What's the point of 100 watt amps?

[Eric***]

One aspect that hasn't really been addressed though is how a thumpy and bassy guitar sound affects the whole band mix. In my experience, some awesome tones that sound great on their own can be disastrous in a band setting with other instruments. For example, a mid-scooped bass tone sounds sweet on its own but is a cloak of sonic invisibilty when put into a band context.

I was also wondering about why bass can be muddy, which might be part of that same discussion. I used to own a 50w Crate amp where it was bass all over the place unless you turned the EQ knob off completely, but it was wild and boomy bass -- not something I'd want in a band or even on my own.

[NWBasser]

I was also wondering about why bass can be muddy, which might be part of that same discussion. I used to own a 50w Crate amp where it was bass all over the place unless you turned the EQ knob off completely, but it was wild and boomy bass -- not something I'd want in a band or even on my own.

My experience with Crate bass amps is that they're not very well voiced (being polite here).

However, the boomines that you describe may well be the result of boundary effects in the room.

Bass can be a female dog to EQ and amplify correctly due to standing waves, reflections, phase cancellations....