Stupid question time....

[megametal7]

ok.....

Dose using bass cab damage your tube guitar amp head????? Im lazy to take my cab to gig and bassist bring all the cabs which i can use..... will it damage for 30 min set?

Noob has to learn

 

[Blix]

No, no worries. :) Just make sure you match up the impedance between amp and cab.

 

[Iron1]

Such a stupid question...

Can't believe I was in a band with you... and we released songs... and we're friends... and you put up with my sad attempts at humor. WHat's wrong with you?

 

[GreatGreen]

It’s not a stupid question. That rumor has been around as long as guitar amps themselves.

The amp will in every likelihood be fine as long as it’s not already prone to breaking. Many guitar amps are built with the express purpose of being cranked as hard as possible to intentionally overdrive the most powerful components in the chassis for extended periods.

It’ll be fine.

 

[TSJMajesty]

You can hook an output to a higher ohm speaker, 8 Ohm output to a 16 Ohm speaker, for example, but from reading amp manuals, my understanding is you shouldn't go to a lower ohm speaker.

 

[Frodebro]

You can hook an output to a higher ohm speaker, 8 Ohm output to a 16 Ohm speaker, for example, but from reading amp manuals, my understanding is you shouldn't go to a lower ohm speaker.

A one step mismatch in either direction is usually safe with tube amps, it's solid state where the speaker impedance must not go below the amps rated minimum. The reason for this is that lowering the impedance increases the current in solid state devices (Ohm's Law here), and increasing the current increases the heat. If you put too low of an impedance on the output of a solid state amp, it will generate more heat than the components are designed to tolerate. When you increase the impedance on a solid state amp, the current (wattage) is reduced, but the amplifier also runs cooler.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Stupid questions come from the smartest of places.

 

[laxu]

A one step mismatch in either direction is usually safe with tube amps, it's solid state where the speaker impedance must not go below the amps rated minimum. The reason for this is that lowering the impedance increases the current in solid state devices (Ohm's Law here), and increasing the current increases the heat. If you put too low of an impedance on the output of a solid state amp, it will generate more heat than the components are designed to tolerate. When you increase the impedance on a solid state amp, the current (wattage) is reduced, but the amplifier also runs cooler.

I'd add that in my experience the impedance mismatch will also make the tone worse.

 

[Life Eats Life]

I'd add that in my experience the impedance mismatch will also make the tone worse.

Yep,
“The sound of doing something wrong”

 

[Frodebro]

I'd add that in my experience the impedance mismatch will also make the tone worse.

It will make it different. Some may hear it as worse, some may hear it as better, but that’s a subjective thing.

 

[laxu]

It will make it different. Some may hear it as worse, some may hear it as better, but that’s a subjective thing.

Fair. My experience is that it always makes the sound worse - you lose some power, and even matching volume back up, you lose some punch and the low frequencies to me sound somehow "fuzzier." So best to just avoid impedance mismatches in the first place.

 

[paisleywookiee]

As long as you don’t use a bass+bass amp into a guitar cab, you’re fine. The way you’re running it won’t hurt anything, though I don’t know how good it’ll sound.