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 :)

Spacey,

I played around with one of those small Ampeg heads and speaker cabinets one day while visiting a GC a while back. It sounded great. So good, I seriously thought about walking out of there with it and selling my current 60w Bassman. At first I thought I had just found a really good sounding and playing P Bass. I started picking other guitars off the wall and every bass I plugged into it sounded great.

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.

spacey
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.

As far as I know, Marshall now only offer solid state micro. 
I saw an older used one (pre MG series) for $199 at GC yesterday.
And there's the MG, obviously.

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.

A lot of nice bass rigs are based on a specialty pre amp running in to a general purpose power amp.
 
A LA-610 preamp strip running into a crown Macro Tech will get the job done if you have some speakers that make bass sound good.
 
I had some Klipsch La Scalas that I used to play with a small Peavey P.A. Head and a P-Bass.
 
The La Scalas made my P Bass sound like butter. A really unique tonality that seemed so smooth and sweet down in the lowest registers.
 
 
The older Ampegs had a mid range circuit that was based upon an wound inductor. It had the most delicious mid range and low mids tonality I have ever heard for bass. It let each player find their voice.
 
In my mind, that is what set AMPEG apart from all the other bass amps.
 
IIRC, Some of the new AMPEG stuff has that feature... it's worth seeking out.
 

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.