Ok - No problem here just looking for understanding.
I recently got an Orange Tiny Terror 15/7 watt tube amp (EL84/12AX7). Here's the thing. Every tube amp I have ever owned that had a volume and a gain control required the gain to be backed off at high volumes or they would turn to mush. But the Orange just sounds even better wide open with the gain turned up for high gain stuff. What's the deal?
Never played that amp, but I think orange has been targeting metal players lately. They probably voiced it that way on purpose. That amp is the one with the 7 watt/ 15 watt switch i think.
Yes, you can switch between 15 and 7 watts. But this thing baffles me in a good way. I can dime the volume and put the gain at 3 o'clock and it sounds awsome, no loss of tone, and leads cut through.
Maybe I need medications or something - I am just not patient. I am looking for a techno response that is understandable to one (that be me) who can grasp rudimentary aspects of tube amps. I know there are plently of technos that love an intellectual challenge or in the least an oppurtunity to lend a compassionate hand to a fellow guitar player.
Every Tube Amp I have ever owned for the past 30 years (mostly class A):
Low volume/high gain settings good for wall of distortion at friendly sound levels. Increase volume, must back off gain, to be tonally palletable.
New Orange Tiny Terror:
Increase volume to max even during max gain settings just gets sweeter on the tonal smorgasborg (as long as you can stand in front of it).
QUESTION:
Is there anything different in this class A circuit that woud accentuate power tube distortion to reveal tonal bliss and well defined musical notes when the front end is pushed as opposed to inarticulate-fuzz-in-your-face?
Thanks
It just depends on how the designer balanced it. Some amps overdrive following stages excessively if the gain's all the way up. Some get it just right. Some let too many high frequencies through. When you clip nearly to a square wave there are lots of high harmonics, and if they all get through to a later nonlinear amplification stage they beat together to make intermodulation products that sound nasty and buzzy. As someone already said, the designer voiced the amp to sound the way it does by their choices of component values at key positions in the circuit, knowing how folks like you would want to use it.
:D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Thanks ricochet and stengah - I accept it as it is. Finally nice to own an amp that behaves properly, with three nobs at that - volume/gain/tone. Not to say there are not better sounding set-ups. But this one when the power tubes are in breakup the more you push the front end the juicier it gets.
I'll bet Orange has a "Contact Us" link where you can tell 'em how much you appreciate their work. :D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
