Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

[Andrew Lamprecht]

It's a 60 watt 1x12 combo... it has the massive magnet EVM speaker.It has tons of bass on tap. I keep the bass just above 1 with my guitar... I've run a bass through it for a few minutes before but would it be safe running it for songs?... I know that it's not recommended but this isn't a princeton reverb.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

With the volume low you would be ok. Cranking up lots of pop slap will probably do in your speaker. The amp itself wont care. People forget the old Super Bass plexis were identical to the guitar ones just minus an extra brightness capacitor.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

yes you can use it. it will just wear out speakers and power tubes much faster. Plus it will never give you the same punch of a bass amp. totally different eq.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

For low volume practice purposes, it should be fine; I do it with my Marshall ValveState. I wouldn't gig with it though.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

You've got an EV in it, right? Should be fine. I wouldn't try using it for shows or anything though.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

The issue isn't the amp itself, but the speaker. Most guitar speakers were not designed to handle the excursion caused by the octave lower bass frequencies. The lower the frequency, the farther the cone moves in and out which can cause it to tear. Of course volume plays its role also. Probably it's OK to play it at very low volumes, but I won't do it with any of my amps w/ guitar speakers....I'm conservative by nature.

The speaker manufacturer/designer would be the best one to ask about the specific speaker model.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

Some dudes use EVMs for bass.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Could I use a bass into my Mesa Mk II?

Some dudes use EVMs for bass.

But not with open back

As far as I can tell you can only do damage here via the speaker. The main risk is that the speaker dies and then the amp runs "open" blowing the output transformer. The output transformer isn't suitable for bass frequencies but that should only affect sound and not put it at risk of blowing up. As long as you never push the thing into sounding odd and as long as you instantly stop playing when the sound goes away you should be fine.

Of course in a band context you probably won't be able to hear it sounding odd.