Bass through guitar tube amp?

[Metalman_666]

I'm sure this question has been asked here before but I wanted to ask a specific case. I've been asked to play bass in a band and I was wondering if it would be safe for me to run my bass through my Peavey Triple XXX head and 2x12 BuzzBomb cab.

Would putting the bass through my head be dangerous for the tubes or the circuit or anything like that? Is it safe is there some a risk of damage?

 

[Loserchief]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

i guess the amp itself won't have the slightest problem, but for bass you want a clean sound and max volume and a guitar amp probably won't handle that kind of use without distorting in the power stage(that's why bass amps for live use are usually 300W and up). Headroom is the key and guitar amps(especially high gain ones) usually won't have enough to kepp the bass clean.
Also the speakers in the cab are guitar speakers and proably the cones won't handle all that bass to well(at leats at stage volume), so you might damage something. And 12s aren't the best for bass imo. 10s give you the fast attack and punch you'll need and an opotional 15 adds the super lows. 12s kinda feel dull and slow to me when playing bass.

 

[Imp]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

i'd say run the preamp out into the P.A if anything - P.A. speakers are much less likely to suffer with the heavy lows...

even if you run the amp and cab at a reduced volume, so you personally can hear what's going on without damaging your equipment!

tom

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

you could tear your speakers with frequencies that low. you'll be okay if you get a bass cabinet...better if you get a bass amp.

The cool thing about bass is it's a lot easier to get a 'good' bass tone than a 'good' guitar tone. Solid state bass amps are rad and affordable...my Peavey is 200watts with a 15" speaker and wasn't even $200.

-X

 

[FamousForSustain]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

The bass player for Nickelback ( :thumbsdow ) uses a XXX head, so it can be done.

 

[baritone]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

I've heard that guitar speakers can be damaged by bass guitars if the volume and EQ is not under control. Amps are fine, but the speakers could be at risk. On the other hand, regular guitars sound cool through bass amps.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

John Entwistle of The Who used to use 2 stacks in the late 60's early 70's.... one would be a Bass amp and the other would be a guitar amp.... Not sure what speakers where in the cabs... But they used to destroy a lot of gear and had the money to repair and replace stuff.... From there he used all sorts of crossovers and split his signal into highs, mids and lows for various rigs... But right up until the day he died he had some guitar preamps in his rigs. Mostly Digitech multi FX units.... But since he had cross overs the thunderous lows i'm sure where not going thru the guitar based stuff...

My guess would be to follow what the other guys have said.... get a SS bass amp... There can be some used cheap but good bass amps out there!

I want a Bass soon myself but what i'm thinking of doing is buying a keyboard amp... music teacher at work uses a bass thru a keyboard amp and it sounds great... plus the Bass POD sounds great thru that keyboard amp as well... so does a Guitar POD as well... Flexible amps those keyboard amps... not just for keys!

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

Distortion on bass is probably the one thing most people overlook - it's necessary to have it distorted, at least a bit, to make it sit properly in a metal mix.

That said, just go straight to the house. It'll be the easiest way to do things. Borrow a POD or something.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

i disagree. i think that unless your band only has one guitar, a clean bass signal will sound much better and cleaner in the mix. i think if you're gonna use your XXX and you find a way to dial in a sick distortion tone to use for riffs and rhythms while the guitar's playing leads it would be cool but with bass you definitely want a loud clean tone first and foremost.

on the subject of sweet heavy bass tone...i saw Converge play one time and during one of my favorite riffs i look up and noticed the guitarist was playing leads and the heavy crunchy riff that i always tried to play on my Strat was coming out of a four-string bass and an Orange head. If you can pull off feats like this then you are truly hardcore....or just ripping off another band...you know depending on how you look at it.

-X

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

You'll definitely blow the speakers, and over time you WILL fry the head. Believe me, you will.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

i disagree. i think that unless your band only has one guitar, a clean bass signal will sound much better and cleaner in the mix.

