Guitar amp for bass

[richardjmorgan]

I'm thinking of attempting something, but just thought I'd better check I have my facts straight.

[size=4]My band currently has an old Laney GH100 guitar head lying around in our storage locker, and our bassist currently doesn't have an amp. Given that it was ditched from guitar usage due to being 1. insanely loud and 2. a bit to dark sounding, I was wondering if it might be worth giving it a bash for bassing, through an appropriate cab (i.e. a bass cab rather than a guitar cab). [/size]

[size=4]Am I right in thinking that the amp should be fine and it's guitar [i]speakers[/i] that won't like having bass through them, or is there anything else I need to watch out for?[/size]

[size=4]If it ends up being at all serviceable, was thinking it might be worth running a Sansamp in front, maybe some sort of EQ, and seeing if it can become a full-time, rather than temporary solution.[/size]

[danthevan]

If its not doing anything else and you dont mind the pssibility of killing it, go for it!
I would think it would need the bass right up nd everything else down to get a decent sound from it though

[tonyquipment]

you can certainly try it but it wont like.

the low freqs of the bass will make the speakers turn inside out hahaha

[lefrash]

I 'think' thats ok to do, Dont quote me on it though. If your basically just going to run it as a power amp it should be ok. It might not have the correct voicing for a bass guitar though, so it might work, but just particularly well.

Fraser

[JapanAxe]

Don't see why that wouldn't work. Back in the day, bass players just plugged into 100W or 200W Marshalls with 4x12 cabs. Just be wary of too much gain as that will probably compromise the fullness of the bottom end (fnar fnar).

[Lozz196]

A bassist for a band I used to watch used a Marshall Guitar amp & speaker, and he sounded great. Was a rock band though, so a quite edgy JJ type sound. Probably not that good for Motown type sounds. I`d say give it a go, and as the others said, make sure the gain isn`t too far up.

Know what you mean about volume, those Laney amps are very loud - I had the LH50 and with a 212 couldn`t use it on more than 2 on volume in a two guitar rock band.

[richardjmorgan]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1367513956' post='2066300']
you can certainly try it but it wont like.

the low freqs of the bass will make the speakers turn inside out hahaha
[/quote]
Don't worry, I'm not going to be using it with guitar speakers! I'm intending to use the guitar amp, through a bass cab.

Edited May 2, 2013 by richardjmorgan

[tonyquipment]

oh! sorry i misread that..

in that case then yes it should be alright, as japanaxe stated, thats what bassists did in the 1980's anyway...

blow it up!

[davedave]

I've been using a Matamp gt40 into a 4x12 for a while now with, a slave into a 1x15. No problems yet (touch wood).

We're a pretty loud band, and the matamp gets pushed pretty damn hard.

[Mr. Foxen]

Can use it through a guitar cab too, just don't try and eq it to sound like a bass. The output transformer will shave off the subs, so you'll have to make a special effort to break speakers. It will just sound guitary that way. Like Lemmy.

[KingBollock]

My first proper amp was a Laney Klipp. They were meant to be a guitar amp but were more popular with bassists, it sounded good through the 60s Marshall 4x12 bass cab I had.

I've also had some very usable sounds through a Laney Linebacker 100R combo, through a 1x15 bass cab instead of its internal speaker.

[richardjmorgan]

A quick update: we finally got round to trying this out, using an Ampeg 410 we rented at our rehearsal room and, while "serviceable" was about the best we were hoping for in terms of sound, it actually sounded really good! Kept the gain fairly low, just enough to get a bit of dirt in there, but it still sounded nice and punchy, with some lovely valvey warmth that our bass sound's always rather lacked in the past. Only real drawback that we could see was, being a guitar head, it hangs over the edges of the cab and looks a bit daft.

So now we think we're going to use this as our bass rig, so are on the lookout for a decent 410 to pair it with. I say "decent"; I actually mean "as cheap as possible without being liable to falling apart or sounding utterly terrible." Anyone have any recommendations? Or something they want to sell? Or want to tell me why we should get something other than a 410?

[Mr. Foxen]

A bass 4x12 would solve the overhang thing. Don't need much power handling, so might want to aim for sensitivity and cheapness, rather than excursion.

