Bass thru a guitar amp

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dc
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Bass thru a guitar amp

Post by dc »

Any tricks to playing bass thru a guitar amp apart from the obvious turning it down?

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Post by Rog »

Not really - I use my Fender 15W ss amp for bass practice. I just keep the vol down and the bass rolled back.

However, IMO not a great thing to be doing.
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1964

Post by 1964 »

Rog wrote:IMO not a great thing to be doing.
Ditto!

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Post by dc »

What's going to break, the speaker or the amp?

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Post by Rog »

Speaker would be most likely. However for quiet practice at home its fine, but I sure wouldn't want to try it on a gig.
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Post by 1964 »

Yep, blown speaker/s is highly likely.

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Post by dc »

So I guess a speaker with plenty of headroom would be OK? I've got a 300 watt rms EV that I could use, and a 75 watt guitar amp

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Post by ash »

I wouldn't say its highly likely unless you plan on running a bass amp through a guitar speaker.

I use guitar amps to test basses all the time at moderate levels.

If the amp/speaker combo is properly designed by a reputable manufacturer, its frequency response will be tailored to roll off before any potentially damaging low end frequency.

Use your ears. The speaker will give you clues as it approaces its limits.
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1964

Post by 1964 »

Guitar speakers are not designed to handle the levels of bass, which is why there have been significant across-the-board improvements in bass reproduction systems since the late 1950's, which is ongoing. Old bass amps with guitar speakers that were proven to be unsuitable for bass ended up being used by guitarists. And early guitar speakers supposedly refined for bass have also ended up being adopted by guitarists. Bassists abandoned them for good reason. Sure, you can likely get away with practicing or testing bass through a guitar rig by keeping the levels low-moderate, but push things and the likelihood of turning your guitar speakers into fuzz units increases dramatically. Prolonged use of guitar speakers for bass also increases the chance of voice coil damage and cone flubbage, also rendering the speakers unsuitable for their intended purpose. It’s all a matter of degree. As always, though, YMMV. :wink:

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Post by Rog »

cone flubbage,
Whoo hoo I want a flubber cone!! Man, I could fly wid dat ;)
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Post by slash-ed »

I want a 1x15" one day.
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Post by 1964 »

slash-ed wrote:I want a 1x15" one day.
What for?

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Post by slash-ed »

To sit on! :lol:

To sit under some 12"s actually.
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Post by Timi »

I would never use a guitar cab or combo for bass and anything more than bedroom volume.

But, some guitar heads when used with a bass cab and an eq pedal sound mean. Old Marshalls make rad bass amps.

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Post by thehenderson »

Running some guitar heads through a bass cab sounds great with bass, Don't use guitar speakers though if you want to play any louder than just sitting around twiddling your thumbs level

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