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Official Orange Club II

#1,801
sloppy_phil said:
I could be sorely mistaken, but my understanding is that the v2 Terror does *not* use that particular tone stack; what you describe is the v1. As @aproud1 was saying, the newer Terrors have an EQ that actually cuts and boosts all bands.

I use a v1 Terror still, and yes, swapping tubes definitely made a difference. I wanted a bit more room to play with from the Gain knob's "edge-of-breakup" territory, so put a 5751 in v1; only about 70% of the gain as a 12AX7, so added more clean and clean-ish headroom. And it was nearly 10yrs ago, but I got me one of those head cases as well. Though I needed a different colour scheme to "match" the look... (orange and yellow. Yum.)

View attachment 4828464
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The ad copy for the terror says it does. Directly from oranges website:

“The preamp section of the Terror Bass is the same valve design as used in the flagship Orange bass amp, the AD200. Just like its all-valve bigger brother, the Terror Bass is a classic, uncomplicated amplifier, designed to give you the best tone.”

and

“The Terror Bass is back and it sounds better than ever. With a valve preamp and a 500W Class D solid state power amp, the all-new Terror Bass sounds closer to our flagship AD200 than ever before.

Though the circuit is completely new, the Terror Bass retains the control layout from the original amp, with the addition of a Clean switch. This reduces gain and smoothes the top-end, giving this super-simple amp an even greater range of tones than its predecessor. ”

Sounds to me like it’s the same preamp with a couple tweaks, but I guess that depends on how you interpret the “completely new” circuit part in light of the other bits. I would hope that refers to their class D power amp design given the flaws of the original.

As usual for orange the manual is of no help in this case.
 
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#1,802
Flatwound said:
I emailed Orange and asked them this question. They said it would be OK, and I’ve used my TB500 as a preamp/direct box several times without a speaker connected. I feel comfortable with it, but I’m not telling you what to do.

If you really want to try it, you could email Orange customer service like I did. Mine is the current generation, if that makes any difference.
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Interesting. I personally have no desire to do this but was responding to the OP. The TB500 -> 2xOBC112 mini stack is such a fantastic combination I’ve not been compelled to run the head any other way. I can also get pretty close to replicating that sound with the POD Go so I’m covered for silent stage or recording/re-amping situations too.

The manual could be more clear IMO. Underlines added for emphasis.

There is this:
“Terminals labelled as “Speaker Outputs” must be connected to a speaker cabinet of the designated load rating using an un-shielded two conductor cable for speaker use at all times during operation.”

and this:
“
SPEAKER OUTPUTS:
Make sure the correct speaker load is connected at all times during operation in one of the following configurations:
• 1 x 8 Ohm cabinet – Use either speaker output (rear panel).
• 2 x 8 Ohm cabinets – Use both speaker outputs (rear panel).
• 1 x 4 Ohm cabinet – Use either speaker output (rear panel).

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR CONNECTING SPEAKER CABINETS:
• Do not use two speaker cabinets of mismatched impedance!
• Do not connect a speaker load which is less than 4 Ohms!
• Always connect to a speaker cabinet(s) of suitable power handling!
• Only connect speakers using a quality dedicated Speaker cable. Never use an instrument cable!

Failure to observe these points may cause damage to both the amp and cabinet(s).”

But then there’s this in fine print:
“Refer to ‘Before Using Your Amplifier’. Make sure the correct speaker load and power handling is connected or that the DI is connected!”
 
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#1,803
coreyfyfe said:
The ad copy for the terror says it does. Directly from oranges website:

“The preamp section of the Terror Bass is the same valve design as used in the flagship Orange bass amp, the AD200. Just like its all-valve bigger brother, the Terror Bass is a classic, uncomplicated amplifier, designed to give you the best tone.”

and

“The Terror Bass is back and it sounds better than ever. With a valve preamp and a 500W Class D solid state power amp, the all-new Terror Bass sounds closer to our flagship AD200 than ever before.

