MXR M116 Fullbore Metal

December 2009 Guitarist 177
QUICKTEST
MISCELLANEOUS
CONTACT: JHS PHONE: [phone] WEB: www.jhs.co.uk/mxr
CONTACT: OMEC Ltd WEB: www.orangeamps.com PHONE: [phone]
A great metal tone should be
equal parts gain, aggression
and dynamics, and the Fullbore
Metal provides an impressive
choice of tones, even though it’s
hard to obtain anything other
than skull-crushing overdrive.
The pedal includes a scoop
button and, best of all, a noise
gate, which can be fine-tuned
via an internal micro-pot, while
three super-bright LEDs will
illustrate the various functions
on even the darkest stage.
Sounds
If you’re looking for subtlety,
the M116 won’t be for you, but if
The Bottom Line
We like: Great range of tone
from a very simple set-up
We dislike: No LED channel
indicator on the front panel
The Bottom Line
We like: Great look; intuitive
features; built like an ingot
We dislike: It really is just for
metal. Not a thing else…
GUITARIST RATING
GUITARIST RATING
you want to experiment with a
variety of high-gain and very
expressive metal tones, you
should give it a whirl. The gain
control offers discernible
increments of gain, while
engaging the scoop pot not only
drops the mids, but ups the
treble and low-end rumble too.
The provision of a trio of
independent EQ pots enables
you to easily tailor the waves of
crunch to allow your notes to
always be heard and the gate
pot, internally adjustable
remember, is precise and as
unobtrusive as any simple gate
could be.
Verdict
The stripped-down metal vibe
and hardy construction fits the
genre to a tee and it does
provide more than its fair share
of tones, albeit suited just to the
hardcore metal fraternity. That
being said, if your amp already
possesses such a tone you may
feel hard pushed to justify
buying the Fullbore. Still, it’s
worth spending some time with
the pedal to prove that there’s
far more than just one generic
tone for metal. [SB]
Orange Dual Terror
30 watt class A head
£493.89
MXR M116 Fullbore Metal £149
What could be better than a Tiny Terror? How
about two of them in one box?
In a reggae band? You probably won’t need one of these then…
Orange’s Tiny Terror has been
a massive success – the
combination of aggressive
pricing and Orange’s modern
high-gain signature tone nailed
exactly what many players were
after. Now Orange has
consolidated the range and,
together with a special point-
to-point hard-wired version
and a bass version, it recently
released the amp that many of
us have been looking forward to
– the Dual Terror.
Sounds
Essentially, the DT is exactly
what it looks like, two Tiny
Terrors in one box! There are
two differently voiced
channels. One has the original
Tiny Terror sound, the other
channel is called Fat. The Dual
Terror also has twice the
output power, with a class A
quartet of EL84s roasting away
at the back of the chassis. There
are two separate power
reduction switches giving you
a choice of seven, 15 or 30 watts.
The gain controls are usable
across practically their entire
travel, giving you everything
from fat juicy cleans to thick
overdrive, all with that slightly
boxy Orange mid-range punch
that typifies Brit rock. The Fat
channel offers a slightly bigger
version of the same thing, with
even more gain.
Verdict
As well as having twice the
Tiny Terror’s channels and
twice the power, we think it’s
quite likely the Dual Terror
could end up being twice as
successful as its already wildly
popular sibling. It’s one of the
best-sounding British designs
we’ve heard in a long time and
although it’s short on features,
it more than makes up for it in
the tone department. Aimed at
any player from amateur to pro,
who goes for the vintage
approach and loves some
vintage British tone, we reckon
that the Dual Terror is right on
the money. [NG]
GIT323.rev_quick 177 6/11/09 9:17:7 am