Some bassists prefer the sound provided by guitar amps for practice or recording purposes. Unfortunately, however, care must be taken in handling these amplifiers to prevent damage to them and your speakers.
Low frequencies sent from a bass guitar can cause it to rattle and distort when sent through an amplifier, but this issue can be fixed by adjusting the Equalization Parameters (EQ).
1. Tube Amps
A tube amp produces much warmer tones than its solid state counterpart, and when you crank up the gain you’ll hear its signature distortion – guitarists covet this form of harmonic distortion which adds life and unpredictable sounds to their bass guitar tone. Different tubes will break up at different points and produce various tones from creamy blues through to heavy metal growl – so experimentation may be necessary in finding out which types work best with your instrument.
Your electric signal from your bass passes through preamp tubes before being sent onward to power tubes for amplification. Each preamp tube contains both positive and negative poles called cathodes and grids which, when subject to guitar signals from pickups, cause electrons to flow freely from cathode to grid and produce amplified guitar sounds. When your guitar signal from pickups is applied, these charged grids attract electrons that flow from cathode towards cathode creating more electricity flowing between these two poles, amplifying your guitar sound as a result of negative/positive forces between their attractions thus creating amplified guitar sounds!
These tubes must be regularly replaced as part of an amp’s maintenance routine, and their failure can manifest as loss of volume, inability to access higher gain settings or an intermittent shutdown. If this occurs on your amp it’s wise to contact an experienced tech as it could require recalibration or rebuilding altogether.
Many components within a tube amp require repair or replacement, including the reverb and tremolo, power transformer and capacitors that may have become defective.
Remind yourself that tube amplifiers operate at extremely high voltages and should only be opened and modified by qualified technicians. Opening an amp yourself or replacing the tubes yourself can result in serious injury or even death; always ask the technician’s credentials first, along with his/her explanation of their process as well as advantages/disadvantages of various kinds of tubes before engaging their services.
2. Solid State Amps
Years ago, transistor technology revolutionized amps. While tube amps remain the go-to choice of many guitarists, solid state amps can also be quite effective and used with bass guitars as well. Like their tube counterparts, solid state amps use transistor circuits to convert electrical signals into audio waves that can then be further altered using effects like EQ and reverb for maximum sonic customization.
Solid state amplifiers tend to be smaller and more reliable than tube amps, yet lack their natural overdrive that guitarists adore in tube amps. Thanks to technological advancements, some solid state amp manufacturers are creating digital components which mimic this sound; these models are known as modelling amps and are widely available at different price points.
Solid state amps may be better suited to handle the more aggressive low frequencies produced by bass guitars than tube amplifiers can, since their design wasn’t intended to withstand gigging volumes and the speakers may become over-stretched over time.
Some metal bass players, particularly Dimebag Darrel of Pantera and Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, have become known to favor high-gain tube amps due to the aggressive, harsh tone it can produce.
If budget or tone limitations prevent you from buying an amp, digital programs exist which can replicate the sound of a guitar amplifier while including effects like distortion, overdrive, and reverb. Such programs include AmpliTube, Guitar Rig, Positive Grid’s BIAS FX 2 and Neural DSP; all free to try online. Alternatively there are numerous high-quality audio interfaces from companies such as Focusrite or Audient that can connect your bass directly to your computer for playback.
3. DI
Bass guitars have extremely low notes that require amps with ample headroom in order to deliver them properly. Bass amps typically boast higher headroom than their counterparts, enabling louder volumes before distortion sets in; this is crucial because their long frequency waveforms require lots of power from their speakers in order to produce.
If you plug a bass into an amp that doesn’t feature a high-pass filter, distortion may occur and cause irreparable damage to its components. Luckily, most amplifiers include such filters which filter out lower frequency output to stop this from happening.
Many bass guitarists utilize a DI box when recording bass guitar. A DI box converts instrument level signals into microphone level signals that can then be fed directly into mixers, audio interfaces or any equipment accepting mic input for recording purposes. DI bass recording produces clean yet punchy tones which blend easily with other instruments and effects for easy mixing purposes.
Some guitar amps feature built-in DIs that make bass recording much simpler. These DIs usually include an EQ control which can help shape tone by adjusting bass knob to focus on lower frequencies or mid knob to give fuller sound.
Alternative approaches involve using a dedicated dummy-load speaker simulator such as the UA OX or Two Notes Torpedo Captor which will allow you to record bass directly into an audio interface or mixing desk without the need for amplifiers, while eliminating any potential phasing issues that could result from two tracks being played at once.
Multiple audio interfaces feature multiple input channels to accommodate for running both DI tracks and amp tracks into separate input channels for mixing purposes. When mixing, these can then be blended to produce a fuller sound with more of the amp’ed-up frequencies that don’t translate well through DI.
4. EQ
Guitar amps were not designed to handle the low frequencies that bass guitars require, though it is certainly possible to plug a bass guitar into one – though doing so should be avoided as doing so could damage its speakers and it won’t sound anywhere near as great as having its own dedicated amp would do. Bassists should keep one ready, using guitar amps only when absolutely necessary.
Bass players seeking an amplifier with built-in equalization controls will want to opt for one with an equalization section that enables them to adjust frequency responses according to their bass’s needs, making the sound even better through their amp.
One way to achieve great bass amp sounds is with an EQ-equipped pedal. This gives you greater control of tone by cutting muddy frequencies while amplifying others that will make the bass sound vibrant and clearer.
Are You Searching for an Alternative Bass Amp Solution? Modeling amps offer a cost-cutting alternative, providing similar tonality without all the costs of traditional amps. These units act as preamps and send an audio signal directly to headphones, an audio interface/DAW or PA system directly, acting as preamps in real-time! Moreover, these models can also act as amp simulators within software applications.
No matter which amp you select, it is crucial that you dedicate enough time and practice to master its use. Doing this will not only help improve your skills as a bassist but also develop them with whatever amp you choose. Finding an amp that suits your needs can encourage more frequent sessions and an improvement of tone with each session; finding one may even motivate more sessions! David has been playing guitar since 1998 primarily playing hard rock/metal but over time his taste in music has expanded into various genres and subgenres. Since 2017 he has been writing articles for Ultimate Guitar since 2017.