Guitar Through Bass Amp

euan · Post by **euan** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:05 pm

I had a flatmate who played bass. I loved borrowing his amp and downtuning my Strat and having a play. You can certainly shape yourself a different/sound. It's a slightly different experience hearing your guitar coming from a 15" speaker instead of a 10" or 12".

Ashdown make some hybrid SS/valve amps I'm sure. I think you can even choose between a SS/valve preamp. Though don't hold me to that, I might be speaking crap.

Post by **Hurb** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:33 pm

ok noob question..

so a guitar amp(speaker) cant take a bass freq....so how about when say i use my ps-5 to drop say an octave down.bearing in mind my e string is a 70 gauge..it sounds pretty bassy.

will this pop my speaker too?

euan · Post by **euan** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:45 pm

Hurb wrote:ok noob question..

so a guitar amp(speaker) cant take a bass freq....so how about when say i use my ps-5 to drop say an octave down.bearing in mind my e string is a 70 gauge..it sounds pretty bassy.

will this pop my speaker too?

Good question. I would be inclined to think no though. Just a feeling. The PS-5 might be acting as a buffer for a start. I've never actually heard anyone say exactly why you shouldn't put a bass through a guitar amp.

Is it the amp that blows or the speaker? Why can some bass rigs use 10" speakers as tweeters in that case but you cant use 12" guitar speakers. Hmm. What about the guys using longer scale guitars through guitar amps too? I think I might investigate this with a cup of tea.

What guitar are you using a 70 gauge low E on Hurb? That is pretty much a bass string, how does it sound?

Post by **Hurb** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:51 pm

it sounds fine, i use zakk wylde strings on all my guitars..i got em because they were the biggest strings i could find, and they just really clicked with me.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:53 am

Hurb wrote:ok noob question..

so a guitar amp(speaker) cant take a bass freq....so how about when say i use my ps-5 to drop say an octave down.bearing in mind my e string is a 70 gauge..it sounds pretty bassy.

will this pop my speaker too?

I think it's more to do with the low end that bass amps can pump out with brutal settings, rather than it just being a low note. I've played bass with a loud band through my "bass" guitar head and a guitar 4x12 (last resort kinda thing) with zero problems.

Post by **Hurb** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:30 am

iam totally confused now...i dont see how a bass guitar can pump out a freq that willl blow a speaker of a guitar amp.
and yet a guitar with some pitch shifting pedal pumping out sonds, that sound the same as a bass guitar wont do the saame thing...and it concerns me almost...never. but i would still like to know.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:34 am

I think I contradicted myself a bit in this post... here's my thoughts summed up:

Bass guitar > bass amp > bass speaker = fine and dandy

Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also

Bass guitar > bass amp > guitar speaker = not so fine, because of variety and amount of low end available from bass amps in conjunction with the low nature of the bass guitar. You'll need some speakers that can handle that shit.

This is just my understanding, I've never blown a speaker doing anything. Just managed to put rips in them and had them fall apart onstage

I also rock my bass through my little Zoom 15w amp in my room at loud bedroom volumes with no problems, because of the aforementioned facts.

Post by **Hurb** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:39 am

Doog wrote:I think I contradicted myself a bit in this post... here's my thoughts summed up:

Bass guitar > bass amp > bass speaker = fine and dandy

Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also

Bass guitar > bass amp > guitar speaker = not so fine, because of variety and amount of low end available from bass amps in conjunction with the low nature of the bass guitar. You'll need some speakers that can handle that shit.

This is just my understanding, I've never blown a speaker doing anything. Just managed to put rips in them and had them fall apart onstage

I also rock my bass through my little Zoom 15w amp in my room at loud bedroom volumes with no problems, because of the aforementioned facts.

ahh confusion over.
hopefully someone wont chirp in and confuse me again..so i can continue makeing grrr boom boom noises with my geet-tar

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:47 am

Nah man, you're all good to rock the lower octaves. It'd probably only really be an issue with a super bassy setting at a LOUD ASS volume.

