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Go with a Musician HD-150, they can be had for around $500, they sound real good and are built like tanks. I own two of them if that says anything about how great they are.

MusicMan is awesome, super loud and bassy, bit it does have the fenderish eq so the mids are different than other bass amps, so keep that in mind.

I've got an HD130 and it's great. I love it for bass and guitar

Well, I guess I'm the only one who thinks the HD130 is a terrible bass amp. MY experience: doesn't cut well and is way way way underpowered/ not loud enough for bass. For guitar, it's the kitties titties.

And then to contribute to the thread, I'd get a (used or new) 700/800/1001RB and the biggest cab you can find.

yeah I find the EQ to be not very flexible, I can understand having problems cutting through, i've experienced this too in some band setups. I haven't had volume issues however. I mostly just play alone though, so it works for me

Used: some sort of instrument rack preamp for $100 and then a PA amp for another $2-300. Then the rack case and misc cables are going to be another $200. Then buy whatever cab matches the PA amp for the $4-500 you have left.

The advantage of this is that you can buy another cab if you want to be louder or replace the preamp if you want another sound, etc.

Or if that's too complicated get a Markbass combo for $500 or so or a Peavey for much cheaper. They're both pretty loud and good-sounding. The Markbass is much lighter which explains the cost difference.

I use Ashly SC-40, QSC 3602 and 2xAcme B2, 8 ohm. The Acme is super inefficient so it's not even that loud. But it sounds good and the whole thing, pieced together on Craigslist, just a little over your budget including rack and cables. With a single more efficient cab it could be louder and cheaper than what I have.