Orange Tiny Terror

The simplest amp ever made, I'd say. on-standby-off, 15-7 watt
switch, master, one knob of eq, gain, 1 imput.
really, can't be easier than this, and I appreciate that a lot : I'm for simplicity !
on the other hand, is an 1 trick pony : If you don't like the trick,
you don't like the amp, there is absolutely no way to change
( I mean, really change) the tone. no effect loop,no reverb, nada.

first of all, I want to say that my impressions are so different from
other reviewer's that I begin to suspect that my tiny terror is a defective one !
this boy has 1 sound, you like it, You hate it, 1 sound.
so taste and try, before you buy.
first, the good news : it has volume. don't be deceived by the size,
if you like distortion , this amp can stand a small-gig and a rehearse
with a mid-heavy drummer. what about clean ? reasonably over-driven
clean, is available at usable volume. the valve saturation is warm,
good, responsive to pick, great dynamics, and I like it.
now, bad part.
I used it a with a fender"the twin" cabinet, maybe not the best speakers
available, and with a rick 360-6,good qualiy cable.
simply put, I can't say that is a bad tone, but I don't like it.
I've read in other reviews that You get a lot of tones simply turning the eq
knob. duh...no fender sound in it, definitely anything resembling the vox
chime...maybe marshall, but with less bite.
this amp has no treble !
with a rick 360 and a strat , the bridge pick-up,
( 2 of the trebliest combinations available in the guitar universe),
amp eq knob all the way to trebleland, still it sounds muffed.
Forget "Turn, Turn, Turn" but also "won't get fooled again", not
enough attack. You can get close to Randy California solos, or even more to the
sound of "Vincebus Eruptum" by blue cheer.
it only gets good when you make it scream...ok, nice, but I can't make
a whole gig of ultra overdriven solo .
Or maybe I can ?

it seems solid.

I've played from 1989, almost 20 years.
2 records (rather obscure, I admit : check us out @
myspace/philomankindband.com), lot of gigs in any
situation. played, or heard, a lot of tube amps :
fender, marshall, vox, brunetti, peavey, music man .
now, I'm the happy owner of Vox ac30 and I found my sound
at last ! but I was scared by the "unreliability" buzz, so I needed
a small head to carry as a back up. I have the bassman but it's half
my weight (I sold a fender "the twin"... 45 Kilos ! to carry it
was a drag and took away all the pleasure from music)
this one seemed to fit perfectly,
light as a camera, small...something confortable.
.. Unfortunately, it has not a sound useful for my style ( mid 60's
Townshend, George Harrison's sound in "Revolver"), I will
only use it connected to the vox speakers if the vox refuse to
work.

.....made in china. but where else...? anyway, i just traded my [english-made]JCM 800 2205 head in for this lil guy 2 days ago. no regrets yet: its probably not fair for me to write a review at this point, but i'm letting you know this early on. my applications of guitar amps are mostly pleasure/hobby/recording these days.
right off, i am a strat guy. the marshall was sweet, but i prefer the pure tube circuit path...at the lower volumes i play at, the marshall was giving me mostly preamp/ diody-clip sounds. and semi-clean, the marshall was pretty nasty and honky(in a bad way). i just couldn't cut enough hi-midrange out of that thing, even with humbuckers; its just not realistic or pleasurable for me to use a 50 watt amp at 80% volume every day.
i spend alot of time in the just-starting-to-breakup area, and this orange can dial that mode in pretty well...the line on the gain knob between light and heavy distortion is a fine one though, IMO.
i haven't yet exploited the switchable 7/15 watt power modes; other than a slight volume drop i can't say the tone characteristics change a whole lot by toggling this feature. i'm sure at high volumes it will be an important feature.
i think the el84s are similar, sonically, to the marshall el34s. they can really snarl when you attack the guitar, and still compress and sound warm when you play light. Townsend-style power chords are satisfying. and they operate in a nice midrangey area of the spectrum that i just enjoy...
so far i've been playing it thru a homemade closed 2X12 @ 8 ohms box('80s laney speakers from a laney 4X12), which seems to sound like arse with any amp, and an open backed 1X12 @ 8 ohms(celestion vintage 30), which is superb.
i ordered a 1960s original jensen 15" speaker @ 4 ohms for another project, but maybe i'll repost when i get the speaker and build the cabinet and find out a way to use the orange through it safely.
this amp is class A single ended circuit. most guitar amps from the last 30 years are class AB push/pull; theory says, and i can hear, lots of pleasant detail and overtone through this circuit. it is more responsive, interesting sounding, and complex than push-pulls, but a bit (inherently)noisy. so single-coilers beware.
sounds great, but i may tweak around with tube brands if i have some money to blow. the stock tubes have no brand info, i assume they are probably chinese but who knows. they do the job. ancient chinese proverb: The Poor Craftsman Blames His Tools.

