Orange Amps Forum

I've had the Dual Terror for just over an year now. I really love this amp, but always had my sight set on a an AD30. Well, the opportunity finally came. I great deal to acquire head and cab - both in mint condition for almost half the price of new.

I spent a few good hours playing the AD30 side by side with the Dual Terror and I have to admit I prefer the DT.
I find the DT to be more expressive, more pronounced, full bodied, clearer and generally more pleasing to (my) ear.
I get some useful tones with the AD30, but only after tweaking the EQ to extremes. For example, I totally remove the bass and dime the treble to get a good tone out of Channel One (and I'm playing single coil guitars). Is this normal? It really sounds dark. I am yet to take it to a full volume rehearsal (I am hoping that the tone will get livelier with master volume cranked up), but the DT sounds much better even with that single shape tone control.

What do other AD30 users use for their amp settings?

Which cab and what brand of tubes/valves are in the AD30?

funny you mention that, i had an AD30, liked it, but could never bond with it as much as i'd like. but i play my buddy's TT combo two sundays a month and i absolutely love it.

Maybe you just like the voicing of the DT better. Happens!
The AD30 isn't my amp either, i compared it with my Rocker and liked the two channels on the AD30
but i liked the vibe and voicing of the Rocker more.

But you could try to brighten the amp up with tung sols!

I have not played the DT ever and have played a ad30 for about 5 min, and I really don't remember anything bout it other than I don't like it as good as the OR50. So is the DT a brighter amp?

tremolo arm wrote:I've had the Dual Terror for just over an year now. I really love this amp, but always had my sight set on a an AD30. Well, the opportunity finally came. I great deal to acquire head and cab - both in mint condition for almost half the price of new.

I spent a few good hours playing the AD30 side by side with the Dual Terror and I have to admit I prefer the DT.
I find the DT to be more expressive, more pronounced, full bodied, clearer and generally more pleasing to (my) ear.
I get some useful tones with the AD30, but only after tweaking the EQ to extremes. For example, I totally remove the bass and dime the treble to get a good tone out of Channel One (and I'm playing single coil guitars). Is this normal? It really sounds dark. I am yet to take it to a full volume rehearsal (I am hoping that the tone will get livelier with master volume cranked up), but the DT sounds much better even with that single shape tone control.

What do other AD30 users use for their amp settings?

EQ on my AD30 is just pretty much at 12 on all knobs. I dunno maybe you just dont like it or maybe there is something wrong with your Amp but my my ears the Amp has some easily obtainable, very good classic Rock tones especially with anything with Humbuckers.....but it also needs to be wound up with the volume on at least 10 oclock. Clean tones are also very good with a Strat on channel one....

StratusX wrote:Which cab and what brand of tubes/valves are in the AD30?

PPC 212 Open Back cab and stock valves.

Ronnie Robinson wrote:

tremolo arm wrote:I've had the Dual Terror for just over an year now. I really love this amp, but always had my sight set on a an AD30. Well, the opportunity finally came. I great deal to acquire head and cab - both in mint condition for almost half the price of new.

I spent a few good hours playing the AD30 side by side with the Dual Terror and I have to admit I prefer the DT.
I find the DT to be more expressive, more pronounced, full bodied, clearer and generally more pleasing to (my) ear.
I get some useful tones with the AD30, but only after tweaking the EQ to extremes. For example, I totally remove the bass and dime the treble to get a good tone out of Channel One (and I'm playing single coil guitars). Is this normal? It really sounds dark. I am yet to take it to a full volume rehearsal (I am hoping that the tone will get livelier with master volume cranked up), but the DT sounds much better even with that single shape tone control.

What do other AD30 users use for their amp settings?

EQ on my AD30 is just pretty much at 12 on all knobs. I dunno maybe you just dont like it or maybe there is something wrong with your Amp but my my ears the Amp has some easily obtainable, very good classic Rock tones especially with anything with Humbuckers.....but it also needs to be wound up with the volume on at least 10 oclock. Clean tones are also very good with a Strat on channel one....

You are right about the clean tones. They are superb on channel one - really deep yet clear. It's the dirty sound that I find a bit flat and woolly. In comparison, the DT has a really ballsy, throaty growl, which retains clarity. But you could be right in that the reason may be that I have seldom used the AD30 at volumes past 9 o'clock. In contrast I run the DT with all controls at 12 o'clock and, especially on the TT channel, it sounds amazing. I don't even use pedals - just the guitar volume - 6 is clean(ish) and 8 is crunch and 9-10 is great for a punchy lead.

I will have to spend some more time with the AD. I guess I was just surprised that it did not sound better (at least to my ears) than the DT straight out of the box. I will also try with my Les Paul (loaded with Bare Knuckle Mules) and report back.

Sounds odd.

It's dark-ish as an amp, but not excessively so - if you're cutting all the bass and diming treble, that should be giving you a very trebly sound with single coils. The EQ section is passive so everything dimed is normal, and you just cut to shape the tone.

It could simply be that there's something wrong with yours, but it may be that you prefer more modern & cutting tones.

I found the Rocker & Terror amps quite fun, but 'flatter' sounding and more raspy than the ADs. It's a more modern overdrive tone, but different to the AD which is warmer, a bit less tight, but has more of a brilliance through the midrange.

I agree you need to get the power section cooking as well (not ridiculously so) to get the best from it.

