Bass amp vs. guitar amp -- what's the difference, really?

[thebigcheese]

There have been a couple threads related to this, but they were more along the lines of whether or not it was "ok" to put a guitar through a bass amp or a bass through a guitar amp. I'm more interested to know exactly what the difference between the types of amps are. Obviously, you will probably get more bass out of a bass amp and there's probably a reason one is meant for one type of guitar or the other, but is there something in the circuitry/construction in general that makes them more suitable for certain applications?

 

[dementedchord]

imo...the differences are two fold...

1. the tone controlls are voiced differently... the freq that they are fixed at is more inline with the instrument they are designed for...

2. typicly bass amps are all closed cab designs... you'll never get good bass out of an open back cab... that's why the original bassman combo amp which is open backed is prized as a guitar amp and never made it as a bass amp...

 

[pohaku]

imo...the differences are two fold...

1. the tone controlls are voiced differently... the freq that they are fixed at is more inline with the instrument they are designed for...

2. typicly bass amps are all closed cab designs... you'll never get good bass out of an open back cab... that's why the original bassman combo amp which is open backed is prized as a guitar amp and never made it as a bass amp...

And why, among other reasons, the Ampeg B15N fliptop, which is a closed cab design, is still recognized as an iconic bass amp.

 

[Farview]

Bass amps generally have more power.
Guitar amps generally distort more/better.

There are a ton of differences, the intended purpose of something will always effect the design of it. Ford and Ferrari both make cars. A windstar is useless as a race car and a 308 is useless for getting the soccer team to the game...

 

[soldierone]

The biggest difference is going to be in voicing.

 

[soldierone]

Bass amps generally have more power.
Guitar amps generally distort more/better.

True... bass amps will usually have the extra wattage to reproduce low end sounds that need it to sound clear and defined.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Guitars sound reasonably good (and, sometimes, great) through a bass amp, because the voicing of the electronics and speaker naturally emphasize the mids and bottom and de-emphasize the highs, giving an attractive tone. I played my Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gent through my Ampeg B15N many times and only missed reverb, and the Fender Bassman was the best guitar amp around for many years in the late fifties into the the sixties.

In comparison, basses blow out guitar amp speakers, so why bother?

 

[dogonjon]

Just ask Brian Setzer

The old blond Bassman is the best guitar amp... ever!!!

 

[Jouni]

So, as answered in so many ways.. no, there is no significant differences in gtr/bass amps, except for the (possibly) frequencies of tone controls.

Then, there are the obvious characteristics posted here.
-Power
-Speaker size.
-Open/closed construction.
...that are, only, characteristics, varied as much in guitar amps than gtr/bass-amps.

The electric bass, after all, is a guitar.

With testicles.

 

[thebigcheese]

Hmm... I figured there wasn't a whole lot of difference. So, theoretically, if I wanted to make by guitar amp sound decent as a bass amp, I could just close up the back? Obviously, the tone controls wouldn't be in quite the same ranges, but I'm just talking about in principle.

I'm mainly curious because I was thinking about building a bass amp for my independent study project, as I now have a bass and no amp. So I'm guessing the main things I will be looking at are speaker selection, making sure it's closed back (with maybe a port or two, depending on size), and, if I build the amp part, centering the tone controls around good frequencies for a bass.

Thanks!

 

[Farview]

You might want to consider an amp with more power. A 50 watt bass amp is pretty useless if you are playing in a band (at least in rock/metal) 300 watts is my minimum for a bass amp.

 

[thebigcheese]

I'd really just be using it for recording, as we're a two-man band (so I'd most likely be on drums live).

 

[iqi616]

Some guitar combos just aren't designed for use with bass guitars and blow their output transistors. Some people double a bass combo with a guitar combo but put the signal to the guitar combo through a high-pass filter. I think Entwistle was playing around with that at some point.

 

[Fusioninspace]

All things being equal, a bass amp/combo can double as a guitar amp/combo better than a guitar amp/combo double as a bass amp/combo.

When I was in highschool 150 years ago, a friend of mine had a Ampeg Paraflex Bass Amplifier that he let me use for my guitar. That son of gun was the toughest amp I've ever seen. After playing somewhere, we flipped the top back into the storage position and started taking it back to the car. The casters caught in the grass and the mofo rolled and tumbled about 100 feet down a hill.

We all freaked out. But that little guy didn't miss a beat and was ready to go the next day none the worse for wear!

I have a special place in my heart for fliptop Ampegs... What an incredible design.

 

[rayc]

I've occasionally played my bass through a guitar amp. mainly when the amp owner was silly enough to suggest it. It wasn't very pleasant for any of the the speakers and didn't sound good any of the times either. It did kill a little Coronet guitar amp by playing my shortscale bass through it - it was awful forever after.
When playing my guitar through my superbass I compensate for the roll off of high due to tone settings and the BIG 200w Etone speaker by using an old Ibanez Renometer for a little adjustment then high boost. Sounds great to me.

 

[Slowrider]

Hmm... I figured there wasn't a whole lot of difference. So, theoretically, if I wanted to make by guitar amp sound decent as a bass amp, I could just close up the back? Obviously, the tone controls wouldn't be in quite the same ranges, but I'm just talking about in principle.

I'm mainly curious because I was thinking about building a bass amp for my independent study project, as I now have a bass and no amp. So I'm guessing the main things I will be looking at are speaker selection, making sure it's closed back (with maybe a port or two, depending on size), and, if I build the amp part, centering the tone controls around good frequencies for a bass.

Thanks!

I have played through guitar amps running through PAs and sounded as clear as a bass amp.

What you asked, can only be proven by experimenting; something most people will no longer do.

Like music in general, try it, if you don't crank it up to 12, it may surprise you.

There are few, hard and fast rules to music and sound.

There are NO experts in this field. Never will be.

It's all about experimenting.

If you don't trust your own judgment; maybe you should take up a SAFER endeavor.

Get the drift?

 

[Slowrider]

I checked out your home page and am surprised you would be asking such a question? What gives?

 

[thebigcheese]

I checked out your home page and am surprised you would be asking such a question? What gives?

What do you mean?

Anyway, you are, of course, right. It's all about trying things out to see what works. I think that now I know essentially what the differences are, which is why I came here, so thanks everyone!

 

[Farview]

Lemmy from Motorhead has been running his bass through Marshalls for almost 30 years. You won't blow up the head. You might kill some speakers, but if you do, they were weak crap and should be replaced anyway.

 

[iqi616]

True. In my comment above I was thinking about dinky 50W guitar combos. I've used Marshall in the past - no problem handling the bass even if I wasn't happy with the tone.