I bought a cheap Ibanez gio short scale to see if my arthritis could handle playing bass. It went great, but now I’m ready to upgrade. I don’t ever plan to play other than for meditative and joy purposes. I don’t expect to amplify, just headphones, so most of the debate about pickups and sound really aren’t going to matter to me, so that skews what people normally review.
what will matter is ease of playing. I have very small hands so without going fretless I need the easiest low buzz option as that is something I struggle with. I’d love to have something that would have a nice adjustable neck if needed. I have about 1000 euros roughly to spend. I’m not opposed to a normal scale but my stubby fingers + achey hands did enjoy the short scale.
I’ve got an Ibanez Mikrobass as well and I absolutely bloody love it! I don’t have the breadth of experience/knowledge that others here have, but unless there’s something you fundamentally dislike about the Ibanez I’d be tempted to stick with it
Of course there is always GAS to account for as well …
Welcome alorinna. if there is a music store near you, try a few out the u5 is great I have a beatle bass ( epiphone viola ) just like a Hoffner, short scale, but if you can try out a jazz bass ( so many brands out there) the neck is thinner easier to fret and move around.
good luck and welcome aboard
My mildly arthritic hands love my Sire U5. I started with an Ibanez 25 inch scale acoustic, and had no problem at all adjusting fingers to the fret spacing of the 30 inch U5. (Knitting causes more hand trouble than playing my bass does.)
The tension on the strings is fairly low, the shape of the neck and the rounded edges of the fretboard make playing very easy. The strings it came with (D’Addario EXL170-S) are so nice on my fingers I have no desire to switch them out for anything else yet.
It sounds great thru a Katana Go headphone amp and Audio-Tecnica headphones.
And it’s just so darn pretty. The glowing wood body, the maple fretboard… sigh.
(Edit: not literally glowing, but lovely flamed maple that catches the light and looks like warm honey. Yeah, I really like my U5.)
There is a thread called “Short Love” that has a lot of good info about short-scales. I don’t know how to post a link to a thread, but you can scroll down to it or look it up in the search. It’s a great thread!
I 4th the Sire U5. It’s a lot better than you’d expect for a 525-550 € bass. It’s plays great, and has a silent J pickup (no 50/60 Hz hum)! Rare, even for basses costing much more. I liked mine so much, I bought a fretless U5 to go with it. As @Ardea mentioned, the stock strings on the fretted U5 are fine. I was very surprised that my fretless U5 came with flatwound strings stock (D’Addario ECB81S .045-.100 Chromes). I’ve had no need to change them out, either.
The Sire U5 is a great bass. If you get it, put some Thomastik Jazz Flats on them. They are expensive, yes - but sound great, feel smooth and are very easy to play.
Should be perfect for arthritis.
Also, consider the Harley Benton MV-4MSB short scale, if you live in Europe. I have three of them.
They are in the same ballpark, quality wise. I found the HB more ergonomic, but that’s of course dependend on your body & style. In my opinion, the U5 looks a little better, especially the one that @TheMaartian has.
You can order both at Thomann and send back the one you don’t like…
There are many good short scale basses out there. I have a few myself. I would recommend a Sire U5, or a Sterling Ray SS4. the Sterling is a short scale Sting Ray, and sounds great and is super comfortable to play.
Thank you everyone for the recommendations! The sire sounds like a great choice. I will admit that I have looked at that sterling and kind of fell in love, but couldn’t find anyone talking about the ease of playing. I think it’s because I fell in love with knopfler’s resonator a very very long time ago, and it reminds me of it. Every time I see one of these I get a little smitten. lol.
I have both a Sire U5 and a Sterling SS4. Each is a fine bass.
One feature of the U5 not mentioned so far is that its body and headstock are scaled down in size compared to a long scale (34”) bass. This makes the U5 somewhat more ergonomic to smaller players.
But, as mentioned, the Sterling shorty is very comfortable to play as well.
I don’t have a U5 and can’t make the comparison. I have owned Sires (long scale) and can attest to their quality. Maybe @Al1885 can say - he might have both.
The Stingray shape and design are iconic for a reason. Both are great basses, you will be happy with either, which one are you more excited about? Get that one.
Oh, and the smaller body means it doesn’t smoosh into boobs when you play sitting with it in your lap. Not an issue for all of us, nor for all basses; but a data point that might be valuable for some.
I almost mentioned Offbeat, but I assume the OP is in the EU from the currency and with tariffs said to myself why complicate things in this discussion.
It is a toss up between my Joe Dart III (which is the same body as the SS4 but a P bass) and the Offbeat for comfort. Alas the JD III was a limited run or I would have recommended it doing handstands and stuff. Same for Offbeat except for the shipping stuff.
Owning both a U5 and a Sterling shorty, I can say that a Sire U5’s body feels to me more like an electric guitar’s body than a standard bass like, say, a Fender. The U5 is the perfect gateway instrument for a guitar player transitioning to bass. In fact, that’s precisely why I bought mine; I wanted something that wasn’t as gargantuan (to me) as a standard-size bass.
@Al1885 told me years ago that he had a U5 briefly. I believe the only Sire he owns now is a V7.
Yes sir, I can attest to this. When I was buying my Reverend (one sec on that one), they had a U5 in the shop and I was playing with that one too. The U5 so was nice that I waffled between them… which is saying a lot considering the price gap.
So the Reverend is the same if not a teensy bit smaller as far as the body of the bass. It’s a short scale but it’s still 1.65” at the nut, which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with smaller hands but the body is smaller than my Revstar.
I don’t have the breadth of experience/knowledge that others here have, but unless there’s something you fundamentally dislike about the Ibanez I’d be tempted to stick with it 
