Obrienp

You really should be able to get a good pair of JJs for about half that if you shop around. Appreciate it doesn’t change the fact that, if the problem is not the valves, it’s a waste of money but IMO it is always worth having a couple of spares.

Sorry to hear of your problem with the amp. I have a Terror 500, so I am interested to hear what the outcome is and whether you can get it fixed. It might just be worth contacting Orange customer service, they should be able to tell you how to diagnose the issue, if nothing else. Good luck and please keep us posted.

I had one about 12 years ago and my lasting memory of it, apart from the mudbucker, was the weight for something that looked quite dinky. I think mine was genuine mahogany, or at least sapele. I imagine they have moved to basswood, or similar now, so possibly lighter. Neck dive was a big feature too. Not saying this makes it a bad bass per se but I did eventually sell it and get a Squire Jaguar SS, which I found more versatile but also a neck diver. Upgrading the Jaguar was a lot cheaper pickup and bridge wise though.

Ah! Good point. The Aguilars probably need to be rails but I am sure Nordstrand can make custom single poles with the right alignment.

Well I didn’t use the Gnome in the end, despite pools of standing water. I must be crazy! I went through the first half of the set thinking there must be a problem with the mains supply because the amp seemed under powered . When I came back for the second set, I noticed that the PAD switch was on: Doh! It worked much better once I had corrected that! Fortunately, I brought a half metre square of foam matting so I was able to stand the rig on that together with the extension sockets to keep it out of the water. We will have to wait for Ash to let us know how he got on with the Gnome at his gig.

You are going to have to wait for Marvin to confirm the size. I think it is the D4 for the 5 string multi scale, which is actually a 6 string version (4.65” x 1.25”). Of course, you have to decide whether you are going to stick with the humbucker vibe (DCB), or go for the Jazz type Super Single, or the humbucker on steroids Super Double. It doesn’t look as though they do the Super Split (noise free Jazz) in the D4 size.

Yes, me too. Mine (just the basic model) has stayed in the gig bag so far. However, we are playing a gig in a marquee somewhere in Lincolnshire this evening and with the expected weather, I am not sure I feel confident to use the Orange Terror with its valve preamp. I might just find out how the Gnome copes….into 12” cabs.

Mine are D1 size, approx 3.9”x 1.5”. Obviously quite a bit different. Although with bar magnets, I would have thought they would be wide enough for a 5 string but maybe not a fan fret with diagonal pickups. Maybe the different format does have a big impact on the sound they produce. I’ll see how it goes before coming to a final conclusion about them compared to the Barts. My local luthier winds pickups at very reasonable prices, so that might be my next move if these don’t cut the mustard.

Well I did eventually shell out the £200 for a set of Aguilar DCBs to replace the OEM Bartolinis; funded by the sale of my Markbass 801. I would like to report that I am bowled over by the change but to be honest, I don’t think the difference is that dramatic. I hadn’t played it with the Barts in for a few days before doing the swap, so maybe I would have noticed more of a difference if I had. A few points that others have not mentioned: the Aguilars have 3 retaining screws instead of two. Not a big problem but it would be nice if they came with screws, springs and/or foam. Instead you just get them in a cardboard box. Fortunately I had some black jazz bass type mounting screws left over from another project, so i didn’t have to order and wait for extra screws. The advantage of the 3 screw mounting is that you can adjust the angle of the pickup in two plains to get them perfectly aligned with the angle of the strings. The Aguilar DCBs are not as deep as the Barts. I didn’t notice this in my impatience to get them in the bass. Put it all together, got the strings back on and then wondered why the pickups were so far from the strings. I had to disassemble everything, find bits of foam and a few longer springs to get the Aguilars nearer to the strings. It was at this point that I got a bit miffed with Aguilar for not providing a mounting kit with their expensive pickups. Anyway I had enough bits and pieces from other projects to sort it out but still annoying. Funny how the cheaper end of the replacement pickup up market generally come with screws, springs, foam, copious wiring diagrams and fitting instructions. Get up to the refined high end atmosphere of Aguilar, Nordstrand, etc and you are lucky to get a scruffy bit of paper with a barely legible diagram on it. I hope I am going to grow to appreciate the Aguilar DCBs but I am currently wondering whether I should have gone for the Splits. I did consider it but thought the Jazz bass voicing would change the character of the bass completely. Still, it’s a very ergonomic and comfortable bass, so not regretting getting it.

Wow! Those are different and beautiful!

Agree with both comments above. I have lumped in with an Orange Terror Bass now but I would still like to see a user review of the Digbeth 500 head. Who knows what might happen in the future and it has got some good features for the price. I think it is a shame they haven’t come up with some more compact cabinet options but I guess it is in line with their design philosophy for the range: they have managed to make a solid state head pretty heavy and the cabinets seem to follow suit. They have obviously decided to buck the compact, lightweight trend.

My custom shortscale arrived yesterday! Thank you Tony Edwards Guitars! https://tonyedwardsguitars.co.uk. Apology for the quality of the pic. It doesn’t do justice to the burl on the fretboard and the tone of the sunburst. It’s 30” scale, 40mm nut, Babicz bridge and Tony’s own hand wound pickups. All for less than a Fender Mustang (USA).

