Orange OB1-500 Rack Mountable Bass Amplifier Head, 500 Watts

It's fairly common these days to see a bassplayer "dual-amping" with both a bass and guitar amp in an attempt at thrashing out that perfect blend of harmonics and overdrive to achieve to perfect tone. Orange have now made that particular practice unnecessary thanks to the portable and stylish OB1 series of class A/B rack mountable bass heads.

Leave the other amp at home...

The unique sound of the OB1-500 comes from the footswitchable Blend circuit, which boosts the upper registers of your input signal with just a touch of gain and plenty more harmonic content. Your lower frequencies and clean signal on the other hand are left completely alone, ringing out clearly just as you'd get from the afore-mentioned "bi-amped" setup. Through experimental use of the amp's Gain and Blend controls the world can literally be your oyster, giving you options of tone ranging from a nice clean boost, to an all out dirt-fest, and everything in between.

The OB1-500 shares the same layout and 2U rack dimensions as the less powerful OB1-300, as well as a full fat 500 Watt output section to really get the air moving.

'Bi-Amp' Inspired Design

As mentioned earlier, the OB1-500 works with the same characteristics as utilising both a bass and guitar amp simultaneously. This is achieved by splitting the input signal into two separate and distinct paths: one for a pure, unaltered and clear bass signal; the other mixing in programmable levels of gain into your signal's upper harmonic register. Make effective use of the Blend control knob to determine just how much clean and dirty signal is in the final output and then remotely engage/disengage the blend control via the optional footswitch.

All Analogue Signal Path

The all analogue signal path of the OB1-500 is evidence of Orange's commitment to continual use of analog circuitry, making sure that even the most affordable of models can produce that trademark Orange sound that we all know to expect when we see their famous logo adorning a speaker. The 3-band EQ section on the amp is the perfect finishing touch, with the whole package inspiring musicians to play their instrument and not their effects.

Active EQ

The OB1-500 is home to an active three-band EQ system that's been painstakingly crafted to be highly responsive, giving you the maximum possible effect with the least amount of fuss. The controls give you up to +/-15dB of boost or cut to the Bass and Mid registers of your signal, and up to +/- 20dB boost or cut to your top end. Nice!

Rack Mountable

The OB1 Series of amps mark the first of many Orange Rack-Mountable amplifier heads, being suitable for 19" cases. The rugged coated steel chassis and fascia make this really look the part in any live and studio rack setup.

The OB1 Series seem to be the answer to many bass players prayers: it's hard-wearing, stylish, portable, and most of all rather affordable in comparison to other amps of this calibre. If you'd like more information on this amp, be sure to contact our Online Sales Team directly - they're always happy to help. Don't forget: if you place yours Online today you can choose from our excellent range of Home Delivery options.

Highlights

• Features - Rack Mountable (2U) 'BI-Amp' inspired bass head with footswitchable gain & blend controls, active 3 band EQ, balanced DI & line level outputs
• Front Panel (Right to Left) - Instrument input with active.passive switch, gain, blend, bass, middle, treble, volume, footswitch input, mains switch
• Rear Panel (Right to Left) - Speaker outputs (Speakon), 1/4" line outputs, balanced output with ground lift switch
• Speaker Output Options - Minimum 4 Ohm: 1 x 8 Ohm, 2 x 8 Ohm, 1 x 4 Ohm
• Output Power - 500 Watts, Class A/B
• Finish Options - White powder coated steel chassis (2U 19" rack mountable)
• Unboxed Dimensions (W x H x D) - 48.2cm x 26.5cm x 10cm (18.97" x 10.43" x 3.93")
• Unboxed Weight - 10.1kg (22.26lb)