Will bass damage a valve amp?

[willvdw]

I have tried unsuccessfully for a very long time to get facts; if you play a bass guitar through a valve pre-amp (Trace Elliot TVT9) will it damage the pre-amp, and why?

[Steve Conner]

In a word, no it won't damage it. I play both bass and guitar, and I use the same amps for both instruments all the time with no fatalities.

[Enzo]

The preamp is just a preamp, and a bass is just a guitar that plays low notes. The nature of the signal is irrelevant to the amplifier circuit.

As long as the speakers are up to whatever you are doing, play on.
Welcome to the forum, and personal emails are fine, but always good to see what the general response is first.

[willvdw]

OK so far it makes good sense; then why do the manufacturers of amp heads market them as guitar or bass and never say that they can be used inter-changeably (apart from the speaker cab)?

[Steve Conner]

Because guitar amps generally sound best used with guitars, and bass amps generally sound best with basses.

In particular, bass amps have a lot more headroom and power, whereas we like guitar amps to distort and dirt up at relatively low volume. If you tried getting cranked guitar tone from an Ampeg SVT, your next of kin would probably be scraping your remains from the ceiling.

Some amps are usable for either, by clever design, or by luck. For instance the Orange Thunderverb is designed and marketed to be good for either guitar or bass.

Finally, how could we forget the original Fender Bassman, that was designed as a bass amp, but turned out to be lousy for its intended purpose, but one of the best guitar amps ever.

[willvdw]

Great, really appreciate the info from you guys; especially imagining the described attempt to crank the Ampeg SVT

[Rob Mercure]

As long as you mention Ampeg the v-4 and the V-4B are almost identically with the exception of the reverb on the bass unit. The only differences are some minor changed in the tone controls and either amp seems to work just about as well with either bass or guitar.

As a general "rule of thumb" it's OK to play a guitar through a bass speaker but not OK to play a bass through a guitar speaker. While there have been numerous cases of guitar speakers standing up to bass cone excursions these are the exceptions and I wouldn't try this with any speaker I valued.

Rob

[Odd I/O]

Possibly; especially if the bass is dropped from a great enough height onto the amp.
----Uh.....I'm going to duck for cover now.

[Steve Conner]

Or if it was rammed through the speaker cone a la Who

[willvdw]

$500 Question: I have a Trace Elliot TVT9 valve preamp and a JBL MPX300 power amp. What do you think will sound better for bass guitar - this setup with a $500 Ampeg cab, or $500 spent on an Ampeg combo? Thoughts and ideas greatfully received.

[In The Light]

$500 Question: I have a Trace Elliot TVT9 valve preamp and a JBL MPX300 power amp. What do you think will sound better for bass guitar - this setup with a $500 Ampeg cab, or $500 spent on an Ampeg combo? Thoughts and ideas greatfully received.

Hello. Well I have to say that with bass, especially, the acoustic properties of a cabinet is essential to great tone. If you have a pre and power amp that you like and it gives you all the power you need, I recommend going with the cabinet for the most resonant and powerful bass tone. Just make sure the bass cab you go with is great one - look into well-designed porting and the acoustic properties of the cabinet. A great cab can enhance tone and amplify volume and bass frequencies. So, my opinion is clearly to go with a great quality cabinet, especially since you have the pre and power amp already, and I always recommend a head and cab configuration and NOT a combo for bass in most contexts. Good luck.

-Mike

[Steve Conner]

Yeah, I don't like bass combos much either. My rule of thumb has always been that if one person can shift a bass rig in one trip, it's not much of a bass rig. Also, uber bass geek Tom Bowlus says the TVT9 "Sounds great on bass".

[David Schwab]

Studio legends Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn both played bass through an open backed Fender Twin! That was because they were guitar players before they were bass players.

[tommy d]

I use a '68 Twin (amp was blackfaced with a cap or two and the dry side voiced for bass by Ron Ott of King Amp) in head form with EVM 15B and 15L in TL606's which are the reference designs for the EVM's. Sounds great with 73 p-bass and strings going on ~15 years old...you just can't buy tone like that. Like a fine whiskey, letting the strings age to perfection. I sound like scooby-doo's bass player who was always an inspiration - seriously

[bob p]

gotta agree that the TL606/EVM-15L combo is a tiny killer package for 4-string bass and guitar. I've been using mine for 30+ years. just don't go playing a low-B 5-string bass or you'll be needing a recone kit.