A Rumble 25 would be a great start for you, @TK42DAN 
I used to have one and was very happy with it. I eventually traded it in for the Rumble 100.
25’s are inexpensive ($99 or so) and you might even be able to find a used one at your Guitar Center.
Cheers, Joe
I have a Rumble 25 and for me, in my house, it can make me feel the bass.
For what it is worth, I think that for a real beginner, a 10" speaker and under $300 is WAY too much. The beginner bass guide was great, but the amp guide didn’t help me much at all and I would say I am exactly what your market is: Someone with about $500-600 to spend that wants to learn to play bass and whose most public end state will be playing in their church band 2-3 times a month. I am not talking about people that plan to do gigs at local bars, and especially not folks that ever plan to record music. You guys are awesome and deserve good equipment, but for the rest of us, dropping close to a grand into what might turn out to be a failed hobby is a lot to ask.
Since the bass you recommended was only $350, spending $200 on an amp was far more than I wanted to invest not knowing if I would even be able to stick with it. Obviously you and others on here understand what is needed for a gig and what is just a practice amp, but I think that most true beginners (myself included) think that $200+ for an amp is more than budget allows; that price point seems to be more in the “local-bar-gig” range…even if it isn’t. So there is something to be said for the perception of people like me that picked up a bass the day before they bought this course as well. Of everything I have seen posted in the B2B and by BassBuzz so far, the Beginner’s Amp video was the only thing that seemed to miss the mark. The Beginner’s Bass guide had several lower end basses, and gave pro’s and cons for each, but it seemed like the stated requirements for the beginner’s bass guide (especially the 10" speaker) were outside of what most beginner’s expect. The Bass buying guide didn’t have an artifical “floor” if you will that required all of the reviewed basses to have active pickups, as an example, but rather looked at even “bottom of the barrel” options, as long as they were from known manufacturer’s. The Amp guide on the other hand seemed to skip over that same tier by having that 10" speaker requirement. As I said, I understand that an 8" speaker won’t get the job done for a gig, but for those of us practicing in our bedrooms…an 8"speaker is plenty.
I have a 2700 square foot single family home and I practice in my “office” which is about 750sq ft, but is a weird space that is about 15 x 30 ft and is really more of a transition between the master bedroom and the rest of the house. Anyway, the Rumble 25 is honestly too powerful for me. It literally shakes the stuff on my desk (about 5 feet away) at anything over 60% volume with the bass: 40% mid: 50% treble: 0% and I am not exaggerating at all.
@terb I forgot all about this. What ever happened with your repair plans for the Ampeg BA115-HPT?
I repaired the DI as planed, nothing difficult. I also modified a little bit the tube input stage. Now the amp is fully functional, but as I don’t play in a band now, I don’t use it much : I play with my TonePort UX1 for my covers and other recording needs.
I don’t know what to do with this Ampeg, it sounds OK but I don’t like it very much. I think I would prefer a GK with smaller speakers.
FWIW, The basses in the review are awesome and a good place for many people, but I was looking for something in the under-$200 range. I tried and fell in love with the feel of the short-scale bass and just grabbed a little Ibanez Mikro (or whatever they’re called). They are $179 or so, and you can find them for less. Sticking with the Short-scale thing, I just picked up a Squier Jaguar Bass for $199 new (they’ve been discontinued, so I was lucky to find it) and it’s great too. Of course, used is also a great route!
As far as the amp is concerned, I’m convinced the Fender Rumble 25 is more than enough for people in our spot. Heck, the first thing I got was the little Vox Amplug. I just needed to be able to hear myself in my room. I toss on the headphones and I’m good to go. I’m not in competition with anyone. I can even route the headphone line into a speaker and hear myself well enough without the headphones. Cheap, ya, but gets the job done for me.
That said, I will probably get the 25 just because I already have the Amplug and the price is great. Another “tiny” option that people will frown upon while you quietly have fun without telling anyone is the Blackstar Fly 3 “amps.” The bass isn’t as good as the guitar models, from what I hear, but again, there’s definitely a market for those little guys and it just might be one of us. 
Just picked this up at a local second hand shop for £40
Laney Richter R2
Better than the little guitar am I have been using
Paul
Looks pretty nice, @studio . . . 
It’s a 12" speaker, right? 
Looks like it to me.
