Bass through Guitar amp?

[Blue1Solo]

Can I play Bass Guitar through a Sunn 100 Watt Guitar amp..without causing a meltdown? Thanks.

[EdBass]

The amp doesn't care, some guitar speakers/cabs might not work as well for bass as they do for guitar frequencies.

[Isaac]

As Ed says, the amp won't care. Speakers, on the other hand, have two potential problems. Guitar speakers aren't designed to go particularly deep, so they usually don't have a good bass sound. And if you try to push them to make a good bass sound, then they can be damaged. Neither should be a problem if you're playing by yourself at relatively low volume, though.

The amp, being a guitar amp, isn't going to be optimized for bass, so it might not be able to produce a good sound, but it won't be damaged by trying. Lots of bass players get a great bass sound out of the old tube guitar amps such as the Sceptre and the Sentura heads. I have, many times.

Once, in my early days, I was playing bass through a small guitar combo amp, and the speaker burst into flames. Fortunately, that was on the last song. So, yeah, bass through guitar speakers, not a good thing.

[EdBass]

For a short stint in the mid 60's, John Entwistle played Sunn 100S guitar amps through 200S bass cabs. Worked great, also the Reeves era Hiwatt amps were designated "AP" for "all purpose", powerful clean amps that amplified whatever you put into them. Same concept with Marshall's but not as clean, the larger Brit amps associated with bass use, Hiwatt DR201, Marshall Major, were often used for bass because they were more powerful rather than them being designed for bass guitar. The lower the frequency the more power you need to get the desired SPL.

[Ramm]

And if it's the other way around?
guitar in bass amplifier?
Should the speakers be replaced by guitar ones?

[EdBass]

You won't hurt the amp or the speakers (assuming the drivers are in good shape and not worn out or damaged), however you could maybe get a little more volume using guitar drivers.

[Isaac]

And there's a good chance that a guitarist would like the sound better through guitar speakers. But in terms of safety and damage, guitar through bass speakers is not a problem.