I've had the first version of the
Phil Jones Bass Cub as my primary amp for several years. It is also my practice amp. If I had to replace it I'd probably just buy the current version. My needs are simple
It has a headphone output jack so disturbing the neighbors or family is not a problem. It has an Aux input so if I want to play with audio hosted on a phone or computer I can do so and there is one overall volume control. It has a balanced line out for recording or mixing.
I bought it because I was bringing an amp to lessons and my teacher had an active bass and I didn't. Using a Y cord on the previous amp pretty much meant we could not both play at the same time and be heard. My requirements were thus: a) light and portable and b) two channel. A lesser requirement was that it was suitable for "playing with others" although I could fall back to my big rig if necessary. I have not needed to do so in several years but then I have not needed to compete with a drummer or with a guitarist with an ego and an amp.
I can't say that it is uniquely suited for a Starfire bass but I can say that my various basses do sound good, and different, through it.
See
here where it is also being used to amplify an acoustic guitar. Look carefully ;-)
Note that requirements for a "practice amp" are really very personal. I did a lot of practicing with just a headphone amp. When practicing with a source (backing track or play along) the controls for the audio source were actually more important than what the bass sounded like. Being able to mix them was a plus but I still spent more time punching play, pause and rewind than I did actually caring about the tone. The desire to "play with others" adds and changes some requirements and economics are certainly a driving factor.
