Orange terror bass owners!

[Breadfan75]

Well I'm the proud owner of a brand spankin' new terror bass. Gave her a test drive last night at our New Years jam and I have some mixed feelings. First and foremost I'm a man of simplicity, a total sucker for an amp with a bare bones interface. I don't need a 100 band eq to tweak on between every song so the TB checks that box. Not to mention that preamp circuit could likely bring upon a biblical apocalypse at the right volume, the grit on this amp is incredible. However, I don't know if it was the 3 year old heavily played strings, the incredibly muddy pickups in my epiphone eb3 or the two 70's 15" cerwin Vega 1508's I was driving but I could NOT get a tone that cut through. I had the treble and mid dimed with the bass at zero and it still sounded like I was playing from the bottom of a swamp. Now, the weekend before I was running the same setup except with an ashdown head I borrowed from a fellow bassist and didn't have a problem cutting through.

so my question to anyone who's owned the terror bass, have you had similar issues? Has anyone here played a bone stock epi eb3 through one? And would a string replacement give me some noticeable brightness? These elixirs are so nicely broken in from 2 years of gigging they feel like butter and honestly I can't stand the feeling of fresh rounds but I'd deal with it for some more high end

 

[Wasnex]

I suggest you start with the Middle control maxed out, the Treble off or almost off, and the Bass somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00.

The tone stack is very close to a Fender tone stack, and it's not really possible to get a mid boost with the selected component values. It's very easy to get a mid-scoop.


I set up this Tone Stack Calculator with the values of the original Terror Bass tone stack. I don't have a schematic for the current production amp, so it may be a bit different: TSC in the web (guitarscience.net)

If you click the link, it should open the Fender TMB tone stack with the original Terror Bass component values.

No idea how accurate this is, but here is the result with Bass 0, Treble 0 Middle maxed out

Here is what happens when you turn the bass up to about 9:00. Treble still off and Middle maxed.

Here is Bass off, a Treble and Middle maxed.

Bass noon, Treble noon, Middle off.

I learned to play through a black face Fender Twin, so this tone stack would probably feel like home to me.

Ampegs typically use a James tone stick. The James tone stack easily does flat and can also do a mid-range boost. Maybe your just not a Fender guy .

 

[anderbass]

I had the same issue with my terror bass until i learned to lower the preamp gain and run more master. Took me awhile to remember that the orientation of the gain & master knobs were reversed too.

 

[Breadfan75]

I suggest you start with the Middle control maxed out, the Treble off or almost off, and the Bass somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00.

The tone stack is very close to a Fender tone stack, and it's not really possible to get a mid boost with the selected component values. It's very easy to get a mid-scoop.


I set up this Tone Stack Calculator with the values of the original Terror Bass tone stack. I don't have a schematic for the current production amp, so it may be a bit different: TSC in the web (guitarscience.net)

If you click the link, it should open the Fender TMB tone stack with the original Terror Bass component values.

No idea how accurate this is, but here is the result with Bass 0, Treble 0 Middle maxed out

View attachment 4526064

Here is what happens when you turn the bass up to about 9:00. Treble still off and Middle maxed.
View attachment 4526066

Here is Bass off, a Treble and Middle maxed.
View attachment 4526067

Bass noon, Treble noon, Middle off.
View attachment 4526071


I learned to play through a black face Fender Twin, so this tone stack would probably feel like home to me.

Ampegs typically use a James tone stick. The James tone stack easily does flat and can also do a mid-range boost. Maybe your just not a Fender guy .

That's some really helpful info thank you! Any yeah I'm definitely not used to this thing yet as we are still in our honey moon phase. Before this I ran acoustics almost exclusively, which is like going from a doctors office to the strip club bathroom in terms of tone. I'll do some more fiddling and see how it sounds with my Hamer explorer when I get done refinishing it. It's a MUCH brighter tone than my Eb3

 

[Wasnex]

That's some really helpful info thank you! Any yeah I'm definitely not used to this thing yet as we are still in our honey moon phase. Before this I ran acoustics almost exclusively, which is like going from a doctors office to the strip club bathroom in terms of tone. I'll do some more fiddling and see how it sounds with my Hamer explorer when I get done refinishing it. It's a MUCH brighter tone than my Eb3

Probably not the right amp if you want a darker tone with heavy low mids. This amp should have a very sweet full range sound, but it's always going to be a bit mid scooped.