A brief one, now at the closing of the edition, from Musikmesse as well (I warned you that these weeks, the German music trade show will take over everything, haven't I?). Again Orange, the British amplifier/cabinets manufacturer. The new thing the English pulled out of their bags was the Thunderverb 50, a guitar amp head for both guitar and bass, a truly nice piece of work.

The fans or simple enthusiasts know about the Orange Thunderverb 200, the "father" of the newly-launched amp. Well, it's pretty much the same stuff, unless smaller and less louder, while (very important) retaining the tone and sweet sound of the big one.

Sporting the Extended Tone Range technology and allowing the tubes to operate with frequencies as low as 30Hz make the Thunderverb series a real blast in think tones and rumbling sounds. The patent pending output transformers seem to play a crucial role in the "economy" of the Orange Thunderverb.

The "verb" is a looped, valve-driven/valve returned reverb. What comes out of this? A crystal clear precise and totally controlled sound. And if you think of adding some effect loop, rest assured you've got the right amp: since Orange was one of the pioneers in effect-looping as far as guitar heads were concerned back in the 70's, expect the best performance!

The Thunderverb 50 specs haven't been made available publicly yet little changes are expected. Get a glimpse and lend an ear to what the Thunderverb 50 can do here, videotaped by GearWire. As the Thunderverb 50 pics are still wanted, you'll have to settle for photos of the 200 version. Sorry.