Question about Orange Micro Terror from a new player

[harris11235]

Hi Guys! This is my first post on the HC forums. I respect the knowledge of a lot of you here and I'm hoping you can educate me.

 

I took up guitar a few months ago. My only other experience was a brief stint playing bass in a punk rock garage band 15 years ago. I might as well be brand new to the instrument. Regardless, I'm absorbed with it now and am proud to say I can fumble my way through the intro of Over the Hills and Far Away

 

I bought myself an acoustic-electric and an electric guitar, a Taylor Big Baby E and a 2001 G&L Tribute Legacy Premium in the natural trim with a swamp ash body. Both have been tested and properly set up by a luthier. I also bought an Orange Micro Terror and PP108 cabinet to accompany the G&L.

 

Together, the G&L and the Orange sound like garbage. Really, in almost every configuration. The best it gets is a moderately muddy Oasis-like chime when the knobs are all at 12 o'clock. That actually sounds fairly nice, but it's colored enough that it seems like there's a very present effects pedal in the mix whether I want it there or not.

 

The Taylor REALLY sounds like garbage. I know it's not an acoustic amp, so that's to be expected.

 

I've got two other amps lying around to compare this one to. One is a beat up Roland Cube Street that I used to rock campsites, which died for two years and mysteriously came back to life. The other is a new Fender Frontman 15G, which came from a HSS Squier Strat Pack. Both sound cleaner than the Orange, with the Fender in the lead. I want to like the Orange, but I can't figure out how to get a decently clean tone out of this combination of gear.

 

Am I doing something wrong here, or is this just how the "quintessential Orange sound" sounds? If so, it seems like I might be better suited trading this in for something better suited to the G&L. If that's your opinion, please provide your amp suggestion ($500 max, new or like new, unless that extra few bucks is really worth it). While you're at it, please feel free to suggest your favorite acoustic amp (same criteria).

 

For what it's worth, I'm pretty heavily into audio equipment from a listening standpoint (speakers, amps, turntables, DACs, etc.). I appreciate the qualities of tube sound, though I don't own any tube equipment except for the Orange.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Pine Apple Slim]

You'll never get Fender clean out of it but it does do a nice chimy Brit clean.

but yea, Orange is known for its crunchy rock sounds.

 

try the gain knob very low and crank the master volume, adj tone knob to taste.

 

Also try a reverb pedal or a tiny bit of delay.

 

A bigger speaker more efficient speaker will also fatten and clean up the sound. Try plugging it into a bigger cab sometime.

My MT sounds pretty darn clean and HiFi thru my 1-15" Bass cab.

 

 

they say you can swap the 12AX tube for a 12AU for less preamp gain and more headroom.

 

i play my acoustics thru my MT quite often, but they have magnetic soundhole pickups akin to electric. I don't seem to have much trouble getting most of the dirt out of the tone.

[Pine Apple Slim]

That said, if you can get what your looking for out of the MT, try a Fender Mustang III or a Roland Cube 60 or 90. Those are decent solid state amps with good aproximations of a variety ofclassic amp sounds. Once you have a better understanding of what you like you can invest in a tube amo that will give you that tone.

 

 

[BobF_]

For a small, portable amp that even runs on batteries, check out the Yamaha THR10s. These things are unbelievable - you gotta try them at least!

 

Will work great for electric and A/E both, plus they have a USB port for recording.

 

 

[harris11235]

Thanks a lot for the advice, Pine Apple Slim!

 

I tried the settings you suggested (volume cranked, tested gain between 7-9 o'clock) and the amp did produce a pretty clean sound. The amp was very quiet in the 7-8 o'clock gain positions, and got louder at 9 o'clock. I noticed that at the 9 o'clock position, the sound of my fingers moving on the strings made very loud and sharp sounds compared to the music played.

 

Although the 7-8 gain settings are very quiet, they seem like they'll work well enough for bedroom practice.

 

The Mustang looks like an interesting piece of gear. I take your point about exploring a wide selection of tones before investing in serious equipment meant to produce a specific sonic signature.

[harris11235]

Thanks Bob. That's a very cool looking setup and the reviews are great. Do you use your A/E with it? On which settings? How do the reverb and chorus effects sound? How does the clean channel compare to a "Fender clean"?

 

I came across the Line 6 Amplifi 75 while checking out your suggestion. Any thoughts on this? I'm generally a "one tool for one job" sort of guy, but the marketing copy for this thing has peaked my interest.

[BobF_]

I do use mine with A/E. It is designed for this. In ACO mode it offers some mic models as well. I was really intrigued by the AMPLIFI line, but I'm not an iPerson, so I passed. I understand they've added Windows and Android support, but the moment has passed

 

Best thing you can do is try everything you can manage to get plugged into. All of the effects are nice and the clean is pretty darn good. Here's a youtube that I believe accurately represents the model I have

[YOUTUBE]vWjUVQbHLnM[/YOUTUBE]

[Pine Apple Slim]

Harris, just to be sure we're on the same page I ment something like this. When I looked I realized Orange was calling gain what I called master volume and what I called gain is labeled volume.

