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Best Light weight backup amp under $500

I carry a Shuttle in my gig bag as a spare. Pretty sure the one in there is a 9 but I have a few 6's as well. I had an LMIII for awhile as well. These are easy to tote and perfect, for me, as backups to my ShuttleMax's or when I am using a questionable house rig which is actually the only time I ever needed my backup.
 
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Many opinions. How to choose?
Forums fail at this. Always.
I think if I were to buy a backup head for my TH500, it'd have to be a TH350.

I would do as Moe has suggested and get the small Class D that best matches my current rig. That's why I use the Shuttles since my main rig is either a ShuttleMax or GBE.
 
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Easily at the top of my list...

Bugera Veyron Mosfet. It'll probably make your current head a backup, at a giveaway price of $399 or less.

Bugera Veyron Mosfet.jpg

www.google.com/#q=bugera+veyron+bv1001M
 
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I'm wanting to get a backup amp for my small to medium gigs. Wanting to spend $500 or less. Mainly intrigued by the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 or the Fusion 500. Also intrigued by the Mesa Walkabout head. What would be the better option for me?

Similar situation here - need a backup/smaller amp for small and medium gigs and to save my back from lugging a 40lb tube amp. I'm pretty much down to Aguilar TH-500 or a Mesa Subway D-800. Can't decide.

Great thread!
 
GK MB200 or Aguilar TH350.

I bought both of these in search of small set-ups, and both are excellent.

GK MB200-- someone once described it as the swiss army knife of amps, and that rings true. It's a back-up amp that you can have in your gig bag (it fits neatly into the zip pouch of a bass bag) and it occupies next to zero room, and weighs 2 pounds. Great for any small gig, and if you have two cabs that will therefore run at 4 ohms total, then you'll have enough speaker to get pretty damn loud for medium gigs. Makes a good upright bass amp. Great for going to rehearsals, practice, etc.

Aggie TH 350-- it's a little bigger than the MB200, so it doesn't fit in the zip pouch of a guitar bag, and a little bit heavier (3.5 pounds instead of 2.2 pounds), but it has more power, and you can get a very full, loud sound even running one 8 ohm cab (used it with a Barefaced Big Baby 2 with good results). When I say "bigger" it is still small-- but bigger than the tiny MB200.

Key word I heard was "back-up" and "small to medium gigs" and GK MB200 is perfect for that. Can get one for $250 new if you shop a bit.

TH 350 is not quite as super-portable but still very portable, and closer than MB200 to being an everyday, every gig amp which TH 350 basically is, with proper cab(s).

Finally if you just want another full-on amp for all purposes, to use as a second, then you could go bigger and stay in the budget with a TH500 or MB500. Personally, I have a "main" amp and was more interested in having a serviceable back-up/small footprint/difficult load-in set up that can go anywhere any time, and both the MB200 and TH350 do that.
 
As a backup and spot-duty gigging head, the GK MB200 has few peers. I always take one to my gigs.

It fits in my gig bag. It weighs less than two pounds. It sounds good. What more is there?

That's why I have one in my cord bag too. So small and light it could pass for a pedal but it can drive my Ampeg 810 with ease (and has!).