Playing bass through guitar amp connected to bass amp?

mbc3512 · #1 12-20-2010, 10:58 AM

I asked and heard that playing your bass will ruin the guitar amp's speakers. (both my bass and guitar amps are combo amps)
But the guitar amp I own has great effects on it that i would like to try out on my bass too.
So what i did was connect my bass to the guitar amp with effects on and then took another cable and plugged it in the headphone jack, which then went to my bass amp input.
So basically it's like Bass->Guitar amp->Bass amp.

So yeah I'm using the guitar amp like a multi-effects pedal but I'm concerned if doing this would damage any of bass or my amps.

Has any of you tried this before? Does this "rig" work like a pedal and not give me any technical problems?

Thanks in advance.

AwkwardLoudness · #2 12-20-2010, 12:21 PM

What amps are you using?

There should not be any equipment problems, and I assume you're using a solid state or hybrid guitar amp. I would not juice the volume coming out the headphone jack too much since you don't want to overload the bass amp's input too much. You'd likely hear nasty distortion in that case. There may be some extra noise due to all that extra circuitry running through two amps like that, but if it sounds good to you, then no worries.

Some guitar speakers will handle bass at low or moderate volume, but they'll fart out before getting really loud. Too much farting out leads to damage.

Some guitar amps have full range transformers, so they work great for bass too if plugged into a proper bass cab. Hiwatt, Sound City, and Reeves amps are good examples since they have Partridge transformers or Heyboer in the case of Reeves.

bassist4dalord · #3 12-20-2010, 12:31 PM

Oh my goodness! I was just thinking about starting a thread on this.

I've done this same thing:

Bass -> Input of Brownsville 15G guitar amp -> Headphone out of guitar amp -> Gallien-Krueger MB115.

I did this to try a little dirt in my sound. Didn't especially like the sound, but with some tinkering, I might find something I enjoy. I haven't seen any negative effects.

Rock on!

bassman30 · #4 12-20-2010, 01:11 PM

it really shouldnt cause any problems if you keep it at a low volume. but if you start cranking it up it might mess up one of your amps. also how much power is your guitar amp putting out and can the bass amp handle that amount?

Kbone_ATL · #5 12-20-2010, 01:23 PM

... I've always wondered... Is the headphone jack coming out of that amp the same as a DI coming out of the amp? I would think there are differences.
I've split my signal with a DI before, running to a GK7000 RB and some Marshall amp/cab
It sounded cool, but never actually used it for more than 10 minutes after trying that setup.

RickenBoogie · #6 12-20-2010, 05:10 PM

The essential idea is alright, but I'd take a close look at what EXACTLY is being plugged in, and from where. The headphone out is NOT the same as a DI, nor is it a speaker out.

mbc3512 · #7 12-21-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

The essential idea is alright, but I'd take a close look at what EXACTLY is being plugged in, and from where. The headphone out is NOT the same as a DI, nor is it a speaker out.

Hmm. So using the speaker out is much better?

mambo4 · #8 12-21-2010, 10:14 AM

I wouldn't plug a speaker out into anything other than a speaker. that's one hot signal.

Here's what I did to good effect:
Bass-> Bass Amp (turned down Highs on the bass amp)
Bass Amp Tuner Out-> guitar pedals-> guitar amp (turn down bass on guitar amp)

the goal was to be able to use the clean/distortion channels and multiple guitar effects I had laying around without sacrificing any bass tone. Worked like a charm, never blew anything out. (but never cranked everything to 11 either)

Headphone out is not optimal, but usually a tuner out or an effects loop send will have the same signal level as a straight bass.

AltGrendel · #9 12-21-2010, 10:36 AM

I was working setting up a show when the SWR on the backline failed. The only thing we had was a small combo guitar amp (I for get the brand, pretty well know solid state amp). We unplugged the built in speakers and plugged it into the 8x10 cab and a DI. Sounded ok for something in a pinch, but we didn't push the stage volume. The bass player said it sounded fine to him.

DanNowhere · #10 12-21-2010, 10:46 AM

Back in the day when I was a kid who didn't know any better, I used to run a setup with a little Marshall guitar amp from the headphone out into my old Yamaha B115. I would crank the gain on the Marshall to get distortion and whatnot. I don't remember the wattage on the Marshall, probably 15 watts max. I never really had any problems, even though it was probably the wrong thing to do.