Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

[Kais]

I’m looking to purchase a new head, and I’d like to use it as a 2nd amp to compliment my Marshall DSL. But I also want to use it for bass. I was thinking Fender Bassman would be ideal, but is there any other options?

I will be swapping cabs when I use bass vs guitar.


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[PFDarkside]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

The old Silverface Bassmans (Bassmen?) sound fantastic for bass and guitar.

 

[dave74]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

Orange Thunderverb 200w comes to mind,,,,,,,,in the black shell of course.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

An old Fender Bassman or Showman head will work, as will most of the vintage SUNN tube and SS heads. Many of the older Peavey SS heads will work too. Bass needs lots of power, and optimized speakers.

Bill

 

[Kais]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

How about the new bass man reissues, the 100T head? Is that the same or similar to the original 70s units?


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[rbc]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

How about the Peavey Vypyr VIP Series:

https://peavey.com/products/guitar-amplifiers.cfm#vypyr-vip-series

You'd probably want to go straight to the Vypyr VIP 3 for bass playing.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

Not necessarily necessary to swap cabs. Depends what speakers you have.

 

[Swampy]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

....most of the vintage SUNN tube and SS heads.

Bill

My bass player played through my Sunn for a short time. Sounded good, And very loud. You can sometimes find the Sunn combos that've already been made into heads. That’s what the guys in Red Fang play.....both guitarists and the bassist/singer.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

My first thought was a Showman, or a high output very clean amp- even a JC120 would work.

 

[AxlOz]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

There's a Marshall JCM800 bass series head that was made back in the day. Its 100w, just the preamp has slight differences to the circuitry to keep it cleaner. I found they sounded great with a guitar if you ran a treble boost, OD, or some sort of pedal up front that pushed it harder. They're usually far cheaper than the JCM800 lead series, which are almost an identical amp..

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

Ampeg V4/V4-B
Traynor YBA-1
Silvertone 1483

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

Any loud, clean, vintage-style tube head thru bass cabs can work. Personally i use a Sunn model T and two Green Matamps for bass, but for way less money an old Bassman or V4 or non-model T Sunn would be fine.

One vintage amp brand that still flies under the radar is Univox. Handwired Japanese clones of Fenders and Marshalls. I had a 200w Plexi clone from them that rivaled my model T. Bought for like $200, sold a few years later for $400, but i still see them in the $300 range often.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

ive run bass through my dual showman reverb and a 1x15 ampeg cab and it sounded like money!

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

An old Fender Bassman or Showman head will work, as will most of the vintage SUNN tube and SS heads. Many of the older Peavey SS heads will work too. Bass needs lots of power, and optimized speakers.

Bill

Yup, you want a 100+ watt for bass. 50 watt bassmans will be headroom challenged. As others have said a Dual Showman. Run 7581A tubes in it and maybe a 12AY7 in the bass channel. 100 watt tube Marshalls could also work especially if converted to run 6550s.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

I'm not going to lie, I have a 5E3 clone and my bass amp blew up one day before rehearsal. I unplugged the speaker in the 5E3 and plugged in the bass cabinet to it instead. It sounded AWESOME on bass! My bassist asked if we could use that amp instead from now on lol

 

[justFred]

Re: Amp That Sounds Good For Guitar AND Bass?

5E3 rules!!!