Yeah, but I KNOW that a huge part of the illustrious "swedish DM" sound is a distorted bass, and the same goes for most thrash, death, black, and really most other metal genres, period.

The distortion lets things cut through, and adds some presence to the bass signal. A clean super-low end (60hz-200hz) with the top end distorted is ideal.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

So it seems most people think it would be ok except for the speakers?

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

So it seems most people think it would be ok except for the speakers?

Over the years--and I'm 43 so I've seen a lot of them--I've seen guys play bass through many a guitar head and most were okay, but a few did fry the amp. I guess it depends on the amp. The old Marshall stacks were nearly identical as far as the super lead and bass heads so it was very common to see a guy playing bass through a guitar head. However, I believe the amps that I heard start to crackle then pop were an Ampeg, a Sunn and a Kustom. The first two were tube, the Kustom was solid state. AFAIK they were playing through bass cabs. Also, these were very loud bands (all at rehearsal BTW) and these amps were being pushed hard.

It's been done, but I'd hate to see you fry a head you or someone else cares about by using a bass.

 

[34029324079]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

dont do it! only play bass through guitar stuff if the directions say it is ok.

also, if you play bass through a pa, it matters how loud the PA can go. its hard to get a good mix with smaller PAs and you wont hear much bass.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

I don't see how on earth it would affect the amp itself. Amplifiers really don't care about the signal they're presented with.

Speakers, on the other hand, do. I second the notion of running direct to the PA with a POD or something, or getting a cheap bass amp.

 

[mig50]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

i play my bass through my sovtek mig-50 into an ampeg 4x10 bass cab.

i haven't had any problems with the amp, and it sounds amazing.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

So it seems most people think it would be ok except for the speakers?

Well, sure...the general concensus is that for the short-term you're unlikely to do damage by using it at a lower volume.

However, it sounding like a sack of smashed *******s is something entirely different.

The thing I always envision when folks ask about these things is having to explain to a repair tech exactly what the amp was being used for when it just "stopped working." Especially if you're looking at things like a warranty.

For a few hunded bucks you can get something like a used Peavey Mark IV head; there's a slew of headroom on them and they get loud...VERY loud. There's also a GK 800RB: 400 watts and it'll swamp any drummer thinking he needs to flex his muscles.

Find a decent cab, something that's dependable and used. If you say Behrininger then I'll know you're not being serious. Look at some of the odler Hartke stuff that the purists poo-poo. It is what it is, but it will also do a fantastic job of holding up and working forever. I've seen SWR 4 x 12's for a few bills, Trace Elliot as well.

If you're serious about doing this then get the right tool for the job or don't bother doing the job at all. You'll just look like a clown showing up with a guitar amp for it.

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

I've heard that guitar speakers can be damaged by bass guitars if the volume and EQ is not under control. Amps are fine, but the speakers could be at risk. On the other hand, regular guitars sound cool through bass amps.

I don't really think guitars sound great through bass amps unless you run it through a guitar preamp first

for instance.. one of my fav experiments was running the pre-amp of my mesa dual rectifier through the effects loop of my Boss GT-8 effects processor and then sending the left signal to the rectifier power amp (which was connected to a mesa traditional 4 by 12) and the right signal to the input of an Ampeg SVT Classic (which was pushing 4 10s and a 15)... mmmmmm

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Bass through guitar tube amp?

Well The Guitar amps Do not have (Diezel and Bogner Uberschal is an exception) the low punch.The Low frequencies are not enough and well defined mostly.It lacks headroom and definition.But some Bass players play more middy,and they can get better results.

Most of the guitar cabs (like a Vintage 30 cabinet) do not have those bass frequencies ,or they have just too weak.But some of them like the Ev Zakk Wyld model can handle those bass punishment!

I am with DSS on Bass Distortion.When you hear Manowar ,you can clearly know what a distorted bass can do!Or Motorhead!
But a bass driver can do that job better i think.