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Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:42 am
by Mazec_Archive
Ok, I am pretty sure this has been dealt with before, but at the risk of a kerbling, I'll ask again:

Can anybody recommend a good bass amp which also works well for guitar?

I have been out of the music loop for so long that I haven't even got my own amp anymore, at least not one on this continent. I don't even know what to look for with amps, all I want is something that also sounds decent on guitar, mostly for clean tones.

I have sort of been thinking about getting any old bass amp I come across with a reasonable price and just trying it out on guitar, too.

Way back, over 10 years ago, I used to have a piece of shit Crate 80 watt bass amp, which I used a lot for both bass and guitar. You could get reasonable tones out of it on guitar, mostly thanks to its 5-band EQ and extra high-boost button (to the extent that anything one played through that thing sounded reasonable).

So I'm thinking that a good graphic EQ might be a major criterion here.

I suspect that there are people our there in EA land who play or have played guitar through a bass amp, so I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:55 am
by Benny_Archive
ba-ba-ba-ba-bassman?
lots of amps from the 60's 70's (like hiwatts for example) were multi-purpose amps and worked pretty well for both things.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:37 am
by shredphones_Archive
the guitar player in my band plays an ampeg v-4b, and it sounds superb on both guitar and bass. ampeg b-25's are super nice as well.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:21 pm
by chuckles_Archive
I have a Wem dominator (a mkII, I think) that is technically a bass amp (it has a 15" celestion greenback speaker in it) but sounds very nice for guitar. Has a 'bright' channel too but only bass and treble controls for EQ-age.

As a bass amp its a little odd because its open backed but still gets the job done nicely, at least in my book.

Watkins made a bunch of different dominator mk II's, some with 12" drivers for guitar and some with 15" ones for bass but they all had the same inner workings. Factoid.

Both flavours crop up on ebay quite frequently.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:26 pm
by Rodabod_Archive
I have this amp too. It's pretty nice and like you say, does bass and guitar.

Other than that, I recommend the Selmer Treble N Bass, and in your part of Europe, maybe some of the Echolette valve heads with a decent spaker cab.

chuckles wrote:I have a Wem dominator (a mkII, I think) that is technically a bass amp (it has a 15" celestion greenback speaker in it) but sounds very nice for guitar. Has a 'bright' channel too but only bass and treble controls for EQ-age.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:50 pm
by jermwelfare_Archive
Polytone Mega-Brute. Jazzers love them because they are ultra clean. The amp is like 300 watts with a 15" and a horn, fairly pricey for a solid state combo but many regard them as good for both bass and guitar.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:59 pm
by Boombats_Archive
You could just get a keyboard amp. Full range, some have graphic EQs, and you can leave both bass and guitar plugged in at the same time.

Either that or get one of those old Kustom heads that have 2 inputs. They're all-purpose.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:08 pm
by eliya_Archive
Call me an idiot if you wish, but I'm playing both guitar and bass through my gallien krueger, I really like the way it sounds with both. So here's a vote for GK 400RB III.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:20 pm
by that damned fly_Archive
peavey century, kustom 200b, traynor ts series, peavey musician 400, sunn concert lead, ampeg 150h, 70's ampeg v4, traynor yba1, etc, etc, etc.

Good bass-guitar multipurpose amp

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:24 pm
by Mazec_Archive
eliya wrote:Call me an idiot if you wish, but I'm playing both guitar and bass through my gallien krueger, I really like the way it sounds with both. So here's a vote for GK 400RB III.



Thanks for the input, everybody.

Eliya, how expensive was your GK 400RB III? I've been thinking about GK for a while; I bet you can get an awesome clean sound out of them on guitar.