Salvation Mandarine Graphic

[Whoopysnorp]

I just picked up one of these from drewiv, and duuuude! I've had it since Monday, and I will admit that when I first fired it up, I was a little let down by the amount of gain on tap. I knew it was designed to be a vintage Orange sound, and those amps weren't too gainy, but I was itching for just a little more crunch. Not that the clean and crunch tones I was getting weren't awesome, but it wasn't quite filling the niche that I was hoping for. Well, I started jamming on it tonight and discovered that the trick is to crank the gain all the way, engage the mid boost, and turn the treble up all the way. Now I am chunking out some big doomy Melvins-type riffs with just the right amount of crunch. This is every last bit of gain that you can get squeeze out of the thing, but man, what a sound.

Seems like this module doesn't get nearly as much attention as Anthony's other two Orange-based modules. Any Mandarine Graphic fans here? At first I was thinking I would try to trade this for a Stonerverb, but after tonight? No way. This one stays.

 

[Mattfig]

I have a Stoner AD which is kinda between the Graphic and Stonerverb and really dig it...Also not a ton of gain but can be tweaked infinitely!

 

[djd100]

The Mandarin Graphic is supposedly a clone of the OR120 as I understand it, and as such has vintage plexi level gain, though it's Baxendall tonestack is less-lossy than a traditional tube amp tone stack so with the tone controls past 12:00 you'll get some additional gain. It should sound quite different than any modern Orange as they're essentially Marshall based, while the OR120 was unique with it's Baxendall tonestack (boost/cut) and FAC control (switchable coupling caps post distortion).

We've built our own OR120 module and I find it works well pushed with pedals as well (a modified Tone Bender or Clean Boost in our case).

 

[drewiv]

I have a Stoner AD which is kinda between the Graphic and Stonerverb and really dig it...Also not a ton of gain but can be tweaked infinitely!

I had all three at the same time and really felt the Graphic was the in between module. Though, I know jack squat.

 

[drewiv]

Seems like this module doesn't get nearly as much attention as Anthony's other two Orange-based modules. Any Mandarine Graphic fans here? At first I was thinking I would try to trade this for a Stonerverb, but after tonight? No way. This one stays.

I'm really glad you ended up liking it. There are not many of these around from what Anthony told me. So, you may be in a one man fan club. :lol: I'll be an honorary member, if you'll allow.

 

[Sonicboom]

I've been thinking of getting the Graphic and Stonerverb. How's the cleans you get out the Graphic?

 

[Whoopysnorp]

The cleans are super cool and very unique. There is a decent amount of gain range where you don't really get much grit in the sound at all. The tone is very, very midrangey, of course, and the F.A.C. control is very useful for adjusting the overall fullness of the tone. I like cleaner sounds on this module with the leftmost (most low-middy) settings, while I generally edge the F.A.C. up to position 3 or 4 (out of 6) for crunch tones.

 

[djd100]

The OR120 was unique along with some vintage Ampeg amps in using the Baxendall tonestack. The Baxendall is active, so it boosts and cuts, hence it's uniqueness in guitar amp use as most guitar amp tonestacks cut only (it's usually used in hi-fi and some pedals).

So, if you lower both the bass and treble controls you essentially get a mid-boost, and if you raise them a mid-cut. Also, since the Baxendall is active as you raise the EQ controls past 12:00 you're also adding gain.

In use, if you crank up the tone controls and increase the FAC you can kind of mimic Vox/Matchless type sounds, and if you lower the tone controls and decrease the FAC you'll kind of mimic more Marshall like sounds, though the OR120 definitely has it's own vibe.

The FAC control switches the last coupling cap, so it controls the overall bass response post distortion. This means you can crank the bass control which will also effect the mids to some degree at higher setting, and then use the FAC to get the bass back in line etc. The FAC is also useful for neck pup sounds, and to compensate for open or closed cabs etc. All in all a very unique and versatile setup. I'm not sure how Anthony wired his FAC, but on ours and the originals the bass is cut as you click it to the right.

One last thing, the OR120's had the bright switch hard-wired on though on ours you can switch it off (not sure about Anthony's?).

