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Orange Little Bass Thing 500-watt Bass Head

1-channel 500W Class D Bass Amp Head with 3-band EQ Compression, Variable Active/Passive Input Sensitivity, Balanced DI Output, and FX Loop
Rated 5/5 7 Write review Item ID: LittleBassThing
$749.00

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Orange Little Bass Thing 500-watt Bass Head
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Bass Things Come In Small Packages

Get ready for bone-crunching bass power in a tiny package. From Orange Amplification comes the Little Bass Thing, a fearless, featherweight bass amp head designed for modern bassists. Legions of bass players at Sweetwater rely on their trusty Orange Terror head, gig after gig. The Little Bass Thing is a modified version of this wildly popular amp with a solid-state front end. Designed for maximum tone with minimum fuss, the Little Bass Thing’s solid-state preamp features compression and simple but flexible 3-band EQ feeding Orange’s fearsome 500-watt Class D output section, all in a diminutive chassis that weighs all of 6.5 pounds.

Effective, straightforward EQ

Little Bass Thing’s parametric midband control and carefully selected bass and treble frequencies, all with 15dB of boost/cut, let you quickly and accurately dial in your perfect bass sound. Whether you’re sculpting your signature tone, taming problematic room acoustics, or crafting a sound that’s really out there, the Little Bass Thing dutifully obliges with the innate musicality, operational simplicity, and engineering precision you expect from an Orange bass amp.

Punchy optical compression

The Little Bass Thing’s footswitchable compressor gives bassists instant access to Orange’s meticulously designed Class A optical compression circuit. With its unique sidechain and a response optimized for bass guitar, this single knob provides superior dynamics control and a warm, punchy feel, whether you use it with subtle or extreme settings.

Road-tested Class D power section

Class D power amps have significantly sheared weight and size from many of our favorite instruments amps and PA systems. Orange's reliable 500-watt power section in the Little Bass Thing gives live performers plenty of horsepower for the stage, all in a lightweight and rugged lunchbox chassis that's made for hauling.

Cool extras

In addition to its amazing tone and bantam weight, the Little Bass Thing also rocks a buffered FX Loop and a studio-grade balanced DI output with a ground lift switch for eliminating ground loop issues. There’s also a 6dB input pad switch for active basses and hot pickups. With all its dynamics and tone-sculpting capabilities, the Little Bass Thing also makes a superior preamp for recording when used without a speaker connected.

Orange Little Bass Thing Features:

  • 500W 1-channel Class D bass amp head
  • 6dB input pad switch for active basses
  • 3-band EQ with sweepable mids
  • Compression (footswitchable)
  • Variable active/passive input sensitivity
  • Balanced DI output
  • FX loop
  • Minimum impedance: 4 ohms
  • Dimensions (H x W x D): 3.35” x 10.9" x 9.9"
  • Weight: 6.5 pounds

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Solid State
  • Number of Channels: Single channel
  • Total Power: 500W Class D
  • Compression: Class A Optical Compression
  • EQ: Bass, Treble, Parametric Mids
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 2 x SpeakON (minimum 4 ohms), 1 x XLR (DI out)
  • Effects Loop: Buffered FX Loop
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4" (compression)
  • Footswitch Included: No
  • Cooling System: Internal Fan, Side Air Vent
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 3.55"
  • Width: 10.9"
  • Depth: 9.9"
  • Weight: 6.5 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: Little Bass Thing

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 5/5

killer and no so delicate class d amp

looks are great, volume and tone is exceptional and could not be happier as it makes my modified p basses sound like they are active.
Music background: pro for many years
Rated 5/5

This amp is little but HUGE!!!

bought the little bass thing and 2 orange 1x15 cabs. the head is awesome. lots of low end, tons of mid control and crisp highs. the compressor can add some real grit, and cranked gets into almost distortion territory. ive run it at a hand full of gigs recently and the thing blasts hard. my band likes to play loud as hell and this thing keeps up great. and its as light as can be, and small enough to fit in my pedal board case. its actually so light it will vibrate off yr stack, which is kind of one downfall. i put a towel under it or put it on the ground beside the speakers and its fine. the other drawback ive noticed is the knobs have "positions" i guess you could say. its not a smooth turn of the knob, it has notches. between the "zero" notch and the 3rd notch there is no volume at all unless you absolutely crank the compressor...but whos tryin to play that quiet anyhow. its a bit of a drawback if you are worried about low volumes but, i am not at all worried about that. lastly it was slightly annoying that its only Speakon outputs. i just bought some extra cables incase one breaks at a gig because chances are other bassists wont have a Speakon cable. besides those very minor things this amp is all its cracked up to be. thing is loud and fat sounding. killer amp.
Music background: performing rock musician since 1996
Rated 5/5

Downright Awesome!

I got this amp along with 2 of the OBC112 cabinets in the black color and not only is this one sexy bass stack, but HOLY CRAP it is LOUD! Beware testing indoors in a practice space!
I play electric and upright bass and have been performing professionally on a part-time basis for almost 20 years and this is quite possibly the best dual purpose bass amp I've played through. It sounds amazing for both electric and upright bass. You can hear every note crystal clear even the low notes on the upright.
So far I've gotten away with just the one 12" cabinet for the upright gigs and using both obviously when playing with a drummer or larger rooms.
The DI out is as clean as they get and with the included effects loop, you can season to taste.
There is no "gain" knob per se, but the compression knob works in a way that to the untrained ear, sounds a whole lot like gain. It just works.
If you want a bass amp that is practically as clean as a high end PA system, this is it. If you're looking for that "Orange" grit, this is not it, but you can add that in via the effects loop extremely effectively in terms of signal chain. The maximum overdrive pedal sounds amazing on bass, as well as the Fur coat octave fuzz pedal.
Currently I'm using just a distortion in my effects loop and that's it and it sounds awesome.
Music background: Something For Tomorrow, Kind Mountain Band, Local Folk Band, Nordic Daughter
Rated 5/5

Very Impressed!

I was tired of lugging around a heavy road case with a filter and tube amp in it. I realized that no one ever approached me about my "authentic warm 70's tone" so why was I killing myself to get it? I had looked at several solid state replacements, but felt the tone was too "sterile". I almost went the Terror Bass route until I saw The Little Bass Thing. I watched a few videos, and felt it might be the answer. I wanted simplicity and decent tone. The LBT delivers in spades. You can literally take it out of the box, plug it in, turn up the volume and go. In the end, I left the mids flat, upped the bass to about 3 the treble to two, and the compressor to 4, and it was perfect! A nice dirty growl, and if you push the compressor to 5/6, you get a nice pop from the strings. It is simple and sounds great. I highly recommend it. As usual, the Sweetwater crew delivered, and the transaction was simple.
Rated 5/5

Orange Little Bass Thing 500-watt Bass Head

I had a chance to finally try this amp and the new Orange 1x12 cabinet out on a jazz gig this past Saturday night. It's true that I've been a fan of Orange gear for many years, but this head is something different all together for them. It's also true I don't very often use the same gear that everyone else seems to.

So, this rig sounded great! It was plenty loud enough to support the band in one of the largest venues we play. Everyone in the band thought it sounded great. It was fat, warm, articulate, and handled the low B on my fretless bass incredibly well.

The control set up on this amp is a bit different from many others, with no master volume knob. I plugged into the input (on the left instead of the right), turned it on and pretty much had a usable tone instantly with very little adjusting of anything besides the volume and the compressor. I can't accurately explain how the compressor works only to say that turning up the control increases the volume of the amp. I tried a couple of positions of the control and settled on a setting that sounded good, super easy.
Music background: Professional
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