Orange Tiny Terror – the First DRG-Recommended/Endorsed Dino Amp

Dinosaur David B 18 June 2008

In almost 10 years of running this site, this is the only product we've ever gone on record as "officially recommending" -- to both experienced and beginner players, and whether they have a lot of gear already or not. That ought to tell y'all something. As a combo, it's the ultimate first amp for any Dino. As a head, it's the ultimate last amp for any Dino. And it covers an awful lot of ground in between. Many of the staff and members have purchased one already.

Buy your Orange Tiny Terror from the DRG store here.

The Orange Tiny Terror 7/15 watt class A amp is a thing of beauty, and it blew all of our Dino minds in NAMM 2008. We ran it through a 4x12 cab, and it sounded like the fist of GOD. It screamed. It growled. TRUE Dino Tube tone (EL84s) in a package the size of a kid's lunchbox. Plenty loud when cranked for recording and most gigging, and plenty quiet when you need it quiet. You can crank the volume down to bedroom levels. I've got one of these little demons for the apartment. It's a perfect small apartment/city amp and a great first tube amp for anyone who already has a cab. The combo version coming soon.

You can run it at 7 watts with one tube or 15 with both. It's more Orange in character than Marshall (but still pure British/Dino tube tone). It has that really brown midrange beef that's a trait of Orange (and later Bogner) and less top end bite than Marshall.

Check out this demo.

[video]

Note that the guy has the volume down low for this demo. If you want to read about how the Tiny Terror does in a jam or band context and see another demo, go here.

They kept it cheap by keeping it stripped down. I think it's made in China, and it's in a steel box rather than boxed in nice marine ply and tolex. For $550, I can live with all of that.

The Tiny Terror is the essence of dumbed-down simplicity in an amp. One channel. THREE KNOBS TOTAL. Volume bass/treble, Gain. If you want cleaner, you roll back the gain at the amp or the volume knob at the guitar. If you need more gain than is on tap on the amp, here is where you buy a pedal and you're golden because you're already getting great tone from the AMP (as opposed to trying to fix a bad-sounding amp with a pedal). Similarly, there's one only one knob to control the tonal color from bass to treble. If you need more control than that, you get an EQ pedal and your set.

The matching Orange 1x12 closed back cab with the 30 watt Celestion (for less than $400) is a great option. If you eventually find you need more than that for gigging you could always add a larger cab, or just add more small ones. The Tiny Terror + 1x12 rig is never going to be a bad investment. For just under $1000, you'll have a small, easily portable pure tube rig that will probably do 90% of everything you'll ever need from bedroom practice, to jams, to recording, to MOST normal gigging.