Bass guitar into guitar amp?

[Artie]

For as long as I've been into electronics and audio, I think I know the answer, but a little confirmation never hurts.

I hardly ever touched my bass, so traded my little Peavey MAX112 bass amp to a friend last year to save room in my very small music room. Now I'm getting interested in it again. Am I correct that it shouldn't hurt anything to play through my guitar amps as long as I stay at "bedroom" levels? I can't imagine ever exceeding 2 or 3 watts.

Artie

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

It’s not going to hurt the amp unless you crank it. Even then I used to play through a little practice amp on 10 to get distortion! Lol

Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn (both originally guitarists) used to play though open back Fender guitar amps.


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[ErikH]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

One word.... Lemmy!

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Bass guitar into guitar amp?

One word.... Lemmy!

Lots of guys used Marshall and Hi-Watt guitar amps for bass back in the day. Marshall did make a bass version. I think they still do.

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[ErikH]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Lots of guys used Marshall and Hi-Watt guitar amps for bass back in the day. Marshall did make a bass version. I think they still do.

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True, but Lemmy cranked the piss out of his Marshalls to the point of being overdriven.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Thanks for the confirmation guys. My Tobias sounds great through my Bogner Alchemist. Next, I want to try it through my little H&K Tubemeister 5.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

True, but Lemmy cranked the piss out of his Marshalls to the point of being overdriven.

And Jack Bruce made that his trademark tone decades before Lemmy.


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[treyhaislip]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

I run mine through my guitar amps–Fender Blues Deluxe and Yamaha THR10C. No issues here, sounds great!

 

[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

I run mine through my guitar amps–Fender Blues Deluxe and Yamaha THR10C. No issues here, sounds great!

Doesn't that little Yammy have a bass preset?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

And Jack Bruce made that his trademark tone decades before Lemmy.


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1975 (when Motorhead started) isn't even a decade's difference...LOL. But yeah, Jack had a similar overdriven tone on some stuff.

FTR, I've run my bass through my Vox AV30 analog modeler on the Fender model and it sounds really good. Flat EQ is about perfect.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Doesn't that little Yammy have a bass preset?

Indeed it does! Sounds awesome.

I couldn't be more impressed with that THR10C.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Cool. Aceman got me thinking about the EHX Battalion. Nice unit, but more expensive than many small bass combos.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

1975 (when Motorhead started) isn't even a decade's difference...LOL. But yeah, Jack had a similar overdriven tone on some stuff.

FTR, I've run my bass through my Vox AV30 analog modeler on the Fender model and it sounds really good. Flat EQ is about perfect.

Cream existed from 1966 to 1968. Those live Cream tracks had a very distorted bass. So did Jack’s first solo album (1969). I call that a decade.

You can’t say that Jack’s tone didn’t influence Lemmy. Most people had never heard of Lemmy or Motörhead until about 1980.

Most people also don’t know he was in Hawkwind. I listened to prog back then so I knew who they were. But he sounded very different then.



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[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Cream was a "gateway" band for me. Opened me up to a whole new music style. I think I was 14 - 15 at the time. I still have Disraeli Gears, and a few others, on vinyl.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Cream was a "gateway" band for me. Opened me up to a whole new music style. I think I was 14 - 15 at the time. I still have Disraeli Gears, and a few others, on vinyl.

Same here. I was about 13. My friend brought over a few of his older brother’s records. I think it was Wheels of Fire and Goodbye.

I hadn’t heard a bass played like that, or with that tone! I bought a Maestro fuzz off my PhysEd teacher in middle school and played my bass though that. Lol.

I’ve been over playing ever since. [emoji6]


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[treyhaislip]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Cool. Aceman got me thinking about the EHX Battalion. Nice unit, but more expensive than many small bass combos.

I've had good luck with EHX stuff...haven't tried the Battalion though.

Looking at the price, those look about the same price as I paid for my THR10C (that being said, I bought mine used from a GC.)

 

[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

The Battalion has the advantage of size. My music room is a small 3rd bedroom in our house, at about 9 x 11. I figure I could process the bass through it then run it into either a guitar amp or some active monitors.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

Cream existed from 1966 to 1968. Those live Cream tracks had a very distorted bass. So did Jack’s first solo album (1969). I call that a decade.

You can’t say that Jack’s tone didn’t influence Lemmy. Most people had never heard of Lemmy or Motörhead until about 1980.

Most people also don’t know he was in Hawkwind. I listened to prog back then so I knew who they were. But he sounded very different then.



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I hadn't heard much live Cream stuff until the 80's when I was a teenager. Heard lots of the studio tracks though on the radio. I found recordings of their 2005 reunion shows not long after they were done. Great recordings. They still had the magic.

Jack influenced so many, tone or technique, it's hard to keep track. Some of my favorite bassists are from that era. Jack, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Geezer Butler. They played the bass not just riding a note but complimenting the guitar yet holding the rhythm and groove.

I dove in to playing bass full time in February this year after playing guitar for 30+ and playing in a local group for 11. I had played bass in a college band in the early 90's and dabbled in it some in the mid 90's but for a good 20 years I hadn't done anything serious. Greg Chaisson has a been a big influence as well. His style is like that old school way of playing. Met him at a Badlands show in '92 and he gave me some really good tips that I still remember. It even helped with my rhythm guitar playing.

While I haven't got up to snuff in the technique department like those guys, I like to play along and learn what's going in. It's helped me find my own style. If the song calls for riding the note and following the guitar, that's what I do. The cool thing is I'm in a band playing and we are getting things tight. Just covers and I'm good with that. We're having fun and that's what counts.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

That's cool. One of the things that frustrates me about my bass playing, is that I tend to play guitar riffs on it. It's hard to figure out how the bass line is developed. How do you figure out what that harmony, or argument line is?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Bass guitar into guitar amp?

That's cool. One of the things that frustrates me about my bass playing, is that I tend to play guitar riffs on it. It's hard to figure out how the bass line is developed. How do you figure out what that harmony, or argument line is?

For a lot of stuff, I simply looked it up online and went from there. For those I couldn't find, I'd set the EQ to where I could hear more bass and it allowed me to pick out what was going on here and there. Depending on the mix of the song, it can be easy or a pain in the ass. I always make sure I know the root note of the chords and then go from there. You have to separate yourself from the guitar and listen to what is going on with the drums. It'll help lock in with the bass line. It's helped me. Sure, some songs have to follow the guitar (as mentioned) but locking in with the drums is what will fill that foundation.

One of the fun ones to play is Thin Lizzy's Cowboy Song. There's dual guitar doing harmony going one way on a note and the bass is going the other way. We have one guitarist and myself on bass (close to your age actually). His playing makes it easier on me, honestly. He's so good that I never have a problem finding something to play underneath. He likes that Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones style too. There's songs where I will play the guitar riff because it works and that's what's there, like the bridge section of Doctor Doctor by Robert Palmer. Then there's those where it's something else completely, like the chorus of Immigrant Song (which kills me every time).

I sometimes wonder if I was born in the wrong decade...lol.