Dark Terror voicing

nkay · Post by **nkay** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:06 pm

Hi, brand new Orange amp user here. I was at the music store the other day and tried out a Dark Terror. I played one single power cord and I was ready to hand over my credit card

It sounded that awesome! I also bought the black PPC212 to go with it and it sounds phenomenal.

My only issue is that I'm worried it's not loud enough for rehearsal or an unmic'd gig. I put it on 15 watts and completely cranked it in my bedroom. It was damn loud of course, but not enough to shake my bedroom or hurt my ears like a 50 or 100 watt amp. And I feel like it would get drowned out by a drummer and bass.

I went back to the store to look into one of the higher watt heads and tried the Rockerverb MKII 50 watt, and also the Thunderverb 50 watt. And while they sounded great, they didn't seemed to have the same type of voicing that made me immediately fall in love with the Dark Terror. I know it has different tubes and all, but I didn't think it would be that far off. The Rockerverb MKII 50 sounded closer to my ears, but lacked that "something" that I was getting with the Terror. It just sounded more hairier or fuzzy as some would say, while the Rockerverb was more smooth and more like my Marshall.
Maybe it's because I was getting a ton of power tube distortion with the Dark Terror?

Suffice to say, I would love to get the same Dark Terror sound but with more wattage (and also available in black

DiabloS · Post by **DiabloS** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:15 pm

You'd probably like the TH30 or TH100 if you want something similar to a Dark Terror but with more watts. You'd also have the bonus of having a clean channel too. All of these amps are more voiced for modern metal if that's what you're looking for.

nkay · Post by **nkay** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:32 pm

DiabloS wrote:You'd probably like the TH30 or TH100 if you want something similar to a Dark Terror but with more watts. You'd also have the bonus of having a clean channel too. All of these amps are more voiced for modern metal if that's what you're looking for.

It's actually more for hard rock, not metal. I'm playing my Les Paul straight in and it sounds great. The Rockerverb and Thunderverbs with EL34 sounded too close to my existing Marshall, while the Dark Terror had a more edgier (not just gainy) voicing that really was perfect.

DiabloS · Post by **DiabloS** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:37 pm

Regardless of how you're gonna use it, I still think the TH30 or TH100 is the closest you'll get to a Dark Terror in bigger wattage so I'd give those a try if you can. I personally don't find my Thunderverb to sound anything like a Marshall, but to each their own!

thelatrobe33 · Post by **thelatrobe33** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:39 pm

Newbie here as well... hi all!

It's funny you should ask this question because I just bought a Dark Terror several weeks ago. I own a Silverface Twin Reverb and decided I needed a little practice amp for home use because the wife says the Twin is too loud.

When the Dark Terror arrived I immediately fell in love with it, so much so that I realized right away that I had to have it's bigger brother. Several days ago I purchased a TH100, which is still en route to my house. What I'm looking forward to is the versatility that comes with being able to set it at 4 different wattages.

I've been an Orange admirer for a long time and now have bought 2 in the last month

As has already been said, the TH30 or TH100 is what you want.

a.hun · Post by **a.hun** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:51 pm

Welcome thelatrobe33!

Took me a little longer to grab my second Orange. 26 years longer in fact!

Andy.

nkay · Post by **nkay** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:55 pm

Thanks guys, I just realized the TH30/100 is a totally different amp than the Thunderverbs which is why I was confused. Still getting familiar with the different types of Orange heads.

Do the TH30/100 come in black?

DiabloS · Post by **DiabloS** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:09 pm

nkay wrote:Thanks guys, I just realized the TH30/100 is a totally different amp than the Thunderverbs which is why I was confused. Still getting familiar with the different types of Orange heads.

Do the TH30/100 come in black?

I don't blame you for being confused if you're not familiar with the names! I'm not sure why Orange chose names so similar for very different sounding amps. The Thunderverb 50 is nothing like the TH30/TH100 other than they're both Orange amps.

I've never seen a TH30/TH100 in black but that doesn't mean they dont' exist, I'm not sure really.

Jondog · Post by **Jondog** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:30 pm

For the record, the TH30 and TH100 are the same preamp as the dark terror. TH30 will sound closer as it uses EL84s.

a.hun · Post by **a.hun** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:19 pm

nkay wrote:Do the TH30/100 come in black?

No guarantees, but as far as I know you can order any Orange in black.

Andy.

nkay · Post by **nkay** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:58 pm

At my local store there is a Rockerverb MKII 50 watt in black that I was thinking of switching with my Dark Terror, but when I tried it in store the voicing was a little different, close but different (more traditional sounding), and seemed slightly less gain. But again, I did not crank the Rockerverb like I did the Dark Terror so there wasn't a lot of powertube crunching going on.

But at $2000 it didn't seem like $1400 better than the Dark Terror! The Rockerverb is made in England and the wattage I need, but at the same time it just didn't quite put a smile on my face like the first time I played the Dark Terror. Plus I actually really liked the simplicity of it. I'm not much for playing with dials, I like to plug in and go, and the Shape control I found really easy to use and dial in quick.

I don't worry about gigs too much because 95% of the time you are mic'd up. But it's the other 5% and definitely rehearsals that I'm worried about in terms of the 15 watts. I'll definitely look into the TH30/100 one though but they jump up in price too.

Jondog · Post by **Jondog** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:30 pm

nkay wrote:At my local store there is a Rockerverb MKII 50 watt in black that I was thinking of switching with my Dark Terror, but when I tried it in store the voicing was a little different, close but different (more traditional sounding), and seemed slightly less gain. But again, I did not crank the Rockerverb like I did the Dark Terror so there wasn't a lot of powertube crunching going on.

But at $2000 it didn't seem like $1400 better than the Dark Terror! The Rockerverb is made in England and the wattage I need, but at the same time it just didn't quite put a smile on my face like the first time I played the Dark Terror. Plus I actually really liked the simplicity of it. I'm not much for playing with dials, I like to plug in and go, and the Shape control I found really easy to use and dial in quick.

I don't worry about gigs too much because 95% of the time you are mic'd up. But it's the other 5% and definitely rehearsals that I'm worried about in terms of the 15 watts. I'll definitely look into the TH30/100 one though but they jump up in price too.

The Rockerverbs are worth every penny. There's a lot more amp there in many ways. Turned up loud, you'll hear it. Theres no fair comparison other then how the preamp sounds. You pay for what you get. Orange amps are fairly priced amps.

richardfirebird · Post by **richardfirebird** » Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:49 am

Test the Th100 you will fall in love with him

Randy Bass · Post by **Randy Bass** » Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:44 pm

richardfirebird wrote:Test the Th100 you will fall in love with him

...not that there's anything wrong with that

.

nkay · Post by **nkay** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:08 am

Another Orange newbie question here, but what is the difference between the Thunderverb series and the TH series? Is the TH series simply the same amp (voicing), but no reverb and made in China?

I liked the Rockerverb MKii that I tried in store, but I found it's distortion character was smoother and more saturated, more like a Marshall character, while the Dark Terror was more fuzzy/raw VOX type character. I already have a Marshall amp so that's why I was leaning towards the Dark Terror/TH voicing because it was more different and raw than what I already had.

I guess now I'm trying to compare the Dark Terror/TH/TV series. Is there a voicing difference between a Thunderverb and the TH series that that the Dark Terror is based on?