NAD (First in a few years) Darkglass AO900

[basshead56]

Hi All,

 

Been keen on the DG stuff for a long time now and been hovering on what exactly to go for to meet my grindy, fuzzy needs.

While I like the pedals (and ADORE my Darkray), I liked the idea of an amp that kinda does it all (and doesn't need two blokes to lift it), even more.

I was tempted by the Tech21 VT500 amp for that very reason (still have a VT Bass Deluxe) but kept missing out on them when they came up for not silly money.

The DG options just seemed to tick a couple of more boxes for me so when an AO900 came uo for sale I couldn't resist. Previous owner hadn't used it much and has a couple of other DG heads he preferred and it was a good price.

 

So it arrived yesterday morning.

Couldn't pump it through any of my big cabs at home and thrash it after work as we have a 1yr old, so took it round to our rehearsal room where I've got a Behringer 810 stashed, hooked it up and plugged the Aria CB1000 straight in.

 

 

WOW!!!!!

There's a lot going on here. A lot of tweaking can be done and it takes a bit of getting used too. Once I'd got the clean sounding the way I like it, I jumped into the Distortion channel and gave that a good run. Again, just wow!!! So many different tones on tap and they seem to give me exactly what I want. Lots more adjustability and that growl switch really adds some low end girrrrrth!

Just waiting to give it a solid run with the band on Wednesday night and see how it cuts through. Will bring dUg with me too, just in case 😛

[msb]

Beauty! Congratulations.

[fretmeister]

I really must try one. I had a V1 MT900 which I liked but sold and I really like the AO pedal.

 

But having it and a compressor all in the amp would be very useful.

[Al Krow]

On 01/11/2023 at 16:55, fretmeister said:

I really must try one. I had a V1 MT900 which I liked but sold and I really like the AO pedal.

 

But having it and a compressor all in the amp would be very useful.

 

I actually had the same ie v1 MT900 which I then replaced with the AO900 and these were my main gigging amps for a few years - paired very nicely with a Barefaced BB2 to provide an excellent rig, before I started going directly through FoH. 

 

Plenty of power and I found adding a small of amount of grit from the dirt was nice. I actually preferred the B3K/VMT dirt on the v1 to the AO as a standalone drive, but that's purely a matter of personal preference. If you're a fan of the AO drive then the AO900 is worth checking out. 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Al Krow

[asingardenof]

On 30/10/2023 at 22:52, basshead56 said:

Hi All,

 

Been keen on the DG stuff for a long time now and been hovering on what exactly to go for to meet my grindy, fuzzy needs.

While I like the pedals (and ADORE my Darkray), I liked the idea of an amp that kinda does it all (and doesn't need two blokes to lift it), even more.

I was tempted by the Tech21 VT500 amp for that very reason (still have a VT Bass Deluxe) but kept missing out on them when they came up for not silly money.

The DG options just seemed to tick a couple of more boxes for me so when an AO900 came uo for sale I couldn't resist. Previous owner hadn't used it much and has a couple of other DG heads he preferred and it was a good price.

 

So it arrived yesterday morning.

Couldn't pump it through any of my big cabs at home and thrash it after work as we have a 1yr old, so took it round to our rehearsal room where I've got a Behringer 810 stashed, hooked it up and plugged the Aria CB1000 straight in.

 

 

WOW!!!!!

There's a lot going on here. A lot of tweaking can be done and it takes a bit of getting used too. Once I'd got the clean sounding the way I like it, I jumped into the Distortion channel and gave that a good run. Again, just wow!!! So many different tones on tap and they seem to give me exactly what I want. Lots more adjustability and that growl switch really adds some low end girrrrrth!

Just waiting to give it a solid run with the band on Wednesday night and see how it cuts through. Will bring dUg with me too, just in case 😛

 

I didn't get the chance to make full use of the one of these I tried, but for a fairly clean post-EQ sound through the PA it sounded pretty nice. Would love to give one a proper run though.