I wanted to share my findings because - trust me, I looked - there's nothing on the Web about whether this pricey "amp in a box" pedal can surf.

Its usefulness for blues, however, has been well documented

A few things to get out of the way, first.

1) "Bangeetar" is what Orange technical director Ade Emsley has always called guitars

2) the "Bax" part comes from Baxandall EQ. This is what caught my attention about the pedal. (Full parametric mids? Yes, please!)

3) As a professional graphic designer in print and Web since 1992, I cannot forgive the inclusion of the font, Bleeding Cowboys, on the body of this pedal.

4) Orange is my favorite color; I wouldn't mind having several offset guitars in the color of these seven dials. (They make all all-white version, too, but there's no fun for me in that)

5) Oh, yeah. The link: https://orangeamps.com/bax-bangeetar/

Last Friday, I traded in a few pedals and got a great deal on this bad boy from my local shop. I had read and listened to lots about this on the Web, but I doubt ANY of the reviewers had in mind what I need:

1) an amp in a box pedal
2) with a cab sim for direct recording into my Roland V-Studio (or modern DAW, for normal people)
3) that could also go into an amp, if I had a good one
4) that sounds good for my homemade rock when dirty, but can also clean up well enough to put out some surf, in the neighborhood of Fender brownface tone

Just so you know, my current state-of-the-art recording-only setup is: Fender Lacquer Sixties Jaguar or Fender Lacquer Sixties Jazzmaster into my beloved Gomez G-Spring into my Tech 21 Blonde pedal - with cab sim on, which I use with Character set in the brownface manner, and with EQ and drive varying to taste.

I was interested in this Bax Bangeetar for possibly putting out some of the clean-to-hairy-to-roary tones of the Tech 21 Blonde, knowing full well that the Orange pedal has a pedigree more suited to distortion. I doubted whether it could go clean enough, or whether any cleans would have the right character.

The ability to boost or carve out different mid frequencies was my major interest in this pedal - for recording surf as well as the other worlds of tones used in my original stylings.

Without the ability to go clean and sound powerful doing it, though, this pedal would have to go back.

So, I did some recording tests Saturday morning, and have only now had a chance to listen loud on my commute. I'm happy to report that the Bax Bangeetar has plenty of clean(ish) power on tap!

I was worried at first - the surfable range of that Drive control is pretty small! - but in conjunction with the Volume control, I found tones from pretty-darn-clean to roaring breakup that are absolutely suitable for classic surf! (Your mileage WILL vary. I don't recommend this for trying to get ultra-pristine, crystalline cleans.)

One concern is that the controls are stepped rather than continuous; you can't just dial in ANY degree of Drive or Volume. You have to use the steps that are available. This could have been a dealbreaker, but I knew this going in and found that it was not a huge concern.

Each sound I dialed in had harmonic detail for miles, and don't get me started on that Baxandall EQ. I was sweeping it around & playing brief riffs with different frequencies cut and boosted - some of which a producer would never allow - and all confirming to me the great creative power of this EQ.

Throughout my tests, I had the G-Spring tank plugged in and was turning it on and off throughout my tests. Not surprisingly, tweaking/boosting the mids enabled me to 'find' more drip for different riffs on different pickups.

It also played nicely with my Strymon Flint harmonic trem, and/or its 70s / 80s reverb sims (instant spaghetti Western). The Bax Bangeetar practically begs me to play with EQ, use my ears, and get musically creative with the frequencies.

I believe that every guitar would benefit differently from the Bax Bangeetar, the way it preserves (but lets you mess with) your tone. In these first tests on three different guitars and a P-bass, I am very happy with the tones I wrought.

And, of course, it does crushing distortion very well. I had to use my semihollowbody (strung with flats!!!) to see what it can do with humbuckers... but even with flats, wow! I was not disappointed in the articulate range of gain, from 'barely there' to 'oh-my-gosh-is-the-amp-on-fire.'

So, the world's first surf-oriented review of the Orange Bax Bangeetar comes to a close with me saying, "I tried it. I liked it. Can't wait to re-record some tracks on my surf EP!"

Sorry I haven't shared photos or sound samples, but I hope these impressions help someone find a tonal solution that they might understandably overlook.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2017 16:09:06

Update: the Bax Bangeetar pedal from Orange Amps is definitely a keeper.

While its clean tones (from the lowest range of the Drive control) may not do the same Fender-in-a-box trick as the Tech 21 Blonde, it's definitely got a voicing that I can use for recording or live performances...

...from "pretty much clean" to "very articulate dirt where I can still totally hear the character of this Jaguar's single coils."

Somewhere in this continuum is a tone that reminds me of the Venture's lead guitar on "Diamond Head."

It also excels at dirtier (and then much dirtier) voices. I'm glad I recorded some demos of the dirt, too, along with all my clean surf explorations, because the sheer variety coming from this pedal regaled me on this morning's one-hour commute.

The parametric mids are icing on the cake. In some of my demo recordings, I'd widen the Q and sweep the mids while boosted, playing on an open string the whole time, to hear the very musical-sounding mid-boost applied to different frequencies within my familiar tone(s).

Then, I did tests of sweeping a mid-CUT (with narrower Q) on some very dirty riffs, and got mid-scooped sounds that instantly reminded me of everything from "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" rhythm guitar to some of the many muscular tones I remember from Alice In Chains' "Dirt" album.

I was happy to find that surf and beyond can be played via this somewhat unlikely pedal.

Out of curiosity, even though I am pretty much a home-recording-surf-guitarist only... has anyone ever used a real Orange amp for surf? I'd imagine it's not the go-to amp, but maybe the cleans would work, depending on model and cabinet choice. (If I've learned anything on this site, it's "there are no surf absolutes.")

Last edited: Jul 19, 2017 15:26:54