difference between guitar and bass amps.

[drewhere]

hi everyone!
i was wondering if you guys could enlighten me on the difference between a bass amp and a guitar amp. i can't tell which is which. do they work the same way or do they each have their own unique specifications?

thanks very much!

[haikallp]

i don't really know much but i know that u cannot use a guitar amp for bass guitar and vice versa cause they have different frequency range..bass i much lower than guitar..
hope that helped..

[yuujin]

actually, you can use a guitar on a bass amp. not a big problem (might lose some highs i guess). i have personally done so.
but you cant use the bass on a guitar amp.

edit: infact i jam with my guitarist on my hartke a70
together before. he goes in active and i go in passive.

[shinobi]

edit: actually, you can use a guitar amp to play a bass. it will lose alot of lows. alot of people think that doing this will damage the guitar amp. but nobody has ever explained the logic behind it.

the fender 59 bassman is actually a bass amp. but only guitarists use it. it happens to sound good on the guitar, and sounds like shit on the bass.

some bass cabs are full range, like the accugrooves. those are, well, full range. self explanatory.

if u are asking about how to physically IDENTIFY and differetiate a bass amp from a guitar amp, there's no way of simply looking at an amp and being able to tell. you'll need to recognise what model it is.

[rickylah]

i think most guitar amp has a distortion switch.

no bass gutiar to guitar amp pls... it will sound as if something gonna crack inside.

[b33r]

i heard that the cones of the guitar amps were not made to handle the low frequencies from bass, so the cones will get damaged.

[shinobi]

cones will get damaged as long as the volume is too loud. it doesn't mean that bass speakers can't be damaged by the low frequencies as well. bass frequencies cause the speaker to distort whether they are bass or guitar speakers. just don't play to that extent, that's all.

but those are the speakers, i don't see there being any damage to the amp itself

[mingrong]

I think the cones get damaged because they're built to resonate at different frequencies. It probably won't spoil, but perhaps wear out faster under the stress that it wasn't made for. Like riding a road bike on gravel, the tyre wear out faster..

[farhanians]

For a simpler explanation.

Bass Amps are like Subwoofers. they Have lower frequencies. and it makes ground shaking! Something like car crazy subwoofers which vibrate like theres no tomorrow. but dont misunderstand! this is just the simplest to break down.

Guitar Amps are simply speakers, tweeters, like your standard tv speakers. yah. like that. simple. Even like your earphones.


Woah. but ont eh fender Bassman. aha now i know the name behind it. thats why i always wonder why isits called bassman when its for electric guitars