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Best bass amp brand?

"best" to me includes tone and reliability. Ampeg is solid, but pricy and not as reliable as it should be for the price. I have recently fallen in love with the Carvin mini BX heads, huge power and excellent tone. The quality and reliability of the Carvin stuff is really solid and reliable, and they stand behind all their stuff. Also, GK and SWR are excellent amps for Rock and are under-rated for the price. I am likely going to get a GK head and cabinet for my son who is now in a band and using all my gear!
 
"best" to me includes tone and reliability. Ampeg is solid, but pricy and not as reliable as it should be for the price.
Not true. Ampeg is as reliable as anything out there. It's not even that pricey compared to similar products, either. Seen a lot of $2000+ tube amps that only do 200w, but Ampeg's lowest priced tube amp is $1600 and does 300w.
 
Marshall is arguably the best guitar amp brand there is, so what's the 'Marshall' of bass amps, in your opinion?

Just wondering.

Not even the best just one of many flavors. Some might say a Fender Deluxe or Vibrolux.
Look in a studio at its actual or virtual amps and you'll see vintage Vox, Orange, Fender of different ages and configs, Hiwatts, Supros it just goes on.

Your premise is as you said arguable. To bring it to bass amps is inflammatory here.:):)
Someone will say SVT because that's all they see in the videos and on stage for the music they listen to. Yet the world is still not flat.

When you play it and it helps or doesn't hinder your sound it's the best. The compromise you make between size, price, reliability, portability, configuration, etc. also makes your choice "best".
 
Harmony.
 

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For what I do and the folks I play with I'd say in no particular ranking (and this is just bass amps) I'd have to have Eden, GK, Markbass. These are brands that are readily available in shops and online. Having said that I personally now use a Tecamp Puma 500 (just happen to have the funds at the time) and my main backup is an old Trace Elliot GPSM 7 300. Behind that I have an older but in new condition SWR Working Man's 4004. It seems the Trace will never die. Mad Punch for days. I keep it and a 2x10 in the trunk of my car, just in case :-)
The tecamp is clean, clear with a nice low mid bump. Not really HiFi, not really warm. It's a gigging amp and will let you cut through the mix due to it's voicing. I'm not going to even say it's the best but when you play through it, you know you're playing through a quality amp.

If I had to, Carvin, Genz Benz, Aguilar (every body and their mother has one it seems).
or even a Kustom KXB-500 (mo watts fo the money in this one). If I had the money Thunderfunk, Walter Woods, or a some outrageously clean power amp with a nice expensive Bass Preamp. I played through a Walter Woods head once and an old SWR Goliath III 4x10 and was just smiling my azz off the whole time I played.

On the wonder about list.....Glockenklang, Epifani
 
For me - Mesa Boogie is at the top of the list. Built like tanks and just as expensive as one. If you have the $$$, then that is it! For the working man - Carvin has been my go-to (and for many others). Reliability (although you do hear some complaints) and a great price. They can be harder to dial in a tone, but they give you more options than any other amp in that price range.
 
My vote is split...

1..Vintage Acoustic Control 361
2.....................................371..tied with Sunn Colisum
3......................................320 with 408 cab

All of the above are Marshall Stack eaters..I have witnessed a 361 keep up at half volume against 2 Marshall Stacks....371..320 AND SUNN COLISEUM WILL DO THE SAME.. EASILY.