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Orange Micro Crush Practise Amp

 

Review of the Orange Micro Crush by The Man in the Jar

If you're like me you've always wanted to own an orange amp. Well now, as long as you've got £30, your dream can come true.

The first thing to get across to you is the truly diminutive size of this little baby. That cab is less than six inches square and just over three inches deep. This means the whole package will be limited to the best that the four inch driver can deliver.

The first nice surprise about the Micro Crush is the inclusion of a rather nifty chromatic tuner in the form of a row of LED indicators along the top of the control panel. Each of the 7 whole notes is represented by a red LED with a green lighting for the sharps (and corresponding flats). To the right of these is a group of three LEDs, one green two red. The reds light if your higher or lower than the target note, the green lights when you're in tune. The tuner is turned on and off by a push-switch.

The rest of the control panel is taken up by a single input, a Volume and a Tone control, an Overdrive push-switch and an on/off power push-switch. Incidentally you cannot turn the Micro Crush on unless you have something plugged into the input. This prevents battery drain occurring if the power switch is accidentally pushed during your travels.

On the back panel there's an input for the optional 9 volt adaptor (sold separately) and a headphone socket. The headphone socket is for a mini-jack connection. This makes a lot of sense because no matter how light you are travelling you'll always carry your iPod, and the ear-buds will work with the Micro Crush. 

The battery compartment is on the bottom of the unit and is a snug fit for a single 9 volt battery    

 

Sounds of the Orange Micro Crush

I tried this practise amp out with my Jim Reed Fat Strat. With the humbucker engaged and the volume at 12 o'clock my moderate-output Kent Armstrong pickup was already coaxing a delicious ragged-edged boogie sound from the Orange. The Volume control acts as a master (not like a pre-amp gain) so turning it up didn't increase the level of overdrive, it simply made the thing louder. At its loudest the 1 watt Micro Crush is good for self-indulgent practise which would mildly annoy someone in the next room. I found that setting the volume at halfway or just below was great for cosy, solitary enjoyment.

Switching to Single-coils the Orange lost the slight overdrive edge and delivered a nice clean tone with satisfying bite in the high register.

Punching in the Overdrive button brings out a seriously different beast. The background noise level leaps up, but then so does the output volume. I was shocked at how such a small box could squeal and respond to overdriven lead runs, especially when set up on a table edge directly facing the guitar's pickups. Once again there is no way to alter the level of drive on the amp, and even with my single-coils engaged there was bags of grit to be had. Beware if you have high output pickups, you will have to back off the volume on the guitar to adjust the level of overdrive you can produce.    

 

Overall impressions of the Orange Micro Crush 

Amplifiers of this size set themselves horrible limitations by the size of the cabinet and the speaker it houses. All of them are tinny, it's a law of physics that a Marshall, Fender or indeed Orange badge on the box badge will never overcome. What makes the Micro Crush stand apart is the fact that Orange have tailored the noises it makes to be the best they can achieve within the limitations they have chosen to accept. Consequently the Micro Crush doesn't break into mush at the upper end of its volume control like so many other small practise boxes. The Micro Crush delivers what you need for practise when you're away from your main kit. It is small, but it is perfectly formed.  

Buy the Orange Micro Crush Practise Amp

Note: As with all amps equipped with headphone sockets, turn the Master Volume to zero before plugging in the 'phones. In particular on the Micro Crush, turn down the Volume before engaging the Overdrive.

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