That makes much more sense.
€285 over here.
Seems really good value if you’re starting from scratch.
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It really does seem like a good value with decent quality stuff
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Got mine before I knew Thomann 
They also have their Harley Benton starter kits that seem quite interesting.
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My young nephews have gone through a fair bit of Harley Benton stuff and it’s been a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality, necessitating a few returns. However, once they got a got a good example it’s turned out well for them and they’ve been happy.
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I ALWAYS tune before playing and check periodically during a session just in case.
Phone app tuners are great in a quiet environment, like home practice, but at a jam session, with all the ambient noise, I found them useless most of the time, unless, you can plug them directly into your phone via an interface.
I always wanted a Peterson strobe tuner but the price was just too high.
I then discovered the Istrobosoft phone app strobe tuner by Peterson. It works great and I use it all the time rather than a Bass headstock tuner. It is cheap and works fantastic. Here is a link to a topic that has all the details regarding it.
Bass tuner
When I started into Bass at the beginning of 2021 tuners were one of the surprises that I got.
I have a few acoustic and electric guitars and my headstock tuners that work great on them were either too erratic or plain just did not work on my Bass. Another big surprise is I was having to buy a Bass specific amp. Because I jam a lot I will not buy amps with less than 100W. Enter the Rumble 100. 
So do I 
Tuning apps (especially the free ones) can be a good idea when you start and you’re not sure that bass is your thing. Some might not have the precision of other tuning devices, but it’s still better than nothing.
I quickly got a Korg TM-60 but now I use the TC polytune3 most of the time as it is part of my pedalboard.
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Both good units.
Take a look at this picture of the Korg and note the frequency it is set to for A.
I thought the frequency of A was 440Hz not 442Hz.
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Didn’t notice that… Maybe it can be adjusted. I don’t have that cable though, would be practical 
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You can adjust it, no worries. Default setting is the usual 440 Hz. For some reason, they have the 442 Hz on their product photos. Maybe to get the point accross that you can change it.
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Are there any beginners reading this topic, especially ones that have not purchased a Bass or amp yet, that have found the information here helpful at all?
Issue with beginners picking out a first bass, from my experience would be next things.
You dont wanna spent much money cause you have no idea if you gonna stick to it.
You wanna avoid “playing” the bass in front of bunch a people in the shop cause you think you cant even hold the bass properly.
You have no idea what to look for on the bass.
Your fretting fingers arent streched yet so you are unable to properly test out the neck. So shape of your first neck will probably remain your preference.
You cant tell much difference between pickup sounds.
You still dont know which sound you prefer.
So what can I recommend, since you cant really explain with words whats a solid bass to a someone who is actually just starting.
You, as a starter, try find the bass you like design wise, then grab some guitar player or bass player, or maybe find some customer in the shop, if you dont particullary dont trust the sellers opinion, like at mine place. Let him/her play it for your ears and let em check out the hardware and any possible deficencies with it. If they say its aight, you also try it in your hands and decide.
P.S. Logo on the headstock doesnt mean s**t. Remember that beginners.
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Ha, this was so me when I decided to buy my first guitar. I’d never so much as held an electric guitar and had zero idea how to play.
I eventually found a shop ( Musicmaker) where the sales assistant spent about 30 minutes playing a variety of guitars for me until we whittled it down to two, neither of which were on my original list (carefully researched from youtube) when I walked in.
From this I could hear what the instrument could potentially sound like, I could get a more expert opinion on playability and then hold and try it for myself.
Bottom line, find a good shop who are willing to help or if you already know someone who can play ask them to come along with you.
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I’d recommend doing what I did myself: buy a cheap, but decent second-hand first bass. As others have already said, you’re probably not going to care about tone, or pickup configuration, or neck/body shape that much, because you don’t know what your preferences are yet. Just get a decent bass that works and doesn’t cost you a lot of money if you decide you don’t like it. Even if you do like it, it won’t be your “definitive” bass anyway, so you can (and probably will) sell it again for the same price (or just a little less). Buy a new first bass, and you will most likely be down a couple of hundred bucks if/when you decide you want to get rid of it.
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Although an expensive route in the long term, renting can be an option if you really aren’t convinced you’re going to get into bass
Definitely an option. I’d buy used and resell way before renting though; you might even turn a profit 
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One thing that has not been mentioned are libraries.
After I started weekly jam sessions at my 2 local library branches they decided to budget for musical instruments. Now you can check out Guitars, Basses, violins, and a few other stringed instruments like you would books. Ones requiring amps have them included along with any needed cables. Maybe your local library has a similar option.
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Ahh libraries. Now there’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time. I didn’t know they still existed.
For the benefit of younger BassBuzzers they were a building full of books (remember those old things printed on paper) that you could borrow for a few weeks and then return.
But that wasn’t the primary purpose of the library. From what I recall it was so old people could turn down the heating in their house, go to the library and save on the hydro bill. I may be misremembering , it’s been a very long time.
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Oh . . . so the “books” are those things on those shelves, then? . . . 
See that? You learn something every day . . . 
Cheers
Joe
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