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:49 am

Doog wrote:Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also

I have to dissagree with you on this one.

Post by **Hurb** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:52 am

ahhh chico went and spoiled the hurb calm at-moss

confused again

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:00 am

Chico Malo wrote:
Doog wrote:Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also
I have to dissagree with you on this one.

Like I said a minute ago, it's not recommended at high volumes. You ever blown a guitar amp speaker with a bass? Like I said, I gigged a few times with a guitar head and guitar 4x12 without any problems.

euan · Post by **euan** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:06 am

I think the weak link will be in the speaker. If you use a guitar speaker is won't be able to handle the frequency and response of the bass. Guitar speakers are designed for the midrange frequencies that come out of a guitar and can't quite cope with what is coming out of the bass.

Electronically a guitar amp should be able to take the frequencies of a bass. What I wonder if there are any issues cause by the output from the bass. But I doubt a bass pickup is going to output more than the 6V input I know my amp can take.

So I'm guessing again it's all about the speaker. But I would like someone to correct me.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:16 am

Doog on page wrote:Just to reiterate, it's the speaker section of the combo/stack that is the weak link here-

Thanks, Captain Paraphrase

euan · Post by **euan** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:21 am

Doog wrote:
Doog on page wrote:Just to reiterate, it's the speaker section of the combo/stack that is the weak link here-
Thanks, Captain Paraphrase

Any reference? I'm inclined to believe you, I just like proof.

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:23 am

Doog is right. At high volumes, I have blown guitar speakers out in my young foolish years. At lower volumes, there shouldn't be a problem.

I didn't mean to create any confusion.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:23 am

euan wrote:
Doog wrote:
Doog on page wrote:Just to reiterate, it's the speaker section of the combo/stack that is the weak link here-
Thanks, Captain Paraphrase
Any reference? I'm inclined to believe you, I just like proof.

Reference for what? Blowin' speakers or you saying what I did a page ago?

As I think I've said like 3 times now, I've used a guitar half stack with bass at a few shows out of need with no problems. But I don't recommend it at all.

Long story short, its not a good idea to run a bass into a guitar stack/combo or bass head with guitar cab at any high volume. For home use, it's fine.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:35 am

Doog wrote:Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also

I'm gonna confuse matters by saying that it was my understanding that at loud volumes this was a bad idea as the low end bass transients aren't good for the speakers.

Sublimedo · Post by **Sublimedo** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:56 am

Mike wrote:
Doog wrote:Bass guitar > guitar amp > guitar speaker = fine and dandy also
I'm gonna confuse matters by saying that it was my understanding that at loud volumes this was a bad idea as the low end bass transients aren't good for the speakers.

Definitely.

Even when playing guitar, something like a ps-5 or a digitech whammy tuned down an octave or two CAN definitely wear out a speaker at high gain/volume levels. I too have mistreated an amp or two in earlier years, part of it due to being a big RATM fan. So as long as the pedals not on most of the time you should be okay though. but it can do damage if you tried.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:39 am

Ok, this is getting confusing.

If you have a small practice amp, don't play bass or very low frequencys through it's speakers at all, you WILL blow that fucker up - tried and tested, I've seen it happen to 3 or 4 of them.

Low volumes playing bass through a bigger amp SHOULD be fine, but I'm not gonna try it. Hurb - if its only the odd really low note you will be fine.

Guitar through a bass amp - the really high notes won't come through very well, the EQ only covers low frequencies, but you should be ok. However, if they are anything like car/home audio sub speakers, then it won't be good for them to run the high frequencies through them, both of those applications use crossovers to cut out the high freqiencies.

To my understanding, the speakers in guitar amps are mids, and the ones in bass amps are more like subs, they are made to cover certain frequency ranges, irrespective of size. I have a 15 in my Marshall combo, but it is still a guitar speaker.