Music Gear Review - Musical instrument, gear and equipment reviews...
Acoustic | Classical | Electric | Amps | Effects | Bass | Bass Amps | Bass Effects | Drums | Cymbals | DJ | Keyboards/MIDI | Microphones | Mixers | Multitrackers | Recording | PA | Pro Audio | Software
Giveaway Pot
This month's giveaway pot has grown to

$310

Submit your review today and help grow the pot while helping others!
Member Contributions
This Month

Reviews
AlexV22
Golem5
daveb4
MattG3
ShackMan2
Laklander2
Chris1
DiamondDave1
Newton1
thebird551
42


Articles
Laklander35
MattG4
ShackMan3
AbbiR2
AlexV1
45


Advertisers
Forum Stats
142 Members
28 Forums
370 Topics
1964 Posts

Max Online: 36 @ 02/14/10 09:00 AM
Topic Options
Rate This Topic
#1005 - 12/21/09 05:51 PM Guitar amps for a bass?
ShackMan Online   content
enthusiast

Registered: 03/14/09
Posts: 338
Loc: Pittsburgh Area
Have any of you out there ever used guitar amps for your bass, and, if so, what has been your experience with it? I know Lemmy Kilmeister did that for a while and several other bassists have actually used crossovers to send the highs to a distorted guitar amp and the lows to a clean bass amp. Justin Meldal-Johnson turned me on to the idea in an interview he did a while back, and it's just come up that I could potentially get the same sound setup going.

Even if you haven't had personal experience with it, what do you think? Have you heard bassists do this? What did it sound like to you?
_________________________
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing it means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it. -R. Sapolsky

Upton Bass Custom 3/4 Upright, BSX Custom Allegro EUB, '80s Peavey T-40, MIM Active Jazz Bass, Godin BG-5 (for sale!), Fender Bassman 100 , `68 Fender Bassman 50 head, SWR Goliath 4x10, Markbass 2x10 cab

Top
#1006 - 12/21/09 07:39 PM Re: Guitar amps for a bass? [Re: ShackMan]
Laklander Offline
enthusiast

Registered: 11/25/09
Posts: 357
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
Chris Squire of yes used a Sunn Coliseum guitar head and 2 6x12 cabs when the band first toured the US in 1972, and I think he used it in the studio as well. These days, I think amp manufacturers are more into tuning the characteristics of the amp to match the intended instrument, at least in the EQ sections. I had good luck with Acoustic in the '70s using the 450 lead/bass head with the rocker switch in the lead position. It either boosted highs or the bass setting cut them. I got more than enough bottom by using a 2x15 cab. I think you could get away with using a powerful tube guitar head for bass provided that you use a bass cabinet. I wouldn't use, say, a Twin Reverb or other open backed amp for bass. However, carol Kaye used to use an open backed Fender in the studio in the '60s.
_________________________
"Bass is the foundation of the band." -- William Murderface, Dethklok bassist
-----------------------
Lakland 55-94; Lakland Skyline Joe Osborn 5; Hofner Icon; OLP Tony Levin Signature 5 String; Stagg EUB; Genz-Genz Shuttle 6.0; Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110; Radial Bassbone

Top


Moderator:  AbbiR, Laklander 
Number of Reviews

There are currently 10982 equipment reviews in the MGR database. Submit yours here: Review Form

Links
Who's Online
1 registered (ShackMan), 1 Guest and 1 Spider online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
TrevinT, AlexV, BenW, thebird55, arctic_scot
142 Registered Users
Top Posters
Laklander 357
ShackMan 338
MattG 159
Chris 119
AlexV 74
Golem 53
drumguydave 40
teeter 39
ericseiv 33
jillian 30
luvssound 30
slimpickings 30
candit 30
TrevinT 30
poptart 26
Opti 25
Eddie 25
gearhed 25
Micromoog 23
Sasha 20
Grenalda 20
loveofmusic 20
Rocker14 20
chitzy 20
fgurl 20
drumstick 20
michael_britt 15
Ricardo 14
rio1969 12
bassman 12
YYZ2112 12
nakchura 11
savvyeyty 10
takatenamano 10
daveb 9
DiamondDave 8
musichound 8
AudioEng 7
WoodWind 6
bsapp 6
drews 6
Gibson 5
drix2 5
Hoffman 5
KaBoOm 5
Peachy 5
DJGunner 4
rushminjp 4
Newton 3
BoogieMonster 3