BASS through a bass amp??

http://www.bunnybass.com/e-zine/pictures/amusing/fish_guitar.jpg

Sorry to get all serious.
rant over, though I'd to elaborate...

I'm on a small equipment-buying spree and my gf has asked the crazy gear snob of the house (meaning me) to help her pick out a bass amp. We occasionally play with a drummer, so it should have some heft when necessary, but I'm otherwise without clue as to what's current these days.

I only have experience with the ampeg rocket but we loved it enough to buy the exact same amp when the first was ruined in a fire. relatively compact, loud, good grit.

depends on your budget really. what are you looking to spend?

in general i dig the Ashdown stuff. Ampeg is venerable and awesome, but avoid the Vietnamese made stuff. Lots and lots of service problems.

I've used SWR gear most of my playing days and nothing compares (except maybe the uber expensive brands that I've never tried)

I've tried lots of different makes over the years and never understood the love for Ampeg SVTs or why so many great players use them, I was at a Zorn gig in London just recently and Trevor Dunn was using an SVT stack and it sounded like utter shite.

Used one of these for years and it was great.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SWR-Basic-350-Bass-Amplifier-/231022841494?pt=US_Pro_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item35ca08ce96

ive not heard good things about post-fender purchase swr, but that could just be the usual change hating epidemic in the guitar geek world

I got to say, I love the SVT 4x10 cab I got and liked the one 8x10 fridge I got to plug into at a show where they didn't want to swap out the bass cabinet. I use the cab with a Gallien Krueger 700RB and a Boss TU-2 tuner.

Conversely, I've heard bad things about the lower-end Ashdown models too. Guitar geek change hating is everywhere.

depends on your budget really. what are you looking to spend?

Trying to keep it under $500 (whether it's new, used, whatever)

After a quick look on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SWR-350x-Pro-Bass-Amplifier-Amp-Head-/231022327192?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ca00f598

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SWR-Working-Pro-4x10-/141024253672?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d5b356e8

Does anyone use a bass headphone amp/practice amp/preamp? I have an old discontinued one from Raven Labs that I like but every once in a while I fear it is going to die. Guess the alternatives these days are the cheaper Cafe Walter and the pricey Phil Jones Bass Buddy.

If you have a mixing board and a DI box, you are set. Just run your head phones off the mixing board.

Update on previous dilemma...

Courtesy eBay and your suggestions, I found a pre-Fender SWR Bass 350 and an Avatar 4x10 cabinet. Sounds righteous and all within budget and on time for GF's birthday.

Thanks everyone!

I've had an SWR Super Redhead (pre-Fender) for a million years, and it's a damn good amplifier that does everything and doesn't break. It doesn't get quite the "barks when you push it" overdriven sound I like these days without help from a pedal, but it always sounds nice and organic and it is very versatile (I keep the goddamn tweeter off at all times, mind you). SWR is the only hybrid gear that I like, but I've never warmed (HA!) to their stuff without pre-amp tubes.

I really like all-tube heads! The thing not to forget is that you are still playing a bass through the amps, and the bass makes a huge difference -- I don't love Fender Precisions through Ampeg or Orange for anything but HEAVY ROCK, MAN, but I like fancy-ass handmade super articulate instruments with passive electronics, and the marriage of fusion chops-monster instrument to psychedelic caveman amp sounds really good to me. There's substance and weight, but not sludge. I was surprised -- but not really -- to discover recently that a lot of players who use the boutique Super J basses use them in passive mode most of the time.

The other thing about Ampegs is that their are maintenance-intensive and that companies calling themselves Ampeg have made some garbage amps over the years. If you have $2,000 to spend on a new head, get something from a small builder.

XP - Sweet, I really abused a Bass 350 for about 7 years straight on a regular basis with it gave me right back what I threw at it.