Could this be my dream valve starter bass amp??

[kristinaelias]

Okay, I know I might be barking up the wrong tree here, but that's what I'm tring to find out. Fender have just launched an all valve 14w, 15" combo with 'instrument', 'mic', and 'accordian' inputs, for just shy of £230. As a valve tone obsessed guitarist who wants to start dabbling in bass playing [b]at home only[/b] I'm getting rather excited. Do you think the 'instrument' input could include 'bass guitar' or would I break it with a passive P?
[url="http://www.andertons.co.uk/combo-amps/pid22841/cid691/fender-pawnshop-excelsior-12w-1x15-combo.asp"]http://www.andertons.co.uk/combo-amps/pid22841/cid691/fender-pawnshop-excelsior-12w-1x15-combo.asp[/url]

[Dad3353]

[quote name='kristinaelias' timestamp='1327148388' post='1506948']Okay, I know I might be barking up the wrong tree here...[/quote]
Good afternoon, kristinaelias...

I've no experience with this amp; it looks good, but I would think your guitars would profit more from it than a bass. You probably won't 'break' it, but I'm not sure that it'll do what you want for bass (depending, of course, on what you want as a 'bass' sound...).
For bass, it's not the same as guitar (at least, for me...). The idea with bass is to have ton's of 'headroom', so that it stays clean, even at high power. Valve amps give this, but, imho, only biggun's. I have a 50w Fender Bassman, into 2x15, which does the job at home. For stage, it's a 200w Hiwatt head. We're out of 'home' use here. For guitar, the 'valve' overdriven sound is fine, but for bass, it's not easy to crank into those tones without a big rig. A small amp will not give that same effect.
For home use, and a clean sound, a Peavey, or Hartke solid state would give a better tone, I think; if you want or need overdrive or disto, go to pedals.
Just my tuppence worth, others will doubtless contradict.
Hope this helps...

[Pentode]

Although you probably won't do it any harm, in my opinion it won't sound up to much.....

If you can raise a bit more cash, I can highly recommend a used Little Bastard 30.

[franzbassist]

[quote name='Pentode' timestamp='1327243505' post='1508211']
If you can raise a bit more cash, I can highly recommend a used Little Bastard 30.
[/quote]

+1 to this.

[kristinaelias]

I'm sure the LB30 would be just the ticket, but by the time I've also got a cab I'm looking at in excess of £400 S/H, rather too much - I need to find out if I can play first! That's why I think that at £230 the Excelsior might be worth a shot. Obviously the only eq control will be the different inputs which is rather primitive / crude, but also simple - if I'm learning bass I want to spend more time fiddling with the guitar than the amp. Perhaps one or two of the inputs might be usable for bass? Also if I decide I'm not going to be a bass player after all I wouldn't end up lumbered with an amp to shift. I'm going to be going for an old school sound with a Squier CV 50s P, so maybe all the retro vibes will synergise into a simple but effective, smooth, round plonk of tubey loveliness?

[Prime_BASS]

Maybe you should just plonk around on the bass without an amp....
Or with your guitar amp (if you have one)

I'll say now that you wont break anything at all by using a bass with a guitar amp. You just won't get the same low end extension that you get with PA or a dedicated Bass amp.

[musophilr]

The Anderton's spiel gives the impression the speaker will handle the bass. Question is, will the amplifier deliver it? From investigating the circuitry of a Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50 - OK OK I know it's not the same thing but get this - the only difference between the bass side and the treble side is the former has a 0.47µF d.c. blocking cap between it's preamp and the phase splitter, whereas the latter has a 0.22µF cap. So if it really is that easy to voice an amplifier for bass vs. treble, then a cheap component from Maplins with a switch (so you can have it as per original, or modded) should be easy to fit and you've got yourself an amplifier that'll do both. The main problem with putting bass through a guitar amplifier is that it sounds somewhat lightweight.The above cap. mod. could well fix that for you. As you turn it up closer to max you may start to worry about what's happening in the o/p transformer too, but at "home" volumes I wouldn't have thought that was significant: the neighours will complain before the o/p transformer begins to suffer. See your friendly neighbourhood amp. tech., and if he contradicts me, then believe him not me!

