Bass Amp which is also usable for guitar ??

[Che]

Hi,

Im a bedroom player but will try to get some amateur band together (in time)
My economy is very much low so way too expensive stuff is out of question. Im after an affordable Bass tube amp for home practice/rehearsal which can also be used to play my single cut guitar. I dont feel like buying separate amp for both.
Im more after a head + cab but combo might also do it.

Do you play guitars on your bass amps and does the guitar sound good that way? I did hear some playing guitars on the Fender Bassman and even on some bass amps which have tweeter in the speaker.

ALL tips and trick welcome Thank you!

[acidbass]

I guess something like a Hiwatt/Marshall/Fender all valve head would do the trick. A lot of the early guitar heads were used for bass purposes back in the 60s etc.

[Lw.]

Almost any bass head could be used for guitar, results vary & it depends on the tone you're after but most tube heads will give you something passable - I use an old solid-state head with a tube pre-amp in front of it for guitaring sometimes & it doesn't sound terrible.

Your issue is going to be finding an affordable tube bass amp. The big powerful ones are horrifically expensive & the smaller ones might not have enough oomf for if you gig as a bassist - though again it depends on the type of music/general loudness of the band.

[kaygee]

In addition to acidbass's suggestion "Hiwatt/Marshall/Fender all valve head would do the trick" consider WEM too. I have a WEM Bass Dominator MK I all valve combo from the early 70's. It has a switch on the front for treble boost and works well with guitar too. It gets rarely used so I'd be happy to sell it.

As budget is a consideration and valve stuff is rarely cheap, also consider a none valve preamp from someone like Line 6, which will sound very close to numerous different valve amps, and have downloadable settings available for guitar and bass in their more modern units. You can then feed the signal into a power amp and then a speaker cab suitable for guitar and bass.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='kaygee' timestamp='1447773865' post='2910219']
As budget is a consideration and valve stuff is rarely cheap, also consider a none valve preamp from someone like Line 6, which will sound very close to numerous different valve amps, and have downloadable settings available for guitar and bass in their more modern units. You can then feed the signal into a power amp and then a speaker cab suitable for guitar and bass.
[/quote]

A setup like pod -> power amp -> full range speaker would give you decent bass and guitar sounds, not as good as a dedicated setup for each, well would probably work very nicely for bass and less so (but still usable) for guitar. A lot would depend on the quality of the speaker though, full range speakers that can handle a lot of bass arn't cheap.

Edited November 17, 2015 by bassman7755

[Dad3353]

Fender Bassman 50 into 2 x 15 Bassman cab. Can't go wrong for either guitar or bass.



Takes up space, though.

[xgsjx]

Like Bassman says, something like an amp simulator & either a power amp & PA cab, or just a powered PA speaker would cover it all.
If it's acoustic guitar, then I used my Markbass combo with my electro acoustic for many gigs & it sounded fantastic. You could use a pedal for the tube sounds.

[MoonBassAlpha]

I bought the Ashdown ctm15 valve head, which sounds great for guitar. It has a ss pre which can dial in quite a lot of overdrive, but it's driving the power stage where the tone lies. It's loud enough to gig on guitar, and as an experiment I gigged it with bass into 2 12" Barefaced cabs, and, surprisingly, that was fine too, didn't need to put any bass in the p.a.
This was a 3 piece in a pub sized room.

[Che]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1447790705' post='2910467']
Like Bassman says, something like an amp simulator & either a power amp & PA cab, or just a powered PA speaker would cover it all.
If it's acoustic guitar, then I used my Markbass combo with my electro acoustic for many gigs & it sounded fantastic. You could use a pedal for the tube sounds.
[/quote]

First off thank you all for chiming in
After hearing what you say and looking at some prices those darn all tube heads do make my wallet sweat so will have to look at this last option I quoted here.

Ok if I go with a PA Speaker what kind should I get? I mean do I go only with 1x tweeter or the one with 1 x woofer 1 x dome tweeter? As mentioned Im on a low budget now so will have to manage with affordable gear. I am looking at this one at Thomann http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_pro_achat_104_a.htm
I will not gig or anything so mostly home practice. It does say 50 Watts on that box above.

