Bass through guitar amp...bad idea?

[adrianhouse]

Newbie here. Someone told me once that it's a bad idea to play a bass through a guitar amp, that it can mess up the amp . Is that true? I have a Crate vtg club60, has a high and low input. Thanks,
ADrian

 

[Zaphod B]

Nah, I can't see how it would hurt your amp. Maybe your speakers but only if you really cranked it, I would think.

 

[mwthompson]

I would think it would just sound kinda bad. If you don't drive your speaker too hard, I don't think it'll hurt it though.

 

[ggunn]

At very low volumes, no prob, but if you crank it up you'll blow the speaker.

 

[Nicole_Rose]

what about guitar through a bass amp?

 

[lpdeluxe]

it won't hurt the amp, it'll just blow out the speaker.

The speaker is designed to handle the midrange guitar notes. Bass frequencies cause much larger speaker cone excursions, and bye-bye speaker.

But go ahead and do it, just to see if I'm right.

 

[mwthompson]

what about guitar through a bass amp?

I can say from experience that it wont hurt it, but unless it's an old Fender Bassman it'll sound HORRIBLE!!!

My father bought me a solid state Fender bass amp years ago thinking it would be as nice as the Bassman he had when he was younger. Nope. I think you could plug your cable into a mud puddle and get almost the same tone.

 

[dementedchord]

the reason it wont sound right is because it's an open back cabinet... and the speaker tends to "unload" because of that... at low frequencies the speaker needs the pressure inside the cab to help controll the excursion... (over-simplification)... also the tone controlls are optimized for guitar so that might keep you from dialing in your sound...

 

[notCardio]

Yes and no

Some cabs can handle it, some can't.

In a nutshell and oversimplified, you can do it, but you can't run it as loud as you could run it using a guitar.

Don't try it with an open back cab, for the same reason dementedchord stated.

Personally, I played bass through a solid state guitar head with a 6x10 sealed guitar cab for years and it sounded great, even cranked.

But then, I think maybe Harvey had something to do with the design of that one, so there you go.

Even if he didn't, it kicked ass. Wish I still had it (sigh).

 

[notCardio]

what about guitar through a bass amp?

Won't hurt it at all, but it'll probably sound kinda muddy.

But if that's what you're into, then let the mud fly!

 

[adrianhouse]

Right on, thanks everyone. I'm asking about this bc. I'm planning to get a bass just for recording, don't want to buy an amp unless I need to. I don't plan on playing it loud, maybe at 1 or 2 at the most (my amp is freakin' loud, for me at least, I almost never turn it above 3). My amp does have an open back to it, though. So it seems like it might be fine for what I have in mind (?).
Nicole - I've also heard Fender Bassman is good for guitar.
Thanks again ,
Adrian

 

[Roguetitan]

Playing a bass thru a guitar amp head will not hurt a thing as long as you are driving it with a bass cab, however it would sound a lot better if you use a preamp.
I used a Krank amp head through 2 4x12 that sounded really sick
I would not play a bass through a guitar combo except on a very low volume.

guitar through a bass amp sounds really sick also especially on the low end, and distortion sounds great playing a guitar through a bass rig.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Personally, I played bass through a solid state guitar head with a 6x10 sealed guitar cab for years and it sounded great, even cranked.

But then, I think maybe Harvey had something to do with the design of that one, so there you go.

Sounds like you're talking about an Acoustic Control 154 guitar amp and yes, that's my design. We have one here at the studio and everybody loves it.

 

[Anfontan]

Right on, thanks everyone. I'm asking about this bc. I'm planning to get a bass just for recording, don't want to buy an amp unless I need to. I don't plan on playing it loud, maybe at 1 or 2 at the most (my amp is freakin' loud, for me at least, I almost never turn it above 3). My amp does have an open back to it, though. So it seems like it might be fine for what I have in mind (?).
Nicole - I've also heard Fender Bassman is good for guitar.
Thanks again ,
Adrian

I think that would be the early tube Bassman amp, which I believe was the circuit that Marshall 'borrowed' for their first Marshall amps!!