can i play a electric guitar through a bass amp?












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I am a bassist and I am looking for an electric guitar but I don’t want to buy another amp. Can I play the guitar through the bass amp?









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    I am a bassist and I am looking for an electric guitar but I don’t want to buy another amp. Can I play the guitar through the bass amp?









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      I am a bassist and I am looking for an electric guitar but I don’t want to buy another amp. Can I play the guitar through the bass amp?









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      I am a bassist and I am looking for an electric guitar but I don’t want to buy another amp. Can I play the guitar through the bass amp?







      guitar amplifiers bass-guitar





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      asked 9 hours ago









      Kristin LarocqueKristin Larocque

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          Bass amps have been used by guitarists for many decades. In some instances, they work better for guitarists than other amps designed for guitars, especially the speakers. If you are going to use effects pedals, they will do just fine, but if you're looking for something that will overdrive and distort, bass amps generally aren't designed with that in mind. If your bass amp is a valve amp, it'll do the job really well. If it is a transistor amp, it'll still work well enough, but you won't really be able to overdrive it as much as you would an amp designed for guitar.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 1





            Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

            – Todd Wilcox
            9 hours ago






          • 2





            In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

            – Tim
            8 hours ago











          • False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

            – Todd Wilcox
            7 hours ago





















          2














          Yes. But the whole point of a guitar amp is to NOT be 'accurate' but to distort in interesting ways. This aspect may be missing.






          share|improve this answer































            0














            The Fender Bassman has famously been many guitarists' amp of choice over the years. A bass amp still needs to produce all the same higher frequencies as a guitar amp, because it's the higher frequencies which give you the "attack" of a note. So there's no problems with the speaker itself.



            As LaurencePayne said already, guitar and bass amps are not intended to have clean, flat responses like a PA amplifier and speaker. Amplifiers are deliberately run into saturation or distortion of various kinds. Speakers are not designed for flat responses. And speaker cabs are pretty much without exception constructed in a shoddy way which would horrify a PA speaker designer, with insufficient bracing all round and no damping or box tuning. But all this is why a guitar or bass amp has a distinct "sound" and a good PA speaker does not.



            Where you are likely to have issues though might be with the EQ. A good bass amp will have 5-band EQ, and you can generally make that work. Others may only have 3-band EQ though, or perhaps even just a "tone" control. On a bass amp, that'll be set up for the kind of frequency range which is most applicable for a bass, and it won't necessarily work so well for a guitar. If there are other FX on the amp, they may also be tuned more for a bass.



            The obvious solution in that case is to get yourself a pedalboard for the guitar. This works best if your amp has an FX loop, because then you can make best use of the amp's preamp, but otherwise an FX unit or pedalboard which includes an overdrive on the way in will still work fine.






            share|improve this answer
























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              3 Answers
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              3 Answers
              3






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              active

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              4














              Bass amps have been used by guitarists for many decades. In some instances, they work better for guitarists than other amps designed for guitars, especially the speakers. If you are going to use effects pedals, they will do just fine, but if you're looking for something that will overdrive and distort, bass amps generally aren't designed with that in mind. If your bass amp is a valve amp, it'll do the job really well. If it is a transistor amp, it'll still work well enough, but you won't really be able to overdrive it as much as you would an amp designed for guitar.






              share|improve this answer





















              • 1





                Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

                – Todd Wilcox
                9 hours ago






              • 2





                In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

                – Tim
                8 hours ago











              • False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

                – Todd Wilcox
                7 hours ago


















              4














              Bass amps have been used by guitarists for many decades. In some instances, they work better for guitarists than other amps designed for guitars, especially the speakers. If you are going to use effects pedals, they will do just fine, but if you're looking for something that will overdrive and distort, bass amps generally aren't designed with that in mind. If your bass amp is a valve amp, it'll do the job really well. If it is a transistor amp, it'll still work well enough, but you won't really be able to overdrive it as much as you would an amp designed for guitar.






