I was assured - by my bandmates - that they had a "huge" bass amp, all ready to go for last night's gig.
When I rolled in, all I saw was one of those Mackie powered speakers (SRM450) and a rackmount mic preamp (PreSonus 2-channel "servo"). Sitting on a sub-woofer that was disconnected.
My first thought was: "serves me right for not making sound check". Oh, well - nothing for it but to try and make it work. (That's the backline way...)
In the past I've tried using my own SRM450 as a standalone bass amp and it wasn't very good. In this case, it got the job done as my personal bass monitor. The system took care of the band mates and FOH - it could have been real sketchy with a more inept sound man but this guy was on top of it.
I've never been one to make major tone adjustments at the amp, and that's good because that mic pre didn't offer any EQ! All I had was the tone knob on my foam-muted single-coil Tele bass. Fortunately I was able to get everything I needed: twangy pick, smooth fingerstyle, even slap on one tune!
So as far as ampless experiences go, this wasn't so bad, overall. It served to illustrate the potential unimportance of one's bass amp. (Again, having a competent sound man was key, along with having an interface that worked well with the bass. But isn't that the case, any time you're relying on the system!)
I could see myself doing this again. But if I had more than 3 hours' notice (and wasn't already working all day) I might be more inclined to show up for sound check... with my rig.
Mic pre + powered speaker for backline. (Should have made sound check.) 
