Using electric guitars with a bass amp

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Zarathustra

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I currently only have a pretty weak guitar amp at my house, but I love my mini combo bass amp. I can get a pretty nice clean electric guitar sound out of it, and it works really nice for my acoustic electric.

I know you're not supposed to use bass guitars through electric guitar amps, but what about bass amps?

And is it a bad thing to use a microphone through a guitar amp to pick up a bass amp? I don't have a mixer yet, so me and my band are using the line out on a Marshall guitar amp to a recording interface.

I'm wondering if I'm destroying anything.
 
you wont hurt anything running your guitar through a bass amp. My favorite set up is a fender tonepro head running a Gallien and Kruger bass cab. Sounds weird I know, but it crunches so nicely.

As for using a "microphone through a guitar amp to pick up a bass amp", I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. You could just run your guitar into the bass amp mike that and into the computer if your nterface has preamps built in. You say that you dont have a mixer so I'm assuming that you dont have any external mic preamps then? If you are going to mike something you will need a preamp to bring the level up.
 
The interface

The interface doesn't have any kind of instrument or mic inputs.

It was only a hundred dollars, but serves nicely. I guess we're kind of using the guitar amp as our preamp.

Guitar parts are getting direct recorded, but everything else needs a mic, because, of course, you can't plug a bass (or vocals) into a guitar amp.

My bass amp doesn't have a line out.
 
Zarathustra said:
The interface doesn't have any kind of instrument or mic inputs.

It was only a hundred dollars, but serves nicely. I guess we're kind of using the guitar amp as our preamp.

Guitar parts are getting direct recorded, but everything else needs a mic, because, of course, you can't plug a bass (or vocals) into a guitar amp.

My bass amp doesn't have a line out.
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Ok, what kind of interface are you using?

If you are able to, it would be very helpful for you to get yourself a cheap preamp. You dont have to spend alot of money. You could even get by with a cheap little mixer at first as it will have preamps on it. Not great ones, but they will do until you can afford better. Then you would be able to mike your amps, which usually sounds better (to me anyway), as well as do your vocals.
 
well one of the finest guitar amps ever made was the '59 bassman....
 
I used to play in a band at school, and the other guitarist didn't own an amp, so he used to use this massive Carlsbro bass amp that the school had. He'd puch the gain right up an got a such an awesome tone from it. Like a real dirty but chunky bite, with massive impact. You could almost feel your ribcage shake.
 
hell,

I've seen bassists using guitar gear with great success too... i dunno if i believe all that hype about not being able to use a bass on a guitar amp.. our bass player uses a marshall jcm 900... and an old peavey keyboard amp (with tons of reverb) run stereo into 2 cabs (mind you the cabs are yorkville bass cabs) and it sounds fuckin beautiful..


I once had to use my ampeg reverbrocket (guitar amp) for bass and it did the job with no damage to my amp.
 
used a 60's ampeg bass head for years as one guitar option

used a Fender princeton prototype (this one with 15 in speaker) for both (not at same time) guitar & bass

@ garage jams I have no problem using a VOX AD series amp for both bass & guitar (again not at same time) . . .

with a little practice one can pretty much destroy any piece of gear with any other piece of gear . . . the trick is to do it creatively

the 'rules' were designed primarily by marketers and collectors. If you want your gear to be investment worth more in 20 yrs then you paid for it you have to follow the rules, if you want to be able to play it you have to be willing to break it
 
As a matter of preference I run my guitars through my marshall valve amp. I occasionally run them through my guitar amp (australian 80's thing called a Jade Clubman) for a different sound etc but the bass amp is just better all around. MIND YOU I don't get the highs you'd expect from a guitar speaker as both my cabs are bass cabs (an Etone 200w & a home made beast with essentially 2 of the same etone cones) at that.
 
eeb said:
hell,

I've seen bassists using guitar gear with great success too... i dunno if i believe all that hype about not being able to use a bass on a guitar amp..

I once had to use my ampeg reverbrocket (guitar amp) for bass and it did the job with no damage to my amp.
Click to expand...

the only serious problem with a bass run through a guitar amp has to do with the lack of bass response of open back cabs that most guitar combos have... and this is the reason that the afore mentioned 59 bassman didn't catch on other than with guitarists... another minor point the center freqs used for the on board eq's are voiced for the different instruments...
 
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