Tone on Dual Terror bassy and muffled

[skerwo]

Mine's cutting very well through the mix too, also with the keyboards in our band.

[Bensen]

Felt that way about the my TT. Loved the tone but wished it had more high end bite. I then did the British Glory mod and haven't looked back http://gearupgrade.blogspot.de/p/britis ... d-kit.html
It still sounds like an Orange (that Marshall talk is a bit exagurated) but with more trebble + presence. Better clean + dirty tones for my taste.

[ironlung40]

I've had the amp for 4 years now. It hasn't had much use really. I think I did 2 gigs with it and the rest of the time it's been idle, though I used it the studio during the recording of an album about 2 years ago.

But I basically I retired the amp in favour of a Fender 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb which I gigged extensively last year. I started using the Fender as it had a beautiful clean sound and by that point I had accumulated a healthy number of pedals to cover all bases, so the DT became redundant.

I thought about selling the DT but every time I wanted to list it on a certain auction website, I'd plug in my Les Paul (with the intention to give it a proper last good bye) and it would give me instant gratification, making it so hard to part ways. But it was only on the bridge pick up and only on certain settings. And most importantly, it was a sounds which was nice when played on my own, but a sounds that would get lost in the mix. The bass player in our band has a razor toppy sounds (think Mark King - Level 42), so the DT just doesn't cut through the mix. I give it some extra top end with a Boss EQ, but back to my original question - is it normal that the DT voicing should be so untransparent?

To answer your question, I don't think the tone has changed - I guess I'm just finding it hard to transition from the Fender clean tone which is crystal clear and so transparent.
The reason why I thought the amp was not working properly was because it always sounds as if the guitar tone control is not fully open, if you know what I mean. Not sure if that is the characteristic of this amp. The low E string is really, really bassy, in a poky sort of way, but without the definition, drowning all other strings (and no, it's not a pick up height problem). It makes you wish there was a separate hi pot. The neck pickup is basically unsuable because it sounds too muffled, with very little definition. And that is with the tone control fully open. The bridge sounds tolerable, but even a clean sound feels too bassy. I plugged my Strat this evening, played it clean and again, the low E is really bassy and poky (but not in a good way).

Sorry I cannot be more descriptive, but it's difficult to illustrate a sound with words...

I know exactly what you are talking about and I think there is an element of that tone description inherent in all Orange Amps to a degree. They are woolier/woody/darker than most for sure. I used to feel that way about mine and I would go back to my V4, twin reverb, and marshall 2203. I would play those awhile and then find myself coming back to the Oranges. I think guitars and amps is a weird world where sometimes things sound great and sometimes they can sound like pile of poop and you are always tweaking. I find that taking a break from time to time and playing nothing helps out with this.

If the amp is healthy, it is o.k. to just not like it. If the fender is working for you at least you have that.

Have you thought about letting another band mate play it in the mix and listen to it? I have done that on occassion and it opened my eyes to things about my setup that I hadn't noticed or appreciated before. Maybe it sounds great, but you are not liking the response you feel when playing it?

Maybe you could put some higher headroom preamp tubes in it as well?

I am probably not much help, just kinda spewing out words here.

[Les Paul Lover]

Have you thought about letting another band mate play it in the mix and listen to it? I have done that on occassion and it opened my eyes to things about my setup that I hadn't noticed or appreciated before. Maybe it sounds great, but you are not liking the response you feel when playing it?

I love doing that. Letting someone I know (and trust) play my gear, sit back and relax. It's always (for me) lovely to hear my own gear in different hands, it sounds great, yet different to what I get from it.

[tremolo arm]

I've had the amp for 4 years now. It hasn't had much use really. I think I did 2 gigs with it and the rest of the time it's been idle, though I used it the studio during the recording of an album about 2 years ago.

But I basically I retired the amp in favour of a Fender 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb which I gigged extensively last year. I started using the Fender as it had a beautiful clean sound and by that point I had accumulated a healthy number of pedals to cover all bases, so the DT became redundant.

I thought about selling the DT but every time I wanted to list it on a certain auction website, I'd plug in my Les Paul (with the intention to give it a proper last good bye) and it would give me instant gratification, making it so hard to part ways. But it was only on the bridge pick up and only on certain settings. And most importantly, it was a sounds which was nice when played on my own, but a sounds that would get lost in the mix. The bass player in our band has a razor toppy sounds (think Mark King - Level 42), so the DT just doesn't cut through the mix. I give it some extra top end with a Boss EQ, but back to my original question - is it normal that the DT voicing should be so untransparent?

To answer your question, I don't think the tone has changed - I guess I'm just finding it hard to transition from the Fender clean tone which is crystal clear and so transparent.
The reason why I thought the amp was not working properly was because it always sounds as if the guitar tone control is not fully open, if you know what I mean. Not sure if that is the characteristic of this amp. The low E string is really, really bassy, in a poky sort of way, but without the definition, drowning all other strings (and no, it's not a pick up height problem). It makes you wish there was a separate hi pot. The neck pickup is basically unsuable because it sounds too muffled, with very little definition. And that is with the tone control fully open. The bridge sounds tolerable, but even a clean sound feels too bassy. I plugged my Strat this evening, played it clean and again, the low E is really bassy and poky (but not in a good way).

Sorry I cannot be more descriptive, but it's difficult to illustrate a sound with words...

I know exactly what you are talking about and I think there is an element of that tone description inherent in all Orange Amps to a degree. They are woolier/woody/darker than most for sure. I used to feel that way about mine and I would go back to my V4, twin reverb, and marshall 2203. I would play those awhile and then find myself coming back to the Oranges. I think guitars and amps is a weird world where sometimes things sound great and sometimes they can sound like pile of poop and you are always tweaking. I find that taking a break from time to time and playing nothing helps out with this.

If the amp is healthy, it is o.k. to just not like it. If the fender is working for you at least you have that.

Have you thought about letting another band mate play it in the mix and listen to it? I have done that on occassion and it opened my eyes to things about my setup that I hadn't noticed or appreciated before. Maybe it sounds great, but you are not liking the response you feel when playing it?

Maybe you could put some higher headroom preamp tubes in it as well?

I am probably not much help, just kinda spewing out words here.

The problem is not that I don't love the amp. I actually like the way it's voiced generally. I just wish it had a few extra notches of treble on the tone pot. The reason for starting this thread was to understand if others find the same I find - which is a slight lack of treble. I think I now understand that it will always sound muddier compared to a 35W Fender.But what the Fender lacks is those glorious crunchy (almost 3D) mids, which Orange is notorious for.
I've now pulled the trigger on an OR50. From what I hear, people regard its cleans as among the best Orange cleans. Hopefully that will be the amp for me.

And that's good advice about asking someone else to play or listen for you in order to fine tune the band mix.