Serving up '70s ROCK Tones | Orange 'The Guitar Butler'

JFET preamp goodness…

Recently we took a deep look at Orange’s newest solid state amplifier, The Super Crush, and talked at length about its use of JFETs to craft a single ended preamp circuit that would rival triode valve performance.

Now Orange have put that tiny transistor architecture into a preamp pedal which will satisfy anyone looking to downsize their touring rig - leave the amp at home and bring The Guitar Butler instead.

This is a 2 channel guitar preamp contained within the same footprint as Orange’s popular Bass Butler preamp. Much like its bass sibling, the Guitar Butler features XLR balanced out with an inbuilt cabinet simulation for sending the sound directly to FOH or recording interface.

The distortion channel features dual switchable volume controls, ideal for raising the level for that all important solo and dropping back down into a more respectable rhythm volume.

Voiced after classic rock amps of the ‘70s, this JFET based channel manages to convincingly replicate the bright crisp drive response at lower gain levels while getting darker and thicker the more distortion gets added.

The vintage voiced clean channel is a blank canvas for any effects used with the Butler, like drives and compression out front, or modulation and time effects connected to the Guitar Butler’s FX Loop.

The Butler’s XLR balanced out provides a convenient live or recording connection, with a built in cab sim which satisfies the criteria of sounding like a mic’d up 4x12 cabinet.

A power supply is included to feed the unusual 18VDC centre positive power input, so no need to hunt around for a pedal supply with odd connections.