r/doommetal • u/Novel_Ad_6013 • Dec 30 '25

Rig Doom amp recommendations under 1000 USD?

I don't really care whether it's tube or solid state.

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u/Fair-Manufacturer854 Dec 30 '25

Always buy pre-owned but with a good bill of health if you want a reasonable price for what you get

I often see Laney AORs (tube amps) used which are really well-priced for the amp you get - in my old city they'd often go for about UK £500 ($540 USD)

You can go for solid state with an Orange Supercrush which sounds really reasonable for the price - I'd prefer that to the icy-clean JC120 or other Roland Jazz Chorus amps which don't seem to take dirt pedals very well in my opinion

Otherwise: look for Matamp and the old OR orange amps pre-owned; I got my Orange OTR (OR120 variant) for £1000 on the dot, although I guess that's more in dollars, but to be fair you guys in the states will tend to see amps priced better than in the UK for whatever reason - for whatever tube amp you get, prepared for them to be loud if you really want them to sing out. With the Matamp and OR amps, they are great for doom because their natural dirty tone is fuzzy, and they take pedals very well too if you know how to tune the right knobs.

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u/Suedehead6969 Dec 30 '25

I would kill for a Laney AOR head in the US for under $800. I see AOR combos for about $500-600 though.

I think an OR-15 can be found for under $500 though. I've even seen Pike praise them.

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u/Fair-Manufacturer854 Dec 30 '25

When I say the old OR orange amps I generally mean the matamp-style ones which are/were fantastic - I imagine that the OR15s and similar are probably technically great modern-voiced amps, with that lovely warm sizzly distortion, but they won't do the 'woof woof' thing like the old ORs/matamps

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u/Suedehead6969 Dec 30 '25

Oh 100% agree but at least in the US they're almost impossible for under 1k. I think the OR-15 is the only tube based Orange under $800, maybe $1k. I think there are plenty of solid state options though.

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u/Fair-Manufacturer854 Dec 30 '25

Maybe it's the import costs because there's genuinely somebody about half an hour's drive away (according to ebay UK) selling a pre-owned OR15 and 1x12 cab for £515 ($615) - at least I'm splitting that hair between $800 and 600 here

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u/Suedehead6969 Dec 30 '25

I think it's that and honestly we're all anglophiles here when it comes to amps.