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Official Orange Club II
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
I'm back in the club got a version 2 terror bass head and an obc112. Former owner of a pics only 72 OR120 (never should have sold), Ad200, obc115, obc410, bax bangeetar, etc.
My question is the V2 terror bass is super super clean. I can't get any distortion even with the gain cranked, has anyone tried putting a 12AX7 in the place of the 12AT7? Will that give me more breakup? I have the clean switch off btw.
My question is the V2 terror bass is super super clean. I can't get any distortion even with the gain cranked, has anyone tried putting a 12AX7 in the place of the 12AT7? Will that give me more breakup? I have the clean switch off btw.
I sure haven't had any trouble getting distortion with mine. Starts with the gain around 10 o' clock and gets heavier from there.
Maybe you already know this, but just in case:
Something that fooled me at 1st about my Terror bass amp, was not realizing that the Gain & Master Volume knobs are located in reversed locations of most other amps...
maybe this is it! I will try switching them around and see if that does it. I'm guessing that is it. Thank u!!!
also I just really love this combo, the terror bass sounds great and that obc112 is so dang light and sounds wonderful. Very happy dude here
Anybody have a chance to compare the OBC112 to the older OBC210 mini? I'm looking to buy one or the other to pair with a Terror Bass I'm also about to pick up. I'm wondering about tone and volume differences. I might be tempted to go with the 210 if it sounds as good and gets louder than the single 112, since if I got the 112, I bet i'd eventually be tempted to get a second. Then I'd be spending more and schlepping more pieces, even though they are quite light.
Another way to phrase the question: which would you recommend for the person who only wants to deal with a single cab if possible?
Another way to phrase the question: which would you recommend for the person who only wants to deal with a single cab if possible?
I played my first gig with a new Terror Bass (v2) last night, using two 8-ohm Markbass NY121 cabs and the amp set at 4 ohms. It was a smaller bar with vocals only in the PA and a rather loud band with two guitars (Fender Super Reverb and Vox AC30) cranked and the drummer doing his best to keep up. I was using a passive Fender Jazz strung with rounds, finger-style only, playing a wide variety of rock music from the 60s to today.
At 4 ohms with two 12" speakers and both the volume and drive controls set at 12 o'clock or slightly higher, the Terror Bass largely delivered what I was looking for from this amp. I've been happily using a Markbass CMD121P for eleven years now but wanted to try something different, and the Orange definitely is that. I started with the v2's clean channel but quickly switched over; treble and bass ended up set at 11 and mids at 2. The tone brought up vague memories from long ago of pushing an old Fender Bassman hard, lots of glorious mids and sustain, overdriven but not (yet) breaking up. There was and is a whole lot to like and I'm very happy with my purchase thus far. That said...
The Terrror Bass likely wouldn't satisfy anyone looking a lot of clean headroom or clarity, and it's no ten-pound SVT either (I used to own one). My Markbass LMII combo amp with the same setup would deliver a louder clean sound, I'm sure, and I suspect those who slap (I don't ) might well find the Orange lacking. I haven't tried running it with one cab at 8 ohms, but I doubt that would be as useful to me as my 8-ohm Markbass combo has been in varied settings over the years.
Not to suggest that the Terror Bass is a one-trick pony (it's not), but it won't be everyone's cup of tea either.
At 4 ohms with two 12" speakers and both the volume and drive controls set at 12 o'clock or slightly higher, the Terror Bass largely delivered what I was looking for from this amp. I've been happily using a Markbass CMD121P for eleven years now but wanted to try something different, and the Orange definitely is that. I started with the v2's clean channel but quickly switched over; treble and bass ended up set at 11 and mids at 2. The tone brought up vague memories from long ago of pushing an old Fender Bassman hard, lots of glorious mids and sustain, overdriven but not (yet) breaking up. There was and is a whole lot to like and I'm very happy with my purchase thus far. That said...
The Terrror Bass likely wouldn't satisfy anyone looking a lot of clean headroom or clarity, and it's no ten-pound SVT either (I used to own one). My Markbass LMII combo amp with the same setup would deliver a louder clean sound, I'm sure, and I suspect those who slap (I don't ) might well find the Orange lacking. I haven't tried running it with one cab at 8 ohms, but I doubt that would be as useful to me as my 8-ohm Markbass combo has been in varied settings over the years.
