recommend a CHEAP bass combo

The Peavey Microbass is about as cheap and good as they come.

 

Get the pignose hog 30.
battery powered and great for bedroom practice.
completely portable.

danman

 

I like my Ashdown After Eight. Cheap and small. Perfect for me or practicing along with an acoustic guitar.

 

I use this combo for bedroom jamming/practice.
http://www.washburn.com/products/amps/bd30b.aspx

I highly recommend it. It has great lows and there are active/passive inputs.

 

I recently picked up a Roland Cube 30 - decent amp modelers and an octave effect built in, very fun little combo.

I also have a Hog 30 - being battery powered is very cool, but the tone is poor, it sounds like playing bass through a guitar amp.

 

I had a Hog 30 too, sounded like poop.

 

The Ibanez SW35 or Peavey Minx (or her replacement) are good for the money.

 

That Alesis combo with all of the FX should be fun for jamming. I know that screwing with FX allows me to practice for longer periods of time.

 

He's right. The Alesis rocks for the money ($199 shipped). Built in tuner and amp/cab modeling, compressor, limiter and mucho effects....

 

If you're looking for a setup just for practice, get a Korg Pandora's box and a good set of headphones. The Pandora's box has about 60 different drum grooves to practice to, and an input line so you can jam to your iPod. The sound quality will be better than through a cheap amp, and you can crank it up to your heart's delight without waking the neighbors.

 

Peavey microbass. Great amp. Comes with a headphone jack so you can jam when you can't sleep.

 

I use a Fender BXR25 which I have had for years. I think the "rumble" is the current incarnation of this amp (which started as the "RAD" many years ago. The Bassman 25 is an upgraded version.

I can recommend the rumble, though I have never tried it, because (and I quote from the blurb on the Fender site):

The Rumble 100, 60 and 25 combo’s exclusive red “stage light” pulsates with your playing to inspire you to get better faster!

This is clearly a boon!

My BXR25 is an excellent amp, with great tone and useable in restaurant (low volume) gigs, to boot.

 

I have the Fender Rumble in the 60 watt version, and I would recommend it. I'm not sure if it is cheap enough for the original poster (I paid about $170), but it has a lot of features, it sounds good, and is very portable.

 

When im not using my big rig for bedroom practice (all i really have it for atm) i use a peavey Rage 158 guitar amp, 15 watt, and as long as it isnt being pushed should be fine