sure you'll say- and you couldn't be more wrong.
The Orange 4-Stroke is a ghost among bass amps. Despite a glowing endorsement from Steve Harris, Orange themselves have discontinued it after what seems to be a very short production run- I suspect because sales weren't great compared to their Little Bass Thing and classic OBM heads. Secondhand models are rare as hens' teeth since it seems that everyone who has one wants to keep it, and those that do come up are usually well outside the US. With international shopping in the US heavily tariffed, if you can even find a seller who's willing to ship to you, I wasn't able to get very far with the few listings I've seen. I've even talked with my local Orange dealer to see if they maybe had one lying around the warehouse somewhere that fell off the inventory sheet, but I'm not expecting much.
That's where you come in, Talkbass: if you live in the US and have a 4-Stroke 500 (NOT a 300) that you no longer need or want, I humbly ask that you consider selling it to me. I am happy to pay a competitive market price as well as cover shipping expenses, or meet up in-person somewhere in the upper Midwest or in Tennessee if you're close enough. Let's work together and bring this sucker home!
