Hamilton has used a wide variety of basses over Aerosmith's career. He has stated in several interviews that his first bass was a
Fender Precision Bass that he borrowed and later bought from a friend. He would use a Fender Precision Bass in the early years of Aerosmith, and used one to record the bass lines for their first two albums; he would return to using one on the
Done with Mirrors album. Since 2000, Hamilton has primarily played
G&L basses. He purchased his first metal-flake G&L ASAT Bass around that time at 48th Street Guitars in New York City. Hamilton now has his own G&L ASAT Bass signature model line, which is made from a unique reduced-weight Western Sugar Pine body. It also comes with specially developed "Hamiltone" pickups and is available for sale in three different metal-flake colors. Hamilton says that he enjoys playing his G&L signature basses as they are an evolution of the Fender Jazz Bass sound and feel, and discusses his signature basses in rig rundowns (most notably in 2012 on the
Global Warming Tour). Hamilton can also be seen playing a unique G&L ASAT Bass, made to resemble an
ammunition box, in the
Legendary Child music video. Hamilton also frequently plays
Sadowsky basses, and has said that Roger Sadowsky makes "unbelievably nice basses." For the recording of the album ''Honkin' On Bobo'' and subsequent tours, he used a butterscotch Sadowsky '51 Fender Precision Bass replica modified with a second pickup. It has been one of his main basses for quite some time, and he appeared as playing this bass in
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Additionally, Hamilton used a five-string Sadowsky to record the hits "Pink", "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing", "Taste of India", and "Full Circle." As of June 2009, he was touring with five Sadowsky basses. During Aerosmith's 1970's heyday, Hamilton primarily used an early model stack-knob
Fender Jazz Bass to record bass lines. This bass was used to record the bass lines for "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way." Furthermore, it was also used to record the rest of
Toys in the Attic,
Rocks, and some of
Draw the Line. Hamilton stated that he enjoys the feel of the slender Jazz Bass neck as well as its unique sounding pickups. Though he rarely tours with a Jazz Bass anymore, bandmate Steven Tyler surprised Hamilton with a custom-shop Fender Jazz Bass while the two were at a music store in
Vancouver, Canada in 2011; it was used to record most of the songs on
Music from Another Dimension! Notably, Hamilton was one of the earliest and most well-known players of the
Music Man StingRay Bass. He first used a StingRay Bass to record most of
Draw the Line in 1977. Since then, he used a StingRay Bass to record the albums
Rock in a Hard Place,
Permanent Vacation,
Pump,
Nine Lives, and some of
Just Push Play. Additionally, he even used a StingRay Bass to record the demo tracks for
Get a Grip, before switching to an F Bass. He toured with StingRay basses throughout the late 1970s, and once again toured with various StingRay Bass models during the 2022 "Deuces are Wild" residency and the farewell "Peace Out!" tour. In an interview, Hamilton noted that he was very proud of the tone he got from his early model StingRay Bass on the
Pump album. In the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, Hamilton often played a Gibson Thunderbird Bass on tour. On the album
Night in the Ruts, he used a Music Man Sabre Bass to record his bass lines. He can be seen playing one in the music videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita." For the
Get a Grip album, Hamilton recorded all of his bass lines with a five-string F Bass that featured a double split coil P-style pickup configuration; he bought it during the album sessions in 1992. During the "Dude Looks Like A Lady" sequence of ''
Wayne's World 2'', he is seen playing a
Gibson Les Paul Bass; it was occasionally used on the 1993–94
Get a Grip Tour. He has also used a 1960s
Höfner Violin Bass to record some of the
Just Push Play album, but most notably it was used to record the songs
What It Takes and
Jaded. Additionally, it was played during the
Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. During the
Just Push Play sessions, he also used a double bass. During the 2000s, he toured with several
Parker basses. Hamilton worked closely with Parker to develop the Fly Bass and was gifted a prototype version in 2002, which he donated to VH1's Save the Music charity; it raised funds for schools with inadequate music programs. Hamilton had frequently played the bass for six months prior on tour, and it was signed by all five members of Aerosmith as well as employees of Parker Guitars. He was also gifted the first production Fly Bass in April 2003. Lastly, he primarily played a red Fly Bass on the 2004 Honkin' On Bobo Tour. Other basses played on tour by Hamilton include a
Duesenberg Starplayer semi-hollow bass strung with flatwound strings, a Visionary Instruments Video Bass, an Australian-built Tomkins Kimberely 1 Bass, an acoustic
Kramer USA bass, a neon-blue colored
ESP bass, as well as various four and five string F-Bass models. In 2023, Hamilton sent a sizable portion of his instrument and equipment collection to Donn's Drum Vault in Bellevue, WA to be offered for public sale. Notable items available for sale were three early-model Music Man StingRay basses, the 1960s Höfner Violin Bass used during the recording of
Just Push Play and the Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show, a '62 American Vintage Re-issue Fender Jazz Bass used in the "Sweet Emotion" 1991 music video, various Sadowsky basses, and two Parker Fly basses fitted with EMG pickups. Over the course of his career, Hamilton has used an array of different amplifiers and effects. He has been a large proponent of
Gallien-Krueger heads and amplifiers. Currently, he uses their Neo 410 and 412 cabinets paired to their Fusion 550 head. During the recording of the
Toys in the Attic album, he used an
Ampeg B-15 amplifier and an
Electro-Voice RE20 microphone. From the 1990s to the early 2010s, Hamilton primarily used Hartke 4.5XL Module cabinets paired with Gallien-Krueger heads. Hamilton primarily uses TC Electronic effects, namely their Corona Chorus, Mojomojo Overdrive, and G-Major Overdrive Rack Processor. Other effects used by Hamilton include a Pigtronix BASS Fat Drive pedal, a Soundbox Pro multi-wave distortion box, and a Mojo Hand FX Rook Overdrive pedal. Lastly, Hamilton has been a long-time user of D'Addario 45-100 and 45-130 strings. ==Playing style==