bass plugged into guitar amp.

[brightside]

i know this sounds really stupid. but is it possible? last time i used my friend's yamaha bass and plugged it into my marshall mg15 and it played fine.

will it damage either amp or guitar ?

 

[kerplunk182]

There was a thread on this awhile ago. Yes, it's possible. And yes, it will damage your amp after time.

 

[brightside]

ooooh. just wondering if anyone has ever done it for the long run... haha.

 

[jbarks]

it's fine at low volumes. at higher volumes your guitar speaker cones, which are obviously not made for the low freqs that your bass puts out, may tear and you'll have an always-on fuzz

 

[brightside]

mm i see. thanks!

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

I think its quite easy to overload a low watt guitar amp with a bass guitar. Might not be good for long term usage

 

[brightside]

lets say a 15w guitar amp?

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Can be done at low volumes, but for bass to be say, as audible as guitars at the same volume, higher power is needed. A 15w guitar amp will be good if you use it for, at most, practise purpose only in an enclosed space for bass. It'll sound quite crappy though!

 

[TidesOfBlood]

to sum it all up.. don't do it unless bass amps become extinct. you'd endanger surviving guitar amps, and cause the extinction of endangered guitar amps.

 

[kerplunk182]

Lol! Ben, you're like talking about an endangered species of some sort.

 

[brightside]

okay in this case, how about guitar into bass amp. HAHA. sorry euro2008 making me crazy and im not getting enough sleep

 

[shinobi]

this has been discussed before but people still get the wrong idea. you need to make a distinction between SPEAKER and AMP. COMBO AMP = AMP + SPEAKER

SPEAKER
alot of people mention that the speaker will be damaged because of distortion. but this will happen regardless of whether you use a guitar or a bass into a guitar amp. as long as the volume is too high, the sound will distort and the speaker will be damaged, period.

if you say that a bass will destroy a guitar amp, the same can be said about a guitar destroying a bass amp. the same can be said about a CD player lined into a guitar amp. the same can be said about a microphone plugged into a guitar amp. but who will do such things? that is the answer.

AMP
however, your bass will sound like shit if you plug it into a guitar amp. especially if the amp has chorus/reverb etc. this is because the amp is voiced for guitar. the same can be said about a guitar sounding like shit on a bass amp. that is unless that particular bass amp in question happens to be called the fender '59 bassman. that is a special example of a bass amp that sounds like shit on the bass.

Despite the fact that it was originally designed for bass guitars, it was more famous for its use with normal electric guitar, and thus, when Fender recently reissue the 59 (5F6A) edition, it was categorized under guitar amplification instead.

 

[TidesOfBlood]

touche shinobi..

on a side note and not very much keeping with the topic, a friend of mine has also tried a Stratocaster through an Ampeg BA115. fantabulouseraus cleans.

 

[brightside]

this has been discussed before but people still get the wrong idea. you need to make a distinction between SPEAKER and AMP. COMBO AMP = AMP + SPEAKER

SPEAKER
alot of people mention that the speaker will be damaged because of distortion. but this will happen regardless of whether you use a guitar or a bass into a guitar amp. as long as the volume is too high, the sound will distort and the speaker will be damaged, period.

if you say that a bass will destroy a guitar amp, the same can be said about a guitar destroying a bass amp. the same can be said about a CD player lined into a guitar amp. the same can be said about a microphone plugged into a guitar amp. but who will do such things? that is the answer.

AMP
however, your bass will sound like shit if you plug it into a guitar amp. especially if the amp has chorus/reverb etc. this is because the amp is voiced for guitar. the same can be said about a guitar sounding like shit on a bass amp. that is unless that particular bass amp in question happens to be called the fender '59 bassman. that is a special example of a bass amp that sounds like shit on the bass.

dude awesome post man. i understand now.

 

[kdash]

in conclusion, just don't do it. in layman's terms, the amp will spoil.

 

[brightside]

in conclusion, just don't do it. in layman's terms, the amp will spoil.

mmm yeah. but because i've got a guitar and i sold my amp off a few months ago.. now wanna buy another amp. then i'm planning to get a bass too! because actually i play bass for my band, but i used to just practice with my guitar. :x maybe i shld just get a cheapo amp for both. haha. i'm planning to get a timbre bass too btw..

 

[itzs]

It won't hurt ur bass amp if u plug a guitar in.

It's only the guitar amps generally can't handle the low frequencies of the bass, the bass amp can handle the guitars, but depending on how good a bass amp you have, the highs on the guitar might not come through well.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Quite true. Bass amps are closer to hi-fi amps than guitar amps are to hi-fi amps. Keyboard amps are closer to hi-fi amps than bass amps etc. There's no problem playing guitar through bass or keyboard amps, just that it usually sounds weird, ie as if you're playing directly though a hi-fi amp. (amps here refer to combo amps with inbuilt cabs)

 

[kdash]

brightside, go get a bass amp then

 

[brightside]

mmm then plug my guitar into my bass amp? :/