Bass guitar through a guitar amp???

  • Thread starter Thread starter ste20man
  • Start date Start date
S

ste20man

New member
Hi.

I am recording a song at the moment and have been using Trilian to generate my bass sounds. It sounds decent but I am wondering about recording some real live bass guitar.

My friend has a bass she can lend me but I only have a Fender Blues Deluxe re-issue guitar amp to send it through.

If my line is Bass guitar - fender blues - SM57 - focusrite Saffire 6 - Fruityloops, do you think it will sound good?

Can you run a bass through a guitar amp like this and does it provide good results? Does ayone know?

Cheers, Ste.
 
Interesting how am manufacturers never seem to show the amp's frequency range, isn't it?
I suspect that the amp would be ok, but the speaker would not handle the low notes.
 
Just don't push the bass to hard through the amp and you should be fine. Keep the volume at a moderate level and if there is some break up turn it down a bit. ;)
 
If it's for recording then no problem as long as you keep the volume lowish. I pretty much never drag my bass rig out for recording and, in fact, usually use a little 15watt oractice amp with an 8" speaker and I get a nice bass sound out of it.
But you have to watch the volume and if you hear that speaker breaking up, turn it down. But you'll be able to get a good recording volume out of that with no problem.

For live or jamming with a band, no way ...... you'll damage that speaker if you try to push it too hard.



Of course ..... there are those that would say damaging the stock speaker in a Blues Jr. is a good thing!
:D

I kid ..... you'll be fine but watch the volume.
 
haha Lt. Bob.

Thaks for you and all for answering these questions for me. I feel a lot more confident now. I'm gonna make sure that the amp doesn't blow, am really looking forward to hearing what tone I get out of it. Really exiting, thanks so much, Ste. :-)
 
If you take some of the bass off and go lightly on the treble and like Lt Bob says, go easy on the volume, you can get a good clean bass sound via a guitar amp. Furthermore, you can get a variety of good tones from a bass through a guitar amp ~ but you need to take a bit of time to try out various tones.
 
Nice tip gtraeller.

I'm going to try different combinations and post an A/B sample of what I get compared with Trilian that I have already laid down. Cheers.
 
Or you could blast the bass through the guitar amp and have no need for a fuzz box!


I remember hearing fuzz bass for the first time when The Beatles had that song *Think for Yourself* that George wrote on the Rubber Soul album - Classic!
 
moresound said:
Or you could blast the bass through the guitar amp and have no need for a fuzz box!


I remember hearing fuzz bass for the first time when The Beatles had that song *Think for Yourself* that George wrote on the Rubber Soul album - Classic!
Click to expand...
I JUST read an interview with ...... hell, someone ...... said that they got that fuzz by goiing direct into the board into two channels in series and cranking the first pre to najor overload levels.
Said the studio engineers weren't happy about it either!

:D
 
Lt. Bob said:
I JUST read an interview with ...... hell, someone ...... said that they got that fuzz by goiing direct into the board into two channels in series and cranking the first pre to najor overload levels.
Said the studio engineers weren't happy about it either!

:D
Click to expand...

That was ABSOLUTELY against recording protocols at EMI and would have resulted in a stern lashing from the studio manager. Just as CLOSE MICING the kik drum was outlawed as well as using a mic on the snare.

Its really interesting to learn how many tried and true recording techniques The Beatles circumvented and how many have become standard practice in the pursuit of rock recording. Good thing they had Sir George Martin to run interference for them...and the fact that they made 30% of all of EMI's profits for a long time didnt hurt their cause. If you listen to early Beatles....or ANY Beatles...there is an obvious sound difference between them and everyone else....and its not just the songs.....


As to the question.....recording bass with a guitar amp is something that has been done for years in a lot of studios with a lot of very talented people. You have to record at a low volume but the results are mostly better than the average small bass amp unless we're talking a boutiqe set-up. I've used a Deluxe as well as a Twin and a Super for bass tracks. They were always crisp and clear and the depth of the tonality cannot be denied. Theres something in the tone stack of a guitar amp that lends itself to capturing bass tracks that sit really easily in a mix. Check it and see. You wont be disappointed. Remember low volume....you'll have plenty of gain with your Focusrite and the 57 is a fine choice.
 
