ORANGE AMPS
TWO STROKE
REVIEW BY YOEL KREISLER
STREET PRICE $179.00
Many of us are guilty of
criminally overlooking
incredibly important (but
also incredibly boring) parts
of our tone; cables, picks,
and tuners being the main
culprits. But there is one
part of our rigs that can be
almost too complicated, too
confusing, or too artificial to
ever bother with, and that
is the EQ pedal. We are all
used to EQ on our amps
and basic versions on our
drives and distortions, and
so a dedicated EQ pedal
may seem redundant for
some. Admittedly, I have
never delved into the cave
of EQ pedals, as I usually
like to keep my EQ postproduction. I too thought
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GEAR REVIEW
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that the EQ was a waste
of space and time, until I
played the Two Stroke.
Designed by the hallowed
amp makers Orange
Amplification in Britain,
this incredibly warm and
versatile EQ won my heart
over with its plethora of
tone-shaping options. It’s
incredibly hefty and solid,
and it feels not only like a
serious piece of gear, but
a stout tone tool that is
made to survive the rigors
of the road. I was initially
intrigued by the control
name choices on this pedal,
namely the “Oil” label for
the clean boost setting,
which adds a cool touch as
it makes it feel a little more
Orange Amps Two Stroke
unique. On the front there’s
a standard footswitch
and a roller bar to protect
your carefully tweaked
settings, something I am
seeing a lot from pedal
manufacturers these days.
Aside from the (clean boost)
“Oil” knob, there are four
others: Highs, Lows, High
Mids (850Hz-8.5kHz), and
Low Mids (120Hz-1.2kHz).
Everyone knows about the
all-important midrange in a
guitar signal, and Orange
has taken special care to
tweak these frequency
bands to match the ones
the guitar “breathes” in.
However, some pedals
that voice their EQs for
guitar frequencies can