Old bass amp as pedal platform

[glebert]

I know the concept of using a bass amp for guitar isn't really new (Bassman, hello?), but I hadn't really tried it much. I got an old Yamaha Thirty 115b yesterday for next to nothing from a buddy, and it worked but farted out at louder volumes, which made sense with only 30 watts. The thing is huge, and with such low power seems inadequate for modern bass work. Turns out that it is fantastic as a guitar pedal platform, though. It probably shares a lot of circuitry with the Thirty 112G guitar amp, and the brown Yamaha amps like these tend to have really nice clarity, so I think that probably helps. It gets plenty loud with a good overdrive pedal in front of it, and I can get as good a clean, reverb sound as any Fender tube amp I have owned. For pedals I am using a Maxon ROD-880, Boss RV-2 reverb, an old D.O.D digital delay, and a Boss V-10 digital wah. This rig loves the wah for some reason, I find it using it more than I ever have before. Good thing I am not playing in a band or everyone would be like "enough wah already!"

Anyway, before you throw out that old, underpowered bass amp, put some pedals in front of it!

Greg

[HaroldBrooks]

Yes indeed, plenty old tube Bass amps out there that would serve the pedal platform purpose well. One thing that might be obvious is how a bass amp will fill in the bottom end of a guitar, particularly a guitar with distortion played at a lower volume. If you are playing on your own, or at comfortable bedroom volume levels, this extra bass would be an asset, and you can always dial it back with a bass tone knob or an EQ. Often this is a lot easier than adding Bass to a dedicated guitar amp when you need it.

Many moons ago when I was a wee lad, I played a string of dances and parties with my guitar playing through a single 15" bass amp that my foggy memory forgot the name of.

It sounded awesome when cranked flat out and plugged straight into, but it also sounded very good using pedals for the distortion and as a platform for a total pedal driven amplifier.

I like Bass amps, even the ones that are underpowered for an actual Bass guitar, they often make great guitar amps and pedal amplifiers !!!

Agree 100%

[glebert]

I am thinking that I want to do a side-by-side comparison of the Yamaha SS bass amp vs. my Vibroverb clone (just as a pedal platform). Power is about the same and with a single 15" speaker.

If you are playing on your own, or at comfortable bedroom volume levels, this extra bass would be an asset, and you can always dial it back with a bass tone knob or an EQ. Often this is a lot easier than adding Bass to a dedicated guitar amp when you need it.

I am finding that having a 3 band EQ on my overdrive pedal is great for shaping the distortion to be really full or something that will cut through really well. Many guys also have an EQ pedal on their pedal boards anyway.