Hello, my dearies. It’s been a long time. Life got in the way, but with Josh overhauling the course, I’ve been very motivated again.
The problem is, I drool over an Ibanez Mikro GSRM20-MPL, while my bass is a Yamaha RBX-170, which is just another colour, has two more frets and got it like… late 2011? Up til now, it was the only bass I played. Between you and me, I love the rosewood fretboard, something that is not manufactured anymore, if I am not mistaken, and I was wondering maybe the 2 frets aren’t much of a deal for me, with these strings, staying in the range of .45 to .105 gauge. I also love the ole good Sterling, but I can’t afford it yet.
What would you advise?
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Going from your 34" scale Yammy to a 28.58" Ibby is quite a jump. If you’re looking for a shorter scale bass, I’d highly recommend you look for one with a standard 30" scale. Why?
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Muscle memory - there are a ton of excellent 30" shorties out there (I have 11, with 2 more coming). If you’re going to (re)take B2B with a shorter scale bass than you Yammy, I’d start with a standard shorty.
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Strings - you might have an issue with string choice for the Ibby Mikro.
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I had some bad luck with a low-priced Ibby. I bought a 32" scale SRMD200 Standard Soundgear Mezzo when the model was released in 2019. I sold it almost immediately. The volume and EQ controls felt really cheap and flimsy. And it was active-only. No passive mode. The preamp was super touchy. It was difficult to dial in a tone I liked…and keep it there. But for 1000 €, my 30" scale headless EHB1000S is outstanding.
You might want to ask @Whying_Dutchman for a recommendation for a Thomann house-brand Harley Benton. They offer some fine, inexpensive basses. Thomann has some entry level 30" scale models ($100) in stock, but their better ones ($200) show restocking times between 4 and 10 weeks.
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To be honest I love my Yamaha and I also have a Harley Benton Thunderbird lookalike (with a terrible nose dive and I can’t tune if I’m strapped with it and I’m like 175cm I feel like a child every time).
Straight up, if it hadn’t the color and the black fretboard I’d might skip any idea to get it.
I do have some problems with my Yamaha fitting-wise but it’s because my weight is fluctuating due to my diet and I need to be more conscious fixing my strap every time I practice/play.
If you tell me there’s a purple Stingray not longer than my Yamaha and kinda affordable, I might change my mind.
Also I searched more strings and Ibanez has their own shortie 45 65 85 105 which is the gauge I usually use on bass.
Frankly I don’t need a shortie. I just fell in love with how it looks mostly.
Edit: yes I’ll take the course again
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@Feggarow I would not put you off a Mikro scale instrument, I find them fun. I have basses with scales from 35" down to 23" and have no problem moving between them, the multi-scale ones probably present more of a fretting challenge. I make mine, so I cannot comment on Ibanez production quality. However, I use Ibanez Mikro strings (28.5" scale) because the outer windings on the E string stop in the right pace; if you want to put 30" scale strings on, it will be easier with a string-through body, which I don’t think the Ibanez Mikro has (though it would be easy to convert, you just need some ferrules and a drill).
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I think you’ll have fun with a different bass. I went from a Precision bass to a PJ and, while it’s a subtle difference, I really enjoy the new pickup and the option to pluck from there with a solid anchor.
The two extra frets don’t make a big difference. If at all, you’d only need them soloing or for intros. And you’d have to be in the key of G or D to really need them at all. 
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