ilovefuzz.com

So as you may have seen in other threads: gf plays bass in a cool surf punk band. Right now she's using an old Peavey Mark VIII with a big assed 80s 1x15 cab. Sounds pretty good but she drives a Fiesta and busted the back window out once after a show when closing the hatch. So basically we need something more smaller. The band is reasonably loud but nothing crazy.
She uses a P bass and a TAFM fwiw.

What's a reasonably good sounding reasonably small reasonably affordable (>$300) bass combo that can keep up with a band? Also she doesn't really give a shit about gear so less controls = better.

I used to have a SWR Workingman’s 10 that I thought sounded great, they also made a 12 and 15 version, can be found used for 2-300 I think.

Yeah, I can't says enought about old (pre fender) SWR stuff. Peavey also made some good combos in the 80s and early 90s so did Trace Elliot. Some people like Ashdowns.. My personal preference interns of no never are Eden, behringer (spelling?) and markbass: I just hate the way they sound and their attract.

I can't say enough good stuff about my Ashdown Five-Fifteen. It's 100 Watts with one 15" but it has served me very well for yeeeears. It did very well with double humbuckers into TAFM and many other effects (past tense because I haven't played bass in a whiiiiile..modular synth is taking over my life. On a related note, the Ashdown works great for synth too but i run it into a Peavey Stereo Chorus 400 now)

Galleon Krueger mb115 combo!

Super light and small

I'd go for the GK MB210 (or 212, but it'd be a little more expensive), usually ~400 used. Slightly over budget but they sound great and are crazy light and compact. The MB115 is good, too, and cheaper, but it's "only" 200 watts. If she's just using it for stage monitoring and running the DI to the board, it'd likely be fine. They do make powered expansion cabs for the line, as well, so you could add one down the road if she really needs the volume.

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/mb-combos/

the new Fender Rumble 100?

JonnyAngle wrote:Galleon Krueger mb115 combo!

Super light and small

The Eristic wrote:I'd go for the GK MB210 (or 212, but it'd be a little more expensive), usually ~400 used. Slightly over budget but they sound great and are crazy light and compact. The MB115 is good, too, and cheaper, but it's "only" 200 watts. If she's just using it for stage monitoring and running the DI to the board, it'd likely be fine. They do make powered expansion cabs for the line, as well, so you could add one down the road if she really needs the volume.

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/mb-combos/

Only thing with GK is their super cheap stuff I found the speaks had a low breakup point, you really want to check the power rating before hand..

Those Ampeg BA115 combos are pretty slay imo.

Mudfuzz wrote:
Only thing with GK is their super cheap stuff I found the speaks had a low breakup point, you really want to check the power rating before hand..

wat?

JonnyAngle wrote:

Mudfuzz wrote:
Only thing with GK is their super cheap stuff I found the speaks had a low breakup point, you really want to check the power rating before hand..

wat?

They wimpy I makes then fart out and shit

The Orange Crush Bass thingies are pretty decent, used to own the 50W one and didn't really have any complaints for what it was. I've done sound for bands with the 100W 15" one a couple of times too, so it should do fine for smaller gigs. They released new versions last year, so maybe you could get one of the 1st gen ones for 300$.

Mudfuzz wrote:

JonnyAngle wrote:

Mudfuzz wrote:
Only thing with GK is their super cheap stuff I found the speaks had a low breakup point, you really want to check the power rating before hand..

wat?

They wimpy I makes then fart out and shit

Gotcha. I keep the bass knob at like 10:00 and have mids at like 2:00 and treble to taste.

Doesn’t give me the farts but ymmv and all that jazz

I'll put in another vote for a Gallien-Krueger MB combo. The MB series are really good sound amps, reliable, loud. I don't have a combo, I have an MB800 head and a little 1x10 at home that I use it with as my go to home recording setup. Then, if I need to play loud I just unplug it and throw it in the pocket of a gigbag. It's WAY overpowered for home use, but it sounds just as good turned down and I can move it effortlessly to bigger cabs, so it works great for me. They have lots of options for combos, just depends what kind of amps the guitarist(s) of the band are using that she needs to keep up with. The 1x12 combo is 200W and I've heard lots of people say the MB200 keeps up well for moderate volume gigs (and the combos have way more controls available).

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.