Orange to launch guitar amp computer

Orange (the one that makes guitar amps, not the one responsible for those cinema ads who also apparently do mobile phones) have announced that they’re going to release a desktop PC guitar amp.

A desktop PC guitar amp? Yes.  For many people, this concept is totally abstract.  For geek musos though, this is a rather genius why-didn’t-I-think-of-that creation, and one which is more than just a tiny bit exciting.  Perhaps the most exciting PC-pop-culture crossover since computer games developer Team 17 released an all-pink Pentium 366 PC to promote the release of their legendary game Worms 2 back in 1997.

If you’ve not come across Orange before, then here’s a quick overview: they’re a British guitar amp maker who believe in pure tone and seem to put fairy dust into every amp they make.  The amps are renowned for their authentic soulful sound and have stood proud behind the likes of Jimmy Page, PJ Harvey, Prince, The Cure and Weezer.

So now you can understand why the notion of Orange building a high spec PC into one of their amps is exciting people.  The specs are formidable too: 4 GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, an Intel chipset, 8 USB ports, a GeForce graphics card, Windows 7 x64 and a dedicated sound board integrated into the amp itself to allow all manner of instruments to be plugged in and amplified.  The amp will also come with built in modelling and recording software for musicians to quickly start recording the beautiful creations that their orange cabinet inspires.  The picture of the back of the unit looks promising, with various video outputs, a WIFI aerial and a massive fan to keep everything cool but quiet.

The Orange PC amplifier (OPC) is due out in June, so no word on pricing or core processor specs yet, but suffice it to say that several people here at Creative Boom are VERY keen on getting their hands on one.  Or two.

Check out the Orange website here.  Be nice, they make amps much better than they build websites.