Orange gear on the Anagram

Orange began as a London music shop opened by Cliff Cooper in 1968, and its bright orange tolex and picture-label front panels made the amps easy to spot. The brand is known for thick, saturated valve tones, both on guitar and bass. In recent years its small, light bass heads have been a common sight on club stages.

All four Orange-inspired blocks on the Anagram are built in. Darkglass does not name the sources, so each is likely, inferred from the names and controls.

Fruity HB 500 draws on the Terror Bass 500, a compact head with a valve preamp and a light, high-power output stage. Its cab partners are Fruity Bass 1x15, Fruity Bass 4x10 and Fruity Bass 8x10, which line up with the OBC115, OBC410 and OBC810 cabinets.

The Orange bass sound is warm, thick and heavy in the low mids. Pushed, it moves into a fat, woolly overdrive that suits stoner rock, doom and anything slow and loud. Clean, it is rounder and less glassy than many modern heads, with fewer extremes at the top.

Because the low mids are so full, these blocks can crowd a guitar in a busy mix. A small cut around the low mids, or a cab with less bottom, helps. The 4x10 is a good middle choice, while the 8x10 gives the biggest bottom end for slow, heavy music.

Try Fruity HB 500 into Fruity Bass 4x10 first. Push the gain until it starts to grind, then back off a touch so the notes stay clear.