Clean Tone
Black Magic
Slayer
BassThrash metal1980s
Original Gear
BassESP Tom Araya signature bass (alder body, ebony fretboard, EMG 35‑DC pickups)
AmpAmpeg SVT head into 8×10 cabinet (recording era Reign in Blood) and Marshall VBA400 heads into Marshall 8×10 cabs (live/tour rig)
PickupsActive EMG 35‑DC (humbucker bridge, P‑style neck)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5
mid6
treble5.5
presence5
compression4
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
For Reign in Blood era (mid‑1980s), Araya recorded through Ampeg SVT into 8×10; in later live setups he uses Marshall VBA400 heads with dbx 160A compressor and Marshall 8×10 cabs.
Tone Character(4)
brightpunchyaggressiveclear attack
Difficulty
The bass parts are rhythmically straightforward but demanding due to speed, down‑picking technique, and clarity in a dense thrash mix.
Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear
Create Free AccountBassThrash metal1980s
Original Gear
BassESP Tom Araya signature bass (alder body, ebony fretboard, EMG 35‑DC pickups)
AmpAmpeg SVT head into 8×10 cabinet (recording era Reign in Blood) and Marshall VBA400 heads into Marshall 8×10 cabs (live/tour rig)
PickupsActive EMG 35‑DC (humbucker bridge, P‑style neck)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5
mid6
treble5.5
presence5
compression4
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
For Reign in Blood era (mid‑1980s), Araya recorded through Ampeg SVT into 8×10; in later live setups he uses Marshall VBA400 heads with dbx 160A compressor and Marshall 8×10 cabs.
Tone Character(4)
brightpunchyaggressiveclear attack
Difficulty
The bass parts are rhythmically straightforward but demanding due to speed, down‑picking technique, and clarity in a dense thrash mix.
More Slayer tones
- Raining Blood · riff
- Dead Skin Mask · riff
- Seasons In the Abyss · riff
- Angel Of Death · riff
- South of Heaven (Early Version / Jeff Hanneman's Home Recording) · riff
- Mandatory Suicide · riff
- Postmortem · riff
- Raining Blood · solo
- South of Heaven · riff
- The Antichrist · riff