 

You can turn the knob on the right almost wide open if the 1st knob is just barely on. This gives you the cleanest sound.

 

 

 

 

 

​

[harris11235]

The more I look into these, the more I like them. Now the only problem is that with the settings that Slim suggested, I'm getting the sort of tone I was searching for with the Orange. I'm sensing the start of a gear collection!

 

So, you have the THR10, not the C or X model, correct?

[harris11235]

Thanks for the clarification, Slim! I had things backward from what your photo shows. This is much more in line with the sound I was hoping to achieve. I was considering swapping the Orange for a modeling amp (which still looks appealing), but now I'm going to have trouble letting go of the Orange!

 

A little vitamin C in my guitar diet couldn't be so bad, right???

[Pine Apple Slim]

You can also swap the single 12AX7 tube for a lower gain 12AU7 for more clean headroom. You'll give up a bit of maximum volume in exchange but the MT is a loud little bugger anyway.

[BobF_]

Yes, I have the 10-no C or X. It seems that the 10C is the most popular with the folks I've talked to. It is supposedly geared more toward "classic" amps. I like the breadth of ground the 10-no C or X covers.

[DeepEnd]

. . . I'm generally a "one tool for one job" sort of guy' date=' . . .[/quote']

Do you mean you'd like to have a single amp for both acoustic and electric? If so, good luck. Acoustic guitars generally sound pretty bad through an amp designed for electric. There are a few amps that claim to be good for both but they're rare. A keyboard or bass amp does a good job with an acoustic guitar and some guitarists use bass cabs with electric guitar heads, the classic being the Fender Bassman cab. You may want to look into a dual channel head with separate EQ controls for both channels and a bass cab, and use the "clean" channel for acoustic and the "lead, drive, etc." channel for electric. In the very likely event that you can't find a suitable amp with separate EQ controls, consider an EQ pedal for the G&L. You say your budget is $500 max. If so, you'll probably need to shop used.

[harris11235]

That's what I would probably choose, too. Thanks again for the input!

[harris11235]

Slim,

 

Just for fun, I picked up a vintage Raytheon 12AU7 to throw in there. I'll let you know how it sounds once it arrives and I've had some time to fiddle with it.

 

 

[harris11235]

DeepEnd,

 

No, to the contrary. I usually believe that the best tools are built for a single, specific purpose ("one tool for one job") and that tools that try to do more than one thing tend not to do anything particularly well. I guess that would be "one tool for many jobs."

 

However, thanks for your response. I learned something from it.

 

It's my understanding that electric guitar amps only contain woofers and acoustic guitar amps contain woofers and tweeters, which allow them to produce a wider dynamic range that more accurately represents the full tone of the instrument.

 

Assuming the previous paragraph is correct, a unit like Bob suggested (or that Line6 Amplifi) is built with multiple speakers that offer a wider dynamic range than a traditional electric guitar amp. In the case of the Line6, it looks like the speaker configuration is geared as much toward audio playback as it is toward amping a guitar. With the wider dynamic range, it would seem like those amps would be better at reproducing the sounds of both electric guitars and acoustic guitars.

 

If one piece of gear allows me as a beginner to 1) produce a clean tone for my electric AND my acoustic, 2) model a wide range of tones to let me experiment (per Slim's suggestion), and 3) can be repurposed as a bluetooth speaker when convenient, that's appealing to me.

 

I realize that contradicts the first paragraph. But, IF it actually works the way it's advertised, it seems like it might be a win.

 

...I have a feeling like I might have just asked a chef to tell me that Velveeta is a perfectly sensible alternative to a well aged cheese.

[harris11235]

Check this out, Bill! Wow!

[DeepEnd]

Sorry, I misinterpreted your earlier post to mean that you wanted one amp (one tool) to amplify all your guitars (one job, amplifying guitars). Electric guitar amps contain one or more full range speakers; they're not, strictly speaking, "woofers." But multiple speakers of different sizes do generally cover a wider frequency range, which is why you find them in acoustic amps. Some bass amps also have different sizes of speakers, one or more main speakers and a high frequency driver. The goal with an acoustic amp is to have a wide, flat frequency response to let the sound of the guitar come through. OTOH, an electric guitar sounds the way it does in part precisely because the speaker colors the sound. There are some modelling amps, Vox for example, that claim to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic but that's not what you want. The Amplifi might work but if it does it will be because of significant signal processing. The Rivera Sedona 55 would work but, at $3,000 it's slightly over your budget: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-RIV-SEDONA55?SRC=D1307BNGHAMS0000&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PL1&utm_content=RIV+SEDONA55.

[Pine Apple Slim]

Harris I tend to think like you. That why I love the MT so much, 3 knobs. Tarzan plug in flip switch make guitar loud. Tarzan fiddle with 3 knobs till Tarzan like.

