Guitar Amps for Basses

[VisualShock]

A Line 6 into my 810 cab sounded good,
but only when it was running through half of the cabinet with the other my normal signal.

either way, it's still a line-6

 

[troyus]

Ampeg V4.

 

[mrkreuzschlitz]

either way, it's still a line-6

Ahaha yeah, it sounded great!

What I did was I ran my normal bass head through the bottom 4x10 and the Line 6 (the guitar amp) through the top 4x10. So I guess I was only PARTLY using the guitar amp,

but man, the distortion that thing put out....

 

[RobertPaulson]

my sovtek mig-50 running into a bassman 4x10 sounds great for guitar and bass. Although it's debatable whether it's a guitar or bass amp...

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I liked using my Fender Blues DeVille Reissue. At reasonable volumes, the clean channel with reverb sounded good to me. It was useable for jamming and could be used for small to medium gigs depending on the style of music played.

I use my Fender Frontamn 25R for practicing at home. At "bedroom levels" almost any small guitar amp would work just fine. They tend to be lighter and cheaper than small bass combos. Most come with headphone output jacks and reverb built in.

 

[RED5]

Of Cheap Trick,Saw him using Fender twins as 1/3 of his stage rig. I'm guessing they were'nt box stock.But the high end was what's the word?......Present. The rest of the rig was Hi-watts and Rickenbacker Trans-sonics. He makes big notes,oh yeah!

 

[JSK5String]

Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick has been using guitar amps as his bass rig forever. He said it was because he could only get the overdriven sound he hears in his head from guitar amps, and because most rooms add enough boom to the sound of his bass that he doesn't need any extra from the amp. Just listen to his tone on their first album (well before he invented the 12-string) and you'll be able to hear what he's talking about. I think there are still some interviews with him posted on 12stringbass.com or .net where you can see his exacts words.

I saw them live on the Heaven Tonight tour at the Rialto Theater in Joliet, IL and I was in the 8th row right in front of his rig. The second he hit his first note I knew I had to be a bass player. Yes, his sound was that cool.

 

[MNAirHead]

Don't do it! You'll fry the speakers, the cabs and speakers in a guitar amp are not meant for the low freqs. If you want an all-purpose amp, buy a used keyboard amp. Sounds passable on guitar, great on bass and keyboards...but you're best buying a used bass amp with a small speaker..8 or 10 inch. Check Craig's list.

Not quite true.. I've done this for years.

 

[MNAirHead]

Couple of notes.

I do have a Combo amp.. 160 watts = 2x12

I play this for venues that do not allow "big amps"

Biggest thing is to enclose and port the back... it is slightly nicer than leaving it open...

Buck for buck.. there are more high power quality amps for a low price tag than bass amps.

Overall, I have found the solid state stuff is more bass "uniform"

If it's a small amp.. this may not be as successful.. my Roland Microcube (guitar) isn't properly setup for bass.. it does work excellent as a small practice amp and/or headphone amp.

The reality is there's really not a ton of difference between the power amp section of a guitar amp and/or bass amp.

My count?

3 Guitar amps.. 2 bass amps

My rackmount bass stuff is only brought out when necessary.

Best current deal in "guitar amps" seems to be the Crate Block with a cabinet... this will not be cheap.