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Orange CR120 Fizz....

Started by AXEL276, December 14, 2015, 03:32:58 PM

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AXEL276

Hi all, new member here. I have recently bought an Orange CR120 head. I'm playing it through the Orange 1 x 12 cab using an Eminence Swap Thang speaker. I like this amp a lot, but there is a "fizz" that seems to go along with the gain. I do not use a tone of gain, I like classic rock/blues stuff. If you are familiar with this amp it supposedly has a cascading gain control. In any case I am using and GE-7 EQ in the loop and having some success but I'm wondering if there are any types of mods that can be done to reduce or eliminate this fizz?

phatt


As it's a 100 Watt rig then it's meant for gig volumes in which case you would never hear the hiss. If you are playing in a small room then just like a lot of high gain amplifiers there is always hiss, fizz and also hum with single coil PU's.
I very much doubt there is much can be done except maybe one of those noise filter pedals in the FX loop,, might help,, hard to say how well. :-\
Phil.

AXEL276

phatt, the fizz is not noise or hiss, it's a fizzy gain decay at the end of a note or chord. You are correct that if I play loud it seems to blend more with the natural tone, but at lower volumes it's there. I was just wondering if there was a way to tweak the gain. On a tube amp I could swap out the preamp tubes. On SS it's not that easy.

J M Fahey

QuoteI was just wondering if there was a way to tweak the gain. On a tube amp I could swap out the preamp tubes. On SS it's not that easy.
On the contrary  :) , on tube amps you can basically only choose between 3 tubes, in the 12A*7 family, with fixed nominal gain 12/60/100 and which cost $15/$25 each, while if you have Op Amps in that SS preamp (most likely) you can pick any gain you want with 1% precision if you wish, replacing one or two 5 cent resistors.

Quotephatt, the fizz is not noise or hiss, it's a fizzy gain decay at the end of a note or chord. You are correct that if I play loud it seems to blend more with the natural tone, but at lower volumes it's there.
That *stinks*  of crossover distortion , rather than a gain problem.

Just to make certain, set the amp to clean sound, play a full chord (it's not that noticeable on single notes) and let it die naturally, distortion/fizz should increase with lowering sound levels.

There's the slight possibility that it's voice coil rub, so repeat test with other speaker.

AXEL276

I wish I knew more about tweaking an SS amp. I wouldn't know which resistors to swap. Is this somethng I could take to a tech and have them fix (tweak)? With a tube amp it is very simple swapping tubes and I have had pretty good results.
If I set this amp to clean there is pretty much no fizzy decay, chords or single notes. I have tried it with several speakers. While I would say it is slightly better with different speakers/cabs, I think it was more just the voicing of those speakers. I've read others review this amp (Orange CR120) and mention the same thing about a fizzy decay at higher gain levels.

phatt

About the only way to be of any help is to have a schematic to get a clue as to what's going on. If the issue is common to all then a fair bet it's a design flaw or over sight. :(

I'd guess it's all surface mount with tiny traces and even if you found the offending section it's likely hard to replace parts unless you are setup for such work.
If you can remove the fizz by backing off controls then I'd just live with it and use a pedal to get the extra bit, that may or may not work but try it. :tu:
Phil.