I will have a look to see if I can find the specs on line
Paul
I have a Rumble 40, it quite impressive, for $199.
It shakes the whole room, and is more then one needs, for a practice amp.
But the reason i went with it, was since it has the 4 channel EQ, which offers hi-mid and low-mid vs, the 3 channel EQ on the rumble 15 and 25 models. The 40 also has a 3-button tone voicing capability. As well as a foot-switch jack and line-out jack. I felt those were good additional features I may want to take advantage of in the future, even if I don’t need them right now. And don’t for get the overdrive option, not something I really utilize, but it’s there if you want it.
Curious musing. This poor “show us your amps” thread only has 69 posts, and the “show us your basses” thread, now, over 1500! Not trying to say which is more important, but why is this? I like amps. They’re like bass players. They do a lot of the work, but oftentimes don’t get noticed
Basses are just… prettier. More shapes, more colors, more variations, more curves…
Amps are: box.
Grey box.
Black box.
Bigger black box.
Bigger black box with small box on top.
You know I’m being tongue in cheek here, but I think that’s a big part of it.
It’s quite true, and, admittedly, playing devil’s advocate here with this. I mean, it is a bit harder to fall in love with these 2 boxy cubes I have, than, say, my main squeeze, the SR870, or my other flame, my Schecter bass. And I don’t know anyone that has named their amps, or assigned gender pronouns to them, come to think of it.
But, isn’t there something sexy and powerful about these poor creatures in boxy bodies, who contain so much power, that their internal capacitors could kill you if you mishandled them, whose boomy shouts can be felt on one’s skin, deafen our ears, and, with my Rumble 500, on my front porch, cranked up, can clear the snow from my roof with the right low note??
Ah, I feel like composing an ode to bass amps now, for being the misunderstood creatures that they are 
I think you just did!
And - you’re absolutely right.
But once you play one note on a bass, you can easily see the need for 4 or 5 or 6 basses. And then you can hang them on your wall, and they look glorious, and they each have their personality.
For bassists, as soon as you have 2 amps, you have nowhere to put your bed.
At 3, if you live with anyone, you will be voted off the island.
By the time you reach 4-5 amps, you had better be making your living exclusively with playing loud, live bass music, because you’ll have no family that will speak to you, your furniture will all be bass amps, and you’ll have 3 herniated disks from trying to move them.
I like amps too. I even love amps. I showed my updated setup on the “rack build” thread but I can show it here also for all the box lovers :
Yep if I owned a free-standing house instead of a condo, I’d own an amp
Ok, let’s give this thread a bit more love then
I had a Subzero bass amp, which was ok, but I couldn’t really get much joy out of it if I’m honest.
I listened to a markbass amp, and it just sounded better to my ears at the time. Now I’ve been using it for a while, I’m familiar with it more now and actually understand the crazy VPE and VRF settings on it, which help!
I don’t have much knowledge with the cabs and heads and things like that, so I got one of the combo ones to make it a bit easier for me. I’ve also only just really got my head around putting modulating effect pedals in the send/receive sockets, which I will get round to doing.
I don’t know much about the different sounds/feelings you can get with amps, but I know this thing will shake the windows if I’m not careful!
@T_dub - plus it also has some Orange!
I’ve got the little 8" Ampeg. Tone is nice, features are nice, but as Josh likes to say, a single 8" speaker just does not move the air in the room. With that in mind I’ve been checking Craigslist and the like, looking for a cheap upgrade. I only play in a small 12x12 bedroom, so my concern is stepping up to something that will be too much for the room. Would you guys recommend a 1x12 or a 2x10, or just personal preference? I assume a 1x10 won’t be that big a difference from a 1x8 to justify. There are some nice 1x15 in the area for sale, but I assume that is more than what I’m looking for. Advice appreciated.
I went from a Rumble 25 (1x8") to the Rumble 100 (1 x12") and have no complaints so far, @BassFaceDisgrace . . .
My understanding is that 2 x 10" (rock) gives more “punch” than 1 x 15" (reggae) so it depends on what kind of sound you’re looking for, and it does depend on personal preference.
Cheers, Joe
1x10 could be fine, all 10" are not the same and I’d say “it depends”
I just found a like new Rumble 100 on letgo for $150. Hopfully I can snag it at that price. Looks mint. Watched some demo videos and it has way cooler features on it than my ampeg. Lots of great recommendations on it here too.
