Whether you only didn't have admission to a guitar amp for that jam session at your buddy's garage or you lot're exploring complex setups that blend guitar and bass amps for extended range instruments, both camps have the same question…

Can I use my guitar with a bass amp?

First and foremost we need to lay out the differences between what makes something a bass or guitar amp.

The two types of amplifiers are more similar than they are different – the circuitry is very similar, they oftentimes share EQ controls, and are both designed for the same chore: to amplify an otherwise quiet signal.

The biggest differences you lot'll see are power, speaker size, and of course frequency response.

When it comes to power, bass amps take the block. They are significantly more than powerful in order to reproduce those low frequencies at an adequate book and still have a good amount of make clean headroom before the tone starts to misconstrue.

The goods news is that headroom is much greater for a guitar going through that amp. Y'all tin can plug your guitar into a bass amp and not have to worry about whatever potential damage to any of the gear involved.

However, that'south not the full story…

A bass amplifier isn't necessarily designed to create more bass every bit much as it is an inherent characteristic of using a larger speaker. The lower the frequency you want to support the larger the frequency must exist. This is why pocket-size speakers seem to sound "tinny" when music is played through them. Information technology'due south also why y'all don't see subwoofers made from four'' speakers.

These larger speakers are needed because the notes of a bass guitar sit down in a much lower register than that of the guitar.

On the other hand, a traditional guitar doesn't demand a large speaker as it doesn't produce those low frequencies in the commencement place, so information technology would exist rather wasteful both in cost and size to use a similarly large speaker.

Both amps and speakers impart their own "sound" to the instrument. Speakers have an EQ curve of their own, and the EQ controls – while on both types of amps might be labeled treble/mid/bass – don't impact the aforementioned frequency ranges. "Bass" on a guitar amp might exist around 200Hz, whereas on a bass amp it will be much lower than that, maybe 80Hz.

The reason backside these differences come downward to the role each instrument plays in a ring. Bass is not a lead instrument. The guitar is not a low-terminate rhythm instrument. As such, amp and speaker manufacturers pattern their products in a manner that helps those instruments polish in their respective roles.

In short, tonally, you might not like what y'all hear from using a guitar through a bass amp because it simply isn't designed with that purpose in mind.

So, dear friend, have no fearfulness about plugging your guitar into that bass amp! Journey onward towards great jam sessions with friends!