              share|improve this answer





















              • 1





                Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

                – Todd Wilcox
                9 hours ago






              • 2





                In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

                – Tim
                8 hours ago











              • False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

                – Todd Wilcox
                7 hours ago
















              4












              4








              4







              Bass amps have been used by guitarists for many decades. In some instances, they work better for guitarists than other amps designed for guitars, especially the speakers. If you are going to use effects pedals, they will do just fine, but if you're looking for something that will overdrive and distort, bass amps generally aren't designed with that in mind. If your bass amp is a valve amp, it'll do the job really well. If it is a transistor amp, it'll still work well enough, but you won't really be able to overdrive it as much as you would an amp designed for guitar.






              share|improve this answer















              Bass amps have been used by guitarists for many decades. In some instances, they work better for guitarists than other amps designed for guitars, especially the speakers. If you are going to use effects pedals, they will do just fine, but if you're looking for something that will overdrive and distort, bass amps generally aren't designed with that in mind. If your bass amp is a valve amp, it'll do the job really well. If it is a transistor amp, it'll still work well enough, but you won't really be able to overdrive it as much as you would an amp designed for guitar.







              share|improve this answer














              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer








              edited 6 hours ago









              Your Uncle Bob

              881314




              881314










              answered 9 hours ago









              TimTim

              104k10107264




              104k10107264








              • 1





                Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

                – Todd Wilcox
                9 hours ago






              • 2





                In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

                – Tim
                8 hours ago











              • False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

                – Todd Wilcox
                7 hours ago
















              • 1





                Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

                – Todd Wilcox
                9 hours ago






              • 2





                In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

                – Tim
                8 hours ago











              • False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

                – Todd Wilcox
                7 hours ago










              1




              1





              Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

              – Todd Wilcox
              9 hours ago





              Normally I see the word “tranny” used to mean “transformer”, not “transistor”. Of course tubes amps almost always have transformers and solid state amps almost never do.

              – Todd Wilcox
              9 hours ago




              2




              2





              In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

              – Tim
              8 hours ago





              In this situation tranny is meant as transistor. All amps will have transformers regardless.

              – Tim
              8 hours ago













              False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

              – Todd Wilcox
              7 hours ago







              False. I’m not aware of a solid state amp, including all digital modeling designs and PA amps, in production today that has an output transformer. That’s one of the main reasons for having a solid state design in the first place. BJT and I believe MOSFET power stages can be built with arbitrarily low output impedances, so there’s no need for a heavy, expensive output transformer. And output transformers have large potential impact on the sound. The presence of an output transformer is one of main differences between tube and solid state designs that affects the sound.

              – Todd Wilcox
              7 hours ago













              2














              Yes. But the whole point of a guitar amp is to NOT be 'accurate' but to distort in interesting ways. This aspect may be missing.






              share|improve this answer




























                2














                Yes. But the whole point of a guitar amp is to NOT be 'accurate' but to distort in interesting ways. This aspect may be missing.






                share|improve this answer


























                  2












                  2








                  2







                  Yes. But the whole point of a guitar amp is to NOT be 'accurate' but to distort in interesting ways. This aspect may be missing.






                  share|improve this answer













                  Yes. But the whole point of a guitar amp is to NOT be 'accurate' but to distort in interesting ways. This aspect may be missing.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 9 hours ago









                  Laurence PayneLaurence Payne

                  37.2k1871




                  37.2k1871























                      0














                      The Fender Bassman has famously been many guitarists' amp of choice over the years. A bass amp still needs to produce all the same higher frequencies as a guitar amp, because it's the higher frequencies which give you the "attack" of a note. So there's no problems with the speaker itself.



                      As LaurencePayne said already, guitar and bass amps are not intended to have clean, flat responses like a PA amplifier and speaker. Amplifiers are deliberately run into saturation or distortion of various kinds. Speakers are not designed for flat responses. And speaker cabs are pretty much without exception constructed in a shoddy way which would horrify a PA speaker designer, with insufficient bracing all round and no damping or box tuning. But all this is why a guitar or bass amp has a distinct "sound" and a good PA speaker does not.



                      Where you are likely to have issues though might be with the EQ. A good bass amp will have 5-band EQ, and you can generally make that work. Others may only have 3-band EQ though, or perhaps even just a "tone" control. On a bass amp, that'll be set up for the kind of frequency range which is most applicable for a bass, and it won't necessarily work so well for a guitar. If there are other FX on the amp, they may also be tuned more for a bass.



