The "guitar through a bass amp" thread.

[clockwork green]

I hate this thread and I hope it's made a sticky so we don't see it pop up every other week.  It's not that I hate the idea of people playing guitar through unorthodox amps and such but it just sucks repeating yourself over and over.  As much as I try to ignore it, I can't when certain important aspects are left out.  

1. Modern vs. vintage voiced bass amps makes a huge difference.  Vintage voiced bass amps were often exactly or damn near exactly the same thing as guitar amps but maybe slightly darker or with more output like a 45 watt tweed Bassman vs. a 15-watt tweed Deluxe of the same era.  Modern bass amps are voiced radically different.  Many are made to go with amps that have tweeters and the low end frequency response is way off the charts compared to new amps.  The biggest issue is that the mid's are in a totally different place for a bass amp so distortion often sounds really odd with modern bass amps and speakers.

2.Amps vs. speakers.  A bass amp through a guitar cab often sounds better than a guitar amp through bass speakers because modern (again, depends on modern vs. vintage) bass cabs are made for super deep lows and radically different mids than guitar speakers and if the cab has a tweeter it will sound horrible which might be cool if your in a noise band band not so cool for classic riff rock.

3. 15" guitar speakers.  Contrary to popular opinion this will not give you tons of deep lows.  15's will typically have slightly extended low's but they often have extended more open sounding highs as well.  The major difference between most 12's and most 15's are the midrange frequencies.  12's tend to be tighter (10's even more than many 12's) and crunchier sounding because they're midrange focused speakers and the guitar is a midrange instrument.  15's sound more open and clear...think of them like a sonic hug for your 12's.  I often play with a 4x12 and a 2x15 but the 4x12 sounds much fatter than the 2x15 but together it's a nice full sound with punch and clarity not mega monster low's

4. It's a guitar not a bass.  No amp will give you frequencies your instrument just doesn't have.  Even if you're tuned down to Z-minor you're often not going to get the low's of a bass and you're just better off (in my opinion) in not trying.  Pay attention to records where the guitar plays a riff without the bass player and they they play it together...the guitar player often gets way too much credit.  If you want better lowend tone on a record...make sure your bass player has great tone first.

Personally I don't like bass cabs or modern bass amps with guitar and I can only really see them in a rig that already has a more traditional guitar rig.  I can't say that I've ever heard it work well live either.  It sometimes sounds cool when you're playing buy yourself but mix in a band and that sweet palm-muted sound you've got suddenly disappears without the mids to push it through no matter how much power you've got.   I don't want to piss on anyones experimental parade and I hope people keep trying new things because many of the great sounds we've gotten as guitar players came from unconventional thinking even after many others said it was wrong.  

[Discö Rice]

 I'm in it more for the power section than the ultra lows, which is kinda why I mentioned the guitar preamp. It seems like your gain channel wouldn't be anywhere near as dirty as you might need for a guitar, even with a vintage voiced amp.

[Discö Rice]

...and I agree that this thread should be sticky.

[Lumpy]

I agree with everything Clockwork Green said (including the parts that went over my head, LOL) but to clarify (and agree with Disco Rice) in my opinion it's about getting a lot of tube watts, relatively inexpensively... not about super deep lows. If you want super deep lows, play the bass. I prefer it when guitar players sound like guitar players (not bassists) and when bassists sound like bassists (not guitar players). Know your role...

[peyotepeddler]

i can get behind most of that you said clock


i would like to add that voicing is always a factor with any amp, be it guitar, bass, or any thing out there


its all about what turns you on and gets you inspired, what gets those creative juices flowing


but, i could care less what a instrument(it could be wind, percussion, brass, stringed) is tuned to


but i have my preferences, i dig my guitar tuned down to c standard, but like my bass tuned to a440(i blame old reggae/dub)