Ideal dual purpose performance bass head/recording preamp…HandBox?

Your interface will be what allows you to use line level (or higher level) balanced signals. Most pro interfaces handle line level with no problem.

 

I've had no problems with too-hot signals recording mine, via its DI, through a Focusrite 2i4 interface.

 

There are sooooo many good, new options out there, and even more used.

 

Most of my at-home (and very amateur) recording has been done into GarageBand on an old MacBook (recently deceased - requiescat in pace, Macbook - you did your best). I've not recorded the Handbox DI otherwise, but didn't get any complaints about levels running pre- or post-EQ into the board when I had it out, live.

Possibly worth noting:

• I've been running a 12 AT7 in v1, which is lower gain than the stock 12AX7 - still, I didn't find the gain with the 12AX7s I tried to be out of order - just a different feel.
• I don't typically run the gain super-high - maybe around one o'clock (where it's marked "crunch") without the Drive button engaged, lower with it engaged (I've messed around with it higher, but don't recall if I've tried to record it that way).
• I usually play passive basses.
  
• There is the -6 dB pad for the DI on the front - I haven't needed it for recording, but have you tried it?

I owned a Mesa Walkabout (also mentioned in your OP), but that was awhile ago.

My GBE 1200, with the DI (selectable MIC/LINE level) set to LINE, has a hotter output than the Handbox, without the pad engaged, does (at least the way I set the amps). LINE level on the GBE was capable, on hard hits, of overdriving the input of the 2I4, even with the gain on the interface dialed down. If I engaged the pad on the 2I4, I could still overdrive the input, but that only happened as part of a limit-finding exercise (crank stuff and wail on the bass), never in normal practice (recording something, even playing hard and with some OD).

When I record with the Handbox, I still have the gain on the interface up some, without the pad engaged -- there is a lot of gain available on the amp, so I could probably exceed the limits of the interface if I tried, but it's never happened in the case of normal recording.

I dig that amp a lot and the DI sounds really nice -- it's possible that yours is different than mine, but I think that if you're having trouble recording I'd look to 1) recording techniques (including settings at the interface and amp) and 2) the recording equipment well before I'd consider changing amps/preamps because of a dubious "levels too hot" laid at the amp's feet.

NOTE: I didn't use Garage Band because I think it's especially awesome but because it was simple and came with the computer -- there are more capable DAWs, for sure, though "too hot" levels would have more to do with your interface, AFAIK.

 

The GBE-1200 is capable of about +18dBu in line level and is capable of driving any pro audio power amp I know of, even the least sensitive.

The pad on the input of the 2I4 is to allow the interface to handle +4dBu inputs with normal headroom. I believe without the pad, it's set for a nominal -10dBu which with 12dB of headroom would be +2dBu overload threshold.