Dude, does she like Rasputina or Tarantula A.D.? Those bands use cellos and are great. What I'm saying is, she can still be in a band and play the cello, so encouraging her bassitude and getting involved in bandination might make her want to incorporate the cello eventually.

I gave up saxophone in HS because I had to join the marching band and the director was an asshole.

I got no amp advice. I have a cheapass practice amp I bought for $10 at a garage sale.

Yes, we have seen Rasputina a few times. To be honest, I feel like their concept is better than the band. Meaning that the leader (whoever she is) has put a lot of energy into the *schtick* -- goth outfits and makeup, atmospherics, and the music itself gets boring after awhile, to be revived whenever they go into a Zep cover.

I like their cover of Barracuda too. Frustration Plantation is a great album, more to my metal tastes. I agree about their other stuff though.

You could splurge on some crazy tube bass amp or something boutiquey, but really a solid-state amp in the 40 to 60 watt range would suffice. One can find all sorts of bells and whistles on amps these days, but the fact is that clarity and loudness are all a bass amp needs to offer, and since the signal path won't be cluttered with effects loops (or I should say, it shouldn't be cluttered with effects loops), a basic solid-state amp will deliver all the clarity and loudness she needs.

I recently cannibalized my brother's old Peavey Basic 40 chassis for use as a closed-backed cabinet for my 60 watt guitar amp, and it belts, growls, and kicks like Mahalia Jackson singing through a tambourine skin. But while I was ripping it apart, I remembered what a great bass amp it was for the fifteen or so years my bro played through it, and how it was all he needed for every band he was in through college.

Bass amps are heavy. Being a bassist makes you tough and strong from lugging those mothers up and down stairs, in and out of vans, and dropping them on your foot can break a bone or two.

You'll want at least a 12" and probably a 15" speaker for it -- with the low frequencies of bass playing, you want a magnet and cone that will move a lot of air, and since bass is omnidirectional, she won't need to worry so much about aiming her sound at mics once she starts recording (tonal differences aside, a tighter speaker cone will project sound to a narrower target; with bass frequencies, this doesn't matter much).

I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of. I'll try to ask my brother this afternoon (he just finished rock-camp counseling in Virginia last week), as he knows more specific stuff about the subject.

Rock on.

I dunno about the amp, but Matson Jones is a good cello-based "indie" band Or whatever. Fucking kids and their bland names for musical genres. Here is an MP3 by them, more are available around the internets. And I bet that if you email them and ask what equipment they use, you'd get both a bass amp suggestion as well as a cello amp suggestion.

The GK 400 head might be good. I play through a GK 800RB and a 4x10 SWR cab and love it.
Of course, I can't lift my cab into the back of my car (Honda Element) by myself. As a girl bass player I have to agree, be sure to consider how much she will have to carry it. Combo amps are great until you're standing there trying to figure out how to lift it.

Your best best is, of course, take her to the store and try stuff out. It'll be fun too.

Aside from my advice in the green, I'll say that Peavey amps are great.

OK, so here's the in-depth analysis.

When I first picked up the bass my criteria were simple: Loud, and plenty of it. Something as tall as I was, preferably. For loud you're going to want 100 watts and a 15" cone. For better tone, an second speaker with two 10" cones will add some oomph to the high-end. Here's the thing though, Indy Rock is, to some extent, like punk in that it's about making music with what you have. Her first amp/cabinet probably shouldn't cost you more than $500. You can get some screaming deals on bass equipment through craigslist or any of your local music shops. If it's not loud enough or the wrong color or if she decides the tone just isn't doing it for her she can trade up later.

So my final suggestion is this: Giver her $500 to spend on an amp. Go to the local Guitar Center or mom & pop, bring the bass she has, and spend an hour or two playing the bass through the floor models. This will give her a chance see what she likes. his isn't quite as cool as having an amp waiting for her when she gets back from rock camp, but you can think of it as parent/child bonding time.

Don't think f the cello as having gone to waste though, think of the electric bass as a continuation, not a negation, of that part of her life.

If not, I'll give you $50 bucks for it.