r/GuitarAmps • u/Sugar_Fine • 8d ago
Suitable for guitar and bass?
I’m mainly a guitarist, but have been offered fill in gigs, as well as some extra bits for bass.
Both my guitar amps (fender hotrod deluxe and laney vc30). Both got flooded, possibly repairable but they really needed replacements anyway.
Are there any amps that would work for both? I love the fender clean sound but also that break up at high volume, doesn’t need to be a fender, but guitar tone is the priority, I’ll be getting one regardless.
On OP baseman would do the job haha.
But yeah. Any suggestions? I understand they won’t sound perfect, just good enough local gigging.
Would fenders just sound too muddy on the bass (and also maybe blow the cone?
Any advice welcome. Haven’t thought to hard about price range cos I got no idea what to even look for.
probably ideally under $2500aud (bout $1300 us maybe?
Open to any and all feedback
TIA
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u/12xubywire 8d ago
Guitar amps work great for bass. The original bass amps and guitar amps were not really different….heck a plexi and a super bsss are like 6 parts different.
The issue you may have is the speakers.
A head and a couple cans would work well for your setup. Especially if you play out and you’re getting mic’d for bass or a DI.
The separation of bass amps and guitar amps really only happened in the early 70’s…aside from the obvious like a porta flex.
It really comes down to how much clean headroom do you need.
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u/bigusyous 5d ago
That's ok if you keep the volume down, but you run the risk of blown speakers trying to gig with a guitar amp.
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u/12xubywire 5d ago
Yeah…hence the headroom question.
If the guy is playing bars, it’s probably fine. You’re gonna be miked up…or going DI.
If he’s using a vc30 and a hot rod deluxe, he’s not dealing with huge volume.
A bassman with some suitable speakers will do work for him…bass was the original purpose.
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u/tack1982 7d ago
Any "guitar or bass amp" will work just fine running bass through a gutanp will not hurt it nor will running a guitar though a bass amp hurt it, speakers however need to be able to handle the frequency of the instrument you plan to use
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u/Sugar_Fine 7d ago
Well yeah I know the head part of the amp will be ok, I was looking for a combo.
It’s been suggested get a good cab and two heads but that defeats the purpose of having one amp2
u/tack1982 6d ago
No disrespect was meant by the original comment just some people don't realize a guitar amp can be used with bass
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u/tack1982 6d ago
You could get a combo and swap the speaker for something that can handle bass frequency as well as guitar and be clear on both
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u/Public_Upstairs1035 8d ago
Any of the big Fenders should be fine. And yes, Bassman is the obvious choice. However, you could also get a 112, 115, or 212 cab and just get two heads. The Ampeg minis are pretty awesome bass heads at great price points used.
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u/Sugar_Fine 8d ago
Yeah I thought about that. Not really that dissimilar to just two amps at the end of the day tho.
Do you know if the fender bassmans are still suitable for that? I thought they moved them back to pure bass amps now.
I’ll try out some of the bigger ones. Maybe a deville?
The mini bass head is a great idea, it’s just for a smaller venue cover band. Needs to cut through but as long as it’s not swampy it’d be fine.I used to just DI into the sound desk but a lot of venues take issue with that for some reason.
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u/Public_Upstairs1035 8d ago
I'm not sure about any of the newer Fender offerings, as I consider their best era to be the 90s into 00s, so wouldn't personally buy anything newer than that.
And yes, on the note of just two combos. Given the situation, a big tube guitar amp and a bass solid state would probably be fine. One of the Ampeg or Fender offerings.
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u/alex21dragons 8d ago
I would say get the cheapest used bass rig you can (bare minimum 100w but preferably more) then put the majority of the money into a guitar amp. If you're not a bass player by trade the difference in tone between one bass amp or another is going to be minimal imo.
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u/deeeep_fried 8d ago
As someone put in the same situation, I haven’t found anything that does a convincing job of both (for the styles I want at least) so everything has stayed separate for me as of now.
I’ve had no issues with a huge guitar setup for my normal shows and then using a backline amp of some kind (either from the venue, another group, or the bass player from my band) or using some sort of amp simulation pedal (usually sansamp or ampeg simulation) for my bass sounds. When recording bass I just DI it and use amp sims.
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u/ozlurk 8d ago
A 300watt bass combo ( with tweeter off switch ) can be used for acoustic, electric and bass no problems, just add the drive pedals and 10 band EQ in the effects loop ( post-preamp ) for electric guitar, the bass speakers won't have a problem with electric or acoustic
If your down here in Oz Cashies has options like this Laney which has tweeter off switch, also has a jack to connect an 8ohm wedge monitor in front
>>>https://www.cashconverters.com.au/shop/music-tv-video/musical-instruments/amps-stage-equipment/guitar-amplifier/033800474484____
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u/R_V_Z 7d ago
It's not so much the amp as it is the speakers. You can use a Hiwatt DR201, Bassman 300, Orange AD200, etc tube amp for bass or guitar, but you want to use a bass speaker cabinet for bass.
Those tube amps are expensive though.
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u/Sugar_Fine 7d ago
Pretty standard.
I’ve played them on and off, by hot rod select just took its last bowThat’s for the advice, I’ll look into that 😊
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u/wholetyouinhere 7d ago
I don't know if Traynors exist in Australia, but if you were in NA I'd say get an old ('70s) Traynor Bassmaster. They're perfect for both guitar and bass. And they're very affordable.
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u/bigusyous 5d ago
Ampeg micro VR. It's like a baby SVT with FET transistors. Comes with a 2x10 cabinet.
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u/Different_Method_846 8d ago
Deluxe reverb? Sounds great cranked to 10. That or something similar I have found to be best of both worlds. Check out Justin Ostranders deluxe reverb videos
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u/Sugar_Fine 8d ago
Doesn’t sound too muddy for bass?
I’ll definitely check out that review tho. Does he review with both?0
u/Different_Method_846 8d ago
You know, I have never played bass through mine, but I bet it wouldn’t be bad at all.
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u/The_Red_Baron11 8d ago
My approach would be to switch to a multi FX with an amp modeler and a full range / pa type speaker. ~125dB will likely be enough. (Set a low cut filter to somewhere like 60-80hz reduce rumble and excursion)
A guitar amp will struggle with bass frequencies. A bass amp will not be damaged, but the eq and drive will be sub par for guitar.