What Are Some of the Greatest Amps?

I play deathmetal. Deathgrind, deathslam, deathcore. I have sixstrings at drop-G and lower, my sevenstrings are at E3-Standard/drop-D2 and D2-standard/drop-C2, I have two eightstrings, an Ibanez and a Halo tuned to B2-Standard/drop-A2, an octave below most deathmetal.

I am purchasing a custom ninestring baritone with 30.325" scale for tuning to my longtime dream of F2-Standard, an octave below Meshuggah, thanks to the god-awesome Octave4 baritone strings. Although I love my old Marshalls, my PRS amp, and these god-awful Bugeras, I am now on a quest for the best amplification setup for my new shit.

I hear plenty of good things about ENGL, some Line6, and a plethora of tube amps, but I am wondering what I should get for THE BEST SOUND money could buy. Well..I am not about to pay a hundred grand, but what..could ten thousand get you?

I would use at my crib for meself to hear (mainly neighboors), people to come over, but mainly to showcase my stuff through YouTube, recording, and Soundclick. I have the cameras..but what is out there?

I want the best shit. Whether cabinets, heads, stacks, combos, pre-amps, anything.

I am in search for the greatest tone for octave down tuning, ultra-high distortion, most beautiful cleans.

Again, where the .... do I start?

[groph]

You must be the musical equivalent of a steroid abusing bodybuilder. If you've got THAT kind of money then you can afford the top of the line anything that any company has, save for those Dumbles or whatever company that is that makes $10,000 amps. If you're tuning below the human range of hearing then you'd probably want something solid state with high wattage going through some kind of bass cabinet. Might want to ask the bassists out there for advice.

As far as amps go, ENGL Invaders are basically the favorite around here. Meshuggah has been using Line 6 Vetta II's for a while as well as Fractal Audio's Axe FX multi-effects unit. ISP has a subwoofer cabinet designed for guitar, and probably something similar for a bass. I'm not saying "lol get a bass" because you're tuning horrendously low, but you might actually need bass gear.


I'm assuming "deathslam" is one of those made up genres like djent.

[Xiphos68]

Line 6 Vetta ll and Peavey 6505+ straight metal!

[Piledriver]

wait,you have a PRS amp??!?!@?

one of the ENGL range would be probably your best bet,as they take low tuning great.

[xtrustisyoursx]

i can't believe this is real

Originally Posted by groph

You must be the musical equivalent of a steroid abusing bodybuilder. If you've got THAT kind of money then you can afford the top of the line anything that any company has, save for those Dumbles or whatever company that is that makes $10,000 amps. If you're tuning below the human range of hearing then you'd probably want something solid state with high wattage going through some kind of bass cabinet. Might want to ask the bassists out there for advice.

As far as amps go, ENGL Invaders are basically the favorite around here. Meshuggah has been using Line 6 Vetta II's for a while as well as Fractal Audio's Axe FX multi-effects unit. ISP has a subwoofer cabinet designed for guitar, and probably something similar for a bass. I'm not saying "lol get a bass" because you're tuning horrendously low, but you might actually need bass gear.


I'm assuming "deathslam" is one of those made up genres like djent.

Alright. ENGLs. Everyone raves of them. I shall look into them more.

I do not go beyond the human audible range...just bass tuning, man. I have a bass tuned an octave down, to what would be E2-Standard/drop-D1 for guitar. You leave the range round an octave below Cb1, just a step and a semitone down, I think.

And deathslam is just a made up name. The genre is the equivalent, what would be the median between deathgrind and deathcore...it is brutal-deathmetal with crunchy, odd-time signature breakdowns and slamming, thrashy riffs.

It is typically called "Slamming BDM", however half of it is deathmetal, half is gore, almost goregrind/deathcore. I refer to the subsubgenres as deathslam and goreslam, respectively, as they are a bit different.

I love djent. Meshuggah-type Avant Garde I presume it is.
But all metal is not the same, not even genres of deathmetal. Most people like one and hate the others. I am more open minded.


I want to use anabolic steroids. Oh, yeah, I need to inject them into my sack, to hopefully shrink my mammoth cock. Haha.

[gtrbmart]

Haha, you're from Plymouth? What band are you in?

