Orange Micro Terror

I have not purchased a product in a long time which has completely blown me away in terms of really surprising me how good it it.

Firstly it is tiny, really tiny, just a bit bigger than a small carton of milk (can't think of other things that size) and weighs nothing at all (mainly due to the external power supply). I bought it in conjunction with the matching gig bag.

The second surprise for it's size is that t is loud, very loud. I am running it through a home-made 1x12 cab (as I personally think the matching 1x8 is a bit naff and there are lots of alternatives n the same price range - Harley Benton G112 for instance) and I am getting to 9 o'clock and starting to worry about the upsetting the neighbours.

I was split between this and the Micro Dark, but I wanted more volume before breaking and entering into distortion territory. With the gain cranked to 2 o'clock you get a gorgeous rock overdrive sound and above that into mild to middle distortion.

The tone control is very basic but extreme from ear splitting sharpness to sounding like it is under a dozen pillows. I have combined this with an Orange Two Stroke to drive the front end a bit harder and have a much wider control of the tone shaping and I am in heaven.

The Aux input is a 'bit of whatever', I can't see myself using it and they also dropped it on the Dark model. The lack of effects loop is also not a deal breaker.

You could easily do a small pub gig with this amp and there are many videos on the 'the tube' which show how it can easily drive a 4x12. There is also the option to swap out the pre-amp valve for a better one, but until the one in it dies, I am quite happy with the sound.

Lastly it is pretty much the price of a decent effects pedal. It is an amp that takes you back to basics, with a phenomenal sound and punch.

As I mentioned at the beginning, there are a few products which have given me a 'wow factor' over the years and this is quite high on that list.

This is an uncategorically superb piece of gear and highly recommended.