Orange squeezes out new Super Crush 100 transistor amp head and combo
New all-transistor amps from Orange Amplification
5,0 / 5,0 | 
The new Orange Amplification Super Crush 100 models are all-transistor 100-Watt amps, with JFET preamps. Available as both a full-sized head and a compact combo, they should be much lighter than their all-valve cousins, so you have no excuse lugging them to your gigs.
Orange Super Crush 100
Transistor guitar amplifiers got a bad name during the 1980s, as companies were churning them out without taking much care with the circuit design. This meant that many of those transistor amps sounded s**t as best. Thankfully, Orange Amplification knows a thing or two about quality amp circuits, whether valves- or transistors-based, so I have high hopes for these new Super Crush 100 models.
Orange Super Crush 100 head · Source: Orange
JFET Preamp
What you get for your money is a single-ended, two-channel JFET preamp design, with a 100 Watt Class A/B power amp section, and a foot-switchable digital reverb. You should be able to gig easily with these amps. And Orange is making it very clear that this new range is more than up to the job.
I like that the amp has a balanced XLR out for recording, or for going straight to a mixing desk/PA. This balanced-out includes a Cab Sim, so you can literally plug your guitar in and go. The Cab Back switch offers the choice of an open or closed back sounding cab, which should have you covered for most situations. You also have a fully buffered effects loop on the rear panel, plus speaker outs on 8 and 16 Ohm. The 1×12 combo version comes loaded with a Celestion G12H-150 speaker.
Orange Super Crush 100 combo · Source: Orange
Transistor Tone?
The best thing to do is listen to the official demo videos below with Orange’s Ade Emsley and Ty Tabor to make up your own opinion on this new range. Admittedly, I am not a massive fan of transistor amplifiers myself. I grew up in the ’80s and the amps from then still haunt me to this day. I had Laney Linebackers, Session transistor amps, plus a few Fenders and Marshalls, all of which I try to forget about, if I am honest.
However, in 2021 things are a lot different and Orange is certainly making high-quality transistor guitar amps. If you need a good guitar tone and don’t want to lug around a heavy valve amp, then transistor amplifiers or modelling amps are a million miles away from the stuff I had to deal with as a kid.
More Information on Orange
Orange Super Crush 100 demo video
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2 responses to “Orange squeezes out new Super Crush 100 transistor amp head and combo”
Meeeh:
… they should be much lighter than their all-valve cousins, so you have no excuse lugging them to your gigs?!:
Well an Orange TH30 for example weighs 15,8 Kg, whereas the new Super Crush 100 weighs 13,8 Kg – so its weight doesn’t really matter, does it?
But 1300€ difference matters. In my case comparing this amp to a 50W Rockerverb (two channels and reverb, both).
I own a CR120, a Dark Terror and a TH30: Yes, you absolutely hear differences between Valve/tube Orange Amps and Transistor Amps, immediately and always. Is that a bad thing? No.
Cheers
The 100 Watt head is 11.2 Kg and a 50 Watt Rockerverb MKIII head is 20.75 Kg. So depends on what you are lugging around I suppose.