NAD: Orange Terror Bass 500 v2, first impressions

[lildrgn]

Nothing special, nothing new, but still exciting! Thanks to band funds from some gigs and the want for new gear, I started going down the rabbit hole. You may have seen my posts about Ashdown and asking questions about Mesa, but ultimately, I fell in love with what Orange had to offer, specifically with the Terror Bass 500.

Sound samples on YT and some basic familiarity with it, as well as the awesome Official Orange Club II thread here, really got me more and more interested in it, so I pulled the trigger last week.

Fast forward to today and it arrived a whole day early. I didn't have a speakon cable, so I hit up GC yesterday and found a 5 footer for $40. I have a 3 footer coming from Amazon tomorrow, so I may be taking the 5' one back and looking for a 1/4" to speakon adapter instead.

Anyway, I heeded everyone's advice. Plugged in the cab (212 Avatar, 4ohm, 500w), plugged in the power, hit standby. Freaked out for about 1.5 seconds since the power light didn't come on immediately, but did, so all good.

I had my trusty L1000 reissue plugged directly into the amp. I had the pad switch on because the output of the L1k is so hot, but when I A/B compared the pad on/off, though there was a difference, it wasn't huge.

First impressions of the amp: round and full sound. I tried it clean and then not and messed around with the gain and master volume. Dialed in the low/mid/high to taste and just messed around. I could get super fuzz with gain anywhere past 12 o'clock. I could smooth it out by bringing it back.

I tried with my pedals in front of the amp and it all sounded pretty good. I do have a Spark Booster as well as a Tone Hammer DI and with AGS engaged, it was great. With the SB soloed, also sounded great. BUT, I'm feeling like with the gain turned up and the sound fuzzed, it's like the SB or the AGS circuit are redundant. I will have to do some testing to decide.

I tried the pedals in the effects loop and it seemed louder than in front of the amp. Anytime I'd hit my tuner, there'd be a loud pop, so likely I won't use the effects loop.

Busted out my P bass with flats as well and tried it in the amp and it also sounded very nice.

Compared to my Trace Elliot AH200 GP12 Series 6, it's a way less modern sound. It will be interesting to use the TB500; I've been using that TE for the last 20 years or more. I'm super excited to try it out with the band this week and gigs moving forward.

What a cutie!

 

[Wicked G]

Congratulations on a very nice amp.

I've owned this amp for 3 years now and I can say that it will sound different at band volume compared to bedroom. If it sounds good in the bedroom, it will sound great live. Really tube like.

How are you running your settings? Because in the picture I am seeing a heavy dose of Bass and scooped mids which is a recipe for mud in a band mix with that amp.

 

[lildrgn]

Hey, thanks for the tips. I don't know what the settings were, I was just messing around with them.

 

[sloppy_phil]

Very nice! I'm sure you will enjoy it immensely. If down the line, you want to expand the clean headroom of the amp, you can look into swapping out the 12AX7 for something a little lower gain. But take some time to get to know the amp first before even considering that! I've been rocking a v1 Terror for nearly 7-8 years and @Wicked G is right; this thing sounds pretty different at home versus in a band setting.

I have a smaller class D head, if I need to be *super* modular and light with my gear, but the Terror wins out on tone. It's a pretty stripped down amp, and has a couple odd quirks, but man does it deliver the goods sonically!

 

[lildrgn]

I know the manual says to keep the amp in standby for 2 min to warm up the tubes. Is that the best guideline?

I've seen other posts referring to the EQ as a Fender tone stack. I'm understanding to mean that when the Mids are set all the way clockwise (dimed), that that means it is flat. And then adjust bass and treble to taste. Do I have that right?

 

[rtslinger]

congrats on the new rig

 

[Lammchop93]

I know the manual says to keep the amp in standby for 2 min to warm up the tubes. Is that the best guideline?

I've seen other posts referring to the EQ as a Fender tone stack. I'm understanding to mean that when the Mids are set all the way clockwise (dimed), that that means it is flat. And then adjust bass and treble to taste. Do I have that right?

yes, mids maxed and bass and treble all the way down is "flat"

 

[CallMeAl]

Awesome enjoy!

I had not really considered orange for bass, but recent I've been playing lots of guitar which opened me up to the brand. I've only tried the crush combos, but they're super cool!

 

[Wicked G]

I know the manual says to keep the amp in standby for 2 min to warm up the tubes. Is that the best guideline?

I've seen other posts referring to the EQ as a Fender tone stack. I'm understanding to mean that when the Mids are set all the way clockwise (dimed), that that means it is flat. And then adjust bass and treble to taste. Do I have that right?

Pretty close to flat. Set it there to begin and then use your ears to find your tone. I'm currently running Treble at 11:00, Mids at 3:00, Bass at 9:00, Gain at about 10:00 depending on bass with the Clean switch on and the active pad off except with the G&L M2000's.

