Newbie question

[tonym]

I've been learning to play the bass for a couple of years now. I currently own a GK Backline 112 Combo that I bought as a practice amp when I started. I'm beginning to look into getting a better set up and have been researching amps, and have found a used SWR Workingman 300 that has the sound and features I'm looking for. I'd like to buy an amp head now, and then buy a new cab when I have more money in a few months. (Spreading out the expenses.) I'm trying to figure out if the Workingman would work with the cab on my Backline 112. Frankly I haven't ever thought too much about the specs required to make these work together. On top of which there's not a lot of info about the cab itself on the Backline manual. Here's what I do know -

The SWR Workingman 300 manual says:

SPEAKER JACKS:
The total impedance of the speakers should be 2.6 Ohms or greater. This means you can use 1- 4 ohm cabinet in conjunction with 1- 8 ohm, 3- 8 ohm enclosures or 6- 16 ohm cabinets. Recommended speaker cabs from SWR are: Goliath III, Workingman's 2x10T or 4x10T, and Big Ben 18" (you can use any three of these as they are all 8 ohms). You may use one of the following: Henry 8x8, Triad I and Goliath Jr.III (4 ohm) in conjunction with one 8 ohm enclosure. Power Output: 160 Watts @ 8 Ohms, 270 Watts @ 4 Ohms, 350 Watts @ 2.6 Ohms.

The Backline manual says:

Backline 112: One 8 Ohm 12" speaker

If I'm reading this right I'm okay, but this is all really new to me.

[Hactar]

Yes, you can use the Workingman with the 112. You might want to go easy on the volume though, because the Backline outputs 100w @ 8 ohms.

[will33]

You can do what you're describing but you must make sure you are connecting the swr to only the speaker portion of the backline. Do NOT connect the 2 amplifiers together, this can destroy both of them. There are ways you can slave the amps together depending on what connections the backline has but get that figured out before connecting anything. If the backline has a jack labelled effects return or poweramp in, you can connect a cable from the swr's effects send or preamp out jacks to that in jack on the backline. You still need to have both amps on. You would then be using the preamp/tone controls on the swr along with the poweramp/master volume on the backline.


To use your swr alone, if your backline is built all together in one box, this may mean taking it apart and rigging it's speaker wires to a jack to connect to the swr. If this is the case, you may be better served just playing the backline alone, or the 2 slaved until you get a cab. If the backline has a speaker cable connecting the speaker to the amp portion, you could unpug that and plug it in to the swr's speaker jack thereby taking the backline amplifier out of the loop.

[tonym]

Great. Appreciate the help!