Bass amp as a guitar amp?

[Dunk]

Apologies that this is only 50% bass related but we all occasionally pick up a six string too right...? 

I’m currently needing to play my 6 string (Tele) through one of my bass amps as a) I don’t have enough pennies yet to get a new guitar amp.. needs must.. and b) also because I’ve been wondering about this since reading that Josh Homme (QOTSA) uses Ampeg amps for guitar.

Anybody used a bass amp for guitar..?

I have a Bassman 500 head into NEO 4x10 cab, Portaflex 500 into PF1x15 cab and Ampeg B200 Rocket combo as my options.. which would be better? 

I’m guessing they’ll all sound super clean so will need pedals for drive and some reverb?? Anybody any experience with doing this..? How did it workout..? Any help and advice appreciated. 

[No. 8 Wire]

I ran my guitar into my Walkabout (at home) for a while.  It's sound could best be described as 'jazz guitar'.

I assume Mr Homme is using ampeg valve amps but maybe not with bass cabs?  Seems to be a lot more cross over with valve amps, with fender bassman, hiwatt and marshalls all being used for both.

[BigRedX]

The original Fender Bassman amp turned out to be far more popular with guitarists than it was with bassists.

[bassmachine2112]

I,ve always done it,you alter eq to taste or stick a pedal/multi fx/preamp and go through send /return and just use the power side of the amp.

it will only work if you,ve got send /return but there might be other ways like just stick effects in front of amp.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

24 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The original Fender Bassman amp turned out to be far more popular with guitarists than it was with bassists.

That would have been the '59 4x10 Bassman, which for all intents and purposes was a guitar amp.

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

That would have been the '59 4x10 Bassman, which for all intents and purposes was a guitar amp.

A guitarist I have worked with had the "silverface" amp only version which he used in conjunction with a variety of 4x12 guitar cabs.

BTW I was under the impression that up to the mid 70s most "bass" amps were simply re-badged guitar amps.

Edited November 25, 2020 by BigRedX

[gjones]

I have a Hartke Hydrive 112, which has a high frequency horn fitted, which is very 'fizzy'. if you know what I mean (I usually switch it off when I'm playing bass through it).

That and my Gallien-Krueger MB500, makes a very effective guitar amp.

The clean sound is crystal clear but you need to use a pedal to get a dirty sound.

Edited November 25, 2020 by gjones

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

14 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

A guitarist I have worked with had the "silverface" amp only version which he used in conjunction with a variety of 4x12 guitar cabs.

BTW I was under the impression that up to the mid 70s most "bass" amps were simply re-badged guitar amps.

The Blackface and Silverface Bassman and Bandmaster were almost identical, the main differences being the Bandmaster had a tremolo circuit, while the Bassman had a high cut switch on the bass instrument channel. One of the earliest true bass amps was the 1960 Ampeg B-15. The next true bass amp innovation that I recall was the 1968 Sunn 200S. The amp was nothing special, but the bass reflex (mis-labeled as a rear loaded folded horn) JBL 2x15 speaker was a major improvement over other contemporary offerings.

[Beer of the Bass]

I've tried electric guitar through a few different bass setups, and it can work but with the guitar straight into the amp it tends towards a warm clean sound that isn't so interesting by itself. Cabs with tweeters are unflattering to electric guitar if you use any sort of dirt, too.

I could imagine the valve Ampegs and less modern cab designs working well if you're using pedals for dirt and you want extra bottom end and some more versatile EQ capabilities compared to typical guitar rigs though.

[Lfalex v1.1]

When I saw QOTSA, Josh Homme was playing his Ovation (Breadwinner?) Into some kind of low / high pass filter,  with the bottom end going to an Ampeg 8x10 laying horizontally beneath two straight 4x12s. Couldn't see the amps,  but Im assuming he had one driving the guitar pair, and one driving the 8x10.

Further still,  I once allowed a guitarist use my Trace SMX combo and cabinet (so the full 300w). That was monumental. I set the eq flat and just let him have at it. 

Bass amps have plenty of power through the frequency range that guitars produce. The EQ set points generally aren't right.

It's probably best to find a cheap (s/h?) guitar preamp pedal or even multi fx and run that into the fx return of the bass amp, thereby bypassing its own internal preamp. Hopefully the master volume is after the FX loop and will still work... some do, done don't. 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Lfalex v1.1
Didn't see bassmachine 2112's post about fx loops