Those setting with EBMM Stingray Special HH's or Fender Jazz Basses sound incredible. My Gain is set at 9:00 with the G&L's because they are just too hot.

 

[Wasnex]

The tone stack should be basically the same layout as the Fender TMB, but the values of the components are a bit different. Actually Fender used some different values as well.

Changing the component values has an impact on the overall tone and how the controls respond to adjustment. It also impacts how much the controls interact with each other.

Nominal flat is most likely Mids just a bit below max, Treble almost off, Bass slightly higher than Treble.

Here is a post I made awhile back: Orange terror bass owners! I set up an online tone stack model with the BT500 Mk1 component values. The link is available in the post so you can play with it. I also posted some images with various tone stack settings.

The Mk2 preamp is a bit different, but I think it's probably close enough so that playing with the online tone stack calculator will help you understand how it works a bit better.

People often describe the Mid control a cut only. This is a bit misleading. If you have the Bass and Treble controls fully CCW and turn up the Mid control, it definitely has an impact. Play with the tone stack and see for yourself.

If you want to be pedantic, then all of the controls are cut only, as the output of a Fender tone stack is always less than the input.

 

[scuzzy]

I have the v1, it is a fantastic sounding amp. I've been going direct only for years now, so I've been trying to sell, but no takers. Not really bothered, as it is awesome and don't mind hanging on to it.

Play it in good health! Such an underrated amp.

 

[lildrgn]

Pretty close to flat. Set it there to begin and then use your ears to find your tone. I'm currently running Treble at 11:00, Mids at 3:00, Bass at 9:00, Gain at about 10:00 depending on bass with the Clean switch on and the active pad off except with the G&L M2000's.

Those setting with EBMM Stingray Special HH's or Fender Jazz Basses sound incredible. My Gain is set at 9:00 with the G&L's because they are just too hot.

+1 re the G&Ls. I have 2 (L1000 and SB2) and both are hot like the sun. And it literally wasn't until about last week that I realized I could use the active input on my old TE head to make the PUPs less hot and buzzy. Just now, was noodling around on the SB2 and at basement volumes, the tone pot on the bass off, the amp set at T 10:00/ M dimed/ B 9:30, clean off, pad on, and wow, sounded soo good.

 

[lildrgn]

ok, spent some time dinking around with the amp today and heard what I thought was a fan? But I didn't feel any air coming out of the unit, but I did hear this sound, which was sort of like what you might hear as a toilet tank fills. Let's see if you can hear it. Is this normal?

 

[SLPimp]

I've been tracking in the studio for three days with my TB500 and it sits so well in the mix. Live too. It's a little dark, but rips. Enjoy.

 

[scuzzy]

ok, spent some time dinking around with the amp today and heard what I thought was a fan? But I didn't feel any air coming out of the unit, but I did hear this sound, which was sort of like what you might hear as a toilet tank fills. Let's see if you can hear it. Is this normal?

My version 1 definitely has a fan. I'd be shocked if yours doesn't.

 

[WestyBassBob]

Love the form factor. It looks like a welder!

I would love to buy an orange amp but their price points just don't compare with other brands. But I'm glad to hear it may be worth it. Perhaps it's time to sell some pedals and upgrade?

 

[aproud1]

Nothing special, nothing new, but still exciting! Thanks to band funds from some gigs and the want for new gear, I started going down the rabbit hole. You may have seen my posts about Ashdown and asking questions about Mesa, but ultimately, I fell in love with what Orange had to offer, specifically with the Terror Bass 500.

Sound samples on YT and some basic familiarity with it, as well as the awesome Official Orange Club II thread here, really got me more and more interested in it, so I pulled the trigger last week.

Fast forward to today and it arrived a whole day early. I didn't have a speakon cable, so I hit up GC yesterday and found a 5 footer for $40. I have a 3 footer coming from Amazon tomorrow, so I may be taking the 5' one back and looking for a 1/4" to speakon adapter instead.

Anyway, I heeded everyone's advice. Plugged in the cab (212 Avatar, 4ohm, 500w), plugged in the power, hit standby. Freaked out for about 1.5 seconds since the power light didn't come on immediately, but did, so all good.

I had my trusty L1000 reissue plugged directly into the amp. I had the pad switch on because the output of the L1k is so hot, but when I A/B compared the pad on/off, though there was a difference, it wasn't huge.

First impressions of the amp: round and full sound. I tried it clean and then not and messed around with the gain and master volume. Dialed in the low/mid/high to taste and just messed around. I could get super fuzz with gain anywhere past 12 o'clock. I could smooth it out by bringing it back.

I tried with my pedals in front of the amp and it all sounded pretty good. I do have a Spark Booster as well as a Tone Hammer DI and with AGS engaged, it was great. With the SB soloed, also sounded great. BUT, I'm feeling like with the gain turned up and the sound fuzzed, it's like the SB or the AGS circuit are redundant. I will have to do some testing to decide.

