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bass who plays guitar

rylie

rylie

Sep 25, 2017
464
589
somewhere stable
#1
Yes I'm a bass player first but I also started on guitar and never gave it up. Guitar experience transitioned to bass. This is a question to those on this forum who's first instrument is bass but also play guitar:
if you are not gigging and you are a quiet, play at home type, what amp/pedal combo do you use to get low volume/big sound?
My guitar is Fender Strat.
Low volume w/presence/small footprint: Tube amp? D class?
Asking for opinions from real world experience,
 
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#2
me too. I have a few different small amps that get me pleasant sounds at low volumes. Or I use the amp sims in my G5n multieffect or similar.
 
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#5
Love my champion 20. I thought the Blues Jr sounded better; but the aux in, headphones (and price tag) had me sold on the champ. IMHO, and for my limited at home use, I think the tube emulation sounds really good.
4EE7C73B-734A-4E8E-B449-B134651FA986.jpeg


PS This review sold me on this amp


PPS I was really close to getting this bugera. Built-in attenuator, reverb and headphones; but alas, no aux in.
 
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#7
Picked up guitar during lockdowns. My quiet rig and my loud rig are the same one. Quilter Pro Block 200 with two Quilter BlockDock 10TC cabinets. I get a tube sound at low or high volume from the Pro Block with a Victory V4 Sheriff tube preamp. While I am not recommending this setup (because it is more expensive than some better alternatives), I am pointing out that if tube sound is on your list, you probably want to get something with tubes. I would either look at something hybrid or a low output full tube setup. If I were buying my rig again, I would be tempted to try a Victory V4 Duchess (Hybrid tube preamp and 180 watt class D amp section in pedalboard format).

No idea what your budget is, but if you are looking to keep the cost down, check out an Orange Micro Terror or Terror Stamp and get a decent cabinet to pair with them. I briefly owned a Micro Terror and it offers a lot for the money. I only stopped using it because I broke it (physical damage my fault not the amps). I have seen a few local guys gig with them in smaller rooms.
 
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#10
I usually fiddle around on an acoustic. But on electric I have a little 30W VOX amp (tube pre) that has a ton of amp sims to get variety without pulling out a pedalboard. You can dial the watts up and down, a master, and gain so you can really control volume and break up.
 
#11
I played bass for about ten years before I started playing guitar as well in the mid 90’s. I’ve never played guitar in a live setting, but I’ve recorded lots of backing and lead tracks on recordings. I have a Boss Katana for low level and headphone practice. It might have too many bells and whistles, but it’s fun and works well enough for my needs. I do not record with it.
 
#12
I, for the first time ever, made a significant guitar amp purchase thinking; "It's only 40 watts, how loud could it be?"

Oh my... it's loud. One can replace the pre-amp tube so that the all-or-nothing at less than 4 volume knob problem is less pronounced. But it's still more powerful than I had expected.

BluesDeluxeRI_01a.jpg


For low-level practice, I use a BOSS GT-1 Effects Processor in-line or with headphones and it's GREAT!
 
#14
rylie said:
Yes I'm a bass player first but I also started on guitar and never gave it up. Guitar experience transitioned to bass. This is a question to those on this forum who's first instrument is bass but also play guitar:
if you are not gigging and you are a quiet, play at home type, what amp/pedal combo do you use to get low volume/big sound?
My guitar is Fender Strat.
Low volume w/presence/small footprint: Tube amp? D class?
Asking for opinions from real world experience,
Click to expand...

I had a Vox Valvetronix, while not world class by any stretch of the imagination, but have enough models to get by with. One other point. Used ones are cheap.
 
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#17
I used to own a H&K Tubemeister 18.
This had a power soak built in that did go down to 1W.
There was still plenty of volume on tap, but with a single 10" driver, it was bearable for the other people in my house, while I was able to drive the amp hard enough so it sounded driven. I did not like the crunch and lead channels at all, but the clean channel was great and it did work with any kind of dirt pedal.
 
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#18
Low volume and big sound?
Other than my Alvarez Yairi dreadnought acoustic, I have three Japanese Fender guitars (Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster) and two Gibsons (ES-335 and ES-5 Switchmaster). My go-to amps for low volume and big sound are a reissue Princeton Reverb and an early-sixties Epiphone Galaxie amp. No pedals. Generally, the "biggest sound" I want is achieved by simply diming the volume control on the guitar and using the tone controls on the amp. What may be considered "thin sound" in the room doesn't sound thin when recorded.
 
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#19
I have an odd relation to guitar…I recieved a standard cheap nylon string as I had to take one more activity at a summer camp as a kid. I was actually indifferent to it, and the notion of chords was way beyond me; I didn’t get far enough with it to even fail at it. But I figured out the lead intro to “Secret Agent Man” on the top two strings. After that, the guitar just bounced around my room, top two strings breaking, but then I was drawn to thumping around on the wound bottom four, so I was on my way. Fast forward a few years, and I felt it was time to learn something about theory, chord structure, progressions, and go beyond just riffing. I borrowed a friend’s Harmony Sovereign, and got to work. While bass has always remained my primary instrument, I’ve progressed on guitar over the years to where I don’t need a ‘guitarist’ to record demos, played plenty of gigs on six string, and actually show the lead guy in my present cover band how to play his parts on songs I bring to the table. I have as many guitars as basses, all the flavors, and plenty of big boy amps…Vox, Marshall, Sound City, Fender, Sunn, but for recording I prefer my AC30 or the Eganator Tweaker, which is like a Fender Deluxe on steroids. Pedals? Oh yes. By the running yard.
 
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#20
rylie said:
Yes I'm a bass player first but I also started on guitar and never gave it up. Guitar experience transitioned to bass. This is a question to those on this forum who's first instrument is bass but also play guitar:
if you are not gigging and you are a quiet, play at home type, what amp/pedal combo do you use to get low volume/big sound?
My guitar is Fender Strat.
Low volume w/presence/small footprint: Tube amp? D class?
Asking for opinions from real world experience,
Click to expand...

1) DOD 80s FX-50B

2) Dan-echo-DE1

3) Crate-Blackheart Killer Ant

4) Any given guitar cabinet, 1x10, 1x8, 2x15, 4x12
 

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