I confess that the only bass "effect" I've made use of besides modeled amp overdrive has been the "based on Mu-Tron III envelope filter" stomp model (though it sounded pretty rad
). But I should note that you can use the "trial" option in the Custom Shop to get 72 hours to mess around with basically any piece of modeled gear. There may be some limit on the number of trial pieces you can have "checked out" at once, but if so I haven't reached it yet!
So, that would basically be my suggestion. Try stuff out for free.
As for the amps themselves, these days I probably use the Ampeg SVT-VR and Orange AD200 models most, though I often "dual amp", pairing one of these with a guitar amp that just handles mid-/high-end overdrive.