Plugging a Bass guitar into a guitar amp?

[BluesHowler]

I have a Line 6 Spider III 75W guitar amp and today I plugged my bass guitar into it. It sounded great but I'm worried that I might damage the speaker or something else that I have no idea might be damaged.

Any thoughts from you experts?

[tot_Ou_tard]

I'd doubt that it'd be a problem. After all you can hit the front end with a pedal & come out alive.

But, as I know nothing, I'll defer to the experts who'll be around in just a moment.

[t_ross33]

Should be no issue at very moderate volumes, but to reproduce low frequencies, the speaker cone needs to travel a greater distance than it would have to go to reproduce "guitar-friendly" frequencies. Since most guitar amps, including the speaker(s), are designed for a specific purpose, there is potential to "blow" or "pop" the speaker cone. Prolonged exposure to very low frequencies may have a less-than-desirable effect as well.

Proceed with caution.

[Ch0jin]

T_ross is correct. The main cause for concern is speakers, it depends a lot on the type/config/rating of the speakers but low to medium volume should be ok. Much more so through say a marshall 4x12 than a champ single 8" of course. You'll probably hear the speaker b*tching before you get close to killing it assuming you play your bass pretty clean. Go real easy on the slappin and poppin though until your sure you have the volume low enough.

The other potential issue is maybe blowing a B+ fuse. Low frequencies require more power, and a bass obviously produces lower freqs than a guitar. An example of this happening might be if you feed a low power guitar amp into a bass box thinking ur all sweet and when you pound an open E and all goes quiet....

[Brian Krashpad]

See 2 preceding posts.

Keep it at a low volume and you should be OK. I managed to gig for the better part of a year on bass, playing through an old Kustom guitar amp, but it had a 15" J.B. Lansing (precursor to JBL) speaker in it. No damage done, though it still didn't sound as good as a rig meant for bass. When I was "gigging" in church, rather than bring two rigs (I played guitar on some songs, bass on others), I played bass through a PA head into a Laney guitar 4x12 cab. Because we were at low volumes, no harm done. Just pay attention to what sounds you're getting. If it starts "farting out," back off the volume.

[Katastrophe]

Also, be careful if your bass is a 5 string with a low "B" string. I borrowed one once to use with a Fender Bassman amph with a 15" speaker, and the thing was farting out, even though the amph was designed for bass.

Tried the bass on my Crate guitar amph at home during a practice session. The least amount of pressure on that low B caused the speakers to vibrate excessively, and I was at a barely audible volume level.

Be careful!

[Brian Krashpad]

Also, be careful if your bass is a 5 string with a low "B" string. I borrowed one once to use with a Fender Bassman amph with a 15" speaker, and the thing was farting out, even though the amph was designed for bass.

Tried the bass on my Crate guitar amph at home during a practice session. The least amount of pressure on that low B caused the speakers to vibrate excessively, and I was at a barely audible volume level.

Be careful!

Good point! All my basses over the years have been 4-strings, I tend to forget that there are plenty 5-strings out there with a low B!