Guitarist using Bass Cabinet...

pointblank72 · #1 05-03-2010, 02:30 AM

Hi guys, this may seem like a bit of a strange question or at least a little out of the norm, but are there any negative effects on a Bass cab when it is used by a guitarist driving it with a guitar amp?

I've heard of the bassist from Meshuggah in particular using all guitar gear (amps and cabs) for his sound but never any mention of this in reverse from a guitarist using bass gear.

The reason I'm asking is that I currently have an Avatar Neo 410 for my bass amp and my guitarist recently played through it at a jam. Both him and myself reckoned that he sounded better through that than the 412 guitar cab he'd been previously playing through.

As I'm upgrading my cab for an NV610, I'll be looking to get rid of the avatar and just wondering whether it's worth my guitarists while in buying it off me or if there may be detrimental effects to the cab in the long run being driven by a guitar amp.

Cheers guys

username1 · #2 05-03-2010, 06:59 AM

If it can handle a bass i cant see a guitar hurting it. I sold my old triad to an acoustic guitar player and it sounds great for that but i would think the tweeter wouldnt sound good for electric guitar especially if he is running any distortion..

thunderbolt · #3 05-03-2010, 07:09 AM

yeah, the crossovers and whatnot may be set up for different frequencies, but if it sounds good, then it sounds good. Bassists can't play through guitar amps because the speakers aren't strong enough, but a guitar can't hurt bass speakers.

i_got_a_mohawk · #4 05-03-2010, 07:13 AM

It won't hurt it. The one thing to take into account, if using a guitar amp, is the impedance. Guitar cabs are often higher impedance than bass cabs. Therefore many bass cabs are below the safe impedance rating of the guitar amplifier (ie many guitar amps are 8ohm min, or switch between 8 or 16 ohms, but many bass cabs are 4 ohms, this would introduce a problem)

But if the impedances are alright, you should be fine. As has been said, they aren't really designed for guitar so they might not sound great, but they'll handle the dynamic range without harm.

It's playing bass through guitar speakers that is dangerous to speakers

megadan · #5 05-03-2010, 07:37 AM

Turn the tweeter off and it should sound great.
You won't do any damage running guitar through bass gear, though the opposite is not true.

Colledge123 · #6 05-03-2010, 08:21 AM

having a guitarist using a bas cab might make it a bit harder for you to cut through the mix, but otherwise should be fine. Josh homme (kyuss, queens of the stone age, them crooked vultures) used to use bass cabs to get his trademark bass heavy tone.

loendmaestro · #7 05-03-2010, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colledge123

Josh homme (kyuss, queens of the stone age, them crooked vultures) used to use bass cabs to get his trademark bass heavy tone.

Beat me to it!

Popsicle Pete · #8 05-03-2010, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunderbolt

Bassists can't play through guitar amps because the speakers aren't strong enough

This isn't necessarily incorrect but I've done it on more than a few occasions with no ill effects on my gear.

**IvanMike** · #9 05-03-2010, 08:00 PM

just dont turn the tweeter l pad down all the way (if it has one). most bass cabs with tweeter attenuators really aren't designed to be run with it all the way off.

the sound may be a bit lackluster (although great for a gibson jazzbox). guitar speakers tend to have a lot of character which makes them sound cool with the old six string. Using a modeling device (like a line6) should make the sound hunkey dorey in most cases, but a cab without tweets may be the way to go. that said, many bands use a pa only and guitars get sent right out from the line 6 or what have you into the pa.

pointblank72 · #10 05-04-2010, 02:12 AM

Well, good to hear from all you guys who have personally had experience with this sort of thing. The avatar cab does have a tweeter in it, so would you guys recommend turning that right down, but not quite right down so that it's muted? And yeah, he is using a line 6 pedal for his modeling/distortion/effects etc so that may be another reason as to why it sounded good.

I'm still going to test run it in a jam alongside myself to make sure that the bassy sound from the avatar doesn't compete with me and drown me out too much. All this being said, another mate of mine in another band is looking into bass amps so even if the guitarist doesn't take it, I might be able to coax my fellow bassist into going with the avatar...