Though the circuit is completely new, the Terror Bass retains the control layout from the original amp, with the addition of a Clean switch. This reduces gain and smoothes the top-end, giving this super-simple amp an even greater range of tones than its predecessor. ”

Sounds to me like it’s the same preamp with a couple tweaks, but I guess that depends on how you interpret the “completely new” circuit part in light of the other bits. I would hope that refers to their class D power amp design given the flaws of the original.

As usual for orange the manual is of no help in this case.
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Well, that is certainly interesting. Does not correlate to what my ears tell me in the real world when turning the EQ knobs on a v2. FWIW, the manual of the v1 Terror also says that the EQ knobs are for cutting and boosting all the frequencies, which we know to be categorically untrue. So, with Orange anyways, as much as I love their amps, I tend to take what the manuals say with a liberal pinch of salt.
 
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#1,805
New Amp Day!

OrangeCombo.jpg
 
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#1,807
aproud1 said:
How do you like it? A good friend has one but haven’t been over to check it out yet.

I see you still have that 4 stroke. Still annoyed I never picked one up.
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It's a practice amp, though I may use it for an acoustic thing. It's a little mid-forward at first listen. Tomorrow I'll have to fiddle a little more with the tone controls, or maybe hook up my pedalboard. I've got it going directly in. There's a built-in tuner which is a nice feature.
 
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#1,808
Refresh my memory so I don't have to search through 90 plus pages. Can I or can I not run the DI on a TB V2 without the cabinet plugged in?

I know the manual says you cannot, but that someone did in the real world and there were no problems. My issue is if I try to record anything with my DI and have the cabinet plugged in, I can't hear anything in my headphones because the cab is so loud.
 
#1,809
This advice may not apply to you, @lildrgn, since I haven't tried the DI on a v2, but on the v1 the DI is controlled only by the Gain knob; the Volume is fully independent. So you can run the Volume at 0, keep the cab plugged in just for peace of mind, and only get sound from the DI.

I'm pretty sure you are in the clear to run it without plugging in; going over the manual again, there seems to be lots of copy-and-paste going on. There's a huge section in the Terror manual on output tubes, and re-biasing them when replacing... Sounds rather like an AD200 to me.

This would be the first modern Class D amp I've heard of that can't run safely without a speaker load, but hey, maybe it really, truly cannot. I'd be gobsmacked, though.
 
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#1,814
The Great Genius said:
I have been looking at one of these too. But they seem to be lacking low end in nearly all of the videos.

Can anyone confirm whether or not this is true?
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I guess it depends on how you define "low end". For bedroom practice, it's perfect. I'd feel comfortable gigging with this amp in an acoustic format. I don't know if it would hold up against a drummer.
 
#1,815
lildrgn said:
Refresh my memory so I don't have to search through 90 plus pages. Can I or can I not run the DI on a TB V2 without the cabinet plugged in?

I know the manual says you cannot, but that someone did in the real world and there were no problems. My issue is if I try to record anything with my DI and have the cabinet plugged in, I can't hear anything in my headphones because the cab is so loud.
Click to expand...

It's ok to do that.
 
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#1,816
mapleglo said:
I guess it depends on how you define "low end".
Click to expand...

Low end related to its bass weight and output. These amps seem to have a bass thin "midrange-centric" output.

I live in a small apartment, and would only use the speaker at really low volume (used with headphones mainly). Used this way, it may not have any bass at all.

I have been looking at the Blackstar Unity, and BOSS Katana amps as well do to all three employing Class A/B amps.
 
#1,817
I had a Blackstar Unity 500 for a very brief period of time. It was one of those things where it seemed like a great idea on paper but fell short in execution. The novelty of being able to switch between different voicings quickly wore off and the on board effects weren’t that great. I used it in trade towards the Terror Bass head and haven’t looked back. Soooo much more satisfied with the TB and one or two OBC112 cabinets!
 
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