I think it's time I got a new amp... advice? (noob alert)

[sal paradise]

Or you could do a Ritual burning? Then sell it to Johnny as a ‘project amp’.

this amp has been my safe space since 2010... how dare you.
I still intend to attempt to fix it, although backstair have yet to respond to me with any advice (even tho I'm still apparently one of their "artists".
I think I just want to try to move away from relying on a particular piece of gear to play a good show, and get a bit more comfortable with making stuff work. Also it will make those mid week gigs a little less stressful if I can easily carry my rig without lugging a great big combo.
I've started putting together a mini rig, a delay, couple of gain stages and a tuner.
A pedaltrain nano, an Orange micro terror, and a couple guitars is travelling as light as I think possible.

This is the way of the future. I’m still obsessed with having a tube amp that does it all for me for home, easy to get to practice & gigs.

I should get over the idea- £1000 for a 20w head vs a drive pedal & a power amp pedal. 10x the price for tubes & a logo behind me…

[JSett]

Or you could do a Ritual burning? Then sell it to Johnny as a ‘project amp’.

although backstair have yet to respond to me with any advice (even tho I'm still apparently one of their "artists".

Try emailing Blackstar instead, might have better luck.

[garyptaszek]

Or you could do a Ritual burning? Then sell it to Johnny as a ‘project amp’.

although backstair have yet to respond to me with any advice (even tho I'm still apparently one of their "artists".

Try emailing Blackstar instead, might have better luck.

you're supposed to be on holiday... giving us a break too

[sal paradise]

I’ve just come across this… Orange Terror Stamp. 20W tiny terror in a box. Speaker & headphone out.

I think this might be a cure-all I’ve been thinking of. With a tubescreamer to boost it should get heavier tones ok? And 20W should be enough for band practice and gigs…

[garyptaszek]

I’ve just come across this… Orange Terror Stamp. 20W tiny terror in a box. Speaker & headphone out.

I think this might be a cure-all I’ve been thinking of. With a tubescreamer to boost it should get heavier tones ok? And 20W should be enough for band practice and gigs…

My good friend Dann uses one of these and has been very pleased with it. It's essentially an Orange Micro Terror in a pedal, with an extra added feature of a foot switchable 2nd channel. If it's anything like the Micro Terror it's pretty darn loud. I've yet to try my micro terror in a band situation but hopefully this weekend I'll get to and I'll give you an update.

I'm using a SD-1 which is basically a Boss tube screamer, and a MXR Micro Amp which gives me 4 pretty distinctive gain stages. I've only tried it at a low volume through a little 1/2 watt amp kit I built and a 1x8" speaker cab but it sounds pretty cool.

[sessylU]

Never played through any of the Terror series, but always understood that they take dirt pedals badly. Unfortunate limitation of the product if so.

[sal paradise]

Yeah, on much deeper consideration it seems like you get £100 worth of pedal here.

[garyptaszek]

Never played through any of the Terror series, but always understood that they take dirt pedals badly. Unfortunate limitation of the product if so.

well I've got a band rehearsal tomorrow so I'll report back after.

[JSett]

I had a Terror Stamp and Micro Terror. Both were damn loud though the right cab and speakers.

Never got them to play nice with dirt pedals so just stuck to a boost (the MXR you have from me specifically)

[garyptaszek]

I had a Terror Stamp and Micro Terror. Both were damn loud though the right cab and speakers.

Never got them to play nice with dirt pedals so just stuck to a boost (the MXR you have from me specifically)

oh really? how so?

[JSett]

I had a Terror Stamp and Micro Terror. Both were damn loud though the right cab and speakers.

Never got them to play nice with dirt pedals so just stuck to a boost (the MXR you have from me specifically)

oh really? how so?

I found the overdrive sound of the amp had such a particular (good) character of it's own that I just wanted a button to give me more of it when I wanted it.

[garyptaszek]

I had a Terror Stamp and Micro Terror. Both were damn loud though the right cab and speakers.

Never got them to play nice with dirt pedals so just stuck to a boost (the MXR you have from me specifically)

oh really? how so?

I found the overdrive sound of the amp had such a particular (good) character of it's own that I just wanted a button to give me more of it when I wanted it.

oh ok, so it's not so much how it worked with overdrive, just how it sounded?

[JSett]

oh really? how so?

I found the overdrive sound of the amp had such a particular (good) character of it's own that I just wanted a button to give me more of it when I wanted it.

oh ok, so it's not so much how it worked with overdrive, just how it sounded?

I, personally, didn't like the sound of the overdrives I tried with mine that had particular characters of their own (Rat, TS-type, etc) as it sounded like two competing tones and got kinda mushy.

YMMV etc etc

[garyptaszek]

ok, so some feedback from rehearsal.
Very surprised how loud that Micro Terror is, I barely had the volume passed 9 O'Clock, tone at 12 O'clock, gain at 12 O'clock and it was plenty loud enough.

The MXR Micro amp worked well as expected. The SD-1 didn't really work out (as you guys predicted). It did sound good when engaged, however it sounded as if the volume was dropping when I turned it on... so I turned the gain up slightly on the amp, and rolled the output and gain down on the SD-1 and used it to cut the signal for a faux clean channel which actually worked very well.

I also went and picked a Marshall MX212R from a seller on FB market place.
Probably seems pretty basic to most of you guys, but I've been using the same amp since 2010, it's been my safety blanket for so long this has all been a bit of an adventure.

[garyptaszek]

Update.
So I found an Orange OR15 on Facebook marketplace for a tasteful £300, buyer said I could have it for £275 if I came to pick it up.

Drove 1hr 15mins to get there... and the thing blew 2 fuses while the guy tried to so me it works.
He asked if I'd take it for £200 in that state, I said £150 as I was kinda pissed at him and his story of "spending 2 hours at his local shop making sure it all worked right" before I came to get it, but I also didn't want to waste the journey.
My basic knowledge of amps was confirmed when I called Johnny right outside the guys house and asked if it's likely it just needs new power tubes.

I dropped it at my amp guy for testing, if it comes through then I guess that's a bargain?
I already much prefer the size and weight of it compared to the Blackstar head.

Problem remains as to what to do with my long serving backstair combo as it's likely irreparable?