Recurrent question... More headroom...

[marcicasatele]

Hi to everybody!
To have the best clean setup I considered many solutions
- getting a fender twin, Roland jc-120 etc, tonemaster or any other famous clean ss or tube amp
- swap with a more efficient speaker
- swap tubes with lower gain
I recently bought for my son a fender rumble 100w for bass, but tried the guitar in it and was ok, swap the speaker with a jensen c12k 8 ohm... And wow ... Lot of volume, lot of definition, without breakup, much more than my current nomad carvin 50w (considered one with good clean tone). Than i use i tried a friend's 250w markbass bass head with a 8ohm dual cabinet (used, 200 dollars) with two eminence swamp thang .... I think this simple setup (bass head + 2 guitar speaker that bear also bass response) will blow away any other combo guitar amp out there, and probably could be louder with an 4 ohm cab. This assuming you want clean sound and letting pedals do the rest.

 

[naveed211]

Whatever works!

I was shocked at how little volume I actually needed for clean headroom in a band situation. I was running a Quilter at about 4 watts at rehearsal and it was pristine (Still quite loud). Even my 20 watt tube amp is enough for the space.

It’s cool you found something you like that works for you.

 

[Axis29]

I've been using a 4x10 Bassman for years.....

 

[brookdalebill]

Howdy and welcome!

 

[uriah1]

Welcome and enjoy

You will get clean, but the hi-fi may bug you after awhile.
Guitars project in that mids-area...so guitar speakers
that hit that mark fit better. The roland jazzer might be nice.

 

[marcicasatele]

Welcome and enjoy

You will get clean, but the hi-fi may bug you after awhile.
Guitars project in that mids-area...so guitar speakers
that hit that mark fit better. The roland jazzer might be nice.

I suppose you get the hi-fi "defect" if you use full-range speakers of PA or an active FR guitar speaker.
But if you use a "wi-fi" solid state amplification (in this case, wi-fi meaning no distortion) given by a bass head (that are just a little shifted to the bass side, but easily adapted to guitar with minimal eq setting), the mid emphasis I imagine is given by the guitar speakers. So you have a "clean" signal that goes to a guitar speaker, that tame the highest frequencies above 6-8000HZ and give the right amount of mids, depending on the chosen speaker.
To achieve high volume without distortion with a guitar amp, you need the highest 85-100w amp, that are very expensive...jc-120 are listed 1600 euro and fender twin rever 2000 euro. My idea is to achieve that volume without distortion, staying in a budget setup... you can can a 300 watt bass head for 200 euro and a guitar cab for 150. This give you a Jazz setup or pedal platform with a fraction of the cost. Quilters are 1000 euro and above. Other cheaper solid state guitar combos have all built-in effects or cheap custom speakers or the distortion emulation that i don't want and need, and are max 100w (the fender 100 XXL)

 

[klasaine]

Something that's often overlooked is one's pickups.
Always go for a low, normal or 'vintage' wind so that (with tubes especially) you're not pushing the front end too hard.

 

[Killing Floor]

Welcome. Part of the magic in some guitar amps is speaker breakup. With bass speakers you don’t get that, therefore more apparent headroom. If your dirt comes from the signal chain or you don’t need any grit there’s nothing physically wrong with guitar through a bass speaker. You may sacrifice a little high range.
Likewise Carol Kaye famously preferred to record her bass through a guitar combo.
If it sounds good it is good.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

The bass player I have been playing with lately has a markbass combo with 4x10 and it is very clear and nice. The frequency is tight and focused in the range that really locks down the low end with some thump.

It also stays outta the guitar/keys range in the mids which I really appreciate. We are able to play with such clarity and articulation with each instrument occupying their proper place.

Headroom and punch are enormous.

I have been playing with a Fender Blues Deluxe through the low-gain input on the clean channel with some occasional use of a Tumnus and a Spark clean boost. (Fender Deluxe has a warehouse C12 speaker).

 

[joebloggs13]

Hi to everybody!
To have the best clean setup I considered many solutions
- getting a fender twin, Roland jc-120 etc, tonemaster or any other famous clean ss or tube amp
- swap with a more efficient speaker
- swap tubes with lower gain
I recently bought for my son a fender rumble 100w for bass, but tried the guitar in it and was ok, swap the speaker with a jensen c12k 8 ohm... And wow ... Lot of volume, lot of definition, without breakup, much more than my current nomad carvin 50w (considered one with good clean tone). Than i use i tried a friend's 250w markbass bass head with a 8ohm dual cabinet (used, 200 dollars) with two eminence swamp thang .... I think this simple setup (bass head + 2 guitar speaker that bear also bass response) will blow away any other combo guitar amp out there, and probably could be louder with an 4 ohm cab. This assuming you want clean sound and letting pedals do the rest.

Headroom in a small package... Louis Electric Columbia Reverb. It's 18 watts with 6v6s and 28 watts with 6L6s. Louis Electric live in the land of big, loud amps. The Columbia is a vintage BF circuit and has incredible clean tones.

 

[MTPilot]

To achieve high volume without distortion with a guitar amp, you need the highest 85-100w amp, that are very expensive...jc-120 are listed 1600 euro and fender twin rever 2000 euro. My idea is to achieve that volume without distortion, staying in a budget setup...

You might want to look into Koch amps (https://www.koch-amps.com/). I have a Koch Jupiter 45 Combo that can be set very loud in volume without ever distorting (unless I want to...than I change the settings - more gain on the clean channel, or I switch to the overdrive channel). It is a hybrid, but with a tube in both the pre-amp and in the power amp. I think they are about €650 new. Koch also has full tube amps, which are more expensive, and from what I've heard, also have a huge amount of headroom.

Having said all that...I like your bass pre-amp, guitar speaker set-up!

 

[Daytona.57]

Check out my post on the Bassman 410H cab with guitar:

New Cab Fender Bassman 4x10 410H, With Guitar

New cab day, Oct. 15/21, Fender Bassman 4x10 410H bass cab, 300W, 8 ohm, four years old, barely used, $200.00, just taking up space. The original owner switched to a combo bass amp. I am using it for guitar, it is amazingly clear, the only things I had to adjust, were, the Fender Pro Jr IV...

www.tdpri.com

 

[Refugee]

Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. Your friend got a 250w markbass bass head with a 8ohm dual cabinet, for only $200.00? That's the deal of the century! Congratulations.