Orange Bass Terror effects loop bypass question

[Tnclimber]

Hello. I searched the forum on this but could not find the exact answer.

 

I have an Bass Terror 500 with a preamp in the effects loop. On other solid state amps when I do this everything on the amp itself is bypassed except master volume.

On the OBT 500 it seems like the Gain knob still works. I was under the impression that the effects loop would bypass the pre amp on the orange amplifier itself. 

I am new to tube or hybrid amps. Am I missing something? Should the Gain on the amp be bypassed in this situation?

 

Thanks!!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

It may not, the loop could be on the back side of the input stage but before the gain control. The manual should say.

[Tnclimber]

Thanks for the reply.

 

The manual says "between the amps preamplifier section and output section." This means it is between the Gain control and output I think. Should this override the tube gain?

 

I think my rumble 800 head is the same and it bypasses everything but master volume.

[Downunderwonder]

Might be a parallel blend?

[Tnclimber]

That is a good thought. I cannot find any documentation that indicates it is parallel. That is weird enough on its own. If it were I would think Orange would talk about it.

Maybe I will give them a call. I'm just wondering if my amp is defective or something.

[BassmanPaul]

If you plug into the front end of the amp the pre-amp will be active. Plug into the external pre-amp and feed the unit's output into the Return.

Edited March 26, 2023 by BassmanPaul

[Tnclimber]

That worked. I thought I had tried that as well. Thanks!

[BassmanPaul]

Glad to have been of help!

[Stub Mandrel]

On 26/03/2023 at 02:14, Tnclimber said:

That is a good thought. I cannot find any documentation that indicates it is parallel. That is weird enough on its own. If it were I would think Orange would talk about it.

Maybe I will give them a call. I'm just wondering if my amp is defective or something.

 

I think you may be being misled because as a hybrid amp the overdriven sounds come from the preamp not the power amp, so the impact of the gain on tone is far greater.

Rather than just going into the FX return, another option is to switch to 'clean' mode, which may give you the sound you want.