My Marshall head (pictured in that other thread Rain alluded to) was actually a 1979 JMP that I had modded by Mike Soldano to have a complete pre-amp circuit so, like my X88R (pictured below), it went to 11! ?
I used to know several guys that gig with only a Line 6 Bass Pod Pro going DI to the FOH board.
I once had this rig:
But it was soooo overkill for my to practice with that I couldn't really hear it in my little room (though the neighbors sure could! ?). I ended up going DI through a Bass Pod Pro (like those I mentioned above) into a mixer and my JBL Eon PA speakers instead.
Side-note: After taking several bass lessons (from a guy who had moved up here from the Hollywood area where he had taught at Guitar Institute Tech) and every lesson was trying to get me to have a sense of timing, I gave up and left the low-end to others. ?