Mixing bass and guitar gear

[SKC Willie]

So, I'm sure this is probably a stupid question because I'm pretty stupid when it comes to amp and gear. But my situation is this: I have an Acoustic 200 watt combo bass amp. I like to use it with a guitar cab because I get really good lows and with a guitar cab I get the highs and mids I want too.

I'm wondering if I plug my bass amp into a 2x12 120 watt combo amp do I have to worry about blowing the speakers. I figured I would probably blow them at loud volumes but I also thought I might not since the bass amp is carry a lot of the loud with a 15 inch speaker.

Or is all of this just completely stupid and should I just buy a new amp this summer when I actually have money?

[hotrodperlmutter]

i'd say don't do it. i'm not sure of the specifics, but i can't say it's a great idea.

when you start shopping for new amps, come play my peavey and my vox.

ps - jamming tonight if you want to come out!

[brambleperro]

I've thought about this as well, and feel like it's dangerous to send a bass amp signal through a guitar cabinet. Since the 12" speakers are designed to handle different frequencies than a 15" speaker, it's very possible that you could blow them by sending such low frequencies to both sets of speakers. I've blown speakers in a 212 before just by using effects that add too much bottom end.

In a similar vein, It'd be interesting to experiment with a passive crossover sending lows to a 15" speaker, and the high/mids to a 212.

[Dave]

I think Kerry King from Slayer used bass heads back in the day

[Doog]

Basically, anything other than a bass into a bass head into a guitar cab will be okay.

[endsjustifymeans]

Yeah, there's no way a guitar is gonna hit frequencies low enough to damage the speaker.

Not unless you're playing some Sunn O))) or something.

[SKC Willie]

Sweet. I have done it before and kind of liked the sound I just didn't know if I could cranked it up if it would hold.

Now, how do I convert my 2x12 combo into a cab?

[SKC Willie]

i'd say don't do it. i'm not sure of the specifics, but i can't say it's a great idea.

when you start shopping for new amps, come play my peavey and my vox.

ps - jamming tonight if you want to come out!

ahhh, if I didn't live so damn far away. Some times I don't know why I go to college.

[robert(original)]

i have never managed to blow a speaker in a cab or amp.
i use my bassman(68) for guitar and bass, altho aen says there is not enough headroom, so i may be looking into using something else.
anywho, the bassman(68) cab has 2 celestion vintage 30s in it, and they work great for guitar and bass.
but i think alot of it has to do with the closed large box they are housed in.
i will also add that.
DO WUT YOU WANT! DON'T HATE!

[Doog]

but i think alot of it has to do with the closed large box they are housed in.

It'd say either the Bassman can't put out the amount of lows that a dedicated modern bass amp can, or maybe the speaker in the cab are a lot deeper than the average guitar cab, so it can physically handle the low notes without sounding shit or breaking. Maybe both.

[NickS]

So, I'm sure this is probably a stupid question because I'm pretty stupid when it comes to amp and gear. But my situation is this: I have an Acoustic 200 watt combo bass amp. I like to use it with a guitar cab because I get really good lows and with a guitar cab I get the highs and mids I want too.

I'm wondering if I plug my bass amp into a 2x12 120 watt combo amp do I have to worry about blowing the speakers. I figured I would probably blow them at loud volumes but I also thought I might not since the bass amp is carry a lot of the loud with a 15 inch speaker.

Or is all of this just completely stupid and should I just buy a new amp this summer when I actually have money?

You don't say, but am I right you're talking about playing guitar, not bass, through the bass amp into both the 1x15 and the 2x12? Which cabinet will take how much of the load depends on the impedances of the two speaker cabinets - can you say what these are? Another possibility is to run both amps if you have a mixer output on the bass amp and an effects return on the guitar amp - just use the guitar amp as a slave or powered monitor. I have done this with my Line6 combo that has broken digital modelling.

[omari]

okay, so you've got a 1x15 200 watt bass combo running into a 2x12 guitar combo but you're just using the speakers in the guitar combo not the amp, right? sometimes playing really bass heavy stuff through guitar speakers can cause the voice coils to overheat and malfunction but that can also happen to really old bass/pa speakers as well.

i'd recommend installing a jack on your speaker inputs in order to turn the combo into just a cab and make sure the original amp isn't plugged into the speakers while the other amp is playing through them. i once saw what used to be my fender hotrod amp get fried on stage when someone was using it as an extra cab.

with all that said, i think you'd be better off getting a 2x10 bass cab. something like this perhaps?

[SKC Willie]

I actually just put in an input jack into the combo, so I can run my bass combo as a head and the 2x12 as a cab. It sounds pretty sweet. The combo amp must have upgraded speakers because it's a really shitty amp but they have MIA speakers? Maybe that's common, I don't know, I dig em though. That only thing that surprised me is the speaker for the bass combo still has output too. haha, I use the bass amp to actually play in a band with but I think I may have my new guitar set up. Presenting the Rig of doom . . . or something else super cheesy.

[Berto]

I built a bass cab the winter and I installed a mid-range horn with two Eminence 12" basslites and all three go into a crossover. The tweeter gives you a nice crisp high end while still having the two bass speakers give you down to around 42hz or more of bass umph, the frequency of the low E string. Thats how I solved the high frequency problem.