Guitar Through Bass Amp

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:41 pm

Everyone I've spoken to about this seems retarded. They say if I put my guitar through a bass amp, bad things will happen. It'll blow up or something. I have the opportunity to bag a hybrid bass amp on the cheap and I don't want it to go to waste. I'll probably end up selling it for it's much higher value after fixing it or something, but is there really any harm in using it as a guitar amp?

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:43 pm

I've done it, and it was ok, not a great tone though.

Bassman is originally a bass amp too.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:43 pm

They're wrong.

The reverse at high volume can cause issue. Guitar through Bass amp is never a problem - you may find that the EQ is not positioned adequetly to have a large amount of control over your guitar sound, but that is the only "bad thing" that can happen.

Bass + Guitar Amp + Volume = badness however.

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:44 pm

Mike wrote:They're wrong.

The reverse at high volume can cause issue. Guitar through Bass amp is never a problem - you may find that the EQ is not positioned adequetly to have a large amount of control over your guitar sound, but that is the only "bad thing" that can happen.

Bass + Guitar Amp + Volume = badness however.

What sort of shit should I expect?

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:47 pm

Eh?

For guitar -> bass amp?

Nothing but a slightly unresponsible EQ.

Bass -> guitar amp?

Blown speakers at high dB levels.

Be more specific next time, I'm too old to guess what the fuck you're asking

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:48 pm

Mike wrote:
Be more specific next time, I'm too old to guess what the fuck you're asking

Bah! You're just a young whippersnapper.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:54 pm

I'm too old for this shit.

Readers may replace the word "old" in Mike's posts with the adjective "drunk" at their discretion

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:55 pm

Mike wrote:Eh?

For guitar -> bass amp?

Nothing but a slightly unresponsible EQ.

Bass -> guitar amp?

Blown speakers at high dB levels.

Be more specific next time, I'm too old to guess what the fuck you're asking

You said that the "reverse at high volume can cause issue" then when you said that a "bass + guitar amp + volume = badness", I thought you meant the same issue. But you said bass, not guitar. I misread.

Anyway, I'll get this amp fixed to see how it is. It's broken so I opened it up. It has one valve, which I guess is better than none, but if that one valve was gone would that make the whole thing dead? I'm a bit cautious of the whole electric shock risk to go touching crap. I'll need to refer to the draining capacitors thread I think...

Post by **Doog** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:55 pm

Just to reiterate, it's the speaker section of the combo/stack that is the weak link here- a bass guitar into a guitar head into a bass cab would work fine, it's what I did in my old band without any issues. Apart from the fact the EQ wasn't set up for bass guitar, as Mike said.

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:56 pm

Doog wrote:Just to reiterate, it's the speaker section of the combo/stack that is the weak link here- a bass guitar into a guitar head into a bass cab would work fine, it's what I did in my old band without any issues. Apart from the fact the EQ wasn't set up for bass guitar, as Mike said.

So would a guitar into a bass speaker have the same negative effect? It's a 150w combo amp that's got a whopping 1x15" speaker in it. That must affect tone?

Tex-czech · Post by **Tex-czech** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:56 pm

Queens of the stoneage used ampeg bass amp and 6 string geetars.
sounds ok when you tune down and have dist.

Post by **Doog** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:59 pm

It'd have more low end than a 12" speaker, that's all.

Apart from what it actually sounds like, the only issue is using a speaker suitable for the low frequencies a bass will put out. I've used my Marshall head through a 15" a few times, it sounded rad.

Bass combos/cabs exist with 10 and 12" speakers too, it's just that speakers for use in bass amps/cabs are made with low end vibrations in mind.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:01 pm

Thanks for Clarifying Andy, I forgot to mention that the speakers would suffer

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:03 pm

Doog wrote:It'd have more low end than a 12" speaker, that's all.

Apart from what it actually sounds like, the only issue is using a speaker suitable for the low frequencies a bass will put out. I've used my Marshall head through a 15" a few times, it sounded rad.

Bass combos/cabs exist with 10 and 12" speakers too, it's just that speakers for use in bass amps/cabs are made with low end vibrations in mind.

Nice. Well the guy who owns it only got it because he asked Daddy to get him an amp and he ended up with a bass amp, and he's a non believer and didn't want his Les Paul to blow up. His band's bassist started using it but somehow made it stop working. He said if I give him some cash I can have it because it's wasting space in his garage, so it sounds like a plan to me. I don't know if one valve can get me a nicer tone, but it's going to be something to work with I guess.

Post by **Doog** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:04 pm

Go for it. I actually like playing guitar through bass amps, they tend to have far more flexble EQs onboard, you can dial in some bitchin' tonez.

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:07 pm

Doog wrote:Go for it. I actually like playing guitar through bass amps, they tend to have far more flexble EQs onboard, you can dial in some bitchin' tonez.

Yeah, I never really got why bass amps all come with a 9 band EQ and guitar amps have just the three knobs. Slider pots are easier, you can literally shape your tone without having to look at numbers. I imagine it'll be fun to play with the low frequency settings and stuff though for a guitar.

Another question answered by the ShortScale team. We're quite diverse for a bunch of 24 inchers aren't we?

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:08 pm

I'm a 25.5" and as such consider myself LARGE

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:12 pm

Mike wrote:I'm a 25.5" and as such consider myself LARGE

Don't make me get my 28" bass out.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:18 pm

What is this hybrid amp anyway?

I have to say that no hybrid bass amps spring to mind. SS technology is pretty well repected down the frequency dial.

luke · Post by **luke** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:05 pm

Mike wrote:What is this hybrid amp anyway?

I have to say that no hybrid bass amps spring to mind. SS technology is pretty well repected down the frequency dial.

It's a Marshall B150. I'm not entirely sure if hybrid is the correct term, but it's got a solid state circuit with one valve in it that can be blended in or something.