Any of you play guitar through bass amp?

Mick

Do any of you play guitar through a bass amp?  I've got a spare SWR Workinmans 12 120W combo kicking around, wonder if it would be usable for playing guitar through it, rather than bass. Would it handle effects pedals very well?

ICBM

It should work OK, but be sure to turn off the tweeter if you're going to put anything distorted through it, unless it's an amp modeller with speaker emulation.

ecc83

Is it one of these?...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/25/001/434/626/DV040_PDF_Copy_D20B551E-C638-4E53-B98E-9AE51A8308AC.pdf

If so I cannot see a problem. I would certainly disconnect the tweeter and the incumbent woofer probably won't do a sixer any favours but yes, it will work!

Dave.

ecc83

No attachments now I can't find a |*&^%y edit button!

No matter IC, you beat me to the kbd yet again!

Dave.

Mick

ecc83 said:

Is it one of these?...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/25/001/434/626/DV040_PDF_Copy_D20B551E-C638-4E53-B98E-9AE51A8308AC.pdf

If so I cannot see a problem. I would certainly disconnect the tweeter and the incumbent woofer probably won't do a sixer any favours but yes, it will work!

Dave.

Thanks. Well it is one of those, but the real old version, the one with the controls set back further on the top. Thinking about this, I believe it's actually a 100w and not 120w as I stated above.  The tweeter can be turned off if I remember correctly. 

Kebabkid

Although Reb Beach of Whitesnake, Winger etc..now uses a Custom Audio OD100 for both his clean and dirty sounds, until quite recently, this was his set-up and note the use of the bass head:- 

Reb's Marshalls (Edit:Suhr-Modded) are used for his dirty, distorted sound. For his clean sound, unusually, Reb uses a Guild Hartke bass head with a TC electronics multi effects unit for wetness. The bass head gives a very loud full clean sound. This can be seen in the rack shot above.

Mick

Kebabkid said:

Although Reb Beach of Whitesnake, Winger etc..now uses a Custom Audio OD100 for both his clean and dirty sounds, until quite recently, this was his set-up and note the use of the bass head:- 

Reb's Marshalls (Edit:Suhr-Modded) are used for his dirty, distorted sound. For his clean sound, unusually, Reb uses a Guild Hartke bass head with a TC electronics multi effects unit for wetness. The bass head gives a very loud full clean sound. This can be seen in the rack shot above.

Thanks for that info, just found that write up on his website, in the gear gallery / amps  http://www.rebbeach.com/gear_gallery_amps.htm  Interesting.

OilCityPickups

I used to use a 100w non-MV Marshall bass head with 2x4x12s for lead ... brain pulverizingly good that was.

Mick

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I used to use a 100w non-MV Marshall bass head with 2x4x12s for lead ... brain pulverizingly good that was.

Neat.   I suppose you could fine tune a set of your pickups for this very purpose,

Flanging_Fred

I've got a JCM800 era bass combo, 30watts and solid state. I took it to the last SE gearfest and with a Yamaha DG Stomp modeller pedal it does rather well as a guitar amp. It does have a 12" celestion 75 in it so that's got to help a bit.

ThePrettyDamned

I don't even know the difference between guitar and bass amps. The bassman was once a bass amp, and that coped quite well

I have played a guitar through an orange bass head without realising it, and got some awesome sounds out before the shop assistant realised and said I'd blow the valves!

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

I don't even know the difference between guitar and bass amps. The bassman was once a bass amp, and that coped quite well

Not with bass it didn't...

Or at least not the classic 4x10" 5F6-A. That was why the piggyback Bassman was created.

ThePrettyDamned said:

I have played a guitar through an orange bass head without realising it, and got some awesome sounds out before the shop assistant realised and said I'd blow the valves!

Idiot. (The assistant... )

With old valve amps there's bugger all difference between the guitar and bass versions - usually just a few cap values to give the bass version a bit more low-end and the guitar version a bit more top. There are some that aren't even different at all, you just used them for either, like Hiwatts.

ecc83

This brings back a painful memory.

Many, many years ago, son was about 15 and wanted a Vox valve amp AC30 or AC15. I could afford neither but then saw a guy advertising a Vox valve amp for £50 ONO in the local rag. He was only 5 miles away in a small village so off we popped.

Disappointed! The amp was a 50W head atop a tall cab..."Not a GUITAR amp is it dad?" And not knowing any better I agreed and we left. It was of course, I found out years later   almost certainly a Vox 50!

Dave.

ICBM

Oops... the AC50 is one of the best of all Vox amps.

Probably a bass cab, but still...

I'm pretty sure I've turned down something like that too, not knowing what it was until years later - can't remember what now though.

Flanging_Fred

Haha, that reminds me, when I first started playing at school I got my mate to play bass. We went out and got him a bass ( a starforce I think) but he said he didn't need an amp as his dad had an old one in the garage that his dad used for accordion.

Well I turn up to his house for a jam for the first time with my guitar and amp, a little solec...

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb102/flanging_fred/Music/my amps/ee03_1.jpg

And of course this 'old accordion amp' turns out to be a Vox 50 with an 18" cab! It really wasn't fair! Sounded AMAZING though.

Mick

Cheers all.  Might bring it downstairs and have a play. One thing I do know is it's bloody heavy to lug around. My son seems to be using the guitars on Rocksmith instead of through the amp, so I might as well make use of it.

impmann

I always prefered the tone of AC30 bass versions (I gigged with them in the early 90s) - a little warmer to my ears but as ICBM says the only difference is a few cap values. 

Wish I'd kept 'em now, though!!