Anyway, you'd need to consider the fact that you're frequencies are going much lower than "accepted" guitar frequencies. Not all guitar amps can handle frequencies that low without making that weird low end blurble sound every note. You might have to consider going custom or getting mods done, etc...

[Chelseadevil21]

My advice to you is since you're in Mass, go check out the Axe Palace..Nick has some great high end amps at his store that you should def go try out..I got my VHT from him and it is brutal as hell.

[Nick1]

Engls are great! Their rack mounted preamp is insane! Mesas new Mark V seems very promising!

[leonardo7]

Diezel. But nobody wants to spend over $3300 on a 100W head so we dont have many opinions on it.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Chelseadevil21

My advice to you is since you're in Mass, go check out the Axe Palace..Nick has some great high end amps at his store that you should def go try out..I got my VHT from him and it is brutal as hell.

Thanks for that dude. But yeah man, definitely if you're in MA come on down. I have a lot of these amps you'd be looking for. I'm always getting a bunch killer high-end stuff in that would blow you away. I also have a bunch of other stuff I don't sell I could show you too.

There's a lot of questionable advice out there, especially if you rely on youtube or hearsay. Come try stuff out and talk to people who actually own and use the stuff in question and then all will be revealed

I'm pretty knowledgeable about gear, so feel free to contact me anytime and we can discuss amps, cabs, speakers, fx/pedals, pickups, etc. I enjoy helping people build epic rigs, so feel free.

Originally Posted by leonardo7

Diezel. But nobody wants to spend over $3300 on a 100W head so we dont have many opinions on it.

There are plenty of people who spend over $3300 on heads bro and certainly plenty of guitarists out there who could share their thoughts on them. I've sold Diezels and VHTs/Fryettes that cost more than that, so there must be a market for it. Hell most Diezels are in the $4500-4800 range.

Expensive as hell? Yes. However if someone has the means and won't settle for anything less, it's worth it to them. Certainly there are awesome options in the $1500-$3000 as well though

BTW the Diezels the brutal crowd are into such as the 'Herbert' are more like 180W than 100w actually. Sixtet of 6550 tubes =

[thedonutman]

If you tune that low and you want good cleans you might want to look into some bass cabs (and even heads) and get some bi-amping going. Since your 9 string is basically going to be like a bass with some higher strings. So what does your bassist play? Do you guys get a crazy reversal-of-roles things going and he actually plays a piccolo?

[CrushingAnvil]

This guy is so nice, he writes in bold just so the people who forgot to wear glasses could read his posts.

OP, you should change your picture before Ken gets his eyes, hands on this post...

[155]

Originally Posted by gtrbmart

Haha, you're from Plymouth? What band are you in?

Anyway, you'd need to consider the fact that you're frequencies is going much lower than "accepted" guitar frequencies. Not all guitar amps can handle frequencies that low without making that weird low end blurble sound every note. You might have to consider going custom or getting mods done, etc...

ha ha nice!

[danenachtrieb]

6505+ and the dual rectifier are a staple in modern metal. both are very road, live, and studio reliable amps.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Chelseadevil21

My advice to you is since you're in Mass, go check out the Axe Palace..Nick has some great high end amps at his store that you should def go try out..I got my VHT from him and it is brutal as hell.

Originally Posted by danenachtrieb

6505+ and the dual rectifier are a staple in modern metal. both are very road, live, and studio reliable amps.

Why a 6505+? The 5150, not the 5150 II, was/is the metal staple.

Dual Rectifiers are extremely well made amps too that sound cool, but I don't know if it's really "the best of the best" which is what this dude seems like hes looking for. I think it's good, not great.

[jam3v]

Lots of MA people in this thread! Nice!

I'm loving my ENGL Savage 120. Sounds amazing.

Also, Musician's Friend is having some weird "E Drum" sale ( it only works if you call them ) where they're giving 20% of all sorts of equipment. For some reason they're applying this discount to ENGL. I saved about $800 when I ordered my Savage and Z-10. Pretty incredible.

[zimbloth]

Indeed! ^

I don't think the Savage would be suitable for his style of music, don't you think? The Savage is a smooth, punchy, polished sounding amp. It's got balls and cut, however brutal deathcore/grind doesn't come to mind. It's just not voiced that way.

