Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

[Lucky Eastwood]

Hello everybody.

I'd like to know what you all think about running an electric guitar through a bass amp.

I play both guitar and bass and I own a Fender Rumble 15 amp. I do high gain stuff using a distortion pedal.

In my experience, I'd say it sounds just fine (to me). I can get nice crisp tones when doing cleans and I like the bass-ey chugs I can get with distortion (It does mean fiddling around with tone kobs on the amp).


My axes:

Squier P-Bass
Squier Vintage Modified Bass VI
Epiphone Les Paul Limited Edition Special-I

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

When I was in high school I borrowed a friend's Peavey 15" bass combo for a week or two. I remember being impressed with the bass, compared to the 8" open-back guitar combo I was used to. I remember thinking there was no midrange body or texture. And the treble had a strange extended quality that seemed equally out of place. After I gave the bass amp back, I didn't miss it, and I haven't wanted to play through one since.

 

[hydro]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Lots of people do that. I know more people who use fender Bassmans as guitar amps than bass amps. I used a Marshall mk2 superbass as my amp for some time and it was fine.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Hello everybody.
I'd like to know what you all think about running an electric guitar through a bass amp.
In my experience, I'd say it sounds just fine (to me).

In all seriousness.....unless band members REALLY Complain..... your opinion is Paramount.
I am a Tube/Fender Snob.....but whatever works for the individual is The Most Important Consideration.
Take it as far as it goes.....until you find a "better" sound.
good luck

 

[Liko]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

I do much the same thing for much the same reason. I started on bass and still play, so my rig is best served by being able to pull double duty. Currently rocking a Bassman 150 1x12 combo with a couple gain pedals in front for dirt and crunch. When I use it for guitar at performance volume I cut out the tweeter horn (the larger proportion of high frequencies in a guitar's tone is bad for tweeters much the same way bass frequencies are bad for guitar can cones) and minimize the amp's "contour" setting to reduce the scoop the amp gives my mids, and I get a decent clean tone and a workable TS-type breakup.

I have no illusions, however, that the tone is anything approaching what I could get with something even as simple as a lunchbox guitar head running into this combo's speaker, to say nothing of a full guitar-oriented amp rig. You only have to take your favorite axe to a local GC/SA and plug into a Classic 30 or Blues Jr to confirm this yourself. Guitar tone's probably about 35% axe, 65% amp (equipment-wise; tone always starts in the fingers and in the mentality of the player). For bass, it's pretty much the opposite. So, playing guitar through a bass amp, by these numbers, only gives you about 70% of the tone a full guitar rig would.

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[Liko]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Lots of people do that. I know more people who use fender Bassmans as guitar amps than bass amps. I used a Marshall mk2 superbass as my amp for some time and it was fine.

The '59 Bassman RI is a bit of a special case, as is the Marshall Super Bass. While both were intended for bass guitar, they're both guitar-derived, lo-fi, all-tube circuits that lend themselves well to a slightly bassier version of classic tube guitar tone. Plugging a guitar into one of these is pretty much the remedy for any complaint of weak low end in your guitar tone.

Modern hi-fi solid-state bass amps are intended to produce a relatively uncolored tone (there's still some built-in contour and shaping, but nothing like what guitar amps and cabs do to their input signal), cleanly, at ridiculous power levels, because that's what it takes to mix bass frequencies audibly into a group's stage sound. These kinds of amps will do the job on guitar, but they rarely give anything like the tubey goodness of a guitar amp even if the bass amp has a tube preamp stage. They're simply too clean.

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[IM4Tone]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Other than the 59 Bassman, I never cared for the tone of a guitar through a bass amp.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

The best amps can go either way. Sometimes at band practice I'll plug my pedals into my bassist's SVT and 8x10 and the tone is awesome.

 

[Animal]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

If it works then it works.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Guitars through bass amps is usually fine. The other way around can be kind of problematic for the speakers meant for a guitar amp as they can't handle low frequencies that bass naturally has, the amps themselves will work without issue though will likely be more distorted but I digress.

Pretty sure that Doyle Von Frankenstein guy from the Misfits uses Ampeg SVT bass amps because he likes the tone better. Bass amps tend to sound drier and cleaner than guitar counterparts so if you get your distortion from pedals I don't really see why not.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

It's fine.

A couple things:
- if it has a tweeter, disable it
- if the tweeter had a crossover, also disable the crossover (full range to big speaker)
- put a graphic EQ after your distortion stage, and a LPF if you can get one

You can always put in a guitar speaker instead of whatever it has, or use a guitar speaker in an external cab.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Lots of people do that. I know more people who use fender Bassmans as guitar amps than bass amps. I used a Marshall mk2 superbass as my amp for some time and it was fine.

I've got an old Kalamazoo Bass 30 that makes for a better guitar amp than bass amp, IMO. It's clean, just add some pedals and good to go.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Dont think I can add much more useful info. Ill just throw my thoughts out there. First, Is it ok to run it thru a bass amp? Yes. Ive done it when Ive had no guitar amp. Wont hurt nothing. Be more damaging to run a bass thru a guitar amp cuz the vibrations may crack solder joints or the the speaker may not be able to handle the low frequencies. only prob with running a guitar thru a bass amp is you may lose some definition. You may actually find something you like. I have fun running my guitar thru my amp cuz the ampe has effects built in..

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

I think Electrics sound great through Bass amps! Have done it many times and really dug the tone. Ultimately its your tone–if you dig it then go with it.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Lucky Eastwood . . . . one of my fav bands, Black Cobra, uses both Bass and regular guitar amp in (((stereo))), via his Les Pauls

.


Sounds GREAT - big full body tone . . . and he also uses a fair amount of gain.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Other than the 59 Bassman, I never cared for the tone of a guitar through a bass amp.

Ever played through an Ampeg V4 ???

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

I tried bi-amping my guitar rig one time. I used my old SUNN Solos II 212 combo with a Peavey TNT 130 combo. I used the SUNN's preamp out to go into the x-over of the Peavey, sending the lows to the Peavey's 115 and the highs back into the SUNN. It was DEVASTATINGLY LOUD, deep and super clean. Incredible crunch on the bottom end with a gain pedal. Setting the x-over frequency was a bit tinny, but critical. I decided it was too big and complicated to use live, but it was definitely fun.

Fender Bassman tube amps are usually pretty good guitar amps, be they tweed, BF or SF. And don't forget that the Stones used 300-watt Ampeg SVTs on their '70s tours. I love overkill!

Bill

 

[Lucky Eastwood]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

Pretty sure that Doyle Von Frankenstein guy from the Misfits uses Ampeg SVT bass amps because he likes the tone better. Bass amps tend to sound drier and cleaner than guitar counterparts so if you get your distortion from pedals I don't really see why not.

I heard about those Ampeg SVT micros. I might consider 2 stack sets as I like to use my stereo Flashback delay pedal (it'll probably be like having one original SVT, too).

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

I would LOVE to own a V4 bass head . . . for guitar playing !

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: Electric Guitar with Bass Amp

I would LOVE to own a V4 bass head . . . for guitar playing !

used to own one until someone I trusted thought he needed it more.. 1970 ampeg v4 rocks and is bone crushingly powerful.. used to use the power of the V4 and the preamp of a RG 100.. dont judge