Nashville 400 for Bass guitar???

[Ernie Pollock]

Not being much of an electronics person, recently someone told me that a Nashville 400 amp could be used (with the reverb turned off, I guess?) To play bass guitar through? they told me it is equipped with a bass speaker, not a guitar speaker like the Session 400's? Any of you guys know if that is true or not?? Or has anyone done this or know of any player playing bass through the Nashville, I know it is a great little amp, but with this it would become even better!!

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[Earnest Bovine]

Some of them have a bas speaker and some don't, but that little open back cabinet is not ideal for bass. I think you would ruin the speaker if you use it for bass on a gig.

[Bill Rowlett]

Ernie,

They will work fine as a bass amp in your living room. As Ernest pointed out, the open back is not ideal for a bass amp. The amp will have good tone, but it would be easy to over drive the speaker and damage the voice coil or basket. Bass frequencies move the speaker basket/voice coil quite a bit more than the usual guitar frequencies. The louder you play, the more the movement. Usual bass amp designs use closed back or ported designs to provide a degree of damping to the speaker basket in order to prevent excessive movement.

Hope this helps you,

Bill<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bill Rowlett on 13 February 2000 at 12:33 PM.]</p></FONT>

[Ernie Pollock]

thanks fellows, someone wanted to buy that amp to use for a bass amp, but with your input on that, I don't think I'll sell it to use for a bass amp. I would not want to ruin a perfect little amp, just to make a sale. I'll hang on to that one for a steel player or a lead picker. I learned something today, and who says an old dog can't learn a new trick, right? http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75

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[Marc Friedland]

Ernie, I believe you came to the right conclusion. The information Earnest & Bill gave you is correct. I know from personal experience. About 5 years ago when I had only been playing steel for about a year, I accepted an offer to play bass for a night. The only amp I had was a Nashville 400. It sounded ok at low volumes, but as soon as I had to turn it up in order to keep the right level with the band, it sounded shallow, with no punch at all. -- Marc

[Jack Stoner]

I have a friend that uses his steel amps for bass, and hasn't had any problems.

However, I would not do it for fear of permanently damaging the speaker.

[Ernie Pollock]

Yeah, I guess it might be ok here in my little store at low volume to pick a little bluegrass or something like that, but the kids that wanted to buy it for a bass amp probably want to turn it up pretty loud, that could damage the speaker and my reputation as well, so I promise everyone that it will be saved for the proper application, like steel or lead guitar. they are such a little workhorse of an amp, I just couldn't believe it could be a bass amp too, thats asking a bit much from PV!!

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[Larry Clark]

I've plugged my Fender Jazz Bass into my Nashville 400 for practicing around the house. With a little compression at low volumes it is a great sounding bass amp. However I have to agree with some of the other posters that if you get carried away and start to crank it up it looses it's tone rapidly and starts to distort. Might be O.K. for low level recording though.

[Ernie Pollock]

Yeah Larry, I plugged a bass in to the Nashville and at low volume it did not sound too bad, but as the guys above have pretty well nailed it down as far as it being in a loud situation, don't think it would hold up, sure would hate to blow that speaker!! Thanks for your input though. http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75

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