[jam3v]

I have to be honest, I don't even know what Brutal Deathcore/grind is.

But I've heard lots of straight up Death through Savages, and it sounds great.

This dude's tone basically sold me on the Savage:

[danenachtrieb]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Why a 6505+? The 5150, not the 5150 II, was/is the metal staple.

Dual Rectifiers are extremely well made amps too that sound cool, but I don't know if it's really "the best of the best" which is what this dude seems like hes looking for. I think it's good, not great.

oh theyre definately not the "best" im just saying they have stood the test of time and are very reliable amps. I'm just saying that there exists better amps but these two seem to be very consistent favorites.

[signalgrey]

Originally Posted by Dante Leblanc

I play deathmetal. Deathgrind, deathslam, deathcore. I have sixstrings at drop-G and lower, my sevenstrings are at E3-Standard/drop-D2 and D2-standard/drop-C2, I have two eightstrings, an Ibanez and a Halo tuned to B2-Standard/drop-A2, an octave below most deathmetal.

I am purchasing a custom ninestring baritone with 30.325" scale for tuning to my longtime dream of F2-Standard, an octave below Meshuggah, thanks to the god-awesome Octave4 baritone strings. Although I love my old Marshalls, my PRS amp, and these god-awful Bugeras, I am now on a quest for the best amplification setup for my new shit.

I hear plenty of good things about ENGL, some Line6, and a plethora of tube amps, but I am wondering what I should get for THE BEST SOUND money could buy. Well..I am not about to pay a hundred grand, but what..could ten thousand get you?

I would use at my crib for meself to hear (mainly neighboors), people to come over, but mainly to showcase my stuff through YouTube, recording, and Soundclick. I have the cameras..but what is out there?

I want the best shit. Whether cabinets, heads, stacks, combos, pre-amps, anything.

I am in search for the greatest tone for octave down tuning, ultra-high distortion, most beautiful cleans.

Again, where the .... do I start?

an OCTAVE below meshuggah.

jesus christ dude! maybe you should come out of the closet and admit you are a bassist with guitarist tendancies hahaha.

seriously i would recommend using some sort of bass gear if you want those low notes to even show up.

[Rhoadkiller]

Engl invader 100, And get the Engl se run that shit in stereo using A fryette deliverance cab and some other cab of your choice and build yourself a sick ....ing rack

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Rhoadkiller

Engl invader 100, And get the Engl se run that shit in stereo using A fryette deliverance cab and some other cab of your choice and build yourself a sick ....ing rack

That's pretty excessive for a deathcore rig. I'd just say a Pittbull, Herbert, or a good ol' 5150 into a great cab (your suggestion was a good one). Of course with great pickups, a good noise gate (ISP) and a good boost pedal in front (MXR, Maxon).

[budda]

If you're tuned that low, give honest consideration to bass halfstacks - ampeg SVT-3 and 410 cabinet, for example.

When you said you were tuned that low, my first thought was "orange thunderverb. 200W guitar/bass handling!"

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by budda

If you're tuned that low, give honest consideration to bass halfstacks - ampeg SVT-3 and 410 cabinet, for example.

When you said you were tuned that low, my first thought was "orange thunderverb. 200W guitar/bass handling!"

You think hes going to get killer deathmetal/deathcore tone out of an Ampeg SVT-3? Come on now

Enough with the bass amp stuff. All he needs is an elite high-gain tube head with excellent headroom, into a cabinet with speakers that also have excellent headroom and bass handling. The Celestion G12K-100s for example come to mind, which you can find in Diezel and Rivera cabinets or could be installed in any custom made cab. Those are 100w each and really keeps everything held together.

I think the Diezel Herbert 180w head thru the Diezel 4x12 frontloaded cab w/ G12K100s makes the most sense in a 'cost is not an object' super low-tuned death rig. The Fryette Pittbull UL, Rivera K-TRE, ENGL Invader, etc would also be good.

What would make WAY more sense than a bass head or Orange would the Axe-FX into a high-end FULL RANGE speaker. Certainly, the Axe-FX into a 2/90/2 or similar high-powered tube poweramp would be a good option too for ultra low-end mayhem with a more lively tone.