Will a six string guitar sound ok through a 4x10 bass cab?

[Dandelion]

Providing a guitar head is used.

Is the fact that it is tuned differently going to make it sound crap?

[chris_b]

Fender Bassman 410 combo's have been used by guitarists for many years.

[Cuzzie]

Acoustic guitars sound esp good through a bass amp

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1508845794' post='3394784']
Providing a guitar head is used.
Is the fact that it is tuned differently going to make it sound crap?
[/quote]There's far more to it than tuning. Guitar drivers extend much higher in their frequency response and have short xmax, which causes them to distort at low power levels.
[quote]Fender Bassman 410 combo's have been used by guitarists for many years.[/quote]That would be a reference to the '59 Bassman, and reissues of it. It's a great guitar amp because it used guitar drivers in an open back cab. By the same token what made it a great guitar amp also made it a horrible bass amp. The original was only produced for three years.
[quote]Acoustic guitars sound esp good through a bass amp [/quote]If it has a tweeter true, as a guitar amp without tweeters loses a full octave or more of the harmonics of the acoustic guitar. But tweeters sound horrid with a heavily distorted electric guitar tone, explaining why guitar amps don't have tweeters.

[xgsjx]

I used to play my electroacoustic through my Markbass 2x10 combo. Sounded good too.

I've not tried it through my crrent 4x10 rig.

[casapete]

Try it and see....?

[3below]

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1508859429' post='3394924']
Try it and see....?
[/quote]

One of the best sounds I got for Jazz and rhythm guitar was through a Peavey mk3 bass combo with the 15" speaker.... stranger things have happened.

[Japhet]

Guitarist in my band had a cab failure once. With a quick swap around he had my Ashdown 4x8 and I used the 15 on its' own. Sounded very good actually and made his Strat sound much fatter. The Gibson Les Paul through it was a huge sound.

[TheGreek]

Guitar would sound much better with NO amplification IMO... ...

[roman_sub]

Depends - perhaps on how much overdrive is used.

A lot of the "classic" rock guitar sound comes from the fact that guitar amp speakers tend to be highly coloured in the their frequency response - e.g. rolling off most frequencies above 5k, and have a very coloured mid-range - often with that characteristic bite (say 3k). If bass amp speakers (/cab) are voiced to be neutral, the whole thing might sound a bit off.

I would also guess that resonance frequency of bass cabs will be lower than guitar cabs, so subs may appear to be boosted, and familiar guitar cab girth (say around 80-100hz) may not be quite there... whether that's a good thing will also... depend.

My experience is that the bass cab may well end sounding simultaneously fizzy, deep and undefined.... if we are talking a rock sound.

As others pointed out, it may actually sound nice for acoustic / cleaner jazz tones.

Edited October 27, 2017 by roman_sub