I like the Tiny Terror

ICBM

I don't "hate" the Tiny Terror, but I'm not a fan of its sound. I find it middy, muddy, and lacking clean headroom, dynamics, depth and sparkle. (ie it's not a Fender, basically .) There isn't a point on the tone control which sounds open and clear even with the gain right down. But this sort of sound seems to suit a lot of people, so if it works for you…

I would say it's built pretty well - they very rarely fail, other than for blown power valves because as usual with EL84 amps it's biased a bit too hot, and for broken switches because the physical design makes them a bit vulnerable to being bashed. (I still think a plywood 'sleeve' is the better way to enclose an amp.)

The hard-wired version is surprisingly quite a lot better-sounding - normally I would say that there isn't much difference between PCB and 'hand wiring', but I think the answer is that the HW version uses much high-quality components, rather than just mounting the same ones on tag strips. It's definitely clearer and more dynamic.

I don't like the Dark or the Dual at all, both of them sound even more muddy and congested than the normal one, to me.

And (I know it's a totally different amp really… but some people do confuse them) don't get me started on the Micro Terror . Suffice to say I think it's literally the worst-sounding amp I've ever heard. Absolutely hateful thing.

TTBZ

ICBM said:

I don't "hate" the Tiny Terror, but I'm not a fan of its sound. I find it middy, muddy, and lacking clean headroom, dynamics, depth and sparkle. (ie it's not a Fender, basically .) There isn't a point on the tone control which sounds open and clear even with the gain right down. But this sort of sound seems to suit a lot of people, so if it works for you…

That's kind of the high gain Orange sound though isn't it? That's the impression I've always had at least - great stoner rock amps due to their built in fuzziness. Could be wrong though, I've not played many that's mostly from watching YT demos.

ICBM

TTBZ said:

That's kind of the high gain Orange sound though isn't it? That's the impression I've always had at least - great stoner rock amps due to their built in fuzziness. Could be wrong though, I've not played many that's mostly from watching YT demos.

I suppose so, although I've always associated that genre more with huge, bassy-sounding amps like old Ampegs and Sunns. Orange do make amps like that - the big ones. I could easily be wrong though, since I'm not really a stoner rock fan...

To be honest I don't like any of Orange's EL84 amps, they all sound congested to some degree or other to me. The EL34 ones are a very different thing - even the Rocker 30, which is cathode-biased and relatively low-powered, still sounds great - far better than the AD30 or even the Thunder 30.

Sassafras

Whenever I've come across those middy, muddy congested amps that seem so popular these days, I stick an AMT F1 preamp in front to bring back a bit openness and sparkle to the sound. Works a treat.
Never tried it in front of a Micro Terror because I think they're beyond help.

Cabicular

I liked the TT but only at volume and through a 4x12
i gigged a couple for a few years when I was doing the chillis stuff
Locals will know what I mean when I say they are very 'whistlebinkies' friendly
I had mine set pretty clean though
volume maxed out gain at about 10/11
Good compressor in front and it was fantastic

Cabicular

This is just a camera mic at a sound check but it sounds pretty nice to me

Cabicular

I fkin loved that band
it was Chaos but pretty tight

chromatuna

miserneil said:

I've got one of the first ones they made, I love it! I run mine through a Matchless 4x10 cab with aged greenbacks and it sounds superb. I set it to just breaking up and use the volume on the guitar to clean it up. I used it Wednesday night at rehearsal and we had a conversation about how much money I'd spent on 'boutique' amps over the years (Lazy J, Matchless, Bad Cat, Top Hat etc) and how much the Terror cost and the fact that it's seen most of them off. I don't get the hate for them at all.

Interesting the 'first ones made' part. I had / have a very early one which is the one my son has and is 120 miles away and I decided at some point that I wanted my own at home again and picked up another used, it didn't sound at all the same or as good even when I had the two together and  swapped all the valves from amp A to amp B. Odd and suffice to say the second one was sold. I think I may just have to buy my son something else and retrieve mine :-)

IvisonGuitars

Didn't they change the country of production early on too?

I run the master flat out on mine and it's glorious.

chromatuna

I think they did, there were a run of dodgy transformers too I think. I would describe the difference being that the one I like is more open and chimey, the second one I had for a while lacking those qualities, a bit 'meh' and definitely having some of the congested quality that @ICBM mentions.

riffpowers

My 2 favourite Amps are the tiny terror (I had the hard wired) and the jcm800 .

zepp76

I bought a Tiny Terror a few years ago and it's just been sat in the back of my cupboard since! I tried it for an hour or two when I got it and just felt a bit underwhelmed, is there a drive/boost pedal that pairs well with it that will give it a bit more oomph? 

John_A

Cabicular said:

I fkin loved that band
it was Chaos but pretty tight

That sounds great!  

timmysoft

Took the terror for a little trip out today, it was playing quite happily alongside friedmans and fenders.

sounded absolutely devastating through the Friedman ported 212 with creambacks. 

-NFM-

I used to have a Tiny Terror as a broke student & after selling it when moving city, I recently bought a used one - partly nostalgia, and also I like the tone for certain things (although I agree it doesn't have the greatest dynamics and can be a bit mid heavy due to the tone stack control). I've always liked the simplicity & literal ruggedness of them too - as someone else pointed out, they're really solidly built little amps; although they definitely do tax the power amp tubes a bit! If I was actually going to gig with something from Orange though, I think I'd probably sway towards the Jim Root Dark Terror.

zepp76 said:

I bought a Tiny Terror a few years ago and it's just been sat in the back of my cupboard since! I tried it for an hour or two when I got it and just felt a bit underwhelmed, is there a drive/boost pedal that pairs well with it that will give it a bit more oomph? 

TBH thats probably one of the big issues I found with the TT, that it just doesn't have enough headroom for for most drives to sound great & so they don't feel as dynamic. Delays sound decent (so the fast slapback trick to fatten things up might work), but to get a bit more kick out of it I always just go for a Fuzz or Distortion - the more aggressive/spiky sounding the better I reckon (especially as rolling back on the guitar's volume will soften the edges on an aggressive fuzz but keep the kick)!

Fez

We played a multi band thing back in February and three of the bands played through the same rig which was a TT & a 2X12 Cab. The first band sounded sh1te then the second band the lad set it clean plugged his small pedalboard in (all boss pedals a blues driver, chorus, flanger and I think a SD1) and he sounded fantastic. The third band I didn't get to see their rig so closely but they sounded pretty good.

Also one of the lads in my boys band used one at a festival and I said it would.t be very good then had to eat my words 'cos it sounded great in the mix with two Blackstars.

ICBM

Fez said:

it sounded great in the mix with two Blackstars.

That's called 'damning with faint praise'…

ESBlonde

I had one for a year or two as a spare/rehearsal or Jam option and made a 1x10" open back cab to go with it. In the end I concluded it was a one trick pony and since I don't play predominantly rock music it lacked versatility for me and the cleans really didn't cut it.
That said I do see the appeal and had a lot of fun with mine, but I already had several amps and it got sidelined and traded.

Fez

ICBM said:

Fez said:

it sounded great in the mix with two Blackstars.

That's called 'damning with faint praise'…

Well that depends on whether you like Blackstars or not. For metal I think they are great amps (the valve amps that is).

timmysoft

I've been recording a few demos with my TTC through wall of sound, absolutely chuffed with the results. Lightly boosted with an OCD it's just a very good rock tone.