Geetar amps for bass

Because, those amps, through good bass cabinets, sounded amazing, nothing more. 

When I "returned to playing" back in 2000, I bought several toys that could be used in various set ups:

At the beginning, I bought a Gallien Krueger 400RB bass amp head. I loved the sound.

Then I picked up a used Kustom B200-215 cabinet. I gave that to my then 15 yr old son....did not blow his skirt up, so I went hunting and found...

The next in the saga was a stack, Carvin "rat fur" RL410T and RL15....When my son got tired of it...or rather, when my son gained the sense of smell such as cute girls wearing perfume, he was done playing and I was interested in get more toys....but for rehearsal, I picked up a Carvin RL210T.

Then I was playing in the band that ended up being the band I playing with now but I had to have something smaller and lighter for house parties and small venues, and a couple of restaurants. So I tried the Carvin RL210T with the GK 200MB, slightly more than I needed but sounded very nice as a smaller gig. Eventually, I tried to downsize with an SWR Workingman 160 (I think that is right). I blew that by installing a digital rack mount tuner in the rack with the SWR which made it far heavier than I was hoping for.

Time moves on and so do bands...I got busy with my sound company and laid out for a while. The next band got the full stack with the SWR and I was realizing there WAS a reason for lighter weight...and my back and hips were those reasons.

For about 6 years with the blues/R&B/Motown band, I used a Gallien Krueger MB210 combo amp...35 pounds as I recall. But it beat my knees and calves every time I picked it up.

Currently, I have a tendency to play thru the PA, but I do have some lightweight digital components that I can put together any time.

I picked up two Ampeg PF350 heads (around 9 pounds) and two of the Carvin 20 pound 115MBE (Micro Bass Extension cabinet). I also picked up an Eden EX112-4 (4 Ohm extension cabinet, with gave me plenty of sound for some of the mid sized venues without taking both 115MBE, thus I foolishly sold one of the Carvin 115MBE to a friend on the FDP about 2 years ago? 18 months? I also picked up the Carvin MB10 (combo amp with a single 10 with a 250 Watt at 4 Ohm Carvin amp) which was and is plenty light (26 pounds).

More recently, I picked up a TC Electronics BG250-112 combo. It has not blown my skirt up....so it will be trading fodder sooner or later.

WHY USE GUITAR AMPS FOR BASS? Well, Vox has not made a decent bass rig since the early 60s...and even then it was kind of lame...BUT I love the nostalgia of Vox. So, back in the years when I bought the GK 400MB I found a Vox VR212 and later found a Vox VR125 Lead amp. I changed the speakers to some Peavey Black Widow 12s that could carry bass. Eventually, I found a Vox VR115. Again, I replaced with a Peavey Black Widow...

I should point out that I was in a classic 60s rock band in 2001....at least the geezers liked us.

I was able to satisfy my yearning for what I could not afford back in the 60s...a really decent bass rig. Soon I decided the GK 400RB sounded much better than the V125 tube amp for bass....and I saved around 50 pounds of lift AND I wasn't nervous about damaging a fairly rare amplifier. Not much later, the same thing applied to the two VR212 and VR115. So, I ordered a licensed reproduction of the Vox T100 cabinet that might have been used by Sir Paul. North Coast Music was/is a licensed manufacturer for speaker cabinet parts including the fret cloth and the year specific badges and trim pieces. Don't ask, I was seriously addicted...and would build my own if I thought I was going back to classic rock of the ancient years of 63-73.

I have several Vox pieces and some have been modified to carry bass. (Unfortunately, I decided to take the Celestions out of the Vox Pathfinder 210 and put it back to "guitar". I was afraid I would damage the cabinet playing gigs...and the average audience member at our Americana music band would not "get the nostalgia".)

I am sure that every generation has their own "make do" approach...I met a couple of guys buying the SVT210 because they are cheaper than the 410. (not the micro, the full size 210 from about 10 years ago.) It is what sounds good....or what "gets you thru the cash shortage"...there will always be people who use alternative amps and cabinets as needed...

I have even used an 8 inch practice guitar amp for bass while learning a new song. That little solid state amp has been with me for 2 decades. but it sets within reach of the computer.

And yes, I have played bass thru a Silvertone 2x12 when I couldn't rent the Silvertone 6x10 .  (Back in high school days, one guy in my hometown would rent his 6x10 when he wasn't using it.  Ultimately, he sold the Silvertone and bought a Sunn with a tube head and 2x15 cabinet.  Eventually, he rented that and later yet (1970) he offered it for sale and I bought it.  After about a year, of hard rock it lived in storage for the rest of its life with me.  After I started my career as a cop AND I got married, I finally decided that I would never play again and sold it in 1974.  (sob, sniff-sniff).  Boy I missed that rig in 2000.

Use whatcha got....when ya got it.

Haven't we all been there done that (me a few times over)

I'm partial, at low volumes, mind you, for recording purposes, to split a Jazz Chorus and whatever amp I'm using for bass - pretty much anything with a closed-back 4x12 that's loud and stupid clean on the other. It just adds a presence that adding the chorus circuit doesn't - I've run the preamp out of the JC into a power amp, or the CE-2W in CE-1 mode (that matches my Jazz Chorus to a T, except is less noisy) and it's something about the interaction with the chorus and the speakers and the Jazz Bass or the VI that gets me.

For lower-volume Lemmy mode, the little Marshall DSL1 head with the clean channel dimed and a high-efficiency 1x12 cab does wonders.