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Guitar Amp Head Through Bass Cabinet??
- Thread starter bongostealth
- Start date
I once used a Crate Vintage club 50 guitar head, into a B15s cab, loaded with an Altec 421A.
It worked well for a small bar gig. (50 people)
It worked well for a small bar gig. (50 people)
That amp has a multi-tapped output transformer, so there shouldn't be any impedance issues -- provided you plug into the right output jack. I THINK the Ampeg cab is probably 4Ω, but you'd want to be sure. It should work fine, but 12-1/2 watts per driver isn't much power -- I wouldn't expect it to be too loud.
Back in the 80's I used a Hiwatt Custon Lead 100 guitar head and 2 Hartke 4x10 cabs. It was plenty loud.
There shouldn't be any harm as long as the impedance matches appropriately.
Tonally, guitar cabs tend to be much more heavily voiced toward the midrange frequencies a guitar likes compared to a bass cab, so you might find that you need to use the EQ on the amp and/or pedals a bit more heavily to get a sound that is closer to what you would get out of a guitar cab, particularly if you want to use it in a band mix.
I don't specifically recall ever doing this at high volumes, but I've done it plenty of times at lower volumes. One of the guitarists in my band just literally plugged a guitar amp into one of my bass cabs this weekend when we were doing some writing at my house and it worked fine for that purpose.
Tonally, guitar cabs tend to be much more heavily voiced toward the midrange frequencies a guitar likes compared to a bass cab, so you might find that you need to use the EQ on the amp and/or pedals a bit more heavily to get a sound that is closer to what you would get out of a guitar cab, particularly if you want to use it in a band mix.
I don't specifically recall ever doing this at high volumes, but I've done it plenty of times at lower volumes. One of the guitarists in my band just literally plugged a guitar amp into one of my bass cabs this weekend when we were doing some writing at my house and it worked fine for that purpose.
IMHO try it. The only thing I would worry about (with a tube amp) is making sure the impedance of the speakers is matched to the load expected by the amp.
I believe this is from your amp's OM:
I am not familiar with that particular head. However, all of my guitar amps sound fine with bass through a bass cab.
Guitar amp collection includes: brownface Fender Princeton, Fender Showman Reverb, JMI era Vox AC30 with Top Boost, Matamp GT120, Marshall JCM 800 1959 Super Lead, Marshall JMP 2203 Lead, Hiwatt DR103.
High gain guitar amps are potentially less useful with bass. Looks like your amp has a clean channel and a gain channel.
Good luck!
I believe this is from your amp's OM:
I am not familiar with that particular head. However, all of my guitar amps sound fine with bass through a bass cab.
Guitar amp collection includes: brownface Fender Princeton, Fender Showman Reverb, JMI era Vox AC30 with Top Boost, Matamp GT120, Marshall JCM 800 1959 Super Lead, Marshall JMP 2203 Lead, Hiwatt DR103.
High gain guitar amps are potentially less useful with bass. Looks like your amp has a clean channel and a gain channel.
Good luck!
Depends on the model. AFAIK 410HLF is 4 ohms and 410HE is 8 ohms.
I used to use a Pignose G40V 40 watt tube amp into a bass cab for bass guitar and regular 6 string guitar.
It sounded great. The amp was a combo but the box was small and even with the recommended speaker exchange, it sounded very shrill. When I hooked it up to a Bag End 15 it sounded great for both instruments. The preamp didn't work at all for bass. I used a Tech 21 Qstrip to help with that.
It didn't get very loud before distorting, but the distortion sounded great to me.
It sounded great. The amp was a combo but the box was small and even with the recommended speaker exchange, it sounded very shrill. When I hooked it up to a Bag End 15 it sounded great for both instruments. The preamp didn't work at all for bass. I used a Tech 21 Qstrip to help with that.
It didn't get very loud before distorting, but the distortion sounded great to me.
I had to do this in the '90's when I needed my Ampeg solid state amp repaired - a GK guitar cab into a 4x10 Ampeg. It worked fine. As others said, very mid range and twangy. I thought Chris Squire did something similar for one of his bi amped rigs?
Good luck!
Good luck!
I don't think it matters volume wise unless you are using a guitar cab with a bass, but with a bass cab you should be fine at normal to loud volumes.
If you’re playing bass through it, I’d only consider that it’s possible the eq section of a guitar amp may have less lower frequency output. If you’re playing guitar through it, I’d imagine that the bass cab wouldn’t have speakers that represent the upper-mids as well as a guitar cab.
As long as the ohms are correct, it should be safe. I’ve certainly experimented with various amps through various cabs with varying results!
As long as the ohms are correct, it should be safe. I’ve certainly experimented with various amps through various cabs with varying results!
I used a 50 watt Carvin tube head through an Aguilar DB210. Played a lot of gigs and it was plenty loud.
Go for it. If you get famous everyone will start doing it.
The only thing I’ve found, aside from the voicing not being optimal with my Ampeg 210 drivers, the horn can be obnoxious sounding. I have to turn the tweeter all the way down or else there is a disconnected “tin can” edge at the top of the spectrum that isn’t musical. Overall it is too dark to really enjoy, but it was serviceable.
I’m building a 2x10 vertical cab with guitar speakers for my tiny Vox Night Train head to get back to a better sounding setup.
I’m building a 2x10 vertical cab with guitar speakers for my tiny Vox Night Train head to get back to a better sounding setup.
That used to be normal back n da day 
