ORANGE DARK TERROR

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VALUE FOR MONEY
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OVERALL RATING
S U M M A R Y
“ Cranking the gain gives you
a deliciously filthy tone”
The future’s bright, is it? Not if this mini metal monster gets its way
ORANGE
DARK TERROR
£399
THE
Orange Tiny Terror
has become a
modern classic since its release in
2006. It played arguably the most
important role in the resurgence
of low-watt valve amps, and has
been revamped in various guises,
from the boutique Hard Wired
Edition to the dual-channel,
beefed-up Dual Terror. It’s even
been immortalised in software in
association with IK Multimedia.
However, throughout this
boom in small valve amps over the
last few years, there’s been one
category of player who has been
somewhat neglected: the gain
freak. Aside from a few offerings,
most amps have been well suited
to blues and classic rock rather
than out-and-out metal. Let’s take
it down to mood lighting…
Orange’s latest addition to the
TT range looks unapologetically
badass, but don’t be fooled by
that black paint job. There’s more
going on under the hood than you
might think. It features the same
ORANGE DARK TERROR
REVIEW
switchable 15-watt/seven-watt
output control as the original, but
you get another ECC83 preamp
valve, totalling four stages of gain.
The preamp also features a new
tone circuit, based around a re-
voiced version of the Shape control
found in Orange’s TH series amps.
At 15 watts, the Dark Terror can
do clean, but as with the original,
it’s limited. Setting the amp up
with low gain/high output settings
in 15-watt mode will give you the
most headroom for clean sounds
when practising or recording,
but introduce a drummer –
particularly of the metal variety
– and you’ll most likely be forcing
the amp into break-up. Speaking
of which, the Dark Terror does
a bang-up job with those thick
Angus style overdrives, too, but
if you’ve played any of the Terror
series before, you’d expect that.
Cranking the gain is probably
what will draw most people to
this amp in the first place, so we’ll
be blunt: it’s deliciously filthy. In
either mode, cranking the preamp
gain and raising the level to suit
gets you a rich slice of high-gain
valve tone. At this point, the Shape
control is your friend. Turned
to the left it gives you a fat, mid
range-y sound, and turned to the
right it becomes progressively
more scooped. The resulting
combination of sounds that can
be achieved between this and the
Gain control range from slightly
woolly classic metal, to thick
classic rock all the way to a Dime-
style tight scoop with a stabby high
end. Try it through a 4x12 like
we did, and you shouldn’t have a
problem keeping up with the rest
of your band.
Often when we review
‘lunchbox’ amps, the range of
rock guitar sounds peaks at classic
metal in terms of heaviness. Take
a look at Orange’s endorsee roster
and you’ll see that the company
knows a thing or two about
‘heavy’, and the Dark Terror takes
it to the next level for an amp of
its stature. As long as you’re not
looking for pristine clean sounds,
you can live with its single channel
design, and you run it through a
decent-size cab, this amp is the
perfect high-gain partner for
recording and medium-sized gigs.
Stuart Williams
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Valve guitar head
OUTPUT: 15 watts,
switchable to 7 watts
VALVES: 3x ECC83, 2x EL84,
1x ECC81
CONTROLS: Volume, shape,
gain, 15-watt/7-watt switch
SOCKETS: Input, speaker
outputs, effects loop
WEIGHT: 7kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD]
280 x 300 x 130mm
CONTACT: Orange Amplification
020 8905 2828 orangeamps.com
THE Dark Terror is the
evil sibling of Orange’s
Tiny Terror. It’s also
one of the few
low-powered valve
amps available for
metal players
GAIN
3
THERE’S only one
channel and three
controls, but you’ll be
surprised at how much the
versatile Shape control
can change your sound
SHAPE
CONTROL
2
AS WITH the Tiny
Terror, Orange has
equipped the Dark
Terror with an effects
loop. It also comes with
a gigbag for when the
arse-kicking is done
EXTRAS
1
154 SEPTEMBER 2011
TGR218.gear_orange.indd 154 7/19/11 11:31:43 AM