this is a stripped-down amp, which i wanted, so rating it for "features" can be interpreted in different ways. seeing as most amps are push-pull, have line outs, reverb, modeling, many tone controls, etcetera, i guess i'll rate it highly for ABSENCE of features. also, because its single-ended and cathode biased, it is my understanding that you don't need to worry about matched tube sets and biasing. i would have liked a 4 ohm output, and its voiced a bit bright, but thats all

i don't rate 10s. i think i covered sound up above. pure el84 tube snarl regulated with a master volume, pretty awesome; or, back it off for some jangly vox type jangle. voiced a bit bright, but thats what guitar tone controls were originally for, right?

brand new. i hear class a circuits burn up output tubes, so i'd have a standby tubeset if i depended on the amp.

i'm not a warranty guy. i don't abuse stuff, i generally exercise common sense, and usually my things always work as intended. if i was a rockstar i'd probably be more on top of warranties and 800 numbers, but my life (currently)doesn't depend on amplifiers. if it breaks, i can find a shop in chicago to fix it for a few bucks, rather than shipping it back to asia for 5 months.

been playing around for 25 years; i own 2 american made strats, one is an '87 i've had since 1987, the other is a recent '62 reissue; also i have a schecter S-1(or is it an S-3?).
i started with my broters stuff, then a Cort and a no-name garbage-picked transistor amp, once owned a fender '80s transistor 2X12, a crate transistor head, and the marshall JCM800 head i mentioned. my current amps are the Orange Tiny, an Epiphone Valve Junior head, and a Traynor YCV50

Less is more with this amp. Two switches and three knobs; what more could you ask for?

I play for a moderately-sized church and this amp is the perfect size for the venue. I pitched all of my pedals for this very simple, very practical amp and I have not looked back since.

I paired this amp with an Epiphone 1X12 speaker cabinet I found at the local Guitar Center and I could not be happier with the setup.

This amp is the best I have heard in its price range. For most of the gigs I play, I crank the volume knob to full and inch the overdrive know up as needed. This gives a nice blues crunch sound to my American Strat and "fattens" the overall mix of the band.

When playing more of a rock show I turn all of the dials straight up to 12 o'clock and settle into a moderate Brit-overdrive sound.

As I have read in other reviews, this amp seems pretty dependable.

The Orange website has a forum page much like this one that is very informative.

I have not had to deal with customer support or the local service center yet.

Have been playing guitar for the better part of the last thirteen years. This amp represents the first tube amp I have ever owned and I love it. I would highly recommend the Tiny Terror to anyone at any level; it will surpass all of your expectations.

Being an amp collector, I had to get this little amp that everyone is going nuts about. I got it to try out, and was completely blown away by it. This amp simply has incredible tone and volume. I have several boutique "modern" amps from Diezel, Suhr, VHT, Budda, Soldano, etc., and several(17) Marshalls, and this without a doubt keeps up with them. I really couldn't believe it.
This amp gets a killer clean with just the right amount of "chime" to it. The gain knob takes you anywhere from Vox land, through Plexi land, to Soldano high gain. It amazes me how versatile a one channel, 3 knob amp is. The distortion can get very brutal, and has tons of TIGHT bottom end. Can you do metal? Absolutley, and with no pedals needed. I prefer the Plexi type sounds on this amp (gain around 1:00, which are fantastic with a Les Paul.
Go out and try one. If you appreciate good tone, this is a no brainer. I sold my Suhr Badger because of this purchase because I think this sounds better for my tastes, and because it's a third of the price with excellent build quality. Don't let the made in Korea/China b.s. get in your head. Both sound the same, and are both built very well.

So far, no problems. I've used it for some sessions, and for a couple of live gigs at big L.A. venues. Plenty of volume for the stage, and really cheap to retube.

