newbie amp

[squeennyzim]

i'm a high school senior right now, and i've been playing bass a fair amount with my friends in a band, and i'm looking for a bass amp. i have ibanez soundgear sr400, so nothing too fancy, but i have no amp right now, i've been borrowing a friends, which is too small to play in a band with.

i don't care about solid or tube, but i don't want to spend more than 400. i went to guitar center today, and they showed me this nice 100 watt peavey (i think) used for 350, but i wanted to do some more research. i'd prefer to get it used. since i'm going to college in a few months, though, i want something that's gonna last me for a while that i won't have to upgrade if i need to start playing louder. it also needs to be somewhat portable so i can take it from my house to my friends house, and then to college in the fall. so i'm open to any suggestions, and i'll be searching the catalogs and stores for any more good used bargains.

i'm basically completely new to buying equipment and i don't want to screw up. my friend recommended this board (he just bought a double pedal with the help of the drums board) and from what i've been reading, you guys know your stuff. so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[bdbdbuck]

I must say I have to admire the fact that it looks as if you're buying this with your own hard earned cash. Although I'm not a BASS player, I can speak in terms of guitar players your age. Most of em have a Marshall stack or something similar....in a lot of cases, guess who bought it?

Spend wisely my friend, seems like you're on the right track.

Even if it's not your own money, I'm glad to see that you're not goin for the top of the line gear right off the get go.

ok...so maybe it's NOT most of em. Some of em for sure.


bd


just an old man ranting...don't mean nothin.

[LocusLarsen]

My experience with amps is for guitar, but I think this will apply to bass also.

-Everything is good in its own right...except Crate.

[clifchamb]

For under 400.00 I would look at an SWR LA Series 15 inch 100W amp. It blows away the PEavey and I even like it better than my SWR workingman's 12.

I feel that will be you best bet. It is difficult to overpower drums and guitar with a combo amp but this will be a good start.

Either that or see if you can score some used gear like a 350W head and perhaps a 2x10 or 4x10. 10 inch speakers are my personal fav for bass.


Clif

[squeennyzim]

ok, i took a look online and got some recommends from others too. here's where the list stands right now:

swr LA series 15 inch 100w
behringer bx1200 ultrabass 120w
crate bx100 100w 15 inch

all of those are priced well within my range. any experience with these, or other ideas?

thanks for the encouraging advice and yes, the amp will be bought with my own cash, not my 'rents, mostly because i want this to be something that i do on my own, and it makes it more satisfying if i have to work to get what i really want.