Bass into guitar amp?

Question

Why is it that so many people think that plugging a bass into a guitar amp will fry it? If that were the case, then why would some guitar amps have things like cd inputs? Most cds will have bass frequencies, right? Lower frequency input signals shouldn't do anything to the electronics of an amplifier. If it's not designed to represent those frequencies, it won't catch fire or explode, the frequencies just won't be there. The only problem I could see is that you might be more likely to blow a speaker because of the stronger bass frequencies. This would only happen if you were pushing the speaker harder than it was designed for. So, if you're using some degree of common sense while playing, you shouldn't have a problem, right?

Answer 1

Using a bass guitar on a "regular" guitar amp will not fry the amp. The only waste is that of power, because the regular amp will amplify higher frequencies(essentially noise) as well as the frequencies produced by the bass guitar, whereas a bass amplifier will have filtered out the high frequency(noise), and not wasted any power amplifying any frequencies other than what the bass guitar is producing.
That is why a bass guitar sounds better with a bass amplifier. The input filter is tuned to the bandwidth of frequencies that a bass guitar produces, but all other frequencies are cancelled out and not amplified.

Answer 2

It won't affect the amp but it won't sound as good.
The Amps designed for the 6 string frequencies and the speakers are usually 12" while most Bass Cabs have 10", 15" or 18" speakers. you'd really have to push it hard to blow the speakers.The one time I went DI through the FOH I blew all the tweeters in the monitors, Inexperienced sound man. On the other hand while a Bass doesn't sound that good a Strat through an old Blonde Bassman tube amp sounds killer.

Answer 3

i think its weird because guitar cabs are usually 12 inch and bass cabs are ten inch.. saying that 10 inches are made for bass and bigger speakers cant handle bass is kind of ridiculous.. the reason bass amps use 10 inch speakers is to tighten up the bass.. a 12 inch speaker will be more boomy so its actually more suited for bass.. it just wont sound as tight as a ten inch but then again you can say a ten inch isnt quite bassy enough.. also, car speakers are tiny and those little 20w speakers are fed all the same bass that your 1100 watt sub is.. a speaker is made to handle whatever frequencies it can reproduce.. it IS possible to blow a speaker if you blast it very loud and feed too much gain and drive the speaker too hard.. but that will only blow the paper cone.. also, a guitar is only one octave above a bass and if you drop tune your guitar very low to say maybe A then you are essentially playing the second lowest string of a 4 string bass.. granted bass strings are larger and deliver more power.. its all about how hard you are driving the speaker and how loud you are blasting it.. but anyone should be able to play bass through any speaker.

Answer 4

I would never do that to my equipment. Bass requires much, MUCH more wattage to power it than guitar does...running a bass through a guitar amp is very hard on the electronics of the amp...it may not fry it, it my not blow a speaker, but it's really not good for the amp. Don't beleive me? Go to any online music store and check out the wattage on a small bass amp vs. wattage on a small guitar amp. Hey, you wouldn't drive a car and never change the oil right? Good luck.

Answer 5

Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllll dear..... on the other hand..... when you square wave that amp and the speakers go in to distortion, you darn strait can fry things. Unfortunately (in the heavy metal crowd in particular) harmonic distortion is music to their ears. After having serviced many an amp for blown finals, and trashed speakers, I just gave up.

Answer 6

Some people have no common sense, though.

Answer 7

Right.

Answer 8

you are right but some people know no better