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I wouldn’t say Cameron’s are dark. Some Bogner’s can be, depending on how you dial them in. I wouldn’t say Friedman’s are dark. Jose mods absolutely not dark. Soldano are quite smooth, or at least you can’t open them up in the same way as you can a Bogner. Lee Jackson? Not sure, they sound shite to me anyway. A lot of Diezels can be dark. Mesa is all a bit of a wash.
I think of most of the darker voiced amps as being an 80’s or 90’s thing, probably when T75’s and Greenbacks were more prevalent. Maybe also because most musicians weren’t recording at home as prevalently now, and rolled off top end can be more pleasing in the room (and sound worse in a mix).
Amps like Splawn/Diezel/JSX/Krank/VH4/Framus are ones I associated with “Chinese era” Celestion. I don’t think there is any connection to the sound of Chinese speakers and the voicing of the amps.
Maybe the only circuit I find too bright is the Slash/SIR circuits. But I don’t think that’s purely down to the brightness, they’re just a bit odd.
I feel like a lot of the music itself became darker and more menacing as we progressed into the 1990s and beyond..... and with the help from some altered/drop tunings, thicker strings, and new amp designs to help realize those themes.
Definitely was a cultural and global phenomena and not just a brand, or a band, a person, or an amp.
