Ringo is definitely under-rated. There are several YT videos where drummers do a deep dive into some of his work and try to replicate it at tempo, for the full length of the tune. They sweat, man. Lol
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Cool. I like the Beatle just fine, I just donāt think that they are the greatest band in the world. That said without the Beatle the rockānāroll scene would not be the same.
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Yep, thatās cool. man.
Hereās to everyone being happy with what they believe to be true. 
And Happy New Year!
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Sorry, in case it wasnāt obvious - āProve me wrongā is an internet meme making fun of, basically, Mensa types. Itās almost never used seriously that way.
Also, I wasnāt āshitting on the bandā. I didnāt even say I disliked them - merely that they are overrated. It doesnāt mean they arenāt great.
Iāll stand by the āoverratedā bit though. The hagiography of that band is, frankly, kind of funny.
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Sire U5 is good, Sterling SS is great, Fender Player Mustang is great, but my favorite is the Schecter banshee SS bass. The Schecter is a monster.
Thanks @gilend for putting the topic back on track. 
Iām kinda partial to my Lakland HB30 shorty. They currently have two B stock units in stock at your budget.
This is so true. So often if you donāt agree that someone is the best ever then the assumption seems to be that you think theyāre c**p. There are quite a few of the greats from my rock past that I think were great but also not as great as their reputation, ie. overrated. Sadly these include the like of Hendrix and Dylan; I think they were great just a bit overrated. And I feel the same about the Beatles.
I think if anyone can make the claim of āthe greatestā (which to me is dubious on the face of it), the Beatles have a claim. I remember one Christmas when Guitar Hero was a thing, whenever a Beatles song came on, the whole house, 3 or 4 generations, would sing along. It was quite annoying
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Going back to the original āthe greatestā comment, it was said to describe Paul McCartney; it was not meant to refer to the Beatles as a band.
Just ask the greatest songwriter/musician/bass player in the history of the planet earth, what short-scale bass he has relied on & consistently played to audiences of 60 thousand plus, for over 60 years now & is still going strong at 81 years of age.
Iāve played the Junior Jet II (They are or were advertised as having miny humbuckers tho they do not come with them) I loved everything about the bass, sounded fantastic. Had a couple of Ibanez minis which sound ok. I prefer jazz basses, and was lucky enough to find one from J&D. Not the best sound, but it would be easy enough to swap out the coils if I ever wanted to do a gig or something. I think it cost $115 US.
Ibanez has another SS, but I canāt think of the name. I had it for a while, sounded good to me, but itās not a JB so I sold it.
Which I would absolutely disagree with as well 
Heās a great songwriter and a solid bass player but come on. Thereās a pretty solid field of people vying for āthe greatestā there that heās gonna have to get in line behind. I would be shocked if he were in the top ten.
Carol Kaye, Geddy Lee, Duck Dunn, James Jamerson, Marcus Miller, modern folks like Victor Wooten, even Jaco Pastorius (whose style I personally even dislike!), many others - this is a big big list of greats that I donāt think Macca really stands up well against, except purely in terms of writing jangle pop, where yes he is the king. And that is not a criticism in any way.
IMO itās best to talk in terms of favorites, or influences, rather than absolute terms like āthe greatestā. Does he have a claim to be one of the most influential bass players on pop and rock? Pretty likely yeah, the Beatles probably influenced more bands than any other single band. Is he someoneās favorite? Yes, thatās not even something that makes sense to argue.
Was he The Greatest? Thatās a big big field of greats to compete against, and even defining the terms there (technical skill, effectiveness on the music, etc) is hard.
Carol Kaye? John Entwistle? Jack Bruce? Itās hard to say anyone is the greatest, but these three are probably more influential on pop and rock. Greatest is just a trap.
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Derek Smalls has left the chat
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Now see thatās a prime example of an exception to the rule. There was no greater band than Spinal Tap.
Epiphone Viola, 'nuff said.
I have to make myself play my other basses.
Plays rock, punk, metal everything.
Proper sized neck and string spacing and wide variety of tones.
Dead horse beating asides notwithstandingā¦ 
@4_His_Glory_Bass, the Danelectro Longhorn is another great little shortie option. Itās very, very lightweight and a joy to play. Its lipstick pups thunder.
Itās slightly above your budget, but Iād suggest you check out ReverbāScott Beckwith, Birdsong Basses. I own three custom-made by him and they are absolutely beautiful and the sound is amazing. Scott is an upstanding businessman and highly talented. Just take a look. I HIGHLY recommend.
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The Birdsong shop is really close by for me.