Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

[girlafraid]

I've been experimenting with tuning my guitars differently recently, and have found some cool combinations, so that i can play some weird chords and so on.
However, I've detuned the 6th string down to an F,and its very bassy. Its such a good soundwith loads of great harmonics coming off it, and i want to keep it, but will this break my amp and speakers??? im using a marshall jcm 602 amp with two vintage 30s in it, something id rather not leave in a cloud of smoke.
thanks for any help guys!

 

[theodie]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

I dont see why it would harm anything. It should be fine

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

My dad used to tell me to never play a bass through a guitar cabinet, but I've seen plenty of people do this without damaging the equipment. I've done similar stuff, but never too loud. I'd say if you keep the volume low it shouldn't do too much damage.

Hopefully Zerb will get in on this. I think he used to tune an entire octave down.

 

[rspst14]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

You can play guitar through a bass amp, but not bass through a guitar amp. If you're tuning super low, you might want to consider actually playing through a bass amp. I don't think you will hurt anything by continuing to play through a guitar amp, but you might actually get better results through a bass amp for extremely low tunings.

Ryan

 

[mrid]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

Didn't Ginger Baker play through cabs loaded with 12's?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

Didn't Ginger Baker play through cabs loaded with 12's?

That would crack me the hell up if he did... Cream was my dad's favorite band, and it'd be cool if they were breaking his "rule."

BTW, I played my F# tuned baritone through a bass amp with a 15, and really disliked it. It makes it sound like a bass instead of a low tuned guitar. However, when I combined a half stack & the bass rig... :saeek:

 

[Hellion]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

Ginger Baker was the drummer for Cream. It wouldn't surprise me though, if Jack Bruce (the bass player) had used 12" cabs.

I think you'll be fine with your current setup. Guitar speakers aren't really meant to reproduce a lot of bass frequencies, but if it sounds good to you..... Hey, you can always replace speakers!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

Ginger Baker was the drummer for Cream. It wouldn't surprise me though, if Jack Bruce (the bass player) had used 12" cabs.

:smack:

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

No worries down tuning. I go down to A with no trouble whatsoever, playing at seriously loud volumes through my Marshall DSL 401 combo. Done it no damage.

 

[philthis]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

I've been experimenting with tuning my guitars differently recently, and have found some cool combinations, so that i can play some weird chords and so on.
However, I've detuned the 6th string down to an F,and its very bassy. Its such a good soundwith loads of great harmonics coming off it, and i want to keep it, but will this break my amp and speakers??? im using a marshall jcm 602 amp with two vintage 30s in it, something id rather not leave in a cloud of smoke.
thanks for any help guys!

the only thing is speaker clap at high volumns when your farting out the speaker chunking low riffs. if your not doing this I see no probs with what your doing. also leaving your guitar at detuned positions creates less stress on the neck and you may have to have your neck adjusted over time-its something to do with string tension on your neck and what it was designed for-i dont have all the info but i have seen probs with it before when I worked in the guitar shop. but if your just tuneing down occasionaly for short periods of time it shouldnt affect it any.

 

[Boleslaw Gers 666]

Re: Low tuned guitar - damage to my amp and speakers???

My dad used to tell me to never play a bass through a guitar cabinet, but I've seen plenty of people do this without damaging the equipment. I've done similar stuff, but never too loud. I'd say if you keep the volume low it shouldn't do too much damage.

Hopefully Zerb will get in on this. I think he used to tune an entire octave down.

Yeah, Steve Harris plays his Krueger heads through Marshall 4x12 cabs.