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Using a Bass with Guitar effects and amps...

F

froglips

Feb 9, 2009
92
0
Arizona
#1
When I purchased my Basses a month ago now, I was told by the dood at The Guitar Center that you could NOT use a Bass guitar with a normal Guitar amp because the lows would smoke the electronics in the amp. Not to mention that the speakers in the guitar amp could not handle the lows.

Is this true?

Also, I have a GT-6 Guitar effects pedal, and before I attempt to use it with my Bass, I would like to ask you folks if this is adviseable to do? Will my Bass fry my Guitar pedals?

I am using a passive Fender p-bass.

Thank you for your assistance, folks!
 
#2
The employee was correct in stating that guitar amps will be mercilessly raped and destroyed by basses in some situations. Guitar amps are not made for bass frequencies and are thus bad for basses (which produce such bassy frequencies). You won't have the fiery death problem with guitar effects, however. They should function fine, but may not give you the tone you want. Plenty of bassist on this forum and elsewhere use guitar effects, because there are a select few that sound decent with bass. This is usually not the case though. If I were you, I'd try out what I had for guitar effects, but keep in mind that you'r using them for something that they weren't designed for, and may very well have **** for tone.
 
#3
that is pretty much it, dont use guitar amps with a bass, effects however are all just preference on what sounds good to you. In some instances a pedal made for guitar might get a better sound then a similar one made for bass, it all depends. Surf and search the effects forums for whatever types of effects you want if you dont like the GT-6, and youll find tons of good suggestions.
 
#5
Yeah, guitar amps, unless they have stupid amounts of wattage (200+) can't handle the low frequencies of a bass at gig volume. Even if the amp itself can take it, the cabinet's voice coil will probably fry after prolonged use.

As for FX - I also play guitar, and use a Boss GT-5 for that purpose. I did try using it with bass, and it didn't sound bad at all. HOWEVER, the amp sims in the unit, obviously, sound much better for guitar.

What I'll probably try is Boss GT-5 (with Boss ODB-3 in loop) >>> Sansamp Bass driver/DI set clean. When I get my ODB-3 back from a friend, I'll try it and share my observations.
 
#6
If you find a high watt 8 ohm guitar amp there is the slim chance that it won't go pop, but every time I've seen a bass run through a guitar amp it did not end well. The speakers, however, will get mercilessly abused, since they aren't built to handle lower frequencies.

As far as effects, they will function with bass, but the most common problem you'll encounter is low-end loss, so definitely give the pedals a demo before buying them.
 
#11
All theses modern amps will die with a bass running through it, but if you had sommet like a 60's vox, they are normally ok! i used an ac30 once, was pretty good! but i dout you'll get the all the low end you'll want. it's still not advised!

And i use a T-Rex Moller with my bass, a guitar irstortion/overdrive, And it sounds ace with my Orange AD200B, it sounds like a driven valve amp, even at low volumes. It has a "mix" knob on it so you can pick how much effect or signal you want. I also use the old Hot Tubes like what kim from Sonic Youth uses. thats pretty cool! Many bassist use guitar effects! infact, IMO, i think the overdrives are better than the bass ones you get!
 
#12
It's important to clarify what is meant by "amp" in threads like this...

Using a guitar amplifier (i.e. the electronic device that actually amplifies the sound signal and routes it into a speaker cabinet) is perfectly fine.

The amp doens't know the difference between a bass signal and a guitar signal. Will it sound good? Maybe. But, most bass amplifiers are tuned for lower frequency inputs, and will likely give you a better tone than a guitar amplifier will. But, if it sounds good, go for it.

Now, if when you say "guitar amp" you're talking about a combo amplifier (i.e. an electronic device that amplifies the sound and is directly plugged into a speaker device that emits the sound) then you've got to be careful.

As mentioned, the problem isn't the amplifier... it's the speakers. Guitar speaker cabinets are tuned to handle higher frequencies. The speakers are designed for higher frequencies. When you play an amplified bass signal through a guitar speaker cabinet, especially at high volumes, you run the risk of blowing the speakers. It can be done at low volumes, but it's probably not recommended.

However, like I said, if you run your bass through a guitar amplifier, into a guitar cabinet, and you blow the speakers, and you like the sound... then all means, go for it! :bassist:
 
#15
That's the other "problem" with guitar amps... they're usually no more than 100W.

Depending on where and what you're playing, you may need more power than that to really drive a bass cabinet at higher volumes.
 
#16
i've never had any problems with breaking guitar amps; i'm surprised so many people say that they have. I've used a lot of different combinations, too: combos, guit heads with bass cabs and vice-versa for recording and live. I'm sure someone could rattle off a list of guys, especially in the early years, that played with guitar amps/stacks. Maybe I haven't used one steadily enough to cause any damage?
 
#18
I love when the topic of bass through guitar amps come up because I get to hunt down this video and hear one of the best bass distortion sounds out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6HbKRkPnpA

There are tons of guitar players out there that play through an octave down effect. Honestly probably more guitar players than bass players. We're already low enough. Granted I use one and there are a bunch on here that use em, but that's a different thread.

So when said guitarists use the octave down to play the SAME frequencies that the bass guitar is putting out do they run it through a bass amp? No. They just keep plugging away with thier guitar amps.

Yes you can fry guitar amps with a bass, but you can also fry bass amps with a bass. Be careful how you set them, be smart about it. Don't run the master at 10, and don't run the bass full tilt and you'll be fine.

As for the effects you will not hurt the effects playing a bass through guitar effects. It is a different question if they will sound good or not. That is up to you to find out. If you don't try it then there's no way they will sound good.
 

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