REVIEWED
Orange Dark Terror ORANGE Dark Words: Tim Slater
The current fad for tiny tube guitar amplifiers is justified by many of the small amps’ ability to deliver tower block sized tones, both live and in the studio. In many respects the Orange Dark Terror could be viewed as the ultimate distillation of this approach. Orange claim that the Dark Terror is currently the highest gain amp in the Terror range and we have no reason to doubt this assertion, the Dark Terror packs a heck of a wallop for an amp that is only fractionally larger than the average wah wah pedal!
Construction
Housed as it is within a rugged steel chassis, the Dark Terror presents a neat and thoughtfully designed package. Economical, neither too spartan nor unnecessarily flamboyant, the Dark Terror is packed to the gunnels with tubes. This is
ORANGE Dark Terror
SRP £399.00
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
Orange T:
020 8905 2828 W:
www.orangeamps.com 22 3pickup
a class A design driven by a pair of EL84s in the output stage and a four-stage tube preamp with three ECC83 (12AX7) preamp tubes, plus a single ECC83 12AT7driving the effects loop. The tubes are flanked by a hefty looking pair of mains and output transformers that, like the tubes, are mounted vertically on the amp chassis’ base. The amp itself is well ventilated, grills at the rear and on top of the chassis are adjacent to the main heat generating components like the transformers and tubes. The overall build quality and finishing throughout is nothing short of lovely, (you’d never guess that this a Chinese-manufactured amplifier). The proliferation of high-quality steel input and output jacks and heavy- duty on/off and power switches that toggle the amp’s output between full power (15 watts) and half power (7 watt) operation conveys a convincing air of professionalism,. Of course, this is finished off by the attractive black , orange and white livery, which includes the traditional Orange hieroglyphics hinting enigmatically at the controls various functions. The rear panel contains three speaker outs – two 8ohm and one 16 ohm – plus effects loops send and returns and the IEC mains input.
Sounds The Dark Terror is designed to offer crushingly high gain levels and while it does this with ease it doesn’t throw all its eggs into one basket, there are plenty of very usable clean and
crunch tones to be had along the way, too. The simple control layout comprises rotary knobs for volume, tone (labeled ‘shape’) and gain. With no channel switching the tone is mainly dependent on where the Shape and Gain controls are set; Orange state that the Dark Terror’s tone stack is similar to the lead channel on the Orange TH30 but slightly re-voiced to give it a bit more top end sparkle. The Shape control affects the tone stack by mainly shifting the midrange. Cutting the mids has the effect of seemingly boosting the lows and highs, which translates into some very aggressive contemporary metal tones with the gain cranked, albeit with the slightly fuzz-tinged old-school aura that is a distinctive part of the Orange overdrive sound. The clean and crunch tones sound plump and meaty, with plenty of chiming harmonics and a richness and elasticity that makes this amp feel so responsive to picking dynamics. Of course, with no built-in reverb the tone can sound a little dry but connecting a digital delay or a chorus pedal to the effects loop helps to loosen everything up a bit, making the tone sound more alive and ‘breathy’. High gain settings can sound very fearsome indeed, hooked up to a 412 cabinet the Dark Terror really moves some serious air, and at times it can definitely cross the thin line dividing ‘aggressive’ and ‘brutal’. The power attenuator doesn’t curb the amp’s awesome
Terror
Get set to meet Orange Amplifers’ new little Terror!
ferocity but half power mode’s more controllable volume should make a useful difference in the recording or rehearsal studio. There is no headphone out for silent recording or practice but to be fair, that isn’t really what the Dark Terror is about. This is a little powerhouse of an amplifier that is really designed to make its presence felt onstage or in a dynamic band situation. For such a wee amp it produces a seriously grown up tone and being so highly portable it certainly sets a precedent that makes you question the need to lug your 20 stone monster combo/stack to gigs and sessions. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
Of course, you will still need to team up the Dark Terror with a decent speaker cabinet for gigs but the trade off between using this compact, great sounding amp head with even a fairly big 212 speaker enclosure seems pretty fair.
This is a very nifty little amp whose epic tones should have people scratching their heads wondering where all of that colossal sound is coming from? Not just a novelty, the Dark Terror is definitely a formidable little beastie.
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