Dark Terror Owners; Your Thoughts On This.......

[adkguy07]

Yes. I'm still contemplating getting the Dark Terror; now that I've throughly enjoyed my foray into
"Orange land" with the mighty Micro Dark. I know that the consensus is that the DT is highly regarded for getting Metal tones with all of the gain it has, but as a Led Zep fan, how would it fit into that genre of Rock? I've been watching their 2007 O2 arena concert in which most sources think Page's AD30 was his amp of choice that evening. The Dark Terror is a different type species than the Terror amps from Orange, but I can't help but think that the DT could not get some similar sounds. My Micro Dark with a PPC112 cab can resemble the tones I hear from Zeppelin, but given that it's a hybrid type amp, it can also sound a little brittle at times; despite the fact that the V30 is pretty well broken it.

adkguy07

[Jondog]

Dark Terror could ball park it, but wouldn't be my choice.

[lunchbox]

The DT, like the TH series, is voiced for metal and is generally mid-scooped. It would get you sorta close, but would be missing the LZ mids. I think Page used a Supro for most of the LZ recordings?

The other guitarist in our band has a TH100 and my CR120 is routinely louder in the mix because of the mid-scooped voicing of the TH.

[Les Paul Lover]

The DT, like the TH series, is voiced for metal and is generally mid-scooped. It would get you sorta close, but would be missing the LZ mids. I think Page used a Supro for most of the LZ recordings?

The other guitarist in our band has a TH100 and my CR120 is routinely louder in the mix because of the mid-scooped voicing of the TH.

The Dark Terror and TH30 arent generally mid scooped. The shape knob allows you to do either mids pushed or scooped, and reasonably flat.

Once we have established that, the dark terror especially sounds a bit like a fat Marshall type tone.
It does hard rock really well, but led zep territory isn't it's greatest asset - though as jondog said, it can get you close enough.

The OR15, AD15 or AD30 and OR50 will get you there perfectly though.

[adkguy07]

Thanks to you guys for letting me know what your opinions are RE: Dark Terror tone. I'm aware that there's many factors in Led Zeppelin tone. What I can hope to achieve is a similarity to that thin tone Page got at times. With the Micro Dark, I've strived for a thinner tone by using #1 less than 50% of the gain available and #2 lots of treble by lowering the amp's mids with the control. It's far from Jimmy's tone, but more in the "spirit" of what Page might have imagined as the tone that most suited his style of playing. My opinion has been similar to some others when they write that Page recorded his music early on with a Telecaster and when his preference switched to the Les Paul, he still sought a thin Tele-like distorted tone; only with far more volume

My plan as far as the Dark Terror is to wait until my Orange dealer gets a DT in stock, and then try to duplicate what I'm getting from the Micro Dark. Perhaps, because it being tube sound, it will be a bit more refined tone.

adkguy07

[lunchbox]

The Dark Terror and TH30 arent generally mid scooped. The shape knob allows you to do either mids pushed or scooped, and reasonably flat.

Once we have established that, the dark terror especially sounds a bit like a fat Marshall type tone.
It does hard rock really well, but led zep territory isn't it's greatest asset - though as jondog said, it can get you close enough.

The OR15, AD15 or AD30 and OR50 will get you there perfectly though.

IMO, they are. Our other guitarists TH100 can't come anywhere near the pushed mids of even my humble CR120. even with the shape all the way to the left. The voicing is too scooped. That's also been my experience when I used a friends TH30 for a while. It lacked the mids that my OR15 had; just too scooped for me.