My current bass: Glarry GP bass (1st version) with Epic Custom Shop Black Gold pickups.
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My first and only, just got it to start the courseā¦ it feels good, and itās simple so I donāt overthink unnecessarily
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My first and only bass, for nowā¦
Squier Jaguar SS bass.
EDIT āSorry just noticed I already post this on this thread 20 posts or so ago.
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Absolutely nothing wrong with a Sterling Stingray Sub Series Ray4 like you have. I donāt think you can get a better bass off the shelf for $299. You can argue that if you go up $100 or more, but for $299, it is pretty great.
So great it is my main bass, and I have the more expensive Sterling Ray 34
and an Ernie Ball Music Man 2002 Stingray 4 Classic and 2014 Stingray 4 SLO Special, those are the big brother to the Sterling by Music Man, the ones that are 5 times the price new (I did not pay that for mine, I bought them used)
But the point is, I still pick up my Ray 4 first, before all the others that cost much more
So, yeah, you did good.
When you want to upgrade, think about upgrading the pick up, it will give you a new bass, in the same bass.
Unless of course, you want to get a 2nd bass, I would never talk you out of that, but I would still recommend a pick up swap out at some point, just because it sounds so good.
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Oh man, when you see classic bass shapes in lefty, they just look so weird.
When I was a kid and wanted to play bass, my best friend already started playing bass, so I started playing guitar so we could play together.
He was a lefty, so I couldnāt even trade off whit him.
Except this one time I was out in Oklahoma City, when i was on a long vacation at my sisters back in like 1992 maybe. I went into a music store and saw a Gibson EB-0 or one of the sizes, and it was lefty, strung upside down for a right hander. I told my friend about it, and he wanted it, obviously finding good deals on used Left basses is few and far between, and it was only like $125 or something Like that. he wired me the money, and I bought it and brought it back to him.
while I was out there, the only guitar I had access to was a short scale acoustic that was my Nephewās, so I played that bass for a few weeks like it was, since it was strung proper for me.
Then I got it back to him, he strung it properly, and I could no longer play it.
Funny thing about Gibson SG and EB, they donāt really look left or right hand, just by the control knobs and pick guard.
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@T_dub I tried to play a righthand guitar and bass - my mind and hands wouldnāt go for it. I couldnāt function at all! I know there are some that suggest that lefties play righthand instruments but that isnāt for folks like meā¦ weāre hardwired in one direction. 
That sucks too because you have to hunt for anything lefthanded and then they upcharge you because itās not āstandardā and they know you need (want) it. Oh the struggles!
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Nice!
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Thatās a nice pickguard, @tonyrobichaux1 . . . 
Did you add that . . . or did it come standard? Iād like to get one!
Cheers
Joe
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Thank you @Jazzbass19, it came standard when I ordered it. I had a set of Black Beauties on it and it looked very nice, but I decided the coated strings werenāt for me so I went back to Fender strings.
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buttercream always looks so retro/good.
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Thanks, Iām happy with it, wouldnāt trade it ā¦ I spent too much time āresearchingā online and not getting anywhere with so many options ā¦ this guy sounds solid 
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Love it! My bass is a music man too
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No matter how much you spend on what, that is where most of its value is calculated, the Happy Meter.
Now, I did find another bass that looks to be competition for being best bass for $300, the claim I made about the Sterling Ray4. it is still the most widely accessible model, available most all over the world.
The Harley Benton BZ-4000
Not that I am suggesting you get one, to replace your Ray4, or to get one at all, I just wanted to point out that I need to include this bass when saying best basses for $300
Harley Benton ships pretty much worldwide, but the cost is a factor, and the delivery time can be a factor too, making the Ray4, probably more readily available to more spots in the world (I could be mistaking however)
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For three bills that thing has some really impressive features.
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Yeah, and I have been very umimpressed with the newer Ibanez SR models, in the bottom of the line that is, at this price range. the pre-amp is kind of crap, and barely gets much tone color at all.
Those basses, while the neck is very nice, that is about the best part of the bass. they feel light and kind of flimsy.
This is why I didnāt keep either of mine.
You go up the SR line, yeah there are great basses, but they pass up that $300 - $349 price by quite a bit.
So this one here, I would go for it over an Ibanez SR if I were to do it today.
Plus the Neck thru, and the awesome wood layering and it just looks sick too.
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Are you talking the GSRās here or the SRās?
The SR300 seems super solid to me, a nice bass.
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SR250, SR300. even the SR400 I had. I kind of thought, COOL, BAD ASS when my ultra noob hands and eyes got on some Orange basses with ultra thin fast necks that felt great in my left hand.
But as I progressed, and got other basses with other pick ups and pre-amps to play with, I started to see where they were laking, big.
And they just seemed like the body was being held on by the strings, and I could grab one end of the body and the end of the neck and bend it back and forth to get the strings to touch the frets with my hands nowhere near it, and flex back, and hold tune, but it sure was flimsy.
I love Ibanez, donāt get me wrong, but I think they have fallen off in the lower end of the SR line. I think my GSR200, overall may have had better tonal options with the P-J, and the active eq
They donāt offer much from the pre-amp they have, almost not enough to justify having it. I found this to be true in mine, and have seen a few reviews saying the same.
I have not payed one, but I would guess, starting with the SR500 it gets much better, but you may need to go to the 800 or next tier to really see the value of the price paid to the performance and features of the bass.
I have heard that the Talman series, for the smaller price tag, is the better bass in the Ibanez budget line. That mid scale one, IDK the name Medco or something, that looks cool took but I have not played one to know what the controls can do, or how it feels to play, so I canāt say.
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