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The Thunderverb 50 offers great Brit rock tones

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The bone-crunching slab of sonic mayhem otherwise known as the Thunderverb 200 is a wonderful amplifier, but many players with more modest power requirements have been pinning their hopes on the appearance of a lower-powered version. Hey presto, here it is.

The Thunderverb 50 consolidates this new range from Orange, with the same basic preamp design as its larger brother, but featuring a 50W output stage powered by a pair of EL34s. Flexibility and power are still the Thunderverb 50's middle names though, as we'll see.

Like all Orange amplifiers, the Thunderverb 50 is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. A thick plywood sleeve encases a tough white powder-coated steel chassis with a full-height steel front panel and a steel grill at the rear to protect the valves.

Normally, you'd see a couple of internal chrome grab handles to aid in removing/replacing the chassis, however the addition of a reverb tank screwed to the roof of the sleeve means the Thunderverb only has one.

Inside the chassis, all the electronics are supported on one very large printed circuit board, including front and rear panel controls and all the valve bases. What little wiring there is has been neatly tied back and the high quality components add to the impression that the Thunderverb is one very well-sorted amp.

The controls are straightforward, although there are a couple of typical Orange twists. This is a two-channel design, with two sets of gain and master volume controls. Where you'd expect one channel to be dedicated to lead and the other to clean/crunch, the Thunderverb has similar amounts of gain available on both channels, making either suitable for rhythm or lead work.

What makes the two channels different is their EQ: channel A uses the conventional bass, mid and treble, while channel B uses Orange's proprietary 'Shape' control. This is a one-knob EQ system that's disarmingly simple to use but capable of an enormous tonal range.

As you rotate the knob clockwise, highs and lows are progressively boosted while mid-range is cut. Turn it anti-clockwise and the reverse happens, with the mid-range taking over at around nine o'clock.

The Thunderverb has two global controls, one for reverb and the other for the amp's built-in attenuator. You can use this last one very effectively to get a decent cranked sound at lower volumes - it's best described as a post-master volume and getting back to those twists we mentioned, the attenuator control works backwards compared to a regular volume control, reducing output levels as it's turned clockwise.

Move around to the back panel and you'll see a lot of jack sockets: three for speakers, two for the Thunderverb's series effects loop and three more for switching channels, reverb and the attenuator function. There are fuses and a mains socket, with the mains switch sensibly positioned to one side of it - the two front panel toggle switches are for standby and manual channel switching.