From a guitarists perspective, best budget bass

Funkfingers

Rikki_Sixx said:
Squier VM 70s Jazz.

I think they've changed the pickups since though; the ones on mine are "Duncan Designed" but I think now they say "Fender Designed" on them. Might just be a name change. 

Incorrect. Sorry.

https://i.imgur.com/wbodhbh.jpg?2

As you should be able to see, the construction is different. The in-house pickups have a plasticky bobbin form with a short upper plate with rounded corners. 

The DC resistance meter readings of the Squier long and short pickups are fairly similar whereas the DunDes long/Bridge pickup is a fair bit hotter than their short/Middle one. This increased output makes for a better balance when mixing the sounds of the two together. It even renders the DuncDes bridge pickup meaty enough to be used alone for the occasional Jaco excursion.

tampaxboo

timmysoft said:

I'm primarily a guitarist but i have played bass in the past, but haven't owned a bass guitar for about a decade. Knowing how much better budget guitars are now, have basses improved in the lower sector of the market?

 My criteria:
 - £250 or under (don't mind used or new)
 - Preferably Passive
 - Not a crazy shape
 - 4 strings only

Suggestions welcome!

first two that come to my mind.

new: squier jaguar short scale bass, at just under £200 new.

so easy to go to this from guitar if you are a guitarist primarily. it's as skinny and easy to work around as a sweet and slim (fenderish) guitar neck. it also has a lovely satin finish on the neck that makes sliding up and down a dream. i hate sticky snatchy burny glossy finishes on necks personally. i don't want to feel a neck in my hand at all, i only want info from my fingers, so it's perfect for me.
you get jazz and precision options for pickups, which are fine anway, but also makes subbing very easy and cheap (availability unlimited) if you want to experiment.
body not a huge dead weight but doesn't feel handbaggy insubstantial. jaguar body is a figure hugger, very wearable. deep superglossy finish so look classy and glassy when they catch the light.
they are amazing basses that play exactly like guitars. that is the absolute best thing about them. no effort to switch between, but you get a nice fat warm creamy real bass tone.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vFq4sdhGL.01_SL500_.jpg

used. maybe a decent westone £200 up used (though superfancy ones may be over budget).
they used to do the aria stuff in the 80s and share common tech and parts, but aria stuff from that time is big money now. personally i find the necks too big because i'm a guitarist who prefers thin giutar necks, but they are standard for bass necks so that's more a me thing than the bass itself. though as you say you are going guitar to bass, it may figure in your thinking too. nice toppy almost chorusy sound from the pickups, quite a lot of chime and ring compared to precisions and jazzes. i'm sure you can eq more bass in if you want tit but i actually like that less rocky more new wave timbre. but worth listening to before you buy as the pickups are non-standard rout, so you will have to mod it to swap pickups around if you want to sub. the fancier ones are through necks, but they are all well made.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8495015501_4e1c5e971a.jpg

tampaxboo

tampaxboo said:

"... i'm sure you can eq more bass in if you want tit..."

sorry for typo, should have read;

"... i'm sure you can eq more ass in if you want tit..."

Funkfingers

tampaxboo said:

squier jaguar short scale bass ... doesn't feel handbaggy ... deep superglossy finish ... play like guitars. 

You just reminded me. Earlier this year, in a Recommend A Short Scale Bass Guitar thread, I suggested the Squier Mikey Way signature Mustang Bass. (Good luck actually finding one!) Similarly compact to the Jag SS and ripe for upgrading to an EMG-35 series pickup - with or without fancy EQ circuitry.

myorchestrab

timmysoft said:

I'm primarily a guitarist but i have played bass in the past, but haven't owned a bass guitar for about a decade. Knowing how much better budget guitars are now, have basses improved in the lower sector of the market?

 My criteria:
 - £250 or under (don't mind used or new)
 - Preferably Passive
 - Not a crazy shape
 - 4 strings only

Its mainly for recording at home and in the studio, so it doesn't have to be able to tour for years without fail, i just want something good sounding, decent to play and not too expensive! My current project is very much a modern rock band, similar in style to Silverstein, Capsize, Beartooth and Conditions.

Suggestions welcome!

I have not much idea about music instruments but my friend most like guitar and bass. He has Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling 5 H 5-String Electric Bass Guitar. I like this instruments sound. He get it with affordable prize.