Guitar amp + pedal for old school death/doom

[Artl]

Hi guys,

I know those threads emerge sometimes, and I have read probably everything I found on doom-metal.com in this respect, but still do not have enough information, so I kindly ask for you help.

I am not a professional musician, and do not have virtually any live gig or even rehearsal experience, so I have been almost always playing at home either via a guitar processor or via software plugins. Now, I would like to test some guitar equipment 1) for trying to record some songs on the most suitable combination of equipment I find; 2) for purchasing in the future.

What I need is to get your advice on possible combinations of 1) amp (head+cabinet) and 2) pedal (distortion or/and booster) for achieving a sound we may find on the Peaceville Three early albums. Another type of sound I would like to get is probably sime kind of funeral doom as in Worship or other similar artists.

I know that everyone finds something to his/her taste, and there might be many combinations, but at this point, I would like to get all recommendations possible for thereafter testing them myself. As for the limitations, please do not tie your advices to prices. I want to get your optimal solutions for high-quality equipment, in order to get the best (in your own opinion) sound suitable for my purposes.

So, to sum it up, what is the best combination of guitar equipment for ahieving the old Peaceville Three sound?

[NTNR]

The Peaceville Three used a variety of gear. Anathema used Gibson, Paradise Lost used Jackson & Kramer and My Dying Bride used BC Rich and Ibanez. Worship uses various baritone guitars. They all used Marshall amps. Now a days they all use different types of gear. PL and MDB have been using Mayones guitars recently and they're pretty amazing. As far amps go, I'm sure they're still using Marshall cabs and who knows what kids of head/preamps. You could probably find out by checking both photos of concerts and by reaching out via facebook or w/e.

I know that way back when (circa Shades of God) PL was using Tube Screamer pedals. They're a staple of old school metal. They're pretty cool if you want a specific sound. You can still buy screamers and emulators and knock offs. Ibanez still makes them. I'm told that vintage pedals are better but they use the same circuitry so take that as you will. Boss makes good pedals as does Digitech. Personally, I've been using Behringer for a while now because they use the same circuitry as their peers for a fraction of the price. They make their boxes out of plastic however, so you can't go wild with them.

[Kieronunsilence]

They all used Marshall amps.

Paradise Lost were using Laney amps on their 1990 tour with Autopsy. I was at the Liverpool date so I remember.

My old band did a few gigs with Anathema in their early days and they were using Laney.

Personally, I've been using Behringer for a while now because they use the same circuitry as their peers for a fraction of the price. They make their boxes out of plastic however, so you can't go wild with them.

I am the Anti-Behringer. The distorted sound is smudgy and the design is crap.

[NTNR]

They all used Marshall amps.

Paradise Lost were using Laney amps on their 1990 tour with Autopsy. I was at the Liverpool date so I remember.

My old band did a few gigs with Anathema in their early days and they were using Laney.

I thought I'd seen them use Marshall. What band were you in?

Personally, I've been using Behringer for a while now because they use the same circuitry as their peers for a fraction of the price. They make their boxes out of plastic however, so you can't go wild with them.

I am the Anti-Behringer. The distorted sound is smudgy and the design is crap.

I wouldn't use their distortion but their other pedals are great. I think Ibanez has the best designed pedals. They're bricks and you can push the knobs into the pedal after you've modded your sound, making it difficult to accidentally mess them up.

[Mr. Foxen]

Hard to go wrong with Laney valve amps. AORs kinda getting expensive, but the GH/LH series are bargains right now. There are a ton of Chinese pedal clones cheap under endless brand names, hard to go wrong with classic distortion circuits. I put a cheap green box yellow knobs tubescreamer clone up against a Maxon clone and an original, and the original was actually best but so close you wouldn't know if not side by side.

[Ethenmar]

The Peavey 5150 is probably the most used amp for play Death/Doom. It´s a classical from the '90s with a fantastic grain. My Dying Bride used it.
You can combine with a Maxon OD808 before input for more attack and a BBE Sonic Maximizer in FX loop.

Personally, I prefer a fuzz pedal before for slow rhythms and the OD for melodies.

PD. This is my second post since 2013, doom yeah!

[NorthSeaStorm]

I'm using a Bugera Trirec Infinium and I'm extremely happy with it. It's a great amp with warmth and aggressive heights. And it looks doom af.

I personally use a Shecter Demon 7, it's a bit unconventional and it may not be the first choice when it comes to old school sounds.
You may try a LP or a SG for that.

When it comes to pedals: I stopped using my pedalboard, when I bought the Bugera amp, but I could recommend the Catalinbread Katzenkönig (it's a hybrid between Tone Bender MKII and Proco Rat). It sounds dirty and fuzzy but still hits the perfect distortion sound - at least for me. For ambient parts I used to use the EHX Analogizer, which can be a quite cool pedal for some oldscool bluesy crunch. I used it to boost my distortion. And of course there was my compressor...

[Kieronunsilence]

They all used Marshall amps.

Paradise Lost were using Laney amps on their 1990 tour with Autopsy. I was at the Liverpool date so I remember.

My old band did a few gigs with Anathema in their early days and they were using Laney.

I thought I'd seen them use Marshall. What band were you in?

I was in a death metal band called Burial and we did three gigs with Anathema during the early 90s. They used Laney each time. My next band Unsilence supported them in 1999 but I can't remember what amps they were using. Anathema did go on to use Gibson but in the very early days, Danny was using a BC Rich and Vinnie was using a Charvel.

With regards to what other gear was being used by those UK doom-death, the first time I saw My Dying Bride they were using Marshall JCM800s. When I saw them again aroubnd the time of Turn Loose The Swans, they were using Marshall Valvestate. At the time of Like Gods of the Sun, they were using Peavy 5150s.

[AtomicFear]

Peavey VTM- 120 for more headroom, 60w for nasty leads. You can find a way to do anythign with a JCM 800 though