Fender Rumble 500 vs Orange Crush (Differences)

[EncoremMP]

Pic 2 shows my Beloved Orange Crush 50. I had to get over several Fears before purchasing said Orange amp. Would I now be perceived as a guy playing Metal Music, covered in Ink, suffering from a Nervous Tick and constantly drooling on himself? I thought about it long and hard cuz that stuff matters to Old Guys! I covered the box in a moving blanket and snuck it into my music room....hid it behind a giant plant....then plugged the Crush into one of my Aguilar Cabinets (twice the price of the Crush) as shown here. This Bird can sing just fine on its own but the Aguilar makes it sound incredible ! Final Thought. Check the rating of the Rumble 500 into 8 ohms...as it sits....without an additional cabinet. Enjoy your Orange Crush. OH...I almost forgot.......Prior to the Crush becoming what it is today, they used to have a WHITE control board and back plate. Avoid those like the Plague. Just the thought of those gives me indigestion.

just curious. Did you mod your Crush 50 to allow for an extension cab?

 

[R Briere]

just curious. Did you mod your Crush 50 to allow for an extension cab?

I did not. I simply "unplugged" the internal speaker and plugged in the External/Aguilar cabinet. The Crush went instantly from "This is Fairly Nice" to "Wow! Bassiliciousness to the 12th Power!"

 

[EncoremMP]

I did not. I simply "unplugged" the internal speaker and plugged in the External/Aguilar cabinet. The Crush went instantly from "This is Fairly Nice" to "Wow! Bassiliciousness to the 12th Power!"

Nice!

 

[R Briere]

If I could chime in, also being fairly new to bass after playing guitar, I have some advice from my mistake. I dont need distortion etc. Like you, but I like LOUD. 1st amp, Fender rumble 15. Sounds good, way too quiet for me. Save up for something louder (because I am married with a kid, so ya know...money) grab a Hartke HD75 Ok amp, dont like the sound as much as the fender, plus it starts farting out at around 1 oclock. But I digress, it is a good practice amp. So now here I am a year later, and getting good enough to start trying to play with others. Problem is my amp isnt loud enough to do that. So now in a year I am getting ready to buy my 3rd amp. I am looking at the Ampeg RB210 and the Fender Rumble. Both seem to fit the bill. so now I have 3 amps, one I dont use, one I will probably rarely use now that I will probably sell at a loss. I wish I would have just saved a bit more to start with and gotten a more powerful and louder amp.

Don't be too hard on yourself..... Really. Ordinarily I ALWAYS advise keeping your first amp because as the years go by you'll spend sleepless nights trying to get it back. While not being harsh or disrespectful at all, in your case I'd make an exception. Be careful not to put ANY financial pressure on your family, sell each of the amps you currently own and grab a RB210 or buy a USED amp with a great reputation that you grow into. In essence, THAT will be your first amp. After that.....don't make any further mistakes if you can help it.

One other thing...... Volume isn't a good way to think about an amp. Also, as a New Dad, don't play your bass in the same room with your kids. The buzzing in YOUR ears from being too loud might go away. In young children, "Volume" causes permanent hearing loss. RB

 

[Lemur Bassman]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks so much for responding...I’m still drooling over the Orange Crush 100 pretty bad but will probably give it some more time to think it over...

For the record, I appreciate the fact that this also turned into a bit of an economics/accounting type discussion bc somehow I hadn’t really thought about labor of cost of materials when comparing them bc I was so focused on the electronic aspect of comparing the two...

As a 40 year old male in Corporate America with a business degree I must sadly hang my head in shame at least a little bit for not taking this into consideration...Then again I’m trying to learn how to play bass bc I love Metal and it helps me cope with the stress of my job and The Stupid Pandemic...

For the record-I also find it somewhat ironic that I’m attracted to how garishly ugly and somewhat tacky the Orange Amps are...

I have a pretty decent bass at the moment so I’m trying to decide if I want to upgrade my bass or my amp first...The amp is about $700 cheaper than the bass I really want (Am seriously eyeing the Schecter Evil Twin 4 after trying and disliking a Fender Jazz bass...

Hopefully some day I’ll acquire both or eventually just bite the bullet and buy them both at the same time...