The cleans are super cool and very unique. There is a decent amount of gain range where you don't really get much grit in the sound at all. The tone is very, very midrangey, of course, and the F.A.C. control is very useful for adjusting the overall fullness of the tone. I like cleaner sounds on this module with the leftmost (most low-middy) settings, while I generally edge the F.A.C. up to position 3 or 4 (out of 6) for crunch tones.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Yeah, on Anthony's you can switch off the bright circuit. I leave mine on (on this and all my modules).

 

[Sonicboom]

That sounds awesome! Thank you for the info

 

[disk11]

How close does this get to Sleep's sound?

 

[djd100]

The OR120 (Mandarin Graphic) was made in the 70's and as such is a medium gain vintage sounding amp with a unique tonestack and the FAC.

The current Orange amps like the Rockerverb are essentially Marshall based with traditional tonestacks.

How close does this get to Sleep's sound?

 

[Whoopysnorp]

How close does this get to Sleep's sound?

I haven't listened to Sleep in a really long time, so I couldn't tell you, but if it's anything along the lines of the tone Matt Pike uses in High On Fire, I would say not very close. The Mandarine Graphic sounds a lot closer to Josh Homme's QOTSA guitar sound.

 

[djd100]

You're welcome.

I really like mine for mid-gain stuff pushed with a clean boost or a pedal set for minimum distortion, and also for cleans.

That sounds awesome! Thank you for the info

 

[disk11]

How close does this get to Sleep's sound?

I haven't listened to Sleep in a really long time, so I couldn't tell you, but if it's anything along the lines of the tone Matt Pike uses in High On Fire, I would say not very close. The Mandarine Graphic sounds a lot closer to Josh Homme's QOTSA guitar sound.

Pike used a SLO100 and a Laney VH100R for High On Fire, and added a JCM800KK recently. Back in the Sleep days he used a Matamp GT120, and I've seen people suggest online an OR120 was similar, hence my question.

 

[alowerdeep]

I absolutely hated ORange amps until I got my Stonerverb...Ornage backlined a show we played about a year ago...It was a rocker 50....big,fuzzy mess was the best way to describe the tone,though I didnt get to tweak it the way I wanted to..the sound techs did it...Kindo fo reminded me of a 70's styles dula recto Recto.anyways,,,The Stonerverb is super versatile and easy to dial in tones so I can imagine the graphic is just as cool...probably obne of my favorite Salvos.......didnt think I would like it as much as i do.....

 

[djd100]

Yes, Matamp was a hi-fi amp manufacturer who actually built the first Orange amps, and later came out with their own clones/versions of the vintage Orange designs.

Funny story...

Back in the 60's when Orange approached Matamp to build their amps, Matamp noticed that the design would create distortion, so supposedly the first prototypes arrived back at Orange with the gain lowered enough to avoid distortion. The Orange people had to explain to Mataamp that these amps were supposed to distort etc.

Pike used a SLO100 and a Laney VH100R for High On Fire, and added a JCM800KK recently. Back in the Sleep days he used a Matamp GT120, and I've seen people suggest online an OR120 was similar, hence my question.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

How close does this get to Sleep's sound?

I haven't listened to Sleep in a really long time, so I couldn't tell you, but if it's anything along the lines of the tone Matt Pike uses in High On Fire, I would say not very close. The Mandarine Graphic sounds a lot closer to Josh Homme's QOTSA guitar sound.

Pike used a SLO100 and a Laney VH100R for High On Fire, and added a JCM800KK recently. Back in the Sleep days he used a Matamp GT120, and I've seen people suggest online an OR120 was similar, hence my question.

I'm listening to some Sleep right now and riffing a long a bit through the Mandarine, and it's in the ballpark, though it doesn't have as much gain on its own. You'd want to boost it, and probably run it quite loud, but you could probably get close.

 

[Shinozoku]

Stick a fuzz in there

 

[Whoopysnorp]

OK, I just remembered I had an old crappy Ibanez TS5 Tubescreamer (from the cheapo 'Soundtank' line), and it turns out it still more or less works. Cranking the level all the way up on that and giving it just a little distortion really kicks the Mandarine Graphic into stoner metal territory. Clearly I need to invest in a real Tubescreamer now.