I've been a pro touring musician for almost 10 years now, and I've been to all of the NAMM shows to see and play all the "greatest and latest" amps that are out. I love amps, and this is an absolutely awesome amp. It's LOUD, but won't come near say a 50 watt Marshall. If you don't play with a stupidly loud drummer, this thing will cut it. Otherwise, you should still buy it and use it at home. Most sound guys will love you, because you won't be blowing out their mics.
Other amps I can compare this with (because I own them)are the Budda SD18 which is KILLER, the Suhr Badger (also killer, but I sold it), and the THD Univalve. The THD is really cool, but nowhere near as monsterous as this. I consider that amp more of a tube changing toy. The Budda is awesome, and would be a close rival at twice the price, but there's a bunch more options with the Budda. The Suhr is the closest to this amp being a single channel.
Bottom line is, any really good player will make any amp sound insane. For me, if the amp makes it feel easy and comfortable to play, I'm all for it. This amp did that with ease.

Well you know the features by now. For me I love it but a three band EQ woulda been a nice bonus but it gets the job done for three knobs.

I absolutly love this thing. I was using a 50W Marshall jubilee befor I got this.This thing was a call from heaven after my 2yr battle with that silver untoneful solid state tone in a tube amp POS.
Anyway,
I tried a bunch of tubes in the TT and came up with a nice combo of NOS glass. Although the JJ's did sound good when I bought it.
For me I love the harmonics this amp produces.Nice sweet controlled feedback and singing sustain with a chuncky lowend(for 2 el84s).
I compared this to my Marshall JCM800 channel switcher.Really I thought them about equal. The 100W Marshall had more thump(EL34s) and more clarity at higher volumes.But the Orange maintained its tone better through out the volume range and at club volumes I feel it sounds better.Pushing serious air the Marshall had a bit more clarity and scream,the TT seemed a hair fuzzy and blurred in direct comparison.
The TT cleans up nicely,not the most touch responsive out there but definetly gets the job done.Flipping my coil tap switch and rolling back my volume cleans up pretty darn good.But the classic OD tones are for sure its forte.
These tests are with my vintage strat with dimarzio super in the bridge and a 60's Marshall cab with greenbacks. On the neck pickup it does IMO a great Hendrix Hey Joe tone.
I do think the TT could use a hair more treble at times though.Nothing to complain about but just a smidge would be nice.
For the price you WILL NOT find a better sounding amp.

had it 8mo gigging and recording with no problems so far.

Haven't dealt with orange.

Top Notch for club gigs,actually I allways mic my cabinet so its perfect for all my situations.I've recorded this on our band demo and it sounded really professional. Allthough in the studio were you can really crank up a 100W Marshall will still have more oomph!! and clarity.
IMO if you can't crank a 100W amp in your gigging situation(almost everybody,including concerts)this amp is GREAT. If your an amp and guitar guy this is perfect.
If you need channels,loops,do dads and bells and whistles look else were.

15/7 watt class A power head.
Vol/Tone/Gain (is all you need!)
I bought this amp originaly for studio use because you can crank it without busting windows-or so I thought anyway. I actually have used this for a show in a large sized club once and it held its own out of my mesa 4-12 recto cab. This little terror has balls.

I do give it a lower score for features for the literal lack of features-one channel, and one "eq" knob--but hey, you still get a surprising amount of tone variations nevertheless.

Sound quality is all that can be expected from orange in a small metal box. Great screaming tone, to that bright botique crunch. You can get a very clean tone out of it at lower volumes, but it is pretty much made for an overdrive channel on an amp.

I play hard modern rock, and it suits it very well. I don't use any effects, and i use the "budget" channel switching technique--meaning i turn my neck pickup way down and my bridge pickup all the way up and crank the amp. A quick flip of the pup switch and you have yourself two channels. And the orange sounds very clean even at low pickup volume.

Oh ya-and hardly any noise--even turned up all the way.

It seems very durable. I've had it for about 6 months now and I use it to the max all the time. I don't like playing without a backup, but if I had to, I wouldn't be worried about it.