This Behringer preamp seem to be getting some decent reviews so I will go with it http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_vtone_bass_bdi21_analog_modeling_preamp.htm

Ok in this case of going for an active PA Speaker I can even afford a amp sim pedal from Harley Benton for the guitar. And I can use the PA speaker to monitor my recordings too I guess.

How do I connect the PA speaker to my laptop since it has a XLR in and out ??

Thanks again this thread was helpful!

Dad if Im to get that 2x15" cab I would need to take my bed out of the room and sleep on it instead

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Che' timestamp='1447802431' post='2910633']...
Dad if Im to get that 2x15" cab I would need to take my bed out of the room and sleep on it instead
[/quote]

Edited November 18, 2015 by Dad3353

[pineweasel]

I have a Roland Bass Cube 30, which is a good little bass amp for practise and rehearsals and is fairly decent for guitar too, especially for clean jazzy tones. More powerful versions are available.

[paul_5]

I've never had any problems running my SG through an SWR head into a closed-back 1x12".

Oh, and a Boss DS-1 helps...

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Che' timestamp='1447802431' post='2910633']
First off thank you all for chiming in
After hearing what you say and looking at some prices those darn all tube heads do make my wallet sweat so will have to look at this last option I quoted here.

Ok if I go with a PA Speaker what kind should I get? I mean do I go only with 1x tweeter or the one with 1 x woofer 1 x dome tweeter? As mentioned Im on a low budget now so will have to manage with affordable gear. I am looking at this one at Thomann [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_pro_achat_104_a.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...achat_104_a.htm[/url]
I will not gig or anything so mostly home practice. It does say 50 Watts on that box above.

This Behringer preamp seem to be getting some decent reviews so I will go with it [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_vtone_bass_bdi21_analog_modeling_preamp.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ling_preamp.htm[/url]

Ok in this case of going for an active PA Speaker I can even afford a amp sim pedal from Harley Benton for the guitar. And I can use the PA speaker to monitor my recordings too I guess.

How do I connect the PA speaker to my laptop since it has a XLR in and out ??

Thanks again this thread was helpful!

Dad if Im to get that 2x15" cab I would need to take my bed out of the room and sleep on it instead
[/quote]
I'd go & try some if you can, though with Thomann's own brand stuff, a trip to Germany might be needed.
I would say get as good a PA cab as you can afford.

[TrevorR]

I would have thought that the best approach would be a decent enough bass amp that gives you a good clean sound (whether valve or not - valve amps tend to cost as others have noted already) and then something like a Sansamp Character Series pedal for the guitar sounds.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Tech_21_SansAmp_Character_Series_Oxford_U_S_Steel_and_Leeds_Pedal_Reviews

You can get them for about £135 new or £90 second hand on eBay. May give you a more satisfying crunch/distorted guitar sound at bedroom/band rehearsal/pub band volumes than trying to overdrive the front end of a bass amp. The British and Liverpool pedals look like a nice option (Marshall and Vox style respectively).

Edited November 19, 2015 by TrevorR

[Che]

TrevorR I was thinking about getting such character pedal but will go for Harley Benton (30 Euros new with 3 year warranty) character pedals which are basically Tech 21 clones

xgsjx I cant travel to Germany for testing but I can order from Thomann, test it and return it if I dont like it, they pay for the return postage within 14 days.

[b]One more question[/b]; How can a 4" woofer and 1 dome tweeter be 50 Watts ??? That sure is loud for such a small PA cab

[Phil Starr]

i've had a look at that speaker from Thomann, it's not suitable and your bass will blow it in no time it's for backgroud music in shops and restaurants. If that is your budget you are going to struggle. You can't afford a WEM Dominator but the guitar versions speakers won't handle bass either.


The Roland Cube is an interesting suggestion. A friend has the 50W guitar version and it has a fairly flat basic response which you need for bass and relies on the inbuilt simulation software to make guitar like sounds. A high quality acoustic guitar amp would do the same but without the built in SIM's. However few speakers designed for guitar will really handle bass except at very low levels and I don't think you want to be shelling out for replacements every few months.