                      The obvious solution in that case is to get yourself a pedalboard for the guitar. This works best if your amp has an FX loop, because then you can make best use of the amp's preamp, but otherwise an FX unit or pedalboard which includes an overdrive on the way in will still work fine.






                      share|improve this answer




























                        0














                        The Fender Bassman has famously been many guitarists' amp of choice over the years. A bass amp still needs to produce all the same higher frequencies as a guitar amp, because it's the higher frequencies which give you the "attack" of a note. So there's no problems with the speaker itself.



                        As LaurencePayne said already, guitar and bass amps are not intended to have clean, flat responses like a PA amplifier and speaker. Amplifiers are deliberately run into saturation or distortion of various kinds. Speakers are not designed for flat responses. And speaker cabs are pretty much without exception constructed in a shoddy way which would horrify a PA speaker designer, with insufficient bracing all round and no damping or box tuning. But all this is why a guitar or bass amp has a distinct "sound" and a good PA speaker does not.



                        Where you are likely to have issues though might be with the EQ. A good bass amp will have 5-band EQ, and you can generally make that work. Others may only have 3-band EQ though, or perhaps even just a "tone" control. On a bass amp, that'll be set up for the kind of frequency range which is most applicable for a bass, and it won't necessarily work so well for a guitar. If there are other FX on the amp, they may also be tuned more for a bass.



                        The obvious solution in that case is to get yourself a pedalboard for the guitar. This works best if your amp has an FX loop, because then you can make best use of the amp's preamp, but otherwise an FX unit or pedalboard which includes an overdrive on the way in will still work fine.






                        share|improve this answer


























                          0












                          0








                          0







                          The Fender Bassman has famously been many guitarists' amp of choice over the years. A bass amp still needs to produce all the same higher frequencies as a guitar amp, because it's the higher frequencies which give you the "attack" of a note. So there's no problems with the speaker itself.



                          As LaurencePayne said already, guitar and bass amps are not intended to have clean, flat responses like a PA amplifier and speaker. Amplifiers are deliberately run into saturation or distortion of various kinds. Speakers are not designed for flat responses. And speaker cabs are pretty much without exception constructed in a shoddy way which would horrify a PA speaker designer, with insufficient bracing all round and no damping or box tuning. But all this is why a guitar or bass amp has a distinct "sound" and a good PA speaker does not.



                          Where you are likely to have issues though might be with the EQ. A good bass amp will have 5-band EQ, and you can generally make that work. Others may only have 3-band EQ though, or perhaps even just a "tone" control. On a bass amp, that'll be set up for the kind of frequency range which is most applicable for a bass, and it won't necessarily work so well for a guitar. If there are other FX on the amp, they may also be tuned more for a bass.



                          The obvious solution in that case is to get yourself a pedalboard for the guitar. This works best if your amp has an FX loop, because then you can make best use of the amp's preamp, but otherwise an FX unit or pedalboard which includes an overdrive on the way in will still work fine.






                          share|improve this answer













                          The Fender Bassman has famously been many guitarists' amp of choice over the years. A bass amp still needs to produce all the same higher frequencies as a guitar amp, because it's the higher frequencies which give you the "attack" of a note. So there's no problems with the speaker itself.



                          As LaurencePayne said already, guitar and bass amps are not intended to have clean, flat responses like a PA amplifier and speaker. Amplifiers are deliberately run into saturation or distortion of various kinds. Speakers are not designed for flat responses. And speaker cabs are pretty much without exception constructed in a shoddy way which would horrify a PA speaker designer, with insufficient bracing all round and no damping or box tuning. But all this is why a guitar or bass amp has a distinct "sound" and a good PA speaker does not.



                          Where you are likely to have issues though might be with the EQ. A good bass amp will have 5-band EQ, and you can generally make that work. Others may only have 3-band EQ though, or perhaps even just a "tone" control. On a bass amp, that'll be set up for the kind of frequency range which is most applicable for a bass, and it won't necessarily work so well for a guitar. If there are other FX on the amp, they may also be tuned more for a bass.



                          The obvious solution in that case is to get yourself a pedalboard for the guitar. This works best if your amp has an FX loop, because then you can make best use of the amp's preamp, but otherwise an FX unit or pedalboard which includes an overdrive on the way in will still work fine.







                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 7 hours ago









                          GrahamGraham

                          1,795413




                          1,795413






















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