I can definitely see the DT as being clearer and more dynamic than the AD30. The voicing of the DT as far as how bright/dark it is and how it sits in a mix is something they got right with this amp imo. I've never felt like I needed more than the tone knob with the DT because it seems just about perfect right out of the box, just adjust treble to taste. I've had to struggle more with the other amps I've had with full EQ sections to get them where I want.

How old are the stock valves?
I remember this forumite (can't remember user name though!!!) who scored and AD30 and was very disappointed until a full revalve, then loved it to bits.

That said.... The AD amps are dark - I frequently max the treble on my AD15 too, with a strat. But play around with it - you'll realise that the EQ is different to some other amps. Rolls all the EQs down - next to no volume. The way this EQ works is more taking away frequency by rolling the EQs down than adding them by rolling them up.
You may find a better balance for you by maxing them all out and then rolling back what's too much - and yes, they do have a lot of low end & low mids.

Secondly, the AD are VERY fuzzy amps - that's what gives Orange amps a reputation to be whooly to some people, and at high gain settings will need to be opened up a bit to sound their best and more articulate.

If you had some spare EL84, id' try to pop them in to see if it makes a difference though.
It's diiifcult to justify that extra expense when you're not sure you're gonna like the amp in the end.

I have a RV50 and the AD15, and both those amps do different things very well.
The fizzier nature of the TTs makes them sound somewhat more articulate, though I do think they are myself.
That said, horses for courses - it may just be that you are a Dual Terror man. Worse things do happen!!!!

Les Paul Lover wrote:How old are the stock valves?
I remember this forumite (can't remember user name though!!!) who scored and AD30 and was very disappointed until a full revalve, then loved it to bits.

+1 Worth at least trying some valve swapping before writing the AD30 off. Can make an enormous difference, and it is far from unknown for people selling amps just to stuff them full of the oldest crappiest still (just) working valves they want rid of...


Andy.

Cutting the bass all the way out and maxing the treble doesn't sound normal to me at all. That should sound horrible.

My approach with amps is to use the 12:00 position with all the EQ knobs as a starting point. On the AD30, with humbucker guitars, I cut the bass down to about 11:00 on channel 1 and leave the mid and treble at noon. That's more than enough to get rid of the slight mud that channel has with humbuckers. With single coils, everything at noon should be quite balanced (channel 1).

I haven't really bonded with channel 2 in a band setting yet. I find it thin compared to channel 1, once the amp is at volume. It can sound good at lower volumes, but channel 1 just sounds bigger once the amp is working. I may be in the minority in thinking that the AD30 isn't all that dark. My old OR-series heads are much darker. Plenty of treble to be had on the AD30. I'd certainly never need to max mine out.

This amp doesn't shine at low volume bedroom playing, and it doesn't shine by itself. Get it in a band setting with the master volume at 12:00 or higher and you'll hear what it should sound like. You may very well like the DT better. But the EQ positions you're describing lead me to believe that your AD30 needs new tubes.

-Nick

You are right about the clean tones. They are superb on channel one - really deep yet clear. It's the dirty sound that I find a bit flat and woolly. In comparison, the DT has a really ballsy, throaty growl, which retains clarity. But you could be right in that the reason may be that I have seldom used the AD30 at volumes past 9 o'clock. In contrast I run the DT with all controls at 12 o'clock and, especially on the TT channel, it sounds amazing. I don't even use pedals - just the guitar volume - 6 is clean(ish) and 8 is crunch and 9-10 is great for a punchy lead.

I will have to spend some more time with the AD. I guess I was just surprised that it did not sound better (at least to my ears) than the DT straight out of the box. I will also try with my Les Paul (loaded with Bare Knuckle Mules) and report back.[/quote]

I find that the ad30 sounds much better after 9-10 oclock as was mentioned, especially so on channel 2. Channel one sounds better earlier on the volume knob and I didn't really like channel 2 until I got to play it at a proper volume. You may like the dual terror voicing better and nothing wrong with that (I love both the tiny terror and ad30) but to give the ad30 a fair shot in my experience the volume needs to be higher than the volumes you have used it at. This is assuming it doesn't need new tubes of course.

Thanks for everyone's comments.

It sounds like "new tubes" is the most common advice (as well as cranking the master volume up).
I didn't really want to get my wallet out again, so I'll have to ponder that one, especially when I really like the DT (which also has the advantage of being lighter).
I'll take the AD30 to my next rehearsal and will crank the volume up to see what happens.

I just spent another 3 hours comparing the two next to each other in low volume settings. I found some settings where the sound out of Channel one on the AD30 was almost exactly the same as the sound on the TT channel of the DT.

But again, bass on the AD30 was at 0 (7 o'clock), whilst treble and mids were in the higher registers.

Incidentally the power valves are PM - never heard of them before), but I assume they are stock.

My question is this - if I was to re-valve, what can I expect from the AD30 in comparison to the DT? Should it not be heads and shoulders above the DT, given its price tag and high recommendations? How is it possible that we should be even comparing the two?

The only AD30 that I played before buying mine was in a shop through a 4x12 cab and it sounded immense, really making single coil tones bloom (especially in the in-between pick-up positions). That's where I decided I was going to have one one day. Mine sounds all right but I can't hear those tones I heard in the shop (albeit that I'm running mine through a 2 x 12 cab). Also, not sure if I'm hearing things, but I think that the break up point of the new one I tried in the shop was earlier than the one I've got. The DT also breaks up much earlier than the AD and they are both 30W amps with EL84s.