I’m working my way though the course and a new to music in general. I’m wondering if leaving the amp on all the time is a bad idea? Aside from obvious power wasting issues, is it detrimental? I’d like to be able to pick up and play a little quicker sometimes but I don’t want to shorten it’s lifespan. Thoughts?
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Turning off an unused amp is the norm. There’s really no reason to leave it on, plus, you’d get a loud, nasty reminder of that if you were ever to plug in with your amp volume up. 
Short answer: No, do not leave your amp on.
Assuming it’s a solid-state, it takes a second or two to be ready to go with just a flip of the switch.
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If your amp power switch is hard to reach I suggest that you get a surge protector plug and plug your amp and just switch on/off from the surge outlet. I do that to most of my equipments especially the soldering station.
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It is NEVER a good idea to leave any electrical device on all the time (except those that need to be on like a fridge or dishwasher). Unless you’re asking for a house fire. It’s just dangerous.
I don’t currently use an amp, but in users manual for mine it was even written not to leave it on if unattended. Such warnings do not come out of thin air.
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You really should turn it off to plug/unplug your bass, and you shouldn’t leave your bass plugged in 24x7
So the question is moot to me
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What’s the downside to keeping the guitar plugged in?
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Alright, you all talked me out of it. I’m going to overcomplicate things and get a smart switch. Ha.
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If you have an active bass, absolutely no upside: it will kill your battery(s), fast.
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Copy that. Mine’s passive, just curious, hadn’t seen anything saying to do that.
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When amps had tubes they would wear out faster. Also power was dirtier in past days. The big danger now is power spikes or tripping on the cord and knocking the bass down. A surge protector will protect against the former.
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Solid state is not immune to parts wearing out either, usually it’s the electrolytic capacitors in the power supplies and power stages.
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Tubes are the shizzle.
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The only amp I have now is solid state with a tubes preamp 
Also turn off your amp when you are not using it is always recommended in every manual I read so far.
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