• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Using a bass amp with guitar?

#22
Boneless said:
If you like the way it sounds... that said, bass amps usually have two "issues":

- bass amps tend to be much flatter in response compared to guitar amps, and are usually designed for clean headroom. Some amps will break up nicely with higher gain (but usually would still be considered "low gain"/clean in the guitar world), others basically won't. Guitar amps tend to break up a lot more (in fact, those very clean funk guitars were often played through a DI), and many "guitar cleans" would be "light overdrive" for bass. (The Twin Reverb is considered to be ultra-clean, but would be kinda hairy with bass, on a bass speaker of course).
Click to expand...

totally agree.

Boneless said:
Furthermore, basically all guitar amps are quite heavily scooped in the mids (an exception would be early Fender amps), they are usually heavily voiced and the tone controls tend to be much broader than with bass.
Click to expand...

a common mod on the blackface circuit is to add a mid pot on the back of the chassis.

on my DR I didn't incorporate the pot but I have a different value on the mid resistor on the 1 channel preamp. mids aplenty, that side of the amp is like a hifi brownface.

***

let me edit and try to address OPs inquiry more directly:

if you are going to spend a year learning guitar that's awesome. I think electric is a great platform. hopefully you really like your guitar now how it feels etc and the amp is important because it's basically going to serve as your soundboard in acoustic/musical terms.

so if you want a very guitar-y experience I would recommend either an inexpensive modeler rig or if you want the real deal I or others might be able to make some recommendations depending on what sort of sound you think you might like to make. but I think a bass amp is a stopgap otherwise. unless of course you love the sound etc but unless you are diming a bassman for the rectifier sag or you love the crispness of the tweed bassman I think most bass amps are not ideal for guitar. $.02!
 
Last edited:
#23
I gig on guitar with my Hartke bass head into two markbass 2x10s. I use a LOT of effects, including distortion and overdrive on some tunes. Can sound glorious. Note: I'm not trying to emulate any known guitar sound, just doing my own thing.

Tweeters always off, as is also true when these cabs are used for bass.
 
#26
Just about any preamp with an EQ is totally usable for guitar, it's more about finding the right speaker cab; something with an extended high end but without (or with a defeatable) tweeter/horn. Like I loooove my SVTIII-Pro's preamp for guitar (into an IR), and it's passable into my bass cab, but it's darker with some weird low-mids. If I want that to work well then I have to be more heavy-handed with the EQ, or find the right guitar cab that can survive the power amp.

I'll also point out that there's some bass speakers that are being used for guitar these days (e.g., Celestion's BN12-300S), albeit in cabs that are open back or aren't tuned for bass.
 
#27
As already pointed out in some of the posts above, if you plan to use a modeler it may work very well.

I played guitar through my Markbass rig several times, at "gig volume":
- Tame the tweeter
- Use a guitar amp modeler for the distorted sounds
- Use a cab-model (optional)

The only thing I never liked is the "feedback" - I never got it as good as I am used to get from a "real guitar amp".
But this is not a blocker issue.

That said... HAVE FUN but never forget that BASS IS YOUR FIRST LOVE ;)
 
#28
I think it's helpful to understand what guitar amps would be similar to your bass amp before trying to replace it. Gotta know what you have before you know what to get.

I asked the same question about my own setup. I use my Noventa Telecaster through an Ampeg PF-50t w/ PF-115 (with the tweeter off). This seems like a surprisingly good sounding combo, but tube amps share a lot of qualities, regardless of if they're for bass or for guitar. Namely, most tube amps (with notable exceptions) introduce pleasing harmonic distortion when overdriven (when you boost the signal loud enough to distort the preamp), when they're cranked (loud enough to get the power tubes to distort), or both at the same time (😈). I decided there was no reason to get another amp when I have a great tube amp already. And yeah, it sounds great with an OD pedal loud enough to get the preamp tubes cookin.

For you, though, the Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0 head has a FET preamp section. Can you clip it / overdrive it with your EBS pedal? If so, does it sound good? A ton of distortion pedals use jFETs to achieve pleasing distortion tones. If you can do that with the Genz-Benz, that's amazing. If not, then you are probably already getting those same tones using your EBS Drive in a way that sounds good on its own. You might explore a good fuzz pedal, or other overdrive / distortion pedals for some flavor.

What guitar are you using? Strat? Tele? LP? It matters.

