Guitar amp for bass player?

[Closed Eye]

This should be a pretty easy "yes" or "no" answer so I'll try and be brief. My recently recruited bass player is currently 'sans-amp' and...

...I've got a Marshall MG30RCD lying so I thought since, you know, if guitar players can use bass amps, can bass players use guitar amps?

I imagine the tonal differance would be obvious but until he gets his own amp I thought it would be a nice stand-in. So, yeah or nay?

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

Bass frequencies are 'more difficult to "hear"' than treble or mid frequencies because of the structure of the ear drum, etc. As a result, in order to make bass loud enough in order to play with a band, he would need a much more powerful amp than your typical guitar rig.

If you guys dont play too loud you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[Closed Eye]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

oh, it would just be for a practice type of situation until he gets a real amp. nothing serious involving gigging or playing with a drummer.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

You shouldn't have any problems using that. I was a bass player in a band that had me running my Rick through a Fender Showman. It wasn't all that loud, but it was a nice sounding amp for bass. Sounded a lot like a Bassman to me.

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

Watch your volume- the speakers in guitar amps aren't meant for pushing 42hz.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

Yep, keep the volume low and you should be fine. I've played a bass through my Blues Jr. It's not as good as a bass amp, but it'll get the job done til he can get a bass amp.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

Up until the late 60's or so, there was no such thing as a bass amp per se. Some amps were obviously more suited to the bass and others more suited to the guitar, but several were used by both guitarists and bassists. The Hiwatt 100W heads are a great example of this: both Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle used them. And of course there's the Bassman, which was mostly intended for bass but has obviously become more famous for its guitar sound.

As for your question, I agree that volume is your main concern, but other than that it should be workable ... not great, but good enough.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Guitar amp for bass player?

It can't be said enough, so I will reiterate:

Watch your volume!

If he cranks it, he could blow the speaker(s).

When I play bass, I plug in direct to the mixer (via a direct box).