Micro Terror - Initial Thoughts

[mrgroovy]

For kicks I was at a local music store and plugged a Strat into a Micro Terror through some generic 1x12 Marshall Cab. I was really impressed. I needed something small to record with at home without bringing out the big guns as they are now just too loud to deal with in my current home studio. Have tried the Kemper, Helix, Axe FX and every plugin available but I was always missing my sustain and low end "chunk". I ended up buying the Micro Terror and plugged it into a 1x12 Avatar open back with a new Celestion Blue 15Watt. I was shocked. Sounds like a combo between one of my favorite 71 50 Watt Marshalls with 4/12 Greenbacks and my 73 Orange OR 120 with stock 4x12. Very impressed and really close to what I am looking for. Only reason for the "really close" is that I do wish it had a more substantial EQ. I would really like to be able to dial in the "Tone" Knob a little more. I will try an EQ pedal before it and see how that goes.
In addition, I swapped out what I suppose is the stock JJ 12AX7 with a Sovtek first and then tried a Ruby. There must have been an issue with the JJ. Huge difference between it and the Sovtek or the Ruby. The JJ had about a 30% less output vs. the other tow. For me - the Ruby is winning as the high end is a bit brighter - Sovtek has more balls but I like the slightly cleaner Ruby - to my ears anyway.

[megalithic]

I like the Artec Parametric EQ pedal for scooping mids. I've also tried a graphic eq, also good, but you can't vary the frequencies of the bands.

I prefer the parametric, but either will do. You can vary the bass/treble with the tone knob on the amp.

[adkguy07]

I know what you mean re: the shape (or tone knob). I have been using the Micro Dark with a PPC112 closed back cabinet with the Vintage 30 speaker. I'm very impresssed with both the tone from both my Strat and Les Paul. There have been moments where I was wishing for more from the "shape" control on this amp, especially with my Strat. I have an e.q. pedal, but I just plain prefer keeping my setup as simple as I can make it, so I experimented with all three amp controls. I first set my Strat's volume to about 5 or 6 (midway). I believe on my Micro Dark, it's better to keep the gain set at 11 o'clock (at a minimum) to get a better balance in T/M//B frequencies. The circuit's frequencies seem to get their best relationship to each other at that setting. With the shape at 2 to 3 o'clock and volume at, say, 9 o'clock or so, I can get a "steely" sounding clean with some chime. By rolling the guitar volume upwards gradually, I can achieve the crunch I'm looking for. If I roll the guitar downwards from midway, I get a softer rhythm tone. It took me awhile to arrive at this conclusion after trying many other combinations. I think the Micro Dark's true tone character is brought out by using the amp's gain control and thinking of it as being a "tone control" itself; kind of like the missing traditional T/M/B knobs on traditional amps.


adkguy07

[megalithic]

I know what you mean re: the shape (or tone knob). I have been using the Micro Dark with a PPC112 closed back cabinet with the Vintage 30 speaker. I'm very impresssed with both the tone from both my Strat and Les Paul. There have been moments where I was wishing for more from the "shape" control on this amp, especially with my Strat. I have an e.q. pedal, but I just plain prefer keeping my setup as simple as I can make it, so I experimented with all three amp controls. I first set my Strat's volume to about 5 or 6 (midway). I believe on my Micro Dark, it's better to keep the gain set at 11 o'clock (at a minimum) to get a better balance in T/M//B frequencies. The circuit's frequencies seem to get their best relationship to each other at that setting. With the shape at 2 to 3 o'clock and volume at, say, 3 o'clock or so, I can get a "steely" sounding clean with some chime. By rolling the guitar volume upwards gradually, I can achieve the crunch I'm looking for. If I roll the guitar downwards from midway, I get a softer rhythm tone. It took me awhile to arrive at this conclusion after trying many other combinations. I think the Micro Dark's true tone character is brought out by using the amp's gain control and thinking of it as being a "tone control" itself; kind of like the missing traditional T/M/B knobs on traditional amps.


adkguy07

But he has a Micro Terror, completely different beast in terms of eq.

[adkguy07]

The eq between the two amps is different. What I'm saying is that some of the eq also can be manipulated and shaped by having a sufficient amount of gain dialed in.

adkguy07

[caldurham]

for what they are the micro terrors sound amazing. i have both a micro terror and a micro dark. i've tried a few different tubes in both of them. i ended up using a genalex gold lion b759 with gold pins. as i didn't like the stock tube myself, at least when i compared it to the other tubes i have.

[mrgroovy]

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, I have some success with dialing in my guitars' tone and volume controls to make up for the lack of a more sophisticated eq section in the Micro Terror. I will have to try some sort of EQ device before it as I do not want to mod the Terror with some sort of EQ section. I tried the Dark Terror and it just was a little too "gainey" for my needs however I did like the effect loop in the back as I could have tried an eq device there I suppose. Anyone have any success with swapping a less aggresive AX7 in the Dark Terror to clean it up? Thx