Bass amps for guitars

[rfurtkamp]

I used my BF and SF Bassman heads with bass, no issues at small venues.

But it wasn't bringing the brutalz.

[frigid midget]

I think I get it now...

For heavy shit, a loud clean pedal platform is all you need, pristine dumble-ish snob toanz are wasted on most of us, including myself. The price:loudness ratio is great on that kind of amps I suppose. Most guys would probably pick a big ass vintage Sunn or Hiwatt rig over any shitty '80s bass amp, but that'd cost a zillion times more I suppose...

[Seance]

The first amp I had was a Vox Essex solid state bass amp. I used it for guitar with a Rat.
It was my dad's old bass amp. Did he give it to me? No. He sold it to me for $100 in
1985. Which was probably a grossly inflated price. But they were expensive when he
got it in the '60s.

Why did I use it for guitar? The factors being: I had it. So I used it.

Actually sounded pretty good. Sort of hard to move. But it came with a dolly to
wheel it around in. Gave it to a friend years ago who used it at parties to extend
the loudness of his stereo.

[hbombgraphics]

I played live with a solid state bass amp for years Univox with a 2x12 bass cab specifically it was half my rig (other half was a plush tube head and 1x15)
ridiculous levels of thump and swat
Swapped it out for a Kustom PA head for a bit, but I pretty much always had a bass amp and a guitar amp in stereo for a long time

You get crazy amounts of thump and I think the articulation is pretty good as well.

Depends on how you play and the style of music
Lots of guys like to hang out in the mids so they sit in the pocked of the band but I liked the ability to chug along

I always have some sort of bass amp bouncing around that I throw guitars through,
the other advantage of bass amps is that you aren't paying for tech you don't need.
I don't have any need for extra channels or onboard effects or anything so to me it is a great value for the wattage you can get

[PeteeBee]

Do you end up with some funny looking eq settings? I use a buddies every so often when I don't feel like bringing my amp. He doesn't want me adjusting things much 'because he has it dialed' but I'm never totally happy with the tone

[hbombgraphics]

Do you end up with some funny looking eq settings? I use a buddies every so often when I don't feel like bringing my amp. He doesn't want me adjusting things much 'because he has it dialed' but I'm never totally happy with the tone

not really,
I tend to gravitate towards amps with really limited EQ settings anyway
Much more than a tone knob or bass and Treble and I get really confused

[PeteeBee]

Word. One more question while I'm here. People at the house this bass amp live at are always telling me that if I mess up the speaker I have to get it reconed. Is this a serious fear? I never turn it up past like 3. They just aren't used to hearing fuzz through it.

[D.o.S.]

Not really. What kind of amp is it?

[hbombgraphics]

shouldn't be an issue if it is in good shape,
sounds like the people may be the real issue, in which case I would bring my own amp so they can't accuse you of anything

[Seance]

Word. One more question while I'm here. People at the house this bass amp live at are always telling me that if I mess up the speaker I have to get it reconed. Is this a serious fear? I never turn it up past like 3. They just aren't used to hearing fuzz through it.

I think the bigger danger is using bass guitar through a guitar amp. My understanding is that guitar speakers don't have enough
room in the cab to pulse in and out to the low bass frequencies, which can cause the cones to become damaged.

I would imagine that most bass amps could handle guitar signal. But perhaps if you're running crazy effects through the amp
it might cause damage. But the danger is probably the same for bass or guitar amps in that case.

[frigid midget]

Word. One more question while I'm here. People at the house this bass amp live at are always telling me that if I mess up the speaker I have to get it reconed. Is this a serious fear? I never turn it up past like 3. They just aren't used to hearing fuzz through it.

I'm have to repeat what others said...

Sounds like BS. Not that I'm an electronics wiz or an amp expert of any sort, but I kinda thought it was common wizdom that a bass amp/speaker is supposed to be able to handle a wide frequency range. A guitar cab may be at rist if you slam it with a synth or bass at extreme volumes, but I'm pretty sure you're safe playing guitar on a bass amp. Right??

[hbombgraphics]

Word. One more question while I'm here. People at the house this bass amp live at are always telling me that if I mess up the speaker I have to get it reconed. Is this a serious fear? I never turn it up past like 3. They just aren't used to hearing fuzz through it.

I'm have to repeat what others said...

Sounds like BS. Not that I'm an electronics wiz or an amp expert of any sort, but I kinda thought it was common wizdom that a bass amp/speaker is supposed to be able to handle a wide frequency range. A guitar cab may be at rist if you slam it with a synth or bass at extreme volumes, but I'm pretty sure you're safe playing guitar on a bass amp. Right??

Totally right, but if someone is complaining about you blowing their gear, even if they don't at all understand why that is technically impossible, I wouldn't touch it.

[PeteeBee]

Word. I don't go ham on it. I actually haven't played with them in a while. It's a cheap peavey 15" combo. Seems fully indestructible. It's not even the owner who has issues. It's this other dude who always wants everyone to buy rat pedals because "they sound like a wet sock."

I want to try a stereo rig. Guitar amp and bass amp. Sounds awesome. I like the thump and low note power, but need it meshed with my guitar amp for complete jubilee.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah guitar amp + bass amp in stereo sounds really rad. I've never tried it live because it's a bit of a hassle and I've always been in bands which call for a lighter, thinner guitar sound, but I've recorded some fantastic sounds like that for heavy music at home, the ability to have two different and complementary sounds at once is amazing. Bass amp for me works quite subtly in that situation, a sort of thing where you don't notice until you turn it off and suddenly your guitar sounds tiny and weak.

I've never managed to get a guitar sound I'm totally happy with out of JUST a bass amp, but I'm sure that's just because I haven't tried the right amp/cabs.

[alalalkasar]

I use a ss bass amp quite a bit with my telecaster. Really clean and loud and great for playing with another dirty amp