Most iconic hard rock/metal amp & speaker?

[Lance Bunyon]

I would replace SVT by being more specific: the rackmount Ampeg stuff. I suppose it's branded "SVT" as well, but you know what I mean. I don't recall seeing too many Mesa 400s around. Seems like the road ready Mesa cabs were 10x more common than the amps were. A lot of guys used the GK 800rb with Mesa, Hartke, or Ampeg cabs.

Harder to get the Mesa amp to break up than an SVT.

 

[Blaze Barlow]

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 mostly remember Hiwatt..sunn..sound city..electrovoice..ampeg..marshall..fender..acoustic..kustom..vox.......a lot of the newer stuff wasnt available back in the day (the 60's)..

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

I play metal long time, so if I am thinking iconic, I'm thinking the Mesa 400+ with the 2x15 cab.
from back in the 80's all the way through today, that's what I consider big metal rig.
yes, the 800RB's were out there, but the biggest metal bass was from the 400+ dudes.

 

[Wasnex]

Harder to get the Mesa amp to break up than an SVT.

Why do you say this? Is it harder to turn the knobs?

 

[BOOG]

!!! FOCUS GROUP !!!
My wife is in the market research biz, @agedhorse . It might be worth it to try. Not cheap but seems to benefit clients in the long range plan.
If we're just talking about image and marketing I lean toward Peavey and Hartke. I think (completely unsubstantiated hyperbole) part of this comes from the targeted consumer and economic demographics. I think those two companies do a superb job of imaging their product as affordable and reliable and DURABLE.

 

[bobyoung53]

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Ampeg, GK, Sunn, Acoustic, in no particular order...

 

[bassboysam]

thinking about cabs, other than the Ampeg 810, i would not consider any other cab(s) iconic. the GK 410/115 combination was big in the late 90s early 2000s but still nowhere near as prevalent as the fridge. most non musicians probably picture an ampeg 810 if you ask them to describe a bass rig. it is the equivalent of a marshall stack

 

[Plectrum72]

GK 800RB with a stacked pair of GK 410 RBH cabs

 

[2tonic]

Iconic?
Acoustic 370/301 or 360/361
Lots of them.
Marshall's made a good showing, for a while.
SVT still rules.

 

[matante]

Harder to get the Mesa amp to break up than an SVT.

Sure, but again, this thread isn't about what's better for metal. It's about what amps are visually associated with metal. That's what iconic means. I don't remember seeing that many Mesa 400s compared to the number of rackmount Ampegs (often paired with Mesa cabs.)

 

[rafitoprtx]

Ashdown

 

[Stranger Danger]

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?

 

[Anemic_SluG]

Man brings back memories. For me in the mid to late 80's there was only a few choices. Ampeg of course was the standard for big arena rock, but solid state was coming on strong and it was Bi-Amp'd Peavey Megabass with the 18" and 2 10" combo cabs, GK 800rb but with Hartke Aluminum cone cabs and finally Trace Elliot if you had the cash with its fancy black light with a 410 and 115 cab.

 

[JGR]

Much easier question if we were talking about guitar amps, but I always think of Duff's 400/800RB tone on Appetite as an iconic GK rock tone.

GK with Hartke and Bag End was (and still is) pretty great sounding.

 

[bolophonic]

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.

I have gone to a lot of metal shows, but can't say there is anything as monolithically iconic as say, the Marshall stacks that guitarists show up with in every band. I would say that Ampeg, Mesa and GK are pretty common. I see a lot of oddball rigs, like someone putting a Hartke head on top of an old Kustom cab, or massive Peavey stacks. There tend to be a lot of old lead sleds instead of class-D amps and neo cabs.

 

[bolophonic]

I grew up on metal, but when I try to think of a truly iconic metal bass rig, I draw a blank. Iconic basses, guitars, guitar amps, guitar speakers, even pedals.... absolutely. But bass amps? Always seemed all over the place.

Weird, isn't it? I think I just got so used to always seeing something different at every show, that I never even considered this question before.

 

[alembicguy]

Hey I opened up for Skillet a few years back. I don't remember the Mesa rig, but the stage had banners on both sides covering the view of the equipment and pyros. But I wouldn't be surprised if they used the supplied Ampeg rig that I used that day as it was an outdoor show. I think Egypt Central also played that day and used the same rig. Anyway, carry on.

In their shows they always used the two 610 cabs laying on their sides under the drum riser and weren't always visible. The rack had two 400+ amps in it and was always off stage. One amp was a backup and one was the main.

 

[pcake]

funny thing - i can tell you that IMO a dual rectifier is one of the iconic metal guitar rigs, but not sure of any that strike me as iconic for bass. when i asked my husband the guitar player, he immediately said SVT.

 

[10cc]

Matamp