What's a portable bass amp?

[Kacey Y]

Fender Rumble Series are light as heck. Certain GK's are light as well but amp techs I have talked to told me thats the brand of bass amps they see the most for repairs? So I lean towards Fender.

I've never heard this, personally. I can only speak for myself, but I've owned a used GK 800RB and a new MB800 and used both at high volume regularly for years without any problems. There will always be ones that fail unexpectedly, but I don't I've never heard they're more prone to breaking than any other brand (I've heard the opposite, honestly, more often). If you asked me to guess which brands a tech said they fix most often for bass amps though, I'd guess Ampeg and GK, because they're some of the most widely used amps and there are a lot of decades old used ones still being bought and sold regularly. Same as if you asked a tech what guitar amps they have to fix the most, they'd probably say Marshall and Fender. Even though I don't think either are known for breaking more often, there's just a lot of them out there and there are still lots of 60's, 70's and 80's models regularly being used.

[Ghost Hip]

Fender Rumble Series are light as heck. Certain GK's are light as well but amp techs I have talked to told me thats the brand of bass amps they see the most for repairs? So I lean towards Fender.

I've never heard this, personally. I can only speak for myself, but I've owned a used GK 800RB and a new MB800 and used both at high volume regularly for years without any problems. There will always be ones that fail unexpectedly, but I don't I've never heard they're more prone to breaking than any other brand (I've heard the opposite, honestly, more often). If you asked me to guess which brands a tech said they fix most often for bass amps though, I'd guess Ampeg and GK, because they're some of the most widely used amps and there are a lot of decades old used ones still being bought and sold regularly. Same as if you asked a tech what guitar amps they have to fix the most, they'd probably say Marshall and Fender. Even though I don't think either are known for breaking more often, there's just a lot of them out there and there are still lots of 60's, 70's and 80's models regularly being used.

For sure, like I said its just what I heard, and your argument about it being because of numbers/widely used makes sense.

[OddKnowledge]

I have a version 1 GK MB115, it works pretty well at 200w, but in a loud 2 guitar band it may not be enough. take a look at the 400w GK or the Fender Rumble version to give a little more headroom.

[ThurberMingus]

Lots of good info fuzzbreaux! I'll keep my eyes peeled for some of the options listed!

Only one guitarist in the band, and she uses a Combe amp (Univox 2x12 I think?) and it's hardly running full tilt. I think 200w would be plenty.

[Bassist_Diver]

Another vote for the Gallien-Krueger MB combos. Seriously the best out there right now, IME. That being said, see if she can score a used 700RB-II and 115 or 410 cab, that would help her cut through 2 guitar amps.