Uh Oh: Orange Bass Terror 500 Problem!!

[DosiYanarchy]

Hey guys,

Just under two weeks ago I picked up the Orange Bass Terror, I had markbass LMII before, which i loved, just fancied getting something with a couple of tubes in for a bit more grind.

I bought the BT (bass terror) new and the first thing i noticed is that its one hell of a dark sounding amp. Now I'd seen a few review saying that the EQ isnt hella effective, but that most people were happy with the EQ at noon. the only setting that seems to get the treble response anywhere near what i can get out of pretty much any other amp set flat is:

Treble: Max
Mid: 9 o'clock
Bass: 8 o clock

I thought maybe its just a dark amp, and maybe thats what Orange amps are mean to sound like (within reason, its not like im rocking an AD200 - you get what you pay for)

I used to leave my LMII set flat (VLE and VPF off). I'm not an extreme EQ kinda guy.

The real problem is that I'd been playing the amp fine all today through my Zoot 115, and then thought i'd give my Bronco/Musicmaster bass a whirl.

I flicked the switch to on, straight through standby (not sure if maybe this was my error, but it didnt seem to give me a problem previously, didnt really get why a standby mode was entirely necessary for a 2 tube preamp).

Voila: no sound. The orange Jewel light doesnt work, no sound coming through the preamp - the active/passive light still works, as does the fan, and when i plugged the bass into the effects return, it seems that the poweramp still works.

I left it for about 45 minutes, switching it on occasionally - no joy.

Then I try it again and it works!

Considering ive had the head for just under two weeks, really didnt expect it to crap out so soon. Its working again but part of me suspects that the EQ issue and what happened today are symptoms of a bigger problem with the pre-amp.

I've emailed the seller I bought it from - a reputable UK-based online retailer - and asked them for a full refund/new replacement (this was before I got the amp working again).

I've not tried any other Bass Terrors, but i suspect that it shouldnt sound as dark and muddy as it does.

Is it possible that by not leaving it on standby, I screwed the preamp for a while, and that magically it started working when it fixed itself?? (not likely!) - I thought if that was the case then it should just be broke, and thats it.

Sorry if some of this stuff sounds n00bish - i've been in the FX forum for far too long, got my knowlege up on that stuff but its only now that im starting to think more about amps/cabs (just got a orange Matamp 212 that I've been dying to put the Orange BT through).

So what are your opinions on this? Feel free to suggest one of the following:

a) The amp is dark, and you screwed it by being a n00b and didnt leave it on standby when you should have

b) the amp is faulty, no amp should require such an extreme EQ approach and the preamp problem you experienced also suggests that the preamp is a dud.

c) other [please specify]

[joeydavidson]

Have you seen any of the youtube videos of the terror? - they capture an accurate representation of it's sound, quite dark but still with enough high frequencies to make it sound good, yes it could be that your one has a problem that's making it sound dull.

That stand-by isn't really that nessasary, I think of it as more of a mute button, pre-amp tubes don't really need to be warmed up.

I't supposed to have the same preamp as the ad200 however I had a look at the specs of the ad200 yesterday and the preamp seems to be different and use different tubes so I'm a little confused about that.

[countrybass007]

It sounds like you have a defective pre-amp. I get [lenty of highs out of mine with the treble set at 11 o'clock, mids at noon, and bass at 2 o'clock with my OBC115.

[DosiYanarchy]

Cheers for the replies. Last time I checked, the amp had mysteriously died again.

However the retailers got back to me within two hours...not bad on boxingday. They pretty much said sorry, and that we'd speak more when someone was actually at the store on wednesday.

Cheers Countrybass. Im now convinced that I have a dodgy premap -I did watch a great demo of the bass terror (just rewatched) - a british guy playing a stingray through the Terror and some ashdown cabs - thats the tone I want but not the one Im getting. Obviously the guy is running a stingray through a 410 as well as a 115, but I know that I've got a dud.

The retailers have emailed me twice now, speedy responses and chances are I should be able to sort out a replacement on wednesday.

[DosiYanarchy]

Originally Posted by joeydavidson

I't supposed to have the same preamp as the ad200 however I had a look at the specs of the ad200 yesterday and the preamp seems to be different and use different tubes so I'm a little confused about that.

I heard a rumour that its the same pre amp too - but I hope that AD200 doesnt use unbranded tubes in their heads!!