Hartwood, Gear4music’s house brand, just released a new medium scale (32") bass series, the Satellite. It ships with .040-.095 strings. 219,99 € in the EU (ships from Germany), $231.50 in the U.S., and £199.99 in the U.K. Pick your country and language via the flag icon upper right. These are so inexpensive, even with a roasted maple neck, that I’m going to grab a white one.
Nice !!
Paging the Dutchman @Whying_Dutchman this is your scale.
32" my friend, 32"!
I’m still very happy with my modded 30" short scale basses.
In fact, Ronin (the black double Humbucker with 2x EMG 35TWX) became kind of a “legend” with local punk scene around “my” park.
Today a very nice looking punk girl came over to play it … and did things with my bass I couldn’t dream of (yet/ever). Like 180bpm stuff with a pick. Wild!
I was asked if she would inherit that bass when, you know, I’m gone. I really had to laugh, but: yeah … I’m old 
I do think a lot about the Reverend Lil LinhBacker Bass though. I might even be allowed to purchase it as soon as I have a new job, as a present for myself…
They have another one, the Delta, that is a PJ and the same price. The P pup is in a much more normal position. This is true shortie at 30".
That’s a nice neck! Roasted mapple, with an easily accessible truss rod nut.
But that pickguard would take lots of time to get used to.
I really like the creativity they applied to the pick guards.
For me, the tone of this Hartwood Satellite bass leaves pretty much everything to be desired. With each demo playing technique, its pup sounded supremely indistinctive and unimpressive to my ear. YMMV
But to be fair, it’s a $250 USD bass.
It’s entry level right?
Throw in some DP122s for $99 and you’re good.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP122BK--dimarzio-model-p-bass-pickup
^^^ best choice, it would work well in that position
The video demos the tone of the instrument by employing different picking techniques. My comment about that tone addressed my personal opinion on the bass’s native tone, with its included pups.
After purchase, whatever anyone chooses to do to enhance the bass’s bare wood platform — by spending cash to swap out original pups with after-market gear in order to produce an actually decent tone — is a whole other thing.
Just my take. YMMV
Seriously it’s only $250, it’s not going to be great. It’ll be OKish
The cheapest Sire Bass is around $500? So I think you have to temper your expectations for a cheap bass that’s half the price of a bottom of the pack Sire.
Not comparing the bass to anything. Just commenting on my take of the instrument’s native tone.
But if I did compare: I owned a Gretsch Junior Jet. Its Sweetwater price set me back a whopping $199. That little bugger had tone for days, even with its faux humbuckers.
That said, apples to apples is a much more apt comparison.
As has been stated here and everywhere online, Sire basses provide a hell of a lot more value than their price point would suggest, compared to equally priced basses, plus many of those double their price point.
Personally, I don’t have a dog in the hunt concerning who buys what, with the singular exception being my own self.
If this new bass floats someone’s boat, sail with the devine, I say. But its native setup doesn’t do it for me. Again, YMMV.
^^^ This. Thanks for the recommendation. I planned a pup swap. This saves me having to ask. 
And then there’s the DiMarzio BW2100 P bass wiring harness. That ought to do it!
The Model P is one of my favorites for sure.
The DP122 pups are available, but forget the wiring harness. I can’t find it anywhere in Europe and DiMarzio prohibits U.S. dealers from shipping to Europe. Stupid.
There is always the EMG GZR.
Or make it active
Some pretty nice fretwork on this inexpensive bass. Something the likes of Warwick would market as Invisible Fret-end Technology.
It’s really just not cutting the slots all the way to the end and nipping the tangs off the ends of the fret wire before installing. But it’s a step I wouldn’t expect to see at this price point.
That is nice. Are those stainless?
They are really good.
I greatly prefer ceramic pickups over AlNiCo for bass, and these are some of the GOATs for ceramic P pickups, IMO. The only ones I have found that sound better are the stock Yamaha ones in the SBV-550 and other SBVs.
Strong mids and clear highs with the Model P, very punchy and great for stuff where bass takes a lead role.
My only concern with them for the Hartwood would be oversaturation due to that pickup position; you’ll have to be careful with pickup height if you go with strong pickups like the Model P or EMG’s.