Never delt with them--yet

Iv'e been playing guitar for ten years, and i have a good collection of quality amps, including a few marshalls, a mesa, and a cutom amp built for me. This one for sure ranks up there with them. I would get another one if it got lost or stolen because they have a very resonable price. I don't find myself wanting anything from it, due to the fact that I don't like a whole bunch of effects and crap flooding my tone. Im very happy with it.

Mine is a 2007 made in Korea model. I play everything from blues to metal and it does them all! It really does work for metal too, if you want death metal type distortion, just buy a tube screamer and run it in front. This amp is built for sound and not features, nevertheless I wish it had an EQ. I use this amp primarily at home and it is LOUD. Orange does not include any type of owners quide with this amp! What are they thinking!

I have owned a JCM-900, a 1984 JCM-800, and have played just about any amp you could ever think of, and this amp beats the pants off just about any amplifier in any price range. The cleans are not completely free of distortion, but the sound great. Overdrive is the definition of pure british tone at it's best. I play it through EMG-81 pickups (which aren't that great) and it still sounds fantastic. It does create a little bit of buzz at loud volumes, but what amp doesn't?

Never had a problem with mine. However I still don't know if it has a fixed or cathode bias, because Orange doesn't tell you!

I've never dealt with Orange at all. I have heard however, that they can be pretty slow in responding to their customers.

If this amp was stolen, I would be very mad. I would definately buy another. I love this amp and highly recommend it. If you buy it, you should look into some EQ pedals (it doesn't need them, but their nice to have on hand).

2 EL 84 amp. Very simple, gain, volume, tone. Seems to be very well built, comes with a very nice carry bag. Half power switch 7/15 watts, and three speaker outs on back (no 4 ohm, unfortunately) Wish it had a mid control. Very light and portable.

If you like compressed midrangey sound, there's lots of it here. It doesn't sound bad at all, but it kind of paints everything with the same brush. A tiny bit dull on the top, and light bottomLacks clean headroom, even on the 15 watt setting. Goes to very high gain, but not particularly smoothly, it seems to jump suddenly, might need a bit different taper on the gain pot. It bothers me because its hard to find that thick, semi dirty EL 84 sound that's so nice on other amps, and when you change guitars its gone...

I tried a few tube/speaker swaps, and I'm pretty happy with the sound I'm getting on the 15 watt setting using a 5751 phase inverter into an eminence Wizard speaker.

So far, its excellent.

I have emailed orange, and they responded promply.

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years. I bought this when I started having back trouble and I couldn't bring my Dr. Z Maz JR to gigs anymore.

I don't think I'd buy it again if it were stolen (maybe the Dr.z mini Z or a bad cat mini cat), but I'm not selling it either. Its plenty good enough for most of what I do.

I love the size of the amp and the weight. The tone is good, but not great with the stock tubes and cab, a bit of swapping makes a significant difference.

15/7 watt switchable, single channel, 2XEL84 head. Really love the portability and light weight.

Good british toned amp.

A bit midrange heavy with stock cab, but very usable. Headroom is a bit limited. Very broad range of gain, but a bit fizzy sounding past 3 on the preamp knob. Compares favorably tone wise to other EL 84 amps i've used, but maybe not quite as versatile.

So far so good. Seems to be very well built.

Good sounding amp. Very cool and compact, and seems to be quite well built.

I am using this amp for recording, and while the controls are minimal,they are very responsive. No effects loop is kind of a drag. The older I get, the more I appreciate "less knobs - more tone".

This amp gives me a sound that I could never get with my Splawn Quick Rod, various Marshalls, Engls, Budda etc. This amp contains an abundance of usable presence. The TONE knob really does take you through a variety of good sounds without sacrificing. I have never really taken the control freak method with amp tone. I did try this amp in a live setting, plugging it into 2 4X12 cabs, and it really was plenty loud. The tone did dissipate at higher volumes, only because of the nature of the room. I would say that the Tiny Terror can be used in live settings, just smaller venues/ clubs. When recording, I'm using it with a 2X12 cab with 30watt Eminence speakers, and I really love the tone.

Seems to be built like a tank. Also, the carrying case that comes with the amp is very cool.

Orange America seems to be on the ball.

I would buy another if this one went away. Strange that the "Stand By" switch was moved on these when production moved countries. STBY was on the off-on switch on early models, and moved to the 15-STBY-7 switch on later models. Overall, this is a great value. It gives us a boutique quality amp, for $500.