[Lozz196]

Yeah, Marshall VBC 412 would probably be a good one to look at. Used they`re between £200 & £300.

[iiipopes]

Marshalls - yes, old Marshalls can be used, because they have huge power and output transformers that can handle the amperage even when, or especially when, depending on your preference, they are over-driven.

So long as a proper bass speaker cab is used and it is not being pushed to its limit, it is probably alright.

[jazzyvee]

I have used a Roland JC120 a few times for bass at Jam sessions and it was great as long as I didn't push the volume too high.
That said the bassist after me who owned the amp blew the speakers as soon as he started slapping.
I think as long as you keep in mind what you are playing throughand levels it could work.
Jazzyvee

[Ghost_Bass]

I used my bass linked directly to a Laney 300W floor monitor (equivalent to a guitar amp) for rehearsalls and i can say it was one of the best sounds i had. Tight lows, no sub-bass, and good and crisp mids and highs. I don't like to have too much sub-bass on my stage sound because that will drown everything else going on in there, i leave that job to the subs and to be heard by the audience.

If you keep your EQ within the amp's limits it won't do any harm to the amp, in fact i think you might get a pleasant result with the overal band mix if you rehearse in a small room

If you would like to push the lows a bit harder then you can think about something like a high-pass filter just to be sure you won't send too much sub to the amp, maybe a Thumpinator or something similar.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1373329928' post='2136384']
Marshalls - yes, old Marshalls can be used, because they have huge power and output transformers that can handle the amperage even when, or especially when, depending on your preference, they are over-driven.
[/quote]

Marshalls are all about the undersized transformers, that's why they overdrive so much. Some have big tranformers, but not the typical ones.

[operative451]

I'm currently doing this with cheapie practice amps - actually googling the subject is how I found this forum! With capper amps it seems to work, which is kind of ironic as with guitars I always liked to play my jazz hollow body through a bass amp to get extra thud!
Dunno how i'm going to get 'my' sound in a live situation though as I'm currently getting a nice hybrid ratm/ting tings tone out of a couple of practice amps! I'll need to fiddle with my DI boxes...!

[spaners]

I have a modded Epiphone valve junior (5w) and a modded fender excelsior (13w) I hook them up to my RS112 and they both sound fantastic. Biggest diference between a guitar tube amp and bass tube amp is the size of the Output transformer. Oh n they both go very loud even the epi is to loud for home over half volume. mods are easy to do too. Compare schmatics and you will soon see there aint a lot of diference between the old school bass amps and the guitar amps. try n give an excelsior a go in standard trim with a bass, you will be surprised how good they sound and then when you add pedals you will be blown away

[spaners]

PS you cannot damage a guitar tube amp by playing a bass through it. its a mith. speakers are a different story but will sound bad long befor you blow them so long as they are not being over powered ie 200w into a 30w speaker !

[barkin]

Way back when, there weren't really 'bass amps' or 'guitar amps' - just amps.

My Carlsbro TC60 sounds great for both guitar and bass, as long as it's going into a suitble speaker. The old WEM dominator combo also had a bass version, which was identical except for the speaker...etc.

If it sounds good, it is good.

[Thornybank]

Anything that can take a keyboard can handle bass.

If the speakers have a high enough power rating, they are safe.

One of my favourite sounds is a Stingray through a Fender Twin Reverb.
Wow!

Maybe best ever - Precision through a Hiwatt 100 head through a basket weave Marshall 4x12 with 25s.
Some risk to drivers, so just don't dime the head.

[spaners]

So do you think we will see a few more manufacturers bringing out low power tube amps for Bass ? Ashdown seem to have started the ball rolling again with the LB30 and now the CMT15 (when they finely arrive lol) I have tried the LB30 but its very loud (by that I mean its to loud just for home use) tube amps sound best cranked! I think its about time Fender, Ampeg, Orange and some of the other manufactures looked at this market as they all produce amps that could easily be changed into very good low power bass amps with just a few changes to resistor and cap values (costing penny's) and beefed up Output transformers. (the cost of these aint as high as people seem to think) Hammond have a great range of Transformers that are readily available from there bass in Baisingstoke (go direct and cut out the middle men, save a bundle!)

[Mr. Foxen]

Loud comes from the cab, quieter cab = quieter sound, regardless of watts.