In the meantime, this has been most helpful and despite what I said above about being a business major I must say that reading up on sound physics while researching combo amps made me remember why I am NOT an engineer...

Wish I could go back and learn bass really well in high school and have just been a musician, but hey I suppose what I’m doing now as a hobby is actually WAY more fun than I had imagined even though way deep down I had always thought it would be fun to try to learn to play...I couldn’t play guitar for **** when I tried 21 years ago and didn’t think I could play bass on my own without being forced to join a band (I’m an introvert so the idea of being social even under normal circumstances frightens me just a little bit)...

I have only been at it a month, but practicing 90 mins a day so hopefully I’ll get better soon...(Though admittedly I believe I’m at least somewhat better than I was even a week ago)...

Interesting background!!....very similar in an existential way to mine! I am 53 y/o and just started playing the bass; actually I am in my third year and I truly love it. I played the drums for 10-years and in a rock/metal band back in the mid to late 80's. It was what I was going to do for a career! Then, I let outside influences creep in and went to college for something completely different, got married, child, job, etc., and here I am after losing my business and being burnt out wishing I only took that chance years ago to make music as a career. So, I totally get what you are saying. AND, even though I can function well socially, I, too, am an introvert. Cheers! Ok, I play a Fender American Professional I Jazz bass and I have an Ampeg Rocket RB-210 hooked up to a Ampeg Portaflex 115 amp and LOVE it. I was a Fender amp guy and totally switched due to the Rocket line. Recommendation if you mine...totally check out the Ampeg Rocket RB-112! 12' speaker, 100-watts. SGT switch...AMAZING!! Most bang for the buck! Good luck and never give up moving forward my friend!

 

[MtManiac]

Hi Everybody,

I’m new to playing so apologies if this is a stupid question, but I was wondering if someone could please educate me on why this Orange combo amp is so much more expensive than the Fender when the watts aren’t comparable...

Fender: Fender Rumble 500 2x10" 500-watt Bass Combo Amp

Orange: Orange Crush Bass 100 1x15" 100-watt Bass Combo Amp

I want the Orange because I would eventually like to player Stoner/Doom Metal and the fuzz/distortion on the Orange amps appeal to me (admittedly I also like their old vintage albeit kind of ugly look)...I am also a huge fan of high distortion in general and from what I’ve read Orange amps do distortion and fuzz really well...

What I can’t figure out is WHY the Orange amps are so much more expensive...

I feel like there’s something I just am not getting here because obviously 500 watts is greater than 100 watts, but what else goes into an amp besides just watts that determines loudness and overall product quality?

Apologies if that’s a stupid question but Orange’s 300 Watt combo amp is $1,300 and that’s considerably more expensive than the Fender rumble 500 that I posted above for less watts, so is it just the fact that it’s made in another country that’s driving the cost of their amps or is there something else I’m missing here?

I’m not I’m a band so I’m mostly just looking for a practice amp at the moment...

I’m wondering if I need to just wait and save up for an Orange Terror amp head and an Orange Cabinet in lieu of buying a combo amp, but I’m starting with virtually zero knowledge here because I don’t know a lot about audio engineering...(I’m wondering if watts are kind of like horsepower on a car-It’s an indication of power, but you also have to take torque and vehicle weight into the equation)...

I’m not even looking for feedback on which is “better” bc even with the higher price I think the Orange amp is more what I’m after, it just doesn’t make sense in my mind why the Fender is around the same price but gives off 500 watts whereas the Orange only gives off 100...If I remember right 500 watts doesn’t mean it’s 5x as loud as a 100 watt amp- Just wondering what other electronic aspects I should be looking at to compare these two...

Any help/insights would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!

First of all, the Orange is a solid state amp, so that fabled Orange overdrive sound is not gonna be the same in this amp. You’re better off - seriously - finding an Orangey OD pedal, like the Tech 21 Oxford or Joyo Orange Juice (which I use and love).

Secondly, the question as to why it’s so expensive, that’s because it’s an Orange. They’re capitalizing on their brand. I find their bass products are feature-impoverished and still more expensive than competitors.

Thirdly, Ampeg SVTs are very common in Doom and stoner metal. It’s what Cisneros has been using for a while.