Not to suggest that the Terror Bass is a one-trick pony (it's not), but it won't be everyone's cup of tea either.
Great review! Definitely agree about it not being everyone's cup of tea.
I slap but not in a Marcus kind of way. Just to accentuate or push a different sound or feel. I find that the Orange gives me nice compression when I do this and just in general. I really like the feel of the amp. And to me it's kind of like a P Bass. Sounds decent on it's own but has some magic in a mix.
I bet that was loud! For the last few gigs, I've been using it with one OBC-112. Plenty of juice for what we're doing. Great amp.
ok had another gig with the terror bass v2, and i still can't get it into all our distortion territory. i tried cranking gain and adjust master volume, then i tried cranking master volume and adjusting gain.
with gain cranked i get a little breakup but not much. Pad and clean are in the DOWN position. It was lower volume and cleaner with both in the UP position.
my bass (71 musicmaster) is very low output, like VERY low, so i'm guessing that is it. not a big deal.
my last question is does anyone know if the non-12AX7 tube is part of the preamp? or is it just the phase inverter/effects loop? if the latter then i'm not gonna mess with it, but if it's part of the preamp, i might try throwing a 12AX7 in there and seeing if it will drive more.
with gain cranked i get a little breakup but not much. Pad and clean are in the DOWN position. It was lower volume and cleaner with both in the UP position.
my bass (71 musicmaster) is very low output, like VERY low, so i'm guessing that is it. not a big deal.
my last question is does anyone know if the non-12AX7 tube is part of the preamp? or is it just the phase inverter/effects loop? if the latter then i'm not gonna mess with it, but if it's part of the preamp, i might try throwing a 12AX7 in there and seeing if it will drive more.
I find the Terror Bass v2 to have more than enough distortion for a mostly normal, still well-defined bass tone but with a ballsier, overdriven attack, so I think it probably depends on what you're after. I wasn't looking for "all out distortion", but I think I could've gotten there if I'd wanted to. You may be correct that your '71 Musicmaster could be an issue. I've have no issues getting my Jazz or Ric 4003S to sound as dirty as I care for.
Down, up.....
Whatever the case, make sure you ain't padding the input if you want distortion
Whatever the case, make sure you ain't padding the input if you want distortion
From my understanding, the second tube does not impact the preamp, so changing it out is unlikely to impact the gain. Not all 12AX7s have the same breakup point, so definitely try a couple different ones to see if any break up sooner than the current one in there.
Is there any chance of playing another bass through the amp at similar volumes? It could well be the fact your bass is very low output, but it would be nice to be able to confirm what a "standard" output bass is capable of making the amp do
It's the only axe I got and it's confirmed low output. I have a mixer I use for night time practice and I have the volume pot maxed on it where on my fender jazz it was at half or lower.
Ok so yes, it really does sound like a case of you just aren't slamming the pre-amp hard enough. You could possibly look into an EQ or compressor pedal to put in front of the amp as a way to boost the signal going into it. Assuming you are looking for distortion from the amp, as opposed to say a distortion pedal. Because that would be the quickest way to get you to a broken up tone, for sure!
Get the cheapest Spark Booster pedal, or something similar, to boost the output. Somebody else said this, but didn't reply to you directly.
I just picked myself up a Terror V2. I'm coming from the combo world, so I don't actually own any cabs. None of the cabs Orange currently makes appeal to me, as most are too heavy. I know the OBC112 exists, but I'm not interested in doing the modular 12 inch cab thing (been there done that, find it easier to just have a single larger cab of moderate weight) I'm hoping for a 210 or 115 close to 40 lbs or below. I was looking at the Ashdown neo cabs, but almost nobody on talkbass ever mentions them.
anybody have any opinions on non-Orange brand cabs that pair really nicely with Orange amps?
anybody have any opinions on non-Orange brand cabs that pair really nicely with Orange amps?
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Bergantino NXT212 goes great with my AD200. I'd imagine it would do the same with the Terror.
