For Christmas I treated myself to a Vintera Jazz Bass. There are a few ads in my area that are looking for retired individuals to play periodically at retirement homes, private parties and other small venues. Ill have more information moving forward. In the meantime, they are sending me a set list and I'm going to a practice next week. Ill probably rent an amp for the day for that or Im thinking to just go for a look and see. I have a couple of guitar amps but I'm not keen on hauling them around. Since I have a couple of keyboards and acoustic guitar, I was thinking about using a keyboard amp which I could use instead. Thoughts?
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Keyboard amp for Bass?
- Thread starter Hogman99
- Start date
Maybe more responses if you post on the bass guitar side of TB. You posted on the double bass side.
I've played thru a keyboard amp before. It's OK. Better than a guitar amp. More low end potential.
It's all about how loud you need to be (and what keyboard amp). I have a feeling your volume requirements are going to be pretty low.
A big keyboard amp will work fine for bass; something like a Peavey KB300 or Roland KC400. I would have less faith in a smaller keyboard amp, but it could fine if the volume requirement is relatively low. I have successfully used Peavey KB100 and Roland KC100 for background music gigs.
A guitar amp may work fine, but in general guitar cabs should not be used with bass at anything beyond bedroom volume level.
If you have a high-powered guitar head, you could try it with bass cab. Examples of guitar amps that should sound great with bass and have enough power for moderate volume gigs: Fender Showman Reverb (85W), Matamp GT120 (100W), Hiwatt DR103 (100W), Marshall 1959 Super Lead (100W), Marshall 2203 Lead (100W)....I have all of these amps. I also have a couple of lower powered guitar amps that sound great with bass...but they would not really be loud enough for anything but the quietest gig.
Some guitar amps don't work so well with bass. They may have a built in HPF that is run too high or they may have too much gain in the preamp.
A guitar amp may work fine, but in general guitar cabs should not be used with bass at anything beyond bedroom volume level.
If you have a high-powered guitar head, you could try it with bass cab. Examples of guitar amps that should sound great with bass and have enough power for moderate volume gigs: Fender Showman Reverb (85W), Matamp GT120 (100W), Hiwatt DR103 (100W), Marshall 1959 Super Lead (100W), Marshall 2203 Lead (100W)....I have all of these amps. I also have a couple of lower powered guitar amps that sound great with bass...but they would not really be loud enough for anything but the quietest gig.
Some guitar amps don't work so well with bass. They may have a built in HPF that is run too high or they may have too much gain in the preamp.
I'm looking at it in the BG side under Amps & Cabs. It made sense to me at the time
You certainly can use a good keyboard amp with an electric bass. I've played some street gigs using a Roland KC110 (battery powered!), and other times a KC500 (much bigger woofer, much more power).
Since *good* keyboard amps are made to be full range, they can work very well with a bass. It's only when you need to "fill the room" without a PA that you would really want to have a dedicated bass rig.
Since *good* keyboard amps are made to be full range, they can work very well with a bass. It's only when you need to "fill the room" without a PA that you would really want to have a dedicated bass rig.
A good keyboard amp with a sealed or ported speaker enclosure ought to be able to reproduce bass just fine and safely at retirement home and similar type venues. Be wary of anything with an open back like a guitar amp though. The only slight question mark in my mind would be whether the tone circuits would give you everything you need.
Another recommendation for the Roland combos. I used to use Jazz Chorus amps (the 90 and 120) for both bass and keys. Solid tonez.
The problem with those is that they’re open-back, the drivers are not optimal for low frequencies(and they might blow), and the EQ is not geared to bass guitar.
I’ve used a Roland KC amp for both keys and additional PA support. It had more than enough bass for both applications. It would probably work fine as a bass amp.
My stepson bought an amp for his fender like bass.i felt a little hurt as I was not involved. The amp is a Roland KC300 I think. Works really well for a bass guitar.
they can work well, depending on the bass and the tone you are after, and the general sound quality of the amp. some keyboard amps emphasize a midrange area that isn't attractive to me on bass, but some do not. Certainly it'll get you there for now, and you will find out when you rehearse with it if you want to change for the gig.
Heartily concur. In the salad days, I used a KB100 "inherited" from an old bandmate who decided to give up keyboards, and had no use for his gear. It did just fine for smaller gigs.
Possibly since you already have one. Give it a shot. I assume you are going to rehearse before going live. You will know for certain at that point. Who knows, you may want to play some. bass parts on your keyboards, and having a second channel may be of some use.
I will say that there isn't much difference between an actual bass combo and a keyboard amp size and dimension wise.
@Hogman99 When I first started playing bass, I already owned a keyboard amp - a Behringer Ultratone K900FX - and so I used that until I bought a bass amp. It is sealed, ported, has a 12" woofer and a tweeter. The Behringer amp works quite well, though the sound can be quite 'flat' compared to a bass amp. You won't cause any damage to a keyboard amp with bass as keyboard amps are designed with a very wide range - low A on an 88-key keyboard is much lower than low E on a bass.
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Traynor makes a nifty keyboard amp that I've used as a bass amp at a few quick rehearsals... It sounded surprisingly good!
It was one of these:
BLOCK12 – Traynor Amps
It was one of these:
BLOCK12 – Traynor Amps
Because I played keyboards before bass, I already had a Roland KC-550 amp. I decided to run my first bass, and later my pedalboard, straight into it and not buy a dedicated bass amp. It worked great for bass and could keep up with the volume of a rock drummer. I never bothered with a bass amp and still use the Roland.