Just a little addendum to the valve change saga. If you like clean headroom, I would recommend the MG version of the JJ ECC3. It seems JJ have various versions of the ECC83 but the MG is designed to give more clean headroom and a linear response. It certainly seems to do that, while providing nice creamy overdrive when you crank the gain. It definitely delivers more clean headroom than the original Ruby 12AX7 and the driven sound is more controllable.

I agree. The EHB 1000/1005s should get better OEM pickups, given their price. They are on the expensive side for the standard range. It’s not as though they are Premium, or Prestige. I might try dropping the height on the Barts before shelling out for Aguilars, or Nordstrands. Last chance saloon for the Barts. Having to shell out an extra £200 on pickups does hurt!

Pressure to get the Aguilars is growing! I tried D’Addario Pro Steels on mine to see if it would make the Barts sound less muddy and it just made it nasal and muddy☹️, so I have put Nickels back on but 50-105, which didn’t require any work on the nut. For me anyway, the proper medium gauge set sounds more balanced. I always felt the hybrid set made the top 2 strings too bright in comparison to the bottom two. I guess if you slap all the time the contrast is good but not for my Dad rock covers band. It has also improved the feel, especially because we tune down a semitone to help the vocalists. The extra tension makes it rattle less when I dig in. Do the Aguilars come with pickup height recommendations? I had wondered whether part of the problem with the Barts might be to do with the height but I can’t find any recommendations on their website.

About 4 months ago I commissioned my friendly local luthier to make a 32” fretless neck for my (fretted) Ibanez SRH500. Unfortunately he is so busy, with a custom short scale build for me among other commissions, that he hasn’t got round to it yet. I thought long and hard about this, before deciding that this would be cheaper than buying a new chambered fretless, or having one made. You can pick up a used SRH500/505 for not much money, so doing this might work out cheaper than buying a new bass, or getting a custom build. No reason why the neck shouldn’t be a 30”, although I thought it might look a bit unbalanced, even though the body is relatively small (width) for a full size bass.

OK folks. This process is amazingly straightforward, as long as your supplier has sent you the correct valves. My JJ ECC81 is fine (12AT7): sounds good but the Mullards I was sent are ECC84, that is not a 12AX7 equivalent. It should have been ECC83. Doh! The job is only half done but at least it won’t take too long when the JJ ECC83 arrives from Watford Valves. The original valves are branded Ruby. I did a quick Google search on them and it seems they are a low cost Chinese brand. Opinions in various forums range from they are crap to there’s nothing wrong with them. Apparently they have been used in various Marshall models as well. I guess manufacturers have to keep costs down and are bound to source components locally for their Chinese made products. I wonder if they put Ruby in the UK made amps. But hey, JJ are made in the Slovak Republic and loads of other makes are actually made in Russia. I doubt there are any still made in the USA or UK. One thing I noticed while I had the cover off but with mains, speakers and bass connected, and powered up, you have to look really hard to see any glow from the valves,me specially with the protective housings in place. Don’t take lack of glow to mean the valves are dud. Try it all connected before deciding you’ve put a dud in. Probably obvious to all you knowledgeable people but one YouTube video said to look for the valves glowing as an indicator of success. I am sure that applies to output valves in an all valve amp but doesn’t seem to hold for the Terror’s preamp valves.

I put Pro Steels on my 4 string and I think it has made it sound nasal and emphasises the unbalanced nature of the hybrid 45-110 set. I am going back to nickels but a proper 50-110 set of mediums. I suspect it is not going to be enough though and eventually I am going to have to shell out for Aguilars but maybe Super Splits rather than DCBs.

Thanks. That’s reassuring. 👍

I came across a post started in 2011 describing the process of changing valves in the previous model Terror. No pics though, as the links had broken. One thing that was not mentioned but is in some YouTube vids about valve changing, is the danger of residual current in the capacitors. I guess it is not a problem with the Terror preamp valves, as nobody has mentioned it. Is that right, or are there procedures I need to follow (apart from the obvious unplugging) to avoid getting fried?

Hi All, Reviving this thread with a question but first a bit of context. I just bought a secondhand Terror Bass MKII off fleaBay. It is apparently a year old, give or take. It looks immaculate, so I believe it and it seems to work fine. The manual says amp valves should be replaced every year. Given this is a used amp, etc, it strikes me it might be a good idea to replace the valves before relying on it at a gig. So… I have the new valves: a Mullard ECC84 and a JJ ECC81. I had a quick look at some YouTube clips about replacing amp valves (there aren’t many) and they gave dire warnings about residual current lurking in the capacitors. One gave instructions on how to bleed the residual charge from the capacitors but TBH it didn’t look like something I would want to attempt. Plus looking in through the heat vents on my Terror, I can see the two valves inside their covers and nothing else. I have a kind of feeling that the really nasty current would be in the output stage of a valve amp rather than the preamp and as this is class D in that stage, that is not an issue. Am I deluding myself? What precautions do I need to take when changing these valves? Nobody has mentioned taking any when describing doing the swap. Your experience of doing the swap would be gratefully received!

Thanks. That’s good to know.