Most iconic hard rock/metal amp & speaker?

[NKBassman]

While I wanna agree with you being a Darkglass owner, I don't know of a single heavy music bass player in all of the Boston area that has a Darkglass amp, (myself excepted). So many internet dudes, no one out there playing them, at least around here. I don't think they have the market penetration you think they have. Maybe ImI wrong but I've never seen a single one in New England.

I just saw the bassist for Crowbar using a Darkglass amp on their supporting tour with Corrosion of Conformity.
Side note, he was so buried in the mix he could have not even had an amp at all.

 

[donahue]

I just saw the bassist for Crowbar using a Darkglass amp on their supporting tour with Corrosion of Conformity.
Side note, he was so buried in the mix he could have not even had an amp at all.

When I saw them last year Todd Strange was playing with them again. He had these sick Kiesel basses but I don't remember his amp.

 

[deff]

I just saw the bassist for Crowbar using a Darkglass amp on their supporting tour with Corrosion of Conformity.
Side note, he was so buried in the mix he could have not even had an amp at all.

I missed that show when they came here. Seems like considering the DI capability that shouldn't have been the case.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Melvin's, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Tad... probably more that I can't remember...

Exactly : none of them Heavy Metal / Hard Rock - strictly speaking - but all loud / heavy / sludgy / grungy, post-metal, rock music.

 

[deff]

You may be right? I've only seen a few guys out in LA using them and to be fair they're a newer company(about a decade maybe?). I'm more referencing some of the big name endorsers they have this early on as an indicator that they are on the right track(Alex Webster, periphery, Karnivool, faith no more, Bryan Beller, etc.). That's why I say they are on their way to possibly attaining iconic status for heavier styles.

I know at least Alex uses an Aguilar amp and pickups and electronics. I know he uses a B7K for his dirty sound through the house, but I hadn't heard he was using an amp. I think many more people use the pedals, but I feel like I'm the lone Darkglass guy in the Boston area. I have a new band and can't wait to crush everyone with the 900.

 

[_Some Dude]

Exactly : none of them Heavy Metal / Hard Rock - strictly speaking - but all loud / heavy / sludgy / grungy, post-metal, rock music.

I'm curious how you define hard rock? Aerosmith?

 

[Wood and Wire]

I'm curious how you define hard rock? Aerosmith?

That's exactly the problem I have with the term "Hard Rock" :

For most people it is bands like Aerosmith, and Extreme.

I wouldn't consider those types of bands (or anything the likes of Steve Vai et al play) "hard", per se - but that's the kind of thing that is popularly considered Hard Rock, and I've long ago given up trying to argue.

 

[JimmyM]

That's exactly the problem I have with the term "Hard Rock" :

For most people it is bands like Aerosmith, and Extreme.

I wouldn't consider those types of bands (or anything the likes of Steve Vai et al play) "hard", per se - but that's the kind of thing that is popularly considered Hard Rock, and I've long ago given up trying to argue.

Well they both had their share of wuss tunes but comparatively speaking, it's pretty hard compared to what else was being recorded in their days.

 

[hintz]

I know at least Alex uses an Aguilar amp and pickups and electronics. I know he uses a B7K for his dirty sound through the house, but I hadn't heard he was using an amp. I think many more people use the pedals, but I feel like I'm the lone Darkglass guy in the Boston area. I have a new band and can't wait to crush everyone with the 900.

Oh that's right, Webster just uses the pedal(not the amp). But I did find this video for ya, but he has all his Spector Basses loaded with the DG tone module things now as well.

 

[NKBassman]

I missed that show when they came here. Seems like considering the DI capability that shouldn't have been the case.

The guitars were very very loud in the mix.

 

[NKBassman]

When I saw them last year Todd Strange was playing with them again. He had these sick Kiesel basses but I don't remember his amp.

I can't pretend to know anything about the band or their history. Haha

 

[GonePlaid]

I wonder how many are going wireless PA/FOH and using dummy cabs for show. [I assume the roadies are happier][Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Attilla D]

For the last 25 years it has been MARSHALL, a 400w. Rackmount Integrated head into 2-2x10/1x15 JCM 800 Bass series cabs. But that's me. Marshall-Iconic, yet not BASS iconic, right?

 

[Geoff Haslam]

My 2 bob's worth as a metal bass player I've mostly used Peavey (a mark 3 in my youth then upgraded to a Mk 8 in the mid 90's) with obligatory 4 x 10 + 1 x 15. Last year I bought a Hartke 7000 which is punchier and more versatile.
As mentioned before GK's and Trace Elliot featured heavily in the 90's and continue to be good roadworthy rigs. In the Adelaide scene Aguilar seem to be current flavour of the month.
End of the day anything with crunch and warmth does the trick

 

[Kragnorak]

Yup, more diversity than I expected

As a guy that plays speed metal at times, I can tell you that one of the main reasons I love the ShuttleMax is the dynamic response. I pick fast and want as many nuances to get projected from the cabinet as possible. Anything that is remotely muddy won't work for me. My previous amp was an Ampeg SVT4-PRO and it was just too slow, and a bit quieter in perception even though it was heavier and supposedly very similar wattage.

Even in the Class D world, I play through an Orange Terrorbass head at rehearsals, and it sounds fantastic for classic rock/blues/doom/etc but when I want a clear tone or hi-mid clarity it can't deliver.

 

[Kragnorak]

Based on some of the suggestions, I'm honestly curious how many posters in this thread have even been to a hard rock / metal show in the last 30-40 years.

How trendy do you want? I've seen the touring metal bassists that go direct to the front-of-house at shows because their bill doesn't give them enough time to lug around a real amplifier. There's nothing iconic about THAT, and it's a horribly boring solution.

 

[Kragnorak]

Cliff Burton
Jason Newsted

Yeah, but many of their contemporaries in the exact same genre were using Hartke (See Anthrax and Megadeth). Also, you are dropping Cliff's name in support of the SVT being iconic, but he also started with Sunn and Peavey and then graduated to using two Mega Boogie D-180 heads in stereo, with one staying clean and the other using his effected signal.

 

[_Some Dude]

Yeah, but many of their contemporaries in the exact same genre were using Hartke (See Anthrax and Megadeth). Also, you are dropping Cliff's name in support of the SVT being iconic, but he also started with Sunn and Peavey and then graduated to using two Mega Boogie D-180 heads in stereo, with one staying clean and the other using his effected signal.

Cliff wasn't in response to SVT specifically, he was in response to the rest of the sentence:

...valve amps in general) went right out of fashion in Heavy Metal / Hard Rock...

 

[Kragnorak]

Cliff wasn't in response to SVT specifically, he was in response to the rest of the sentence:

Gotcha! I personally missed those days. A friend of mine swears by Laney valve amps for guitar, but I don't know any bassists that use them.

 

[ampegfuzz]

Ive seen some videos before he changed his rig and i thought his bass sounded awesome. too bad

I just saw the bassist for Crowbar using a Darkglass amp on their supporting tour with Corrosion of Conformity.
Side note, he was so buried in the mix he could have not even had an amp at all.