Guitar Gear Forum

Hey guys, brand new to the world of electronics so have no experience.
I'm wondering if there are and mods available for the orange micro terror? if so, what?

I see a lot of mod kits that come with replacement caps/resistors etc but what do these all do and how do they change the tone of an amp?
I could switch all the parts out in the micro terror for better parts, not the un-branded cheap parts that are in them but will I see much of a difference?

If it helps my aim would be to tame the "fizz" of the amp, and also get it to distort at a lower level/gain.
Would also be interesting to incorporate something like an Arduino into the amp or something.

Sorry If I come across rather stupid, i've only just started and we've all gotta learn somewhere right?

thanks
Jamie

mods are generally not approached with solid state or digital modeling amps. i doubt any use mods have even been performed on the micro terror.
furthermore, even on Orange's tube efforts, the use of PCB, while not prohibitive, generally dissuades modification it seems. Orange, like any company, aims to provide as much as possible in way of variety, options and controls to eliminate the need for modification. "mods" are usually for the simpler, more basic circuits to tailor them to certain needs--i.e. modding a valve junior for eq, or higher gain, perhaps.

if you're not happy with the micro terror, the best option is probably a different amp.

I agree with dickarms. Modding small SS amps probably won't yield any results that would be worth the effort or money.

I should say It would be purely for educational uses, I don't care about the money. I don't care about how it sounds as such, I just want to try and make it sound different and learn stuff on the way. It seems like an okay starting point to learn how amps work as it has a tube pre and SS power amp

If you're goal is to get more squinted with amps and how they work, once again I stress that SS is not the best thing to work on.

Tube amps are all kind of the same, especially the simpler ones, and are usually laid out in a way that facilitates identification of parts, choice of mods etc.

If you want a cheap small amp to mod, get a Valve Jr. Or a junior blues and read up on those mods.

for instance, the available help to you (as seen here) for modding a micro terror: zero.

the available help to you in modding, say a cheap epiphone valve junior or fender champ: 60 years of know how and an entire internet.

I did a little internet searching - the only useful mod out there seemed to be upgrading the power supply.

But that is going to do the opposite of what the OP was looking for - it will increase headroom, not allow it to overdrive easier.

Thanks for the replys guys. I just have no interest in the valve/blues junior. I'm much more interested in the SS and Amp Modeling side of things that I am with tube amps. I mean if there were a mod turning the valve junior into a screaming hot distortion then I may be interested, but I don't believe there is. I could buy a kit amp but they're super expensive and I don't think I'd learn much, I can put stuff together fine but that doesn't mean I understand how they work.

What effect does swapping out capacitors/resistors have on the amp? I don't understand how such a thing can effect the sound

minor tone differences, depending on the location and type.

so, the way tone circuits are designed, certain components can roll off/attenuate/boost/block certain frequencies. how? well thats getting into some serious chemical and electrical engineering, but they just do. high frequencies can be adjusted based on the timing/amount of capacitance (this is why when using a long cable, you may notice less high frequency content, as the longer the cable, the more capacitance, or "charging and releasing" of a signal)

so through some clever tricks and networking of components (resistors Y'd into separate capacitors, with switches, etc.) you can shape the harmonic content of a signal and make the results controllable by the user. ( a volume knob is a variable resistor allowing content through, or sending a variable amount of signal content to ground, a tone knob might vary the amount of signal sent down two parallel legs of a signal path, one with different capacitors set up in it, dig?)


that said, what you are basically asking here amounts to how to change resistors on your VCR or DVD player to get images you like better to show up on you screen. and i, nor anyone i know, can help you with that. if it were a reel-to-reel projector, so to speak, we could. see?

I'm following yes. I only ask because all these mod/upgrade kits for amps mainly focus on capacitor/resistor replacements, and I assumed that they have a major impact on the tone, hence the mod. So what components create what features to a sound? I mean how can you go from a clean amp to a crunch amp through a few components being swapped out?

http://www.ssguitar.com

These guys might be more helpful.
There are some very knowledgeable folks over there.

Jamieip wrote:I'm following yes. I only ask because all these mod/upgrade kits for amps mainly focus on capacitor/resistor replacements, and I assumed that they have a major impact on the tone, hence the mod. So what components create what features to a sound? I mean how can you go from a clean amp to a crunch amp through a few components being swapped out?

thats a broad question. most "tone mods" (brightness switches, etc.) are a cap here a resistor there. changing GAIN characteristics, especially in a solid state amp is a whole other ball park and makes your quest even harder. at least with tube amps, they are simple enough and the components (preamp, power amp, transformers, speakers) are well-enough understood by enough people to get that kind of advise. not a single one of us can tell you which IC opamp will give you a better gain structure, or more crunch, etc. you're actually talking about switching out major components of the amp's design which almost no one has any knowledge of.

im not trying to be a tube amp snob or get you to spend more money. im speaking from a technician's standpoint. this quest is pretty futile.
to provide another analogy, we dont work at dodge or ford, but we know a thing or two about what makes these muscle cars work, not a whole lot, but enough to get some extra horsepower here and there. you are asking how to make a tesla drive differently. wouldnt know step 1, sorry.

thats fair enough, thanks for helping me as much as you can. I also don't know where to start! hence why I asked here

don't give up on it just because it is difficult or some one claims that it is. research is key. actually performing the work for the mods will be simple. the researsh it takes to experiment is what is very time consuming. research solid state amps and amps that are of a similar design. single tube preAmp with a ss power amp. there are other amps that are built the same as well as many hybrid distrotion pedals that use only a single tube. mods on a circuit board are not difficult as long as your not changing every component on the board.

research is key. first thing to do is find schematics for your amp or schematics that are similar to your amp. and research solid state amplifier designs and schematics. search lots of forums.