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Orange Micro Dark 20-watt Hybrid Head
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Massive Crunch from a Micro Amp Head

The Orange Micro Dark hybrid electric guitar amplifier head puts great high-gain tones in a simple and very portable package. Based around Orange's popular Dark series of amplifiers, the Micro Dark offers the same searing gain and tonal versatility as its big brothers, but boasts the same tiny format as the Micro Terror. This mighty mite crams 20 watts into a head about the size of a small lunchbox. If you need a simple-to-use, portable amplifier with huge tones, check out the Orange Micro Dark.

Orange 20-watt Micro Dark Electric Guitar Amplifier Head at a Glance:
  • Tones from the heavy to clean
  • Compact and convenient
  • Easy-to-navigate controls
Tones from the heavy to clean

The Dark series of amplifiers make no secret that they're engineered for high-gain heavy metal. But even with the few knobs on the front panel, you'll be able to quickly dial in a large variety of tones from metal grind to spanky cleans. And if the huge range of tones available aren't enough, the Micro Dark will work with most guitar speaker cabinets, allowing you to fine-tune your tone.

Compact and convenient

There simply aren't many other amplifier heads this small that can keep up with the Micro Dark's 12AX7-driven tones and 20 watts of power. At under three pounds, the Micro Dark amplifier head is a cinch to transport to any recording session, rehearsal, or gig. And its diminutive size makes it an easy fit in any room, no matter how tight the space may be.

Easy-to-navigate controls

The 3-knob control panel makes pulling great sounds out of your Orange Micro Dark easy. It features pots for volume, gain, and shape. The shape control is the same used on the other Dark series of amplifiers, going from scooped grind on one side of the dial to a more classic mid-focused tone on the other. Want even more tonal options? The Micro Dark boasts a buffered effects loop in the back for patching in your favorite time-based effects. And the single input and single speaker out streamlines your setup so you're getting great tone in no time.

Orange 20-watt Micro Dark Electric Guitar Amplifier Head Features:
  • 20-watt hybrid amplifier head geared toward metal tones
  • Hybrid tube preamp and solid state power amp push 20 watts of power
  • Shape and gain controls go from country cleans to savage high gain
  • The amp is less than 3 lbs. and only 5.31" tall
  • 20 watts is plenty for practice, rehearsals, and some gigs
  • Straight-forward control layout
Grab huge tones in a compact package with Orange's Micro Dark amp head.

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Hybrid
  • Number of Channels: 1
  • Total Power: 20W
  • Preamp Tubes: 12AX7
  • EQ: Shape tone control
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4" (8 ohm)
  • Headphones: 1 x 1/4"
  • Effects Loop: Yes
  • Power Source: 15V DC power supply
  • Height: 5.31"
  • Width: 6.5"
  • Depth: 3.74"
  • Weight: 1.72 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: Micro Dark

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 5/5

Cheap, awesome, simple AND versatile!

I grabbed one of these because I wanted to try running two amps in stereo (already had an Egnater Tweaker 15 head going into an Egnater Rebel 1×12" cab), paired it with a Fender 15" bass cabinet w/ HF horn, sounds absolutely killer! Only 3 knobs, Volume, (Shape?= EQ/tone control) and Gain, you can get anything from beautiful cleans to brutal Distortion, or anywhere in between. Effects loop is an absolute must for me, and why I chose the Micro Dark over the Micro Terror. Works great with pedals, either before the amp or in the loop. Just a great amp for not a lot of money! I'm just gonna run through this amp for now, maybe try it with the Egnater 1 × 12" cab (and get the Tweaker fixed properly). You can't really go wrong with this amp!
Music background: Hobbyist Guitar/Bass/Synths, Home Recording, YT creator
Rated 5/5

Impressive Little Amp

I've been using this as a bedside amp with the Orange 8 inch cabinet for a while and I've been happy with it. You can get everything from a decent clean to fuzz out of the amp with no additional pedals. Recently I took it to a rehearsal space and hooked it up to Mesa 4x12 as a joke. My friend that plays through a Sunn amp laughed when he saw it. I let him try it out first with everything set at noon. He played the first chord and we all just stopped, turned our heads and looked back at the amp and cabinet. It was very loud. Not a ton of low end, but it sounded pretty good. My friend kept playing through it having a good time for a while then he said he was going to switch over to his Sunn amp and fuzz pedal, because the micro dark didn't have the right sound. I turned the gain and tone almost all the way to the right and volume to about the 3 o'clock position and told him to try it again. He played a chord
then stopped and turned his head back to the amp and cabinet and said, "what the hell. I can't believe that little thing is driving that 4x12 that well.". He played the Micro Dark for about an hour more afterward. We were all impressed. It's a great little bedroom practice amp, and amazingly can drive 4x12 cabinet in a pinch
Rated 5/5

This thing is an absolute monster

I am currently running the Micro Dark as a tube preamp through a Boss Katana Artist 100 (1x12). I'm basically using the Orange tube preamp and running it into the power amp section of the katana (effects return), so I can utilize all of the built in Boss fx programmed in the Katana. It's honestly a perfect and incredibly versatile setup.

The Orange Micro Dark is an absolute behemoth in a laughably tiny package. The tone is very, very hairy/wooly, very British. It borders on full-on fuzz when the gain is cranked, and there is gain for DAYS. The "shape" knob functions differently that I am used to, as it's bit very clear exactly how it shapes the sound, it's not just some simple filter or mids-scooper. The tone of this is very grindy and sludgy with the gain maxed, if you want it to "djent", use an overdrive pedal as a boost in front, then it'll give you the thickest, crunchiest and tightest palm mutes you can imagine. This also has incredibly good cleans, and can totally sound vintage and very warm with the right settings. Yes it's meant to be a metal heads dream come true, but don't underestimate this as a one trick pony, it can do any genre of rock. My active seven string schecter sounds more brutal than ever through this, as it has immense bottom end and seems to be made for downtuning, but my Gibson Les Paul sounds incredible as well, super warm and resonates in all the right frequencies, even the single coil tones of a Fender Strat sound amazing through this. If you're considering it, it's easily the best tube head with an FX loop you can purchase at this price. Shockingly amazing
Music background: Professional composer/sound designer
Rated 5/5

So good that...

So good that I gave my first one to a friend that helped me record tracks, and have now bought another one for myself. These little amps kick it! I plug in an 1x8" cab for bedroom practice, and use cab sim out for recording. I also have the all-tube Dark Terror, it's a masterpiece, but this is almost perfect in itself. Much better tone to me, than the Micro Terror (white case) version. Anyway, do yourself a favor and get one of these, do yourself another favor and get it from Sweetwater... The best instrument group in the world. You'll be glad that you did both.
Music background: guitar, drums, bass, vocals, songwriter
Rated 5/5

Micro dark + orange 1x12 cabinet.

very good quality sound.