Most iconic hard rock/metal amp & speaker?

[Chrisk-K]

What Geezer and Lemmy used back in the day.

 

[alembicguy]

Is that John Cooper's rig?

Yes from early on. I believe he switched to Mesa D800 and Powerhouse 1000 cabs now.

 

[rtslinger]

Acoustic 360, Sunn, Peavey, SWR, Marshall, Fender Bassman and Vox
some people were using Crown as well late 70's

 

[kringle77]

Like Andrew said, something black, very powerful and fairly simple. The preamp should start truly flat with the eq set flat. No compressor, they are too personal preference. Tube preamp, at least at the input, active solid state eq. Actually, this all sounds a lot like the new amp you just put out. I haven't tried one yet.

 

[Skybone]

Surely, the most iconic hard rock/metal amp & speaker for bass is a Marshall Super Lead Bass with matching Marshall cabs.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

Aside from what's been mentioned, multi amp rigs.... one amp clean, one dirty.

And although not an amp... the BDDI, and now the B7K.

Personally, in the modern era I think most of us just assume we're listening to the DI.

Funny that was first thought too... after researching what my fav bassists used live, I've found it was often a sansamp... and the cabs and amps were by whichever brand was endorsing them at the time.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

A 220 lb SVT/810 rig in a modern lightweight package? Is that's where this is going?

 

[Jehos]

Most iconic old is SVT and a fridge. New is probably a Darkglass stack.

 

[Chu]

Reading some of the pages in this thread it makes sense that the most iconic cabs would be Mesa RR or SVT810...you could also add GK RBH series (the Flea factor i suppose). On top of it GK800RB and SVT's(3pro, 2, etc). I remember seeing a lot of Trace Elliot in the 80's, just on videos as i was born in '86.

 

[groovaholic]

I'm not sure there IS an iconic hard rock/metal bass amp because the typical treatment of bass on the iconic metal records was to bury it in the mix.

Hard rock, less so.

Metallica is the most notorious example with Jason's absence on AJFA, but as much Cliff-worship as there was, he got buried too.

The heavy shows I went to in the 80s and 90s had SVTs and 800RBs, through 810s, Hartkes, or 215s.

 

[br1qbat]

Watching live footage of Black Sabbath in concert, the stage is full Orange amps.

Link? Iommi has been brand loyal to Laney afaik. Geezer has used Laney as well, but also Hartke, rack setups, ashdown. Outside of that paranoid video from german tv, the oranges were not used. I believe the particular tv show had an all orange back line. There is a similar clip of Free playing on air with orangea, and they were all-Marshalls live

 

[br1qbat]

And to answer OP, to me the only amp across the board for all types of metal has to be the SVT and 8x10. Nothing else close. And I say that as a guy in love with my 800rb rig (and I play metal[doom])

 

[jnsnj]

Am I the only one who has never seen a small Class D amp with heavy metal?

I've seen Class D heads used for metal. Both for bass and guitar, although for guitar is very uncommon. Giant tube amps are still the norm.

 

[mantaraya]

One of would be two 4x10 Hartke. On top a GK 800RB Head.
Another would be two 4x10 SWR Goliaths. On top a SWR 750 Head

 

[FollowMeDown]

Sorry you're all wrong . There is only one true iconic hard rock/metal brand: Marshall.

 

[NKBassman]

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?

Hartke with the aluminum cone speakers comes to mind (a la Dave Ellefson in Megadeth).
SVT and 810 (obvs). Also I've seen the 4PRO on a lot of stages.
Many Mesa bass heads fit the bill, with Powerhouse cabs. (see: Lamb of God)
Orange AD200. (see: any stoner rock band ever).
Fender Super Bassman 300 / Sunn 300t. (see: Opeth)

I personally have a Verellen Meatsmoke head with the OD channel modded to suit my preferences.

 

[Jim C]

I've seen Class D heads used for metal. Both for bass and guitar, although for guitar is very uncommon. Giant tube amps are still the norm.

That's interesting.
What class D heads have you seen?

 

[jnsnj]

The gear I see the most are Ampeg, Peavey, Sunn, and GK. Orange, Emperor, Eden, SWR, and Crate make appearances as well. I'm an oddball in my local scene playing Genz Benz but that has a lot to do with a, now healed, shoulder injury that forced me to stop playing through a SVT-CL and Aguilar 810.

 

[NKBassman]

That's interesting.
What class D heads have you seen?

Aguilar and Darkglass would be my top 2.

 

[agedhorse]

Interesting responses.

Bogey, wasn't the Stone one of Bob & Bobby Corona's clubs (along with the Keystone)?

There seem to be a lot of (somewhat) iconic brands that are now long gone, any thoughts as to why?

What has been iconic in say the past 10 years?