A small PA or single active PA speaker is a good idea combined with something that will give you guitar tones. The Zoom G1ON or G1XON are great value and fab little units https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiDu1Sa0ngU

If you are going for a single combo rather than the PA idea I'd go for a bass amp with a G1ON or similar.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Che' timestamp='1447920352' post='2911414']
[b]One more question[/b]; How can a 4" woofer and 1 dome tweeter be 50 Watts ??? That sure is loud for such a small PA cab
[/quote]
Simple. Watts are not decibels. My air con unit is 2250 watts & goes pretty cold.
Volume is measured in Db. The closest thing you'll probably find in the tech spec to give you a rough idea of how loud it goes, is the SPL figures.

It's alł about moving air & that's kinda like getting a sheet of card & wafting it. The bigger the sheet, the more air you move.
Don't expect a single 4" driver to put out the same volume as a single 10" driver. But it depends on how far back & forth a driver can move too before it breaks.
However, when you start adding more drivers, you move more air. PJB cabs use multiples of 5" drivers, but they're also in well designed cabs to make the most of those drivers.

For a single PA cab, anything budget with a driver smaller than 10" is really a monitor for in the home studio.

[Che]

Ok thanks lads! I will have to ponder now after getting all this usable info here Cheers! (walks away thinking about saving some more money)

[fretmeister]

Anything with an FX loop.

Then get a used Line 6 Pod or something for guitar use Guitar > Pod > Amp FX Return.

You can get a Pod XT on ebay for as little as £50 if you are patient.

[Guest bassman7755]

These are probably worth a look. Id take the "800 watts" with a massive bag of salt though.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/prosound-800w-15-inch-plastic-cabinet-speaker-with-integrated-amplifier-n08cq

[Japhet]

I'd have thought a hybrid amp would be more than adequate. I've had guitar through my GK MB500 Fusion and with some tweaks to EQ and contour it sounded lush - so much so that the guitarist in my band is quite keen on one as a backup.

[Maude]

How loud do you need to be at home?
Personally I don't bother with an amp at home. I have a pair of Behringer Ms40 monitors with a cheapy Korg AX3A and my computer going into them (they have two separate volume controls, one for the Korg input and one for the computer input), I also have a lead hooked up to them for phone or mp3 player input (same volume control as the computer), lots of inputs on the back. I normally use headphones and have an amazing sound but they will pump out a decent level of bass guitar before distorting if you don't want to use headphones, not enough to rock out with but certainly enough to annoy neighbours so enough to practice with.
The Behringer monitors were £50 s/h, the Korg pedal was £30 s/h and I use a pair of Motorheadphones Iron Fist (really good imo) which were only £35 new from Amazon.
So all in a little over a hundred quid. All new would around two hundred.
I'm not computer savvy at all but I assume the Korg pedal could be replaced by some sort of VST plugin on the computer for your guitar effects.

Just another angle to consider

Edited November 19, 2015 by Maude

[Maude]

Behringer monitors,

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Behringer-MS40-Active-Studio-Monitor-Speakers-inc-1-Year-Warranty-Slight-Damage-/172001785816?nav=SEARCH

Something like this would give you your guitar/bass effects, I personally wouldn't worry about it being bass or guitar orientated if you need both, just get one with the effects you want

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guitar-Multi-Effects-Pedal-Zoom-G2-1u-/262138094266?nav=SEARCH


These headphones have got very good reviews. Almost the same as Phil Jones Bass headphones, soundwise virtually the same.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-H850-Over-Ear-Headphones-Black/dp/B0083DPIIA

A couple of leads and you're good to go. I actually use my setup like as my main home hifi now as those monitors sound lovely.

[xgsjx]

Fine for in the bedroom, but if he does decide to join a band, then he'll struggle for volume.
However, many rehearsal rooms supply backline.

[Maude]

Oh yes, my suggestion is purely home use only, just thought I'd throw it in the mix as an option as money seems tight.