First Bass

Gulliver

FF's advice above is excellent.

For the £400-ish for the Schecter, you could easily get a used Mexican Jazz Bass  (the fretless Jazz I have here cost me about £350 a few years ago)



If you're happy going used, look for an OLP Stingray.  this was the old name for Ernie Ball's cheap line (they changed to Sterling a few years ago)  and they are excellent.  I've owned a couple of the 5 strings and played some 4 strings my mates own and have loved them all.  More consistent than any guitar brand I've played.

I too would say Yamaha make some great basses - I own 2 almost identical Yamaha basses - a pair of RBX375's - one of which is getting the fingerboard replaced and made fretless for lolz.   A superb beefy bass, active EQ which is nice.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

In terms of ability to sell on quickly if needed then the Squier or SUB would be the obvious choices.

The answer I always give in these threads though is to pick something from the Ibanez SR range. They're ridiculously ergonomic and playable, and the 2 that I've had have been built like tanks. Excellent workhorses. 

I'd your budget can stretch to an ex-demo or lightly used SR500 or above (the cheapest model with the excellent Bartolini pickups), then it might just be all the bass you could ever need. 

JezWynd

I’m exclusively a home alone bass player. I play a mix of funkish lines (a drum machine of some kind is very useful), classical style stuff (Bach translates to bass really well and there are some useful tab books available) and my own compositions which utilise delay, compression and a looping device. There’s a lot more to bass than keeping 4 to the bar and lots of inspiring players out there on YouTube to study and inspire. i.e....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V47-gUhVn0A

Ryder

Funkfingers said:

Quite a price variation, there. 

Of your shortlist, an accountant would recommend the Sterling or the Squier, if only for ease of resale. A modifier would recommend the Schecter. Its EMG35-sized pickups are easy to upgrade. The bass could be made to sound like almost anything you choose.

The LTD is a fairly straightforward PJ copy, hamstrung with a trade mark avoidance headstock shape. 

The Squier is hamstrung by its cosmetics. Specifically, the black block inlays. Apart from the decal, the discontinued Vintage Modified series is the same quality instrument for less money.

All four instruments originate from the same factory. (Cost, Indonesia.) Thus, it might be worthwhile investigating other makes and models from the same source. i.e. Ibanez/Soundgear, Sire, Cort et cetera.

In my opinion, your list should also include Yamaha.

Finally, the MSRP of a Schecter should secure a pre-owned example of something more upmarket. 

Thanks. That's MSRP?
All great options and I'm sure that I would be easier to choose if they were in front of me but unfortunately not an option.
Dont want to buy used with the whole covid thing and anyway travel not an option (ireland)
Ibanez 300 also considered but I heard reports of variable quality....

In short I like the p bass sound but wanted something different from the squire...if possible
Happy to pay a little extra for a decent instrument that I wont want to turn around in a year or two

MattBanshee

The LTD 204 is £500, you can practically buy a Fender for that money.

Funkfingers

Ryder said:

Happy to pay a little extra for a decent instrument that I wont want to turn around in a year or two

Sire.

JezWynd

Check out G&L, they do a range of basses that are outgrowths of the original P & J basses. Excellent quality instruments at lots of different prices.
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/g--l/guitars/bass/

Ryder

Appreciate all the advice. Looking  around the Yamaha 504 is reviewed very well and has a nice sound so will just go with that. Looks like a fantastic choice.

The one thing I've learned from all of this is that all the options are really good and it would be hard to go wrong with any of the choices mentioned

Kittyfrisk

I don't play bass, but if I did, I'd like it to be a little like this...

prowla

Ryder said:

Hi. Looks like shops wont open any time soon and bass stock already limited so have been looking online.

Decided on a roland microcube bass amp (already have the standard versions and it's my favourite amp)

Trying to decide on a bass....know I wont get a chance to try one first so would like some opinions on these. (I know the squire is probably the safest option but would like something a bit different unless its risky)
1. Sterling S.U.B
2. Schecter Omen 4
3. EST LTD 204
4. Squire CV 70s Precision

Thanks

I've got a SUB5; it's a very good bass, solid and a decent sound.

On the flipside it is large and quite heavy.