The Orange Amplifier brand was resurrected in the '90s to the excitement of vintage British fans, but it put itself on the map all over again when it released the Orange Tiny Terror amp in 2006. For a long time the realm of small, portable, great-sounding amps was the exclusive domain of boutique and custom builds. So when Orange Amps produced a small, metal-cased amp head that provided versatile tube tone for under $600, it spurred a range of competitors to answer, most notably Vox with the Night Train. The Orange Tiny Terror, however, remains the original and the most fun in its simplicity and design.

Read more about Orange Amplifiers through our interview with Adrian Emsley here.

Keep It Simple

With only two switches, three knobs and one input jack, the Orange Tiny Terror could be mistaken for a toy with its picture labels and simplicity. After trying it out though, the basic layout is liberating. Flip the on switch. Choose 15 or 7 watts (stage or studio). Choose how loud you want to be. How bright you want to be. How much dirt you want. And you're ready to go, without having to spend tons of time dialing in or pre-setting multiple channels.

This is an amp that begs to be played with the guitar plugged directly in, with no effects pedal interference. It has plenty of headroom and a warm, organic breakup that runs the gamut from blues to classic rock and even metal. It does not have any onboard effects like reverb or tremolo, so players looking for those will need to bring a few pedals along. And the Tiny Terror will happily play along, pairing with pedals as well as any high-end amplifier.

Hitting The Sweet Spot

While some professional musicians have sound techs, padded bank accounts and tour buses, the rest of us live in the world of "good enough" gear bought on credit that we lug around in our city cars. The Orange Tiny Terror fits perfectly into the latter situation, and has even made its way into some professional studios as well. When it comes to amps, most people want a rich tone, reliability and portability, usually in that order. The Tiny Terror nails those three criteria with flying colors, and adds the mojo of having a metal-cased, vintage-looking head sitting on your cab. Like other practical studio and stage amps such as the Fender Blues Junior, the Orange Tiny Terror hits a sweet spot that puts it dangerously close to the "no brainer" category.

This seems awfully similar to the Vox Night Train. How do they compare?

The Night Train still uses a four-tube chassis with a solid state rectifier, just like the Tiny Terror, but differs slightly in that it has see-through metal casing, two output jacks instead of three and separate treble, middle and bass knobs in place of the single tone knob on the Tiny Terror. Both amps can switch from 15 watts to 7 watts (technically 7.5). The Night Train is a little heavier (17 lbs. vs 13 lbs.) and larger, but you're right to think that these two amps are fraternal twins. It really is just a matter of aesthetics and opinion once you narrow your choice down to these two. Keep in mind that the Tiny Terror made the market first.