I’m late to this party, but let’s cut to the chase.
Back in the day, PA systems in small clubs were crap- the bass amp had to cover the room with little help from FOH:
- Most gigging bassists used highly efficient 15’s, and bandwidth was pretty restricted- most cabs were down at least 3 to 6dB at 60 Hz.
- Tube heads naturally compressed in a useful way, and 100 watts into two 15’s was enough for most cover gigs.
- Even the biggest heads only had 200 to 300 watts, so gigging bassists carried large, heavy cabs, and more of them..
Fast-forward to today:
- Amplification has gotten more powerful and less expensive. Long-throw subwoofer drivers with higher power ratings but lower efficiency are common.
- Modern music is more bass-heavy, and drummers haven’t got much quieter, so more power is required. Fortunately, PA systems are more powerful and more common in small venues- even in churches. So are subs.
- Backline no longer has to carry the room, but short-throw, heavy but highly efficient ceramic 15’s (or 10’s in an Ampeg fridge) are largely a thing of the past. A lot of gigging bassists are carrying lighter cabs with less efficient 10’s or 12’s that require more power than ever before.
- Load-in is easier for gigging bassists than back in the day, but 500 watts is the new 100. Big rigs with 800 and 900 watts are common.
A lot of the early comments in this thread were about increments of 3 to 6dB, but that isn’t a useful increment if you’re gigging out.
Face it, 6dB is only two lines on a fader:
- If you’ve ever run sound, you know that just moving from a lively room to a highly damped one can require ten times the power.
- Even at the low end, venues can vary from 30 seats and a postage-stamp dance floor to two or three hundred seats.
- Heck, a drummer change in an established band can bump you from getting by with a small combo to needing a 4*10 and a decent-sized head.
Going from a single 50 watt bass combo to two of them simply isn’t going to get the job done, except maybe for someone like a church musician who already has a steady gig and always plays at the same hall.
For someone in that position, and who knows that all he needs is a pinch more headroom, grabbing an identical 50w combo makes sense. You get the extra headroom, you’ve got a spare if one amp dies, and you’ve got a sensible, modular, one-trip carry.
But based on the OP’s original question (potential Jazz and Blues-rock bands, venues and number of members unknown), it sounds like he really needs an Orange head and an as-yet undefined number of more serious cabs.
Thankfully, he’s in luck- Orange offers a range of heads from 200 to 500 watts, in sizes from the little bass thing (500 watts and under 10lb) to the Terror, OB1 and AD series.
