A Pre-Release Look at the Orange Dual Terror Guitar Amplifier

Since 1969 Orange Amplification has been a leader in quality Class A amps. Today is no exception. Orange makes some of the most sought after stacks and combo amps in the business. Then in 2006 Orange helped usher in the trend of what I call low wattage "mini amps." These are amps that are less than 30 watts and highly portable. The Orange Tiny Terror is a 15-watt, one channel head that delivers amazing tone that surprised everyone. Despite having only three knobs (Volume, Tone, and Gain) and the absence of an effects loop and reverb, the Tiny Terror made huge waves and gained momentous attention due to its affordability, portability, and big tone.

However, earlier this year Orange announced that it will soon be releasing a new amp that will become the big brother to the Tiny Terror. The new amp will be called the Orange Dual Terror, a small 30-watt head with two channels.

When released, users will find that the Dual Terror is very similar to the Tiny Terror in form factor. The Dual Terror is slightly longer and fatter. This is due to the fact that the Dual Terror sports four EL84 output tubes, whereas the Tiny Terror only has two. This is important because having more tubes means that the upcoming Dual Terror will be capable of up to 30 watts of power providing more tone and volume especially for gigging musicians. However Orange has still included the capability to switch down to 15 or 7 watts for low-watt studio work and practicing or to increase head room.

But Orange did not stop there. A whole new channel has been added to the Dual Terror. The Tiny Terror channel sounds like the original amp that we all know and love. But with the addition of the Fat Channel, the Dual Terror is able to beef up your sound for chunkier distortion and full-bodied clean tones. Also the two channels are foot-switchable allowing you to change up on the fly which is especially useful in a live situation if you want to use one of the two channels as a solo boost channel.

As for the overall sound of the amp, users will notice the distinct classic British sound that is typical of Orange amps. The Tiny Terror and the soon-to-be-released Dual Terror both add an extra edge to this sound and so both are capable of much more liquid distortion.

The Dual Terror is still much like the original Tiny Terror in a lot of ways. There are two options for connecting a speaker cabinet. You can connect two 16 ohm cabs by plugging each cab into one of the two 8 ohm jacks on the back panel of the Dual Terror. Or if you only want one cabinet, just connect a 16 ohm cab to the 16 ohm jack. On the negative side the Dual Terror also does not have reverb or an effects loop. But if you have pedals and want to run them into the front of the amp, the Dual Terror can handle it.

According to email correspondence I have had with an Orange Amps representative, the Dual Terror is slated for a late September release and will come with a street price of $819. However keep in mind that nothing is final until the amp is actually release. Details can always change. But even still, $819 is a great price and though it is twice the cost of the original Tiny Terror, in a lot of ways, we are getting twice the amp with twice the available output wattage and two channels instead of just one.

So be on the lookout for Orange's newest small low-watt Class A amp, the Dual Terror. Good luck!