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The American ultra will be quite versatile but IMO for 2k buy two used basses.
1- Rosewood neck mex P bass
2- 5 string Sterling ray 35 or Stingray
I did think about 2 cheaper bass guitars, so thanks for the suggestion.
I guess I would rather have one quality bass that does all I ever need it to, and ‘proper’ bass players would take their own basses anyway.
For my money P bass with flats plus something else with rounds - Stingray is a good bet.
Or (depending on what exactly "covering lots of ground" means) a P with rounds and a decent preamp, and something even more vintagey like a Guild or Hofner with flats?
I won’t have much footfall through the place, and I live in a small community, so not at all worried about letting others play it. Most serious bass players will take and insist on their own basses anyway.
I think P bass seems the most sensible, but I also like the idea of having the active option for more tone shaping when recording.
The boring, old plodder is going to recommend a P Bass with flatwound strings. Two well-known characters are going to champion the Rickenbacker 4001/4003 (and distortion!). Another funker will espouse the Musicman Stingray. The brachio-phalangeally challenged will say Jazz or Mustang Bass. Somebody with deep pockets will propose either a hand-made British bass, a fretless or both. The spiv element will suggest whatever it is that they need to sell at the moment.
They are all right and, simultaneously, all wrong.
My suggestion is the Sire M Series. The basic build quality is fine straight out of the box. Its EMG35-sized soapbar pickups can easily be changed to another brand. In terms of band politics, a Sire bass is the diplomatic choice. Good enough for your band's bassist to borrow briefly but never upstaging his/her main bass guitar.
At the end of the day, it does not matter what Fretboarders think. This bass has to satisfy your hands and ears.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
Active electronics are unnecessary, especially in a studio, since there's nothing you can do with them that can't be done with an outboard preamp - at least if the pickups are still standard high-impedance types. If they're low-impedance you can get a particular clarity with actives that you might not be able to otherwise.
I'd still get two basses though - the other one fretless, since you can't make a fretted sound like a fretless (properly) or vice versa.
Third choice - a 5-string, probably something active and modern since almost all of them are.
It's probably not a coincidence that I have three basses... a 4001, a fretless Aria and a 5-string Ibanez.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
On a side note I have looked for a 1979 Fender P bass as it was the year I was born, and found some interesting pieces. Prices are a bit high though, and can’t help think that a modern fender p bass might be better. Can always change out the pickups. Kind of don’t want to go down that route though, as enough of that with the guitars!
'79 P-Basses are actually among the least bad examples of late-70s Fenders in my experience - they're usually heavy, but that actually suits them quite well and they sound powerful and punchy. There's really nothing else to get wrong .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Fender Mustang, short scale with Rounds.
Sorted, and change from 2K for a few beers...