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Guitar through bass amp?

B

bassanddrums

Nov 28, 2008
160
1
#1
I'm thinking about buying a guitar, or begging for one as a bday/christmas present. But being on a 15 year old musician budget I couldn't buy the new bass amp I want, guitar, and guitar amp. Decisions... decisions... decisions...

Are there any long term negative effects from playing a guitar through a bass amp?

Any help appreciated
 
#3
bassanddrums said:
I'm thinking about buying a guitar, or begging for one as a bday/christmas present. But being on a 15 year old musician budget I couldn't buy the new bass amp I want, guitar, and guitar amp. Decisions... decisions... decisions...

Are there any long term negative effects from playing a guitar through a bass amp?

Any help appreciated
Click to expand...

It will not cause any problems with the amp..just might make the guitar sound like crap though. :eyebrow:
It really depends on the guitar/amp combination. In the 60's and 70's, it was quite common for guitar players to play through bass amps.
 
#8
The only problem might be if you buy a bass amp with a tweeter. If you run a distorted guitar sound, it will usually sound very harsh when it's run through a cab with a tweeter. If there's a knob for the tweeter, it should probably be turned down almost all the way when running guitar, especially with distortion.

Otherwise, as long as it sounds decent to you then there's no problem. Most bass amps are more powerful than guitar amps, so be careful with the volume and don't damage your hearing.
 
#9
Sure it can be done. If you can find an old tube Fender Bassman 50 head, that is a coveted guitar amp.. Kinda seems Fender had it a bit backwards as far as amp design. Bassman amps wind up with guitar players, and someone discovered the front end of the Dual Showman amp was great for bass...
 
#10
dhomer said:
Sure it can be done. If you can find an old tube Fender Bassman 50 head, that is a coveted guitar amp.. Kinda seems Fender had it a bit backwards as far as amp design. Bassman amps wind up with guitar players, and someone discovered the front end of the Dual Showman amp was great for bass...
Click to expand...

The Fender 4x10 tweed Bassman is an amazing guitar amp, too. These days, I'd conjecture that far more guitarists use them than bassists.
 
#11
FWIW, bought my son a Crate 65 watt guitar amp for around $150, used on ebay. There's lots of decent guitar amps for sale there, at prices way less than good bass amps cost.

(Son asked for a distortion pedal for his b-day...I looked at his little 10 watt Crate POS & decided to up his game a bit. He paid for his own Gibson SG)
 
#13
dhomer said:
Sure it can be done. If you can find an old tube Fender Bassman 50 head, that is a coveted guitar amp.. Kinda seems Fender had it a bit backwards as far as amp design. Bassman amps wind up with guitar players, and someone discovered the front end of the Dual Showman amp was great for bass...
Click to expand...

+1, i own a '68 bassman and it's great for guitar, you're better off running it through a guitar cab though.
 
#14
bassplayer8953 said:
FWIW, bought my son a Crate 65 watt guitar amp for around $150, used on ebay. There's lots of decent guitar amps for sale there, at prices way less than good bass amps cost.

(Son asked for a distortion pedal for his b-day...I looked at his little 10 watt Crate POS & decided to up his game a bit. He paid for his own Gibson SG)
Click to expand...

.................oh nevermind.
 
#15
nothumb said:
+1, i own a '68 bassman and it's great for guitar, you're better off running it through a guitar cab though.
Click to expand...


...Probably better for guitar than for bass....I own a 70's Bassman 100 & it's a very legit guitar amp, actually requires more "tweaking" for a decent bass sound than for a nice natural guitar sound.

But Bassman amps are far from bargain-basement equipment, which it sounds like the young man's looking for. Especially if you have to have separate cabs for playing guitar & bass, plus an outboard eq to give the bass side a more modern sound.

I don't think a Bassman would be my recommendation for his situation.
 
#17
Buy a bass amp with a power amp input (or a series effects loop), and buy a seperate guitar preamp- that way you can get decent tone out of both. The EQ points on most bass gear will not be ideal for guitar (though moderate EQ may work and sound alright depending on the amp/guitar/cabinet). I like the way this works for me, though I am a fan of fairly clean guitar most of the time (plus my D-180 was technically designed for guitar or bass, though I plug everything through the bass channel).

Karl
 
#19
As noted, a vintage Bassman amp is the classic example of a bass amp that doubles as a (better) guitar amp.

I have a used Ampeg BA-112 that I bought for $170. It sounds great as a 50 watt bass amp (no surprise there), but it's also a really great sounding clean guitar amp. I run my pedalboard up front, and the BA-112 sounds awesome with my ProCo RAT and a Tech 21 Boost RVB. If you're looking for a solid state bass amp that can double as a clean guitar amp, keep your eyes open for an Ampeg BA-112.
 
#20
I play a Strat through my Peavey 400B MKIII head from time time and it is superb. It has all the tones you could dream of, all in the one amp. The only thing it does not have is reverb.
The cost of a reverb pedal is not excessive. Loads of power, and full tone. I use a Trace Elliot 1810 cabinet with that head, as I am normally a bass player.
 

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