Toobs are (prolly) real sweet for the various textures of guitars. They really can move from the sweet warble of a Gibson ES being squeezed by the likes of B.B., up to the overdriven wail of a Strat in full heat.

But for the Bass, tubes just don't make it!

Sorry, but the best bass amp yet to be made is the Acoustic 360 (and its later, bigger brother, the 370).. That sucker could coax funk, warmth, slap pop or just plain good ol' Grand Funk growl from a Fender Jazz to a gibson EB to a Rick 4002, long before many of those sounds required active electronics to fully realize. All solid state, all the time! (And it almost met my ultimate requirement for a bass amp: Turn it on, crank it up, stand it front of it, hit the open 'E' string, and have it knock my feet out from underneath me!)

I've cooked several dozen (prolly up to a hundred) 6L6GCs and 12AX7s (and 12AY7s) in Fender tube amps for decades. Thank Ghod for Radio Shack's "Lifetime" tube series (now, alas, discontinued). For bass, I personally don't want to hear any discussion about tubes, overdriven front-ends, or the like...you 6-stringers can run that forum to yer heart's content. Just gimme 4, fat strings, 37" of neck, and 250W of solid-state juice driving a 2-way...then get out my way!


[Edit: Fixed numerous requisite typos....]