Orange Rocker 30 Head And 2x12 Cab is a used amplifier set suitable for acoustic and electric guitars. It features 30W of power, a vacuum tube technology, and comes with two speakers and two channels.
It was bought and used for about 3 gigs in 2010. Since then it was only used at home for the next couple of years and has been in storage since 2012. I’m honestly not sure you’ll find a better example of this amp in the UK.
Due to the size and weight I have listed this as collection only. Please contact me if you’d like to arrange your own delivery.
Review from GuitarJar:
The Rocker 30 is a 30 watt RMS, twin channel guitar amp. It uses three ECC83 pre amp tubes and two EL34 power tubes. Standard power switching with Standby and On. Two channels as mentioned, Natural and Dirty.
The clean channel features only a volume control, no EQ. The Dirty channel features Master Volume and Gain, with Bass, Mid and Hi EQ.
There is no effects loop, no reverb, and the channels are panel switch or footswitch controlled. Outputs are 8 or 16 ohm.
Ease of use:
The Rocker 30 could not be easier to use; switch it on, choose your channel, tweak the settings and play – nothing difficult at all.
Sound Quality:
The sound quality will of course depend on the speakers you hook up. I use a PPC212 2 x 12 cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 drivers, which come as standard.
Through this cab the rocker tone is just awesome; middly with plenty bottom end and sweet highs.
It’s definitely a blues/rock amp rather than a shredding amp. There is plenty gain on tap on the dirty channel, but it just aint a shredding tone…
Volume wise it is a surprising little beastie. Whilst the natural channel is a good deal quieter than the dirty channel, when it is cooking it can kick out enough noise to easily cut through the mix in a 500 seater un-miced, and the power tube breakup at high volumes sounds fabulous.
The dirty channel is another animal again. VERY loud, in fact the loudest 30 watter I have ever played… and the tones can range from sweet crunchy blues through to pure rock power.
Sadly, there are no real comparisons on the market. I suppose it is a compliment to Orange to say it has the ‘Orange’ sound, much as it is to say the ‘Marshall‘ sound. Whilst the Rocker 30 does not cover all tone bases, it is pretty versatile tonally. No Fender chiming cleans, but hey, if you want that sound, buy a Fender.
Humbucker fitted guitars sound pretty dark through the Rocker. Single coils sound sweet and bright, depending on which tubes you are using. I recommend Svetlana Winged C’s in the power stage. They brighten up humbuckers a bit.
In summary, a specialist tone, but truly awesome.
Reliability:
I’ve had the amp 4 years and apart from tube changes, I’ve never had to touch it.
Overall Rating:
The Rocker 30 is well built, of extremely high quality, very reliable and it sounds fantastic. I would never sell mine, partly because they are now discontinued, so if you want one, it will have to be the second hand market. Personally, I think the Rocker 30 will be a classic of the future, so pick one up while you can.