I tried the pedals in the effects loop and it seemed louder than in front of the amp. Anytime I'd hit my tuner, there'd be a loud pop, so likely I won't use the effects loop.

Busted out my P bass with flats as well and tried it in the amp and it also sounded very nice.

Compared to my Trace Elliot AH200 GP12 Series 6, it's a way less modern sound. It will be interesting to use the TB500; I've been using that TE for the last 20 years or more. I'm super excited to try it out with the band this week and gigs moving forward.

View attachment 4834025
What a cutie!

Glad you got it. Hope you enjoy! One of my favorite things about this amp is the front end actually does feel and react like a tube amp more so than most other modern Amps (imo of course). I like to set my gain just before it gets dirty and when I get into a solo or the band ramps up the dynamics I can dig in and get that grit. Let's me pop out of the mix a bit and the preamp does compress a bit. Just perfect.

As @Wicked G said, this will sound different with a band. My two current groups love my TB500. They usually don't say too much about it.

Fan is on the right side of the amp above the effects loop

 

[lildrgn]

Ok, dinked around with it today at home. Took the casing off, reseated the tubes, wiped off the dust. After screwing it back together, got some sympathetic vibrations when playing the high G on the E string (above the 12th fret). I took the case apart again and reseated things again. That seemed to fix it, but would still get an occasional vibration. Luckily, I rarely venture to that high G, so we'll see how it goes.

No more weird whine today either. Go figure.

Had band practice tonight. Took the Orange TB and planned on using it with my Avatar 210 via speakon. Luckily, with the impedance switch, I was all set as the cab is 8ohm. A flip of the switch and I was good to go.

I don't have the settings off the top of my head, but I did have gain past 12, volume maybe around 9-10ish. Mids dimed, treble and bass adjusted to taste. Had my Tone Hammer engaged, with AGS on. Would use Spark Booster and other pedals as needed.

In this band, I usually play my T-Bird, but tonight brought the L1K. It took me a few songs to figure out how loud I needed to be; my drummer is a loud hitter and my guitarist uses 2 amps, running in stereo.

I think the amp performed admirably. It was plenty loud and aggressive and even more so with the pedals in front of it. With the 210, it was mids forward, and I thought there was plenty of bottom end to go around. I did not have OMG engaged on the bass and I rolled bass back a bit on the tone knob. I kept looking back at the amp because it was shimming a little. I will have to invest in some drawer liner to lock that baby down.

Only oops was when I was tearing down. After turning it off and pulling my cables out, I realized the amp was in standby still when I pulled the power cord out. Hopefully that's not a big deal, I'll test 'er out again tomorrow.

Overall, I am uber pleased with this little Bass Terror amp. Gives me a whole new sound to learn and love. Can't wait to play it even more!

 

[aproud1]

Ok, dinked around with it today at home. Took the casing off, reseated the tubes, wiped off the dust. After screwing it back together, got some sympathetic vibrations when playing the high G on the E string (above the 12th fret). I took the case apart again and reseated things again. That seemed to fix it, but would still get an occasional vibration. Luckily, I rarely venture to that high G, so we'll see how it goes.

No more weird whine today either. Go figure.

Had band practice tonight. Took the Orange TB and planned on using it with my Avatar 210 via speakon. Luckily, with the impedance switch, I was all set as the cab is 8ohm. A flip of the switch and I was good to go.

I don't have the settings off the top of my head, but I did have gain past 12, volume maybe around 9-10ish. Mids dimed, treble and bass adjusted to taste. Had my Tone Hammer engaged, with AGS on. Would use Spark Booster and other pedals as needed.

In this band, I usually play my T-Bird, but tonight brought the L1K. It took me a few songs to figure out how loud I needed to be; my drummer is a loud hitter and my guitarist uses 2 amps, running in stereo.

I think the amp performed admirably. It was plenty loud and aggressive and even more so with the pedals in front of it. With the 210, it was mids forward, and I thought there was plenty of bottom end to go around. I did not have OMG engaged on the bass and I rolled bass back a bit on the tone knob. I kept looking back at the amp because it was shimming a little. I will have to invest in some drawer liner to lock that baby down.

Only oops was when I was tearing down. After turning it off and pulling my cables out, I realized the amp was in standby still when I pulled the power cord out. Hopefully that's not a big deal, I'll test 'er out again tomorrow.

Overall, I am uber pleased with this little Bass Terror amp. Gives me a whole new sound to learn and love. Can't wait to play it even more!

glad you're enjoying the amp.

My V1 had thin pieces of weather stripping on the vented cover where it contacted the body of the amp. Guessing the V2 should have the same. Might want to check that if you're still getting vibes.

 

[John Krakenski]

Hi all! I have one simple question- how does Orange tb500 V2 compress the sound? I like only sligh compression in my sound for saving more dynamics, so Im curious if it brings some natural compression that could be enough for my needs. Or do you advise to use another compressor in signal chain?