Those above who say "watch the volume" speak the truth. I let a bassist play through a GK-250ML (two tank-tough 6" speakers, on-board,) and he trashed those little things, had to have 'em re-coned.

And while we are thinking/talking about The Beatles and fuzz, I love the rhythm guitar in "Revolution."
 
stevieb said:
Those above who say "watch the volume" speak the truth. I let a bassist play through a GK-250ML (two tank-tough 6" speakers, on-board,) and he trashed those little things, had to have 'em re-coned.

And while we are thinking/talking about The Beatles and fuzz, I love the rhythm guitar in "Revolution."
Click to expand...

Those guitars were all 'Direct' and that distortion was a product of them deliberately overloading the REDD47 mic amps of the REDD51 board in studio 3. People searching for that distorted guitar sound will never be able to duplicate it precisely.

I'm talking volume not above reasonable conversation level. But all the tonal frequencies will be there for the capture in this case.
 
moresound said:
I remember hearing fuzz bass for the first time when The Beatles had that song *Think for Yourself* that George wrote on the Rubber Soul album - Classic!
Click to expand...
One of my favourites of George. In the authorized biography of the Beatles, when Hunter Davies was talking about George's evolution as a songwriter, he remarks of his two 'Rubber soul' efforts that they were well up to the standards of the rest of the Lennon~McCartney songs on the album. He was right. But in most books that discuss their songs, "If I needed someone" is usually the George song on 'Rubber Soul' that gets the plaudits. "Think for yourself" is almost universally ignored. Even George, who remembered everything about his songs said he couldn't remember what it was about. "Probably the government" was his comment.
Yet it's a revolutionary track. In the context of the times I'm fascinated that more hasn't been made of it. Typical journalistic bias actually. After the Kinks {"You really got me"}, the Rolling Stones {"Satisfaction"} and the Who {"My generation"} had unleashed fuzzy guitars on the charts, the Beatles were kind of late to the fuzz party {the musical one !}. But late '64 and '65 saw them really starting to experiment with things like fade ins on records, packing cases instead of snares, twin lead guitars, sitars, flutes, electric pianos, organs, string quartets.......and also, they were constantly being given guitars {an electric 12 string in 1964 was unheard of but defined the "Hard days night" album} and effects like the tone pedal and the fuzz bass. Mind you, after that they didn't use the fuzz on bass till '68.
I remember once being well stoned, listening to "Think for yourself" and in my mind's eye seeing the bass riff and the guitar riff separate and dance opposite each other. Whatever one did, the other did the opposite. It was freaky ! But I remember it well......
 
In 1965 with the recording of Rubber Soul, Paul began overdubbing bass. Before, he played with the drums, and these were reduced to a mono track usually with a guitar. On the track 'Think For Yourself' Paul's bass is two tracks. One without fuzz and one with.

The Rickenbacher 360-12 did indeed show up in 1964. Rumor has it that George Harrison had seen Roger McGuinn and the Byrds and loved the sound of that particular guitar. Gretsch also made him one but I dont think they used it much. The Monkees did however.
 
cavedog101 said:
In 1965 with the recording of Rubber Soul, Paul began overdubbing bass. Before, he played with the drums, and these were reduced to a mono track usually with a guitar. On the track 'Think For Yourself' Paul's bass is two tracks. One without fuzz and one with.
Click to expand...
That in itself was a first, having two basses. It was kind of an experiment though. But from "I want to tell you" onwards in 1966, the bass was overdubbed regularly. Through 'Pepper' and 'Magical mystery tour', it was the norm.
cavedog101 said:
The Rickenbacher 360-12 did indeed show up in 1964. Rumor has it that George Harrison had seen Roger McGuinn and the Byrds and loved the sound of that particular guitar.
Click to expand...
It was the other way around. McGuinn saw "Hard days night" and was taken by Harrison playing a 12 string and went out and got one. One of the things with the Beatles is that they never stuck with many things for long. They were always leaving behind things that they innovated or popularized. Hence, Harrison didn't extensively use a 12 string after "A hard days night". He looked to other things {like the sitar} and is therefore not generally remembered as a 12 string innovator or player, whereas Jim McGuinn always played a 12 string Rickenbacker and to this day, if you think of him, you think "12 string guitar".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top