Chavel is by Fender
Schecter has some P basses
https://www.schecterguitars.com/bass/p-4-exotic-detail
https://www.schecterguitars.com/bass/p-4-detail
https://www.schecterguitars.com/bass/banshee-bass-vintage-pelham-blue-detail
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Personally - given his luck so far with their quality, and given the wide variety out there - if I were him I would forget about Fender, including Squier and by extension G&L. There’s a lot of great basses out there in that price range, and definitely a whole lot more bang for the buck. If I were him, ater this many failures at QC and customer care, I wouldn’t be giving that group of companies another dime.
This isn’t commentary on those basses at all; this is based on his experience with the company.
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Man, that really sucks that you’ve had so much trouble with that bass.
I think Sandberg basses are all kinds of cool. You just need to decide if you want a P or a PJ.
@joergkutter has a Sandberg and would be able to speak more about them. Of the ones you posted, I would expect it to give you what you liked in the Fender.
The Sire Marcus Miller basses have a rolled edge fretboard. Most people seem to like them but I have read where some folks didn’t. Just letting you know what might be different than what you expect.
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I absolutely agree with this. The only good thing about fender instruments are the resale value.
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True that, but I have a TM4, which is basically a Jazz, so I can’t really say anything with respect to Sandberg P-clones reproducing that P tone. In general, Sandberg basses are very nice instruments and I am very happy with mine (I think @Krescht also owns a Sandberg, and perhaps a few more people in here).
As for a P bass (not from Fender): the AIO PB4 I recently purchased is a really really nice bass with a killer P tone for around 450 dollars (+100 dollars for shipping to Europe) - so far, I am very impressed with it.
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone, lots of basses to look into, will take a while… 
I’ve also just run into this Lakland Skyline 44-64, any opinions? (Disregard the colour…)
https://www.thomann.de/ie/lakland_skyline_44_64_gz_pj_tp.htm
And @howard hit the nail on the head, the idea here would be to not give any money to Fender. (Having said that, at the end of the day the Duff McKagan PJ is still my dream bass, so being the idiot that I am I might give it a third try, but I hope I won’t.)
See here and here. It’s currently on its way back to the retailer, they said they’ll give me a refund if they can reproduce the issue.
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The one I have is a California II VM4. It has inverted P and MM-style pickups, which give it a more modern sound. When I switch off the MM pups, it can get a thumpy P-bass sound.
However, if you really want to get the vintage Fender sound, you’ll probably have to change the pups. The different type of bridge might also play a small role in the sound.
If you consider a Sandberg as a valid option, it might be worth considering going for a California instead of an Electra. The one below offers an active/passive switch for the electronics:
It’s a little above your 1K limit, but you’ll get the real 100% German build one 
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That color is fantastic
Seriously it’s great, love it.
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Made in Germany basses have superior quality. Sandberg and Warwick are amazing and I have owned them both (I still own 2 Sandberg basses). Remember that tone can also be shaped with a preamp. Sandberg Electra with a Tech 21 preamp will bring you very close to that Fender p-bass sound.
That said I do think a Marcus Miller or Lakland will feel a bit more like Fender. Personally I like the looks of that Lakland better. You can’t go wrong with any of those imo.
Go Warwick if your focus is more towards metal 
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I don’t think I would agree that made in Germany products are good. Most things I’ve bought in the past that were made in Germany were horribly unreliable and of shoddy quality, even though they were expensive. Lesson learnt. I won’t touch anything that’s German made now. Even German cars are legendary for breaking down quickly and frequently
The days when Germany was a manufacturing powerhouse are long gone. There’s no talent there now. Talent follows where the manufacturing centres are.
Also, Sandberg basses aren’t made in Germany. They’re made in the Far East.
Sandberg’s Electra line are made in Korea (which likely still puts them on par with MIA Fenders and certainly MIJ; Korean made instruments are generally considered high quality, like MIJ.)
The higher end Sandberg basses are made in Germany.
Also, I’ve had excellent service from Warwick. Even on their Made in China Rockbass line. Kind of the opposite experience @akos had with Fender, in fact.
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Be careful of the “made in” label. In many cases, the laws regarding where it’s legal to state the country of origin from are lax. You will find a great many products that say “made in Germany” or “made in USA”, when in fact they are no. More often than not they will be made in one of the manufacturing centres are in the East, but shipped back to Germany to be assembled allowing them to state “made in Germany”. Those more expensive(high end?) basses that are claimed to be “made in Germany” might not be.
I don’t see their business strategy in them making their expensive basses in Germany and the others elsewhere. It wouldn’t make much business sense.
All the major guitar companies I can think of are doing this, including Fender, Gibson, Warwick, Dingwall, Sandberg, Supro, Yamaha, Ibanez, and others.
lots of basses made in Indonesia at the moment, for example, by most of those companies I listed.
example, one of the three factories there, making Fenders (see the logo), among others:
decent list of where each is made here:
Exporting the manufacturing of your less expensive models is pretty common with “premium” guitar companies, it turns out.
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And, realistically, there isn’t anything wrong with it, so long as QC is maintained and supply chaions remain unbroken. I mean, this is the reason we have such a broad array of affordable, good quality instruments available to us. The problems start when QC is lax, the supply chains break down and the manufacturers start cheaping out on fit-and-finish or materials.
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Totally. If the quality is good, and it’s the type you want, it’s all good. Personally I’d trust the purchase of a Dingwall Combustion (made in China, heavily QC’d by a premier vendor) over any Fender, regardless of place of manufacture. YMMV.
I’ve owned four Yamaha Indonesian-made guitars and all were outstanding, fit and finish-wise. Very well made.
The two Warwick Rockbasses I have owned were also fine.
My Yamaha SBV-550, made in Taiwan, has really great fit and finish, better than any Fender I have tried so far. It’s a really high quality instrument.
The common thread here is these are companies famous for good quality control. Do bad ones get out? Sure, but I haven’t seen one.
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The pieces for the Electra basses are produced in Korea and assembled in Germany as they clearly state on their website
handselected components by korean manufactures, assembled and designed by sandberg-guitars in germany
For the “made in Germany” ones, just take a look at this video 
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I was talking about the premium ones. Cheaper models are usually produced somewhere else but the QC is still done in Germany. Just as my Warwick which was also MiG. I’m just stating the quality in my experience was top notch. The OP was asking about experiences.
I had an old BMW 316i which never needed repairs and was super reliable. That car was awesome! I think most newer cars have more complex engines, wiring and digital stuff going on and are bound to have more troubles? Even my mother had some serious issues with her Japanese car.
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Sorry but most of Sandberg’s line is definitely made in Germany in their factory. If I’d have had more money I’d have ordered one. It’s on the horizon though.
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The problem with QC is each brand owner decides what to pay for. it’s not just the factory its made in, if the brand owner pays for less checks, worse materials etc then you get worse. This happens in food industry too, all industries. Premium products being made in exact same spaces as low end models.
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I’ve owned three VW’s and an Audi. All were fantastic cars.
The Chevy I owned, my first car, was utter trash. A lesson learned young - MIA doesn’t mean jack shit unless the companies take quality seriously - and US auto manufacturing in the '80s didn’t.
I’m not giving any manufacturer the crutch of leaning on nationality. Either make good products and earn the reputation or don’t - and earn the reputation.
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