Not gonna lie though, I don't think you need to buy anything new. Not really. If you want to get a guitar amp, it'll mostly be for fun, and there's nothing wrong with that at all.
 
#29
Pdaddy1978 said:
I decided during lock dawn to revisit my horrible guitar skills and bought myself a Telecaster to see if I could advance to barely acceptable.
Luckily I've got a good little Peavey guitar combo so I'm covered as far as guitar specific amp department.
But, ironically , my bass amp, an old Ampeg B25b, is well regarded as a guitar amp.
Never tried it. Probably should be tryin it with a more guitar specific cab.
Click to expand...
I have come back to playing guitar, and my B25 now serves as a fantastic clean amp. One of very few amps that really work great at any volume for guitar, very versatile tool. Likewise, JTM45 is a very nice amp for bass (with a bass cab of course), if you want that Marshall grind at not so crazy volumes :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pdaddy1978
#32
if it sounds good for you -- don't overthink it. it's the only thing that matters.

a 'good guitar amp' is a more subjective category than a good bass amp, it's pretty common for guitar amps to be colored and voiced in some specific way, but at the end it all boils down to 'does it sound good for you'. for example, Vox vs Orange vs Roland JC are very different sounds, if you get the one that doesn't speak for you, you will be upset, even if it's a dedicated guitar amp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dmt and dbflats
#34
DuluthDank said:
I've made a resolution to practice guitar pretty much exclusively for a solid year, for the purpose of versatility and songwriting. It's been great fun. Up to this point, I've been playing through my Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 10t, with an EBS The Drive pedal in front. Overall I think it can sound pretty darn good. But at the same time, do I only think that because I don't have a "real" guitar amp to compare it to? The Genz Benz is pretty uncolored and full range as far as bass amps go, so I'm wondering if it's an over achiever in this regard, and I might not notice the improvement in sound that would justify spending the money? If I were to pick up a guitar amp, i'd look to keep it relatively small and affordable, with a noticiable improvement over my current setup. Any suggestions appreciated!

Edit: people are responding about guitar amps being better with OD. with an external OD pedal, is this due to the piezo tweeter on the bass amp reproducing the high frequencies more harshly? My understanding is that contrary to intuition, many bass amps are intended to go higher than guitar amps.
Click to expand...
I think GK bass amps make great guitar amps. They overdrive nicely and pedals work well with them.

For guitar though, they get foolishly loud.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cataract and DuluthDank
#35
Most of my amps are great for both guitar and bass, but most of my amps are vintage, British tube amps. When paired with a guitar cab, they're superb guitar amps. When paired with a bass cab, they're superb bass amps.

Even with modern bass amps, I personally think it's more a matter of the cab/speakers than the amp. Run a bass amp through a guitar cab and it will most likely sound at least half-decent. With a bass cab it will sound... different.;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: DuluthDank
#37
shirojiro said:
I think GK bass amps make great guitar amps. They overdrive nicely and pedals work well with them.

For guitar though, they get foolishly loud.
Click to expand...
I’ve been using my GK 400RB + 2 Mesa Subway 112s for playing guitar / writing parts with my Gibson SG with great results.

The v1 400RB has the three EQ contour buttons built in- hitting the bass cut + hi boost buttons is a quick way to ballpark EQ the amp for guitar use. I got tired of sounding too bassy and thick overall so I bought a used v1 Made in the USA Fender Hot Rod Deville to cover my guitar amp needs. I may have overdid it with the 60w tube amp for home use but boy does it sound great lol. Loud cleans for days!
IMG_7270.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: WRM, shirojiro, dmt and 1 other person
#38
cataract said:
I’ve been using my GK 400RB + 2 Mesa Subway 112s for playing guitar / writing parts with my Gibson SG with great results.

The v1 400RB has the three EQ contour buttons built in- hitting the bass cut + hi boost buttons is a quick way to ballpark EQ the amp for guitar use. I got tired of sounding too bassy and thick overall so I bought a used v1 Made in the USA Fender Hot Rod Deville to cover my guitar amp needs. I may have overdid it with the 60w tube amp for home use but boy does it sound great lol. Loud cleans for days!
View attachment 7244585
Click to expand...
A variable HPF helps with the low end boom on guitar, rolled up to about 100Hz
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: shirojiro, cataract and EastDakota

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back