[charic]

If you're only starting out get something small for home use only

Line6 Studio 110
Roland Cube
Ashdown Perfect 10 or 15 (they're a series)

Honestly I think you're better off with an amp designed for Bass rather than a jack of all trades.

[SebCarr]

From what I've been told these break up very early. Very little clean headroom - so heaven for guitarists looking for a bluesy tone, but likely to be a bit gritty for bass.

I play bass through a 5 watt class A valve amp (10" speaker), albeit one with a few more controls than this. It can sound good - but it'd be much better if it were voiced for bass. It lacks a little authority at the low end too - but that's as much the speaker as anything (Weber Alnico Silver 10). Different speaker, different voicing and it'd be much better. In fact, I intend to build something similar (although more than likely a push-pull pair than a single ended, as this one is) for bass at some point.

All I can really suggest is try one out. If it rocks, get it. If it's not great then look elsewhere.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1327327497' post='1509322']
The Anderton's spiel gives the impression the speaker will handle the bass. Question is, will the amplifier deliver it? From investigating the circuitry of a Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50 - OK OK I know it's not the same thing but get this - the only difference between the bass side and the treble side is the former has a 0.47µF d.c. blocking cap between it's preamp and the phase splitter, whereas the latter has a 0.22µF cap. So if it really is that easy to voice an amplifier for bass vs. treble, then a cheap component from Maplins with a switch (so you can have it as per original, or modded) should be easy to fit and you've got yourself an amplifier that'll do both. The main problem with putting bass through a guitar amplifier is that it sounds somewhat lightweight.The above cap. mod. could well fix that for you. As you turn it up closer to max you may start to worry about what's happening in the o/p transformer too, but at "home" volumes I wouldn't have thought that was significant: the neighours will complain before the o/p transformer begins to suffer. See your friendly neighbourhood amp. tech., and if he contradicts me, then believe him not me!
[/quote]

problem I see it isn't the amp, an amp is an amp is an amp.... it's the speakers... and there is a difference why bass uses closed back or ported enclosures and guitar open back....
My answer to the OP - no, no it's not.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1327327497' post='1509322']
The Anderton's spiel gives the impression the speaker will handle the bass. Question is, will the amplifier deliver it? From investigating the circuitry of a Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50 - OK OK I know it's not the same thing but get this - the only difference between the bass side and the treble side is the former has a 0.47µF d.c. blocking cap between it's preamp and the phase splitter, whereas the latter has a 0.22µF cap. So if it really is that easy to voice an amplifier for bass vs. treble, then a cheap component from Maplins with a switch (so you can have it as per original, or modded) should be easy to fit and you've got yourself an amplifier that'll do both. The main problem with putting bass through a guitar amplifier is that it sounds somewhat lightweight.The above cap. mod. could well fix that for you. As you turn it up closer to max you may start to worry about what's happening in the o/p transformer too, but at "home" volumes I wouldn't have thought that was significant: the neighours will complain before the o/p transformer begins to suffer. See your friendly neighbourhood amp. tech., and if he contradicts me, then believe him not me!
[/quote]

Transformer is kind of the big deal, the size is proportional to how much low it can pass. Old amps tended toward big ones.

Edited January 23, 2012 by Mr. Foxen

[derrenleepoole]

If money is an option, and you must have that 'valve' tone, then have a look at the new Kustom series of amps. I don't know anyone who uses them, and I keep mentioning them on here in the hope that someone buys one, and tells me if they're any good But seriously, they do a range of [url="http://www.kustom.com/product_family.aspx?TypeID=6&FamilyID=116&Tab=0"]combo's[/url] that have a valve input stage with a solid state amps, and they're stupid cheap! To give you an idea, for a separates options, I think the 300m watt head is £200 and a 2x10 cab is just over £100 from Thomann! Might not be the best amp ever, but at that price, worth a punt?

[Salt on your Bass?]

Id go with a cheap Bass practice amp And stick a vt Bass pedal infront of it. Maybe not perfect, but you're dabbling. Go second hand And if it doesn't Work out sell it on.