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Guitar amps vs bass amps

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by Imabassplayr, Sep 24, 2001.

  1. Sep 24, 2001 #1
    Imabassplayr

    Imabassplayr Guest

    Aug 5, 2001
    After reading some stuff and trying out my friends guitar amp with my bass, i have one question: what is the difference between guitar amps and bass amps? I know there are differences, but what specifically? Are bass amps just designed to put more power into the certain frequencies and not distort?
     
  2. Sep 24, 2001 #2
    Bass18

    Bass18 Guest

    Jul 21, 2001
    Australia
    For one, bass cabs operate at much lower frequencies, that need more power to push out. That is why you need at least 4 times the wattage of your guitarists amp for your amp to compete. Threre are more differences but Im not knowledgable enough to know what they are.
     
  3. Sep 24, 2001 #3
    Joris

    Joris

    Jan 20, 2000
    Zevenbergen, The Netherlands
    Bass amps have more power, different tone knobs, usually there's no drive on the preamp, the speakers are way different (designed to handle low frequencies and higher power), the cabinet is closed or ported (guitar amps are mostly open-backed), and the case is much stronger due to the higher power.

    IOW. They may look about the same, but they are totally different, from a technical point of view.

    I hope this helps.
     
  4. Sep 24, 2001 #4
    JimS

    JimS Gold Supporting Member

    Jul 18, 2000
    Incline Village (Lake Tahoe)
    For example, I have never ever come close to pushing the max on my guitar Soldano 100w tube head.

    For bass, in similar venues I use a Crown K2 power amp bridged at around 1200-1400watts. 100 watts would be futile for bass.