 

 

 

I have a little Mustang 1 v2. It has some nice low volume Fender tones straight out of the box. But all the options and the hi tech computer interface too much for lazy Tarzan brain. I just keep it set on Twin for low vol clean practice is about all I use it for.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I wouldn't worry to much about an amp for the Baby Taylor. Acoustic amps with a mic channel are handy for solo busking mini PA use, or for a monitor in a loud band situation and that's about it. Around the house I hardly ever plug in my acoustic. And 99% of the time playing out you can just plug into the house PA. A good direct box, like the Baggs Para Acoustic DI is probably more useful to have for a PA interface than an amp.

[harris11235]

Sorry' date=' I misinterpreted your earlier post to mean that you wanted one amp (one tool) to amplify all your guitars (one job, amplifying guitars). Electric guitar amps contain one or more full range speakers; they're not, strictly speaking, "woofers." But multiple speakers of different sizes do generally cover a wider frequency range, which is why you find them in acoustic amps. Some bass amps also have different sizes of speakers, one or more main speakers and a high frequency driver. The goal with an acoustic amp is to have a wide, flat frequency response to let the sound of the guitar come through. OTOH, an electric guitar sounds the way it does in part precisely because the speaker colors the sound. There are some modelling amps, Vox for example, that claim to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic but that's not what you want. The Amplifi might work but if it does it will be because of significant signal processing. The Rivera Sedona 55 would work but, at $3,000 it's slightly over your budget: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-RIV-SEDONA55?SRC=D1307BNGHAMS0000&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PL1&utm_content=RIV+SEDONA55.[/quote']

 

No worries, I could have phrased that better.

 

That's a clearer explanation that what I heard earlier, and it makes more sense. So... I understand that people search for a certain sound, which is created by the unique characteristics of all of the items in the signal chain (guitar > cable > effect(s) > cable > amp > etc.), and I seems like they spend plenty of time experimenting to get it.

 

As a beginner, this is where I'm getting in the weeds. The G&L has a sound to it. The Orange amp and cabinet has a sound to it. The tube in the Orange has an influence on the sound. I realize that I don't really know what the G&L sounds like by itself, uncolored by anything else in the chain. It seems like I won't know what I want to add to tweak the sound until I know what it sounds like on it's own. Conceptually, it seems like I would benefit from an amp that delivers an accurate clean tone that I can stack effects on top of to match a certain style. I don't really care if that's done digitally. At this point, I'm not too worried about signal processing as long as it's not blatant. The educational and financial value of a wide range of digital effects outweighs that drawback of a slightly degraded signal path. It's not like what I'm playing is going to be cataloged in the Smithsonian anyway.

 

So. All that to say that my logic is leading me to exchange the Orange for a modeling amp. Now it's just a matter of which one. And Bob's got me all worked up about that Yamaha. That thing sounds pretty damn good.

[harris11235]

Harris I tend to think like you. That why I love the MT so much, 3 knobs. Tarzan plug in flip switch make guitar loud. Tarzan fiddle with 3 knobs till Tarzan like.

 

 

 

I have a little Mustang 1 v2. It has some nice low volume Fender tones straight out of the box. But all the options and the hi tech computer interface too much for lazy Tarzan brain. I just keep it set on Twin for low vol clean practice is about all I use it for.

 

Ha! That is definitely one nice thing about the MT, but you still found me creating an account here to ask about it! I'm of a generation where I'd probably feel more at home with the computer interface. I could learn something from choosing a pre-set tone and watching how the amp is set (volume, gain, eq, etc.) to achieve it.

 

Tarzan need low volume amp too. Jane no like guitar drowning out her shows.

 

 

[harris11235]

I wouldn't worry to much about an amp for the Baby Taylor. Acoustic amps with a mic channel are handy for solo busking mini PA use' date=' or for a monitor in a loud band situation and that's about it. Around the house I hardly ever plug in my acoustic. And 99% of the time playing out you can just plug into the house PA. A good direct box, like the Baggs Para Acoustic DI is probably more useful to have for a PA interface than an amp.[/quote']

 

Heard loud and clear.

 

I play the Big Baby considerably more than the G&L. One reason is that I mostly prefer acoustic-driven music, the other is the tone issue we've been discussing. I like to play it with my fingers, but it's not very loud without a pick. There have been a couple of beer/campfire/friends situations where people said they couldn't hear me. Probably good for them. An amp would obviously allow me to play what I like, how I like, but louder.

 

That Marshall AS50D in cream is pretty sexy. So is that brand new (out of budget) Fender Acoustic SFX amp. Come to think of it, neither of those would adapt themselves very well to the campfire situation. They'd sit at home, where I don't need an amp for my acoustic anyway. (Remember Jane)

 

I keep coming back to that Yamaha. Now the option to run it off of batteries seems appealing.

 

 

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

Well you have the Street Cube as long as it works.

The acoustic version of the Yamaha does indeed look like the ticket tho.

[harris11235]

Well, it seems fortune smiled on me today. I contacted the outfit I bought the Orange stack from to inquire about a possible return in case I chose to go that route. This is a big online retailer that starts with A. They informed me that the item could not be returned because it contains hazardous material, but they made an exception and chose to refund my money. They don't want the amp back. Now I've got the MT and PPC108, and my money back. I really didn't see that one coming!