Orange Amplifiers

Founded in 1968 by Cliff Cooper in London's West End, Orange Amplifiers emerged when the electronics student borrowed £50 to start a music shop and recording studio at 3 New Compton Street, painted bright orange which gave the company its name. When major companies like Marshall, Fender, and Gibson refused to supply the young, countercultural Cooper, he began building his own amplifiers. The first Orange-branded units were produced by Radio Craft in Huddersfield from November 1968, with fewer than 50 OR100 100-watt units completed, supplied to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac for their US tour. Famous visitors to the shop included John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Paul Kossoff, while Stevie Wonder recorded 'Superstition' using Orange amps. The iconic 'Pics Only' models of the early 1970s, using hieroglyphic symbols instead of text on control panels, established the signature 'Orange sound.' After ceasing large-scale production in 1978, Cooper regained control from Gibson in 1997 and found success with the AD30 (1998), attracting Jimmy Page. The 2003 Rockerverb series became a heavy metal favorite. Now headquartered in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire (since 2009), Orange maintains hand-built British manufacturing with the same attention to quality since the 1960s, celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2018.