Dayne Nobody IV wrote:it's been so long since I actually needed a bass amp.. all the originals were done straight in to the interface with the Hondo II bass.. but, I have an old Ross RB 60 bass amp that buried in the storage unit probably 7 or 8 years ago, this last Saturday (day before yesterday) I spent hours trying to find it..LMAO.. finally found it in the 10X20 ft. unit packed nearly to the ceiling..LOL.. brought it home and there is a mouse nest in the baffles holes.. attempted to unscrew the phillips head screws on back panel and got several out but rounded out 2 screw heads so I ditched that effort, somehow the grille is now warped real bad and not sticking to velcro at two corners?, but I did not take the amp with me yesterday to rehearsal..said amp would be present form and you know how much I hate lugging gear absolutely hate it and despise it, work for grunts not musicians.. 
yeah, and whoda ever thought leaving an amp stored like ....that might be it's fate?????
i don't know anyone that LIKES hauling equip. can't say i ever have known anyone that did. PJAZZ gigs have always been my favorite (big surpise? i hope not). and for about 17 yrs i was hauling my bass gear (never anything really big) and often some light PA stuff. and the last five yrs i've been hauling around a vibraphone, gtr amps, two gtrs, and a mando to gigs. i HATE playing gigs where the damn drummer is broke down before ME!
some amp advice for you....and this is omething that worked ME and my needs. for about ten yrs i used one bassamp an ASHDOWN Blue 180. little 180 watt x one 12" amp combo. weighs 38 lbs. not big and pretty easy to haul around. an easy toss onto the back seat of little import or easily tuck it and more sh*t in the little trunk.
people scoff when they hear only 180 watts. but this thing puts out plenty of volume with the great tone that every ASHDOWN i've heard has. btw this is their import line and in P.R.C.
i laughed the first time i saw that little label on the back not so proudly proclaiming " DESIGN IN U.K. AND MADE IN P.R.C."
ASHDOWNs have this going on in the lower midrange that just makes every bass i own sound nice and fat...gooey while still retaining great definition. and you can push the preamp to get some nice "wool" too. whenever i played a bigger place and we needed more than the amp could do....we just lined out of it. super clean and quiet line out with post and pre EQ line out options that FOH and sound guys often favorably commented on it transparency and even better the tone i'd give 'em. and no, gracie...i'm not bragging...just patting myself on the back!
i bought it new for something like $350 from Sam Ash. they've since discontinued that model but there are other variations on that theme that i believe they still make. we're talking A LOTTA BANG FOR THE BUCK. never had one stitch of trouble w it and this is an amp that's been GIGGED!
anyway, a few yrs ago my wife decides i'm too old and feeble to be hauling around a big ol' 38# combo/amp! yeah...whatta BEHOMOTH! i'm LMAO telling her that 38# is nothing for a bass amp...which of course, she DOES know. but anyway, she insists i buy something lighter. and, as we do like and try to keep one another informed...she knows all about the more recent developments in little class D 4 lb powerhouses! who am i to argue w such good advice???
so, now i haul around a 5 lb Class D ASHDOWN MI550 and two little cabs...EDEN1208. one 12" spkr, no horn. 32lbs. that my kinda recipe for a cabinet when it can deliver as it does!
this is the rig i use at the truckstop and just about everyone that hears it loves it. plus it looks so damn killer in a funny sorta way. like a cute but nasty looking little mini stack.
but i have to say, reading the above it is pretty ironic....now instead of carrying around a 38# combo amp....i'm hauling around 64lbs of spkr cabs! oh, and then we should add in another 5lbs for the MI550..another lb for it's padded case...damn. well, one thing's certain...i ain't givin' up me new rig guvnuh!
truth told: those spkrs mostly stay at the truckstop and when i do have an extracuricular bass date.....i either use the BLUE 180, or sometimes even just my ROLAND 60 cube.... or if want to go the DEEE-LUXE tone root w points for style i'll go w one EDEN 1208 and the diminutive MI550. that is a KILLER sounding rig for medium sized rooms.
so, dayne if you hate carrying crap as much as i do...those ASHDOWN options i mentioned (or likey ANY of their $hit) is what i recommend to all who are in the mkt.
of course amps and tone(s) are about as subjective as it gets. but me...i LOVE the tones i hear from mine and tones i've heard from other bassplayers using ASHDOWN rigs. they make a bigass 300 watt tube rock n roll powerhouse (think SVT) and a very SVT like 8X10 cab that a lot of rockers like to use. if i was playing in that kind of band (AND HAD SOMEONE ELSE HAULING MY $HIT)...that would be my rig!
