Bass guitar through a guitar amp: What can and can't you do?

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jcooke
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Bass guitar through a guitar amp: What can and can't you do?

Post by jcooke » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:55 pm

I've read some posts about people recording bass through a guitar amp. What are some of your favorite guitar amps to do it through? small or big amps? Will it damage the speaker? How do you know if it will damage something before you actually damage it?

Jeremy

P.S. The bass player in our band uses a Fender bassman which also works great on guitar.

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A-Barr
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Post by A-Barr » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:24 pm

I've been trying to figure this out for a long time. It seems like the differences in the amp sections have to do mostly with tone shaping and dynamics. I think the Bassman's eq controls operate at lower frequencies on the bass section of the amp than on the "normal" section. As for dynamics, I think bass players prefer to have a solid state rectifier to get a little more punch and less sag out of the amp. As to the speakers, I think the voicing there is different too, but one of the biggest differences is that bass cabs are usually sealed, or closed-back. This gives a tighter and more focused bass response, and gives the designer more control when tuning the cabinet. Also I'd think you could blow a guitar amp speaker a lot easier with a bass. So you can take all that into consideration when deciding to run a guitar through a bass amp or vice versa.
That's all I got.

Good luck!

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Post by sonic dogg » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:32 pm

Typically a small tube amp for this. A recording only situation where you dont need ANY volume to speak of....you get your gain from the mic and the mic technique. A Fender Deluxe sounds particularly punchy for this as does a Twin. I have found though, that a single speaker seems to be better than multiples. Also, small keyboard combo amps work great...They have a bit more extended tone controls than yer typical combo bass rig..

I use a good dynamic...ATM25,Audix D4 etc..and a LDC for size. The further you move it away , the larger the space becomes. Compress the distant mic much as you would a room mic of any kind. No volume is the key. You will be amazed.

You'll know you're fucking up the speaker by how much its moving and rubbing because its extruded too far.

At that point...turn it down.
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I'm Painting Again
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Post by I'm Painting Again » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:52 am

well if your recording at low volumes you should be fine in most cases..recording at loud volumes you could potentially zonk the speaker..

what you want to hear wont be what I or the next person wants to hear so use an amp that makes the bass sound the way you like and thats all there is too it..

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Post by black mariah » Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:38 am

I've been using the rackmount setup I have listed in the classified for bass for a couple of months now without incident. The only downside to using a guitar cabinet is that you don't get the extended low end handling that a bass cab provides but for a more melodic bass sound they work just fine.
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Post by vvv » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:30 am

Having seen far too many guitar speakers blown by bass (especially with slap-n-pop and octave lines), do keep the volume low.
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Post by s00p3rm4n » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:41 am

I've not recorded a ton of anything in my life, but I have recorded quite a bit of bass through my Gibson GA-20rvt (20 watt class A tube guitar amp from the 60's) using an MXL V67 large-diaphragm condensor, and it sounds just lovely. Some compression helps either way. I have a feeling I won't be doing this anymore, since I just got a Groove Tubes Brick. But who knows?
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Post by Eric Rottmayer » Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:11 pm

i used to love recording bass thru my twin...now, erhm...not so much.
i blew the speakers that came with my '65 reverb reissue. but it was a
blessing in disguise cause when i got my new ones, they were 1000 times
better sounding (for guitar). but no bass thru the twin anymore unless it's
a re-amp situation.

i can get the same sound going thru a small solid state keyboard amp
and micing that with a tube pre/comp.

more importantly, what kind of mic to use on small bass amps?
any LDC? large dynamics like re-20? i've been doing a lot of bass
directly with the avalon DI. sounds better than anything else to me.

for a totally different discussion, anyone ever record bass thru a really small
amp like a lil' smokey? it's like the bass on "think for yourself"; amazing.

e

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Post by KennyLusk » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:00 am

eric Metronome wrote: for a totally different discussion, anyone ever record bass thru a really small
amp like a lil' smokey? it's like the bass on "think for yourself"; amazing.

e
Small watt (5-7 watts) tube amps yes. But something like a lil' smokey? No. I've been looking for a good reason to buy one of those and now you've given me one Eric. Thanks! That's perfect! You da man!
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workshed
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Post by workshed » Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:27 pm

I have a tech 21 trademark 120 which works pretty well for bass. It's got the sansamp DI built in, and the 2 x 12"speakers are pretty meaty and bassy sounding as-is. I don't do any slapping or popping or play hard at all, so it's worked well for me so far. Of course, it's not an SST through an 8x10 cab, but it works. The last time I used it, i think I ran a 57 on the grille and cheap dynamic kick mic in the back (it's a partial open-back cab). Blended to taste.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Sat Feb 04, 2006 5:20 pm

eric Metronome wrote:
for a totally different discussion, anyone ever record bass thru a really small
amp like a lil' smokey? it's like the bass on "think for yourself"; amazing.

e
I always try to imagine what it would sound like to have all the guitars and bass and whatever out of tiny little fucked up amps like that..then mic the drums from the next room or something..

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Post by aeijtzsche » Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:57 pm

Some of the nicest sounding recorded bass was recorded via "guitar" amps. Bassman and Super Reverb. All your favorite 60s hits that were recorded in LA would have likely been through one of those two.

I don't care what kind of amp it is, give me a 4X10 speaker configuration and I'm all set.

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Post by The Real MC » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:32 pm

Be careful with tube guitar amps. You can burn out the power tubes and output transformer as they are not designed for the extra power that bass guitars demand. I found this out the hard way.

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