Bass Amp - What do you guys think about...

This one - http://www.zzounds.com/item--AMPBA112
 
I might have an opportunity to jump on one of these, used.
Back in the days, I trusted brand names, so the fact that it's an Ampeg comes into play.
But I know next to nothing about bass amp - besides a few names: Hartke, Trace Elliott and Ampeg. 
And Acoustic too I think. W/ the pale blue thingie...
But nowadays, brands mean little if anything...
 
As I said before, we're only looking for a little practice amp for my wife who's starting out on bass.
Budget amps seem to come w/ 8" speaker mostly - but this one is a 12".
If I need to record bass, I will do it DI or buy a Bass POD - or ask one of our friends who has one of those dream rigs...

Looks really nice, but, you mean for a beginner? I was thinking, humble cube, you know...

mike_mccue
There are 2 kinds of bass amps.
 
1) The kind you play with a drummer.
 
2) The other kind.
 

 
This ^


Those big dream rigs are often optimized for pumping out desirable tone at high volume - which is a difficult feat with a bass, and one that doesn't necessarily translate to "good recorded tone".
 
For low volume playing I sometimes just use a guitar amp - you just need to keep the volume low enough to avoid making the speakers do things they don't want to do (!), and also set the pre gain low enough to avoid ugly distortion on those formidable transients bass players invoke. The main differences between modern guitar and bass amps is lots of clean headroom, different speakers/cabs, no reverb and different EQ.
 
If you're looking for a good practice/recording amp, you sort of have to try them to find something that sounds the way you want. Some people want dark and wooly and others want maximum punch, some want clean and others want a little hair, some want all boom and others want some twang. They do try, but it's hard to get all of the options above from a single amp.

mike_mccue
There are 2 kinds of bass amps.
 
1) The kind you play with a drummer.
 
2) The other kind.

Here's a picture of the two kinds.
 
HTH.
 

I'm currently using the head version of this amp.  It's working great for me at church.  I read good reviews about this combo.
 
http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCEBG250

craigb

spacey
Since I have the Marshall micro stack with 2-10" I favor this one.

Damn that is cool!

LOL....If that Ampeg is anything close to the Marshall it'll blow you away.
As cute as the Marshall is, it is not a toy.
 
I almost ordered the Ampeg a few weeks ago. I may yet ...then a micro drum kit? LOL
 
 

Rain there is always these guys....you can cut out the middle man and dress it in a color she likes too.

spacey
Rain there is always these guys....you can cut out the middle man and dress it in a color she likes too.

Seems nice - too bad he didn't demo the two smaller speaker configurations though.  That always makes you susp!cious whether they bring it or not - lol!

I did play a Traynor which belonged to the high school I went to - because I didn't have an amp and could only afford to rent one for a few days a couple of times a year.
 
Come to think of it, the bass player in my band also used to borrow the bass amp from school - can't remember which brand but it wasn't too good.
 
Maybe things changed but back then, Traynor didn't have a very good rep. The one thing I remember about the one I used was that it was indestructible.

The only issue w/ shopping in Vegas is that everything is as far from everything else as possible. You can't just go "downtown", park the car and just walk to the stores you want to see. Everything is as decentralized as it gets. So doing the pawn shop circuit or even just a few of them takes quite a bit of time, and w/ my wife doing 10 very demanding shows a week, we don't get many opportunities to shop around.
 

Rain
I did play a Traynor which belonged to the high school I went to - because I didn't have an amp and could only afford to rent one for a few days a couple of times a year.
 
Come to think of it, the bass player in my band also used to borrow the bass amp from school - can't remember which brand but it wasn't too good.
 
Maybe things changed but back then, Traynor didn't have a very good rep. The one thing I remember about the one I used was that it was indestructible.

The band I was in loaded up and went to a recording studio in Albq. NM ....after the first take attempt they rolled that Traynor out of the studio. LOL.
I don't remember it breaking down but nobody thought it sounded worth anything....it was my first amp...and it was bigger than me :)

I wish there was a place close by that I could go check gear Mike.
I'd probably leave with that micro Ampeg. I should get it before they
stop offering it. That happens with the micros. I think they've stopped the
Marshall now.

Now that you know I won't be trying to talk you out of a bass amp...
 
IF I wanted the "power" and loudness of an amp and my DAW couldn't
handle it OR there was a need for an amp because another was involved and a single DAW
couldn't cover both needs I would;
 
Get a power amp and a full range speaker cab(s)- (probably stereo set-up) and use my DAW.
My reasons are the versatility of software.
If you take my Guitar Rig 5 thread into consideration you'll understand that with something
I already have there is no way I could or would purchase all the equipment to do what it already does.
 
I good power amp and two good full range cabinets for use other than mixing sure adds a lot
of flexibility to the DAW. ( and may save a lot of money not buying equipment that is really specific for a single function)
 
Of course one needs an interface with multiple outs.

spacey
Now that you know I won't be trying to talk you out of a bass amp...
 
IF I wanted the "power" and loudness of an amp and my DAW couldn't
handle it OR there was a need for an amp because another was involved and a single DAW
couldn't cover both needs I would;
 
Get a power amp and a full range speaker cab(s)- (probably stereo set-up) and use my DAW.
My reasons are the versatility of software.
If you take my Guitar Rig 5 thread into consideration you'll understand that with something
I already have there is no way I could or would purchase all the equipment to do what it already does.
 
I good power amp and two good full range cabinets for use other than mixing sure adds a lot
of flexibility to the DAW. ( and may save a lot of money not buying equipment that is really specific for a single function)
 
Of course one needs an interface with multiple outs.

Well, if just for me, I wouldn't bother w/ an amp. I don't play "live", only in the studio. I own Amplitube SVX which does a darn fine job. I also own Guitar Rig, Pod Farm and Waves GTR, but I favor SVX for whichever reason. Logic X also includes Bass Amp Designer, which I assume will potentially be as good as anything out there.
 
But my wife is learning the instrument, and she likes to work in her own office or in the bedroom. I could always hook my old audio interface to her laptop and get a software amp for her, but that's really not what she wants and I can understand that. I've relied on computers and devices such as Line 6 POD for years to act as amps, but when I want to focus on my playing, nothing beats an actual amp, even the most basic solid state amp.