Most iconic hard rock/metal amp & speaker?

[hintz]

I'll echo what others have said that for bassists there really isn't one "iconic" bass amp for heavy music. Aside from a full Ampeg rig, in the past I've seen Hartke or Ampeg cabs with GK heads, Trace Elliot and Peavey as well! Let's not forget mixing cabs that was so popular!! LOL

Even though they are more versatile than one would think, Darkglass has sorta become the modern iconic amp for heavy styles. It is *the sound* that myself and many others have been wanting since the 90's which few could afford to pull off outside of a recording studio. I guess Darkglass has sorta filled this void for many, though I wouldn't hesistate to use mine on any gig!

 

[hintz]

I saw lots of Crate bass gear at metal shows. Early 90s it seems like all us broke players had the heads and those EV loaded 215 fartboxes they made. Maybe a local anomaly.

Crate! LOL. I mostly remember them being very popular with guitarists... though I will say the Blue Voodoo did sound pretty good IMO! Anyways they have a crate bass rig at my rehearsal space, it was surprisingly good sounding and had built in FX

 

[Greyvagabond]

When I think metal, I think Sweden. When I think Sweden, I think EBS.

What could be more BRUTAL than an amp called the FAFNER all in coolass RUNES.

 

[DuluthDank]

GK and Mesa are the first to come to mind.

 

[matante]

Most of the people replying to this thread don't know what "iconic" means. He's not asking what you like. He's not asking, "What's the best amp for metal?"

 

[tgriley62]

This

 

[Bodeeni]

I would say Unbranded stacks of black 4x12s, or 2x15s. As for a brand, Marshall, Sunn, maybe Acoustic 360s. The funny thing about back then, was walls of amps and you still heard your bass best through the floor wedge monitors.

 

[SickAura]

Iconic non-current metal IMO = GK RB800 with 410/115 and Peavey anything.

 

[Razman]

I'm trying to get my head around this subject a little better since this isn't a genre I have a lot of on the road experience with. Of course the SVT would be a no-brainer, what other amps and speakers might qualify?

I agree Jimmy, I'm just trying to understand what the hard rock & metal community considers the most iconic, what they think of when they think of hard rock & metal bass rigs.

If I were designing a metal bass rig, it would not be class-D, may or may not have a tube power section, consist of a cabinet that was solidly constructed, and probably be filled with lots of heavy, ceramic magnets (with neos as an option). I prefer the transient response of class-H (GK) or class A/B (most everything else) to the class-D amps I've tried (not trying to start a war here - plenty of other threads on this topic, just search for 'class-d' and 'heft' lolol) and the Ampeg pro-series 810 I use just sounds incredible. All 220 pounds of it.

Might I mention that I would probably search for such a rig on CL, in pawn shops, or other vendors that sell used equipment? I can't afford anything like that brand new right now.

Hope that helps.

 

[rtav]

I play prog rock/prog metal and I play Trace Elliot.

 

[fourstringburn]

How about stacking up 25 of these?

 

[dennis james]

Going way back, the bands that were popular enough to be playing in arenas seemed to always use an SVT or the ACOUSTIC 360/361. Of course back then there was much less to choose from.

 

[bassboysam]

in terms of iconic amps:

1. SVT
2. 800RB
3. 400/400+

 

[Chad Bennett]

I remember Randall marketing heavily towards the “heavier” crowd in the early 90s.

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

The obvious SVT and the GK 800RB. Honestly those are the only bass amps I can think of offhand that I'd consider iconic for metal; there are tons of great amps out there, but none really jump out at me as especially representative of metal bass amps other than these two.

 

[mmon77]

Besides the obvious Ampeg, I remember seeing allot of Hartke, Peavey, GK, Eden, SWR and Mesa amps and cabs back in the 90's, early 2000's when I was going to lots of metal shows. Hartke seemed especially popular in the 90's, and Eden seemed pretty popular when they came on the scene in the early 2000's.

Now I see mostly DI rigs, maybe blended with an unknown amp and cab backstage.

 

[agedhorse]

How about within the last say 30 years. When Acoustic or Kustom is brought up, much of that is because there wasn't much else available that early.

 

[bassboysam]

How about within the last say 30 years. When Acoustic or Kustom is brought up, much of that is because there wasn't much else available that early.

my answer stays the same.

1. SVT
2. 800RB
3. 400/400+ although i would say the mesa is a distant 3rd.

 

[Wasnex]

This
View attachment 3340115

I bet I know someone who would like those amps

 

[mark286]

This is from 1984, so longer than 30 years ago. I recall that this ad made a big impression on the hard rock bassists at that time. Lots of cabs and racks of Peavey CS 800 amps to drive them.

I agree with the other posters that SVTs and GKs are definitely icons.