I’ve got switch envy!!! Thanks for the explanation!
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No problem. The whole set up confused many who bought them without first knowing how everything worked and how to deal with MFD pickups. Let’s just say the design which came from the '80s was light years beyond your basic Jazz Bass.
Leo believed that for some an L2000 could serve to replace both a PBass and a JBass but he still produced the L1000 which was a single pickup version with an MFD pickups placed in the typical PBass position. Those are very popular as well.
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Ill throw a quick rundown on my first bass.
Ibanez SR655PB (Pardon the background, have not gotten to the Spring Cleaning yet)
Looks like this is a discontinued model. Has Bartolini mk1 active pickups, which I believe were stock on this instrument. Some listings/articles I have found indicate the finish is called “Blue Moon” and one even claimed it was rare, with only 150 sent to the states. I don’t put much stock in that since I can’t confirm, but if true that would be pretty wild. Have tried looking up SN, but come up with zip. Regardless, this is first bass I bought, without knowing anything about playing bass. Sometimes you just see a finish you fall in love with. Which is probably a terrible way to choose an instrument.
Lucky for me, it worked out. This bass has a wonderful tone, and is very easy to play. Some info/reviews i found online stated a belief the Bartolinis were udnerpowered/sounded bad, but I have to disagree. The store I bought it at either intentionally set it up with an extremely high action, or didn’t set it up at all. I have been meaning to get it back to the shop for a proper setup to my preferences, but have been putting it off. Despite that, before learning to know better, I played with this ridiculous set up until I saw the light and bought a 4-string to learn on.
I pull this one out frequently, even if I don’t require a 5-string for what I am playing. It sounds too good to not play it more often.
I bought it used, and it does have some scars to show it. Top of body has a chunk taken out of the finish (you can kinda see it in the body close up).
My first experience with Ibanez, and I can see why they’re loved by many.
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Soundgear basses are excellent models. I’ve played them before just haven’t owned one.
Yeah the SR line is fantastic, really like them. Nice looking bass @DocJas, you should absolutely get it set up (or do it yourself! It’s easy. 
)
Boom! 
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One more review of an extremely good but less popular G&L. My M2000.
The M Series basses are the 100% active version of L Series basses. So the body style and hardware are identical between them. M Series basses have an 18v preamp and slightly under wound MFD pickups to allow for the gain added by the preamp. As a result the pickups are tamed a bit more easily.
M Series basses have a 3 band fully active EQ which allows for the boost or cut of bass, mids, and treble. I find this feature more to my liking than the passive system of L Series basses. There’s also a blend pot that allows infinite combinations of the bridge and neck pickups.
My M2000 has a satin finished 1 5/8" nut width medium “C” PBass type neck with a medium taper and a 0.82"/ 1st fret .094"/12th fret depth. So overall it’s slightly beefier than the neck on my Kiloton. I love the bass. If I could choose only a single two pickup bass I would choose an M2000.
Both the US and Tribute M Series basses have been discontinued and can only be purchases used or as NOS from a dealer as I bought mine. However, there has been talk of G&L making them available again as a custom order. That would be great since IMHO they are one of the best fully active basses.
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Review of the Harley Benton MV-4MSB Shortscale bass. Price: 229€
Finally, I have the bass that fits best to my specific requirements.
I have played quite a few short scales in the last few months, ranging from 400€ to 1500€, and this one is the best for my needs, all in all.
From an ergonomic point of view this bass is perfect (at least for me), except weight perhaps.
It has some details (body and neck shape) that surpass the Fender original – Harley Benton has really put some thought into improving an existing classic.
Since I have it I could not stop playing. I thoroughly enjoy it and it feels just right…
For those who don’t know: I’m a beginner and even worse: a modder by heart.
So a bass needs to be good, cheap – and good platform to mod!
Cause it’s so cheap, I have purchased two basses of the same model in different colours. One for on my sofa and one for “outside” (park/travel/etc). The “outside” bass will be used for stupid experiments too (fretless, anyone?).
First of all, the “Burgundy Mist” colour is beautiful. I had a lot of prejudices about that colour, but I absolutely love it – and my girlfriend assured me that it doesn’t make me less manly (maybe even MORE!) 
The general design is cool and the workmanship of the body and neck is truly perfect. Much better than most basses I had in my hands (Ibanez and ESP being the positive exception).
I did not notice any neck dive too. The neck feels less smooth than an Ibanez EHB (which has this nice satin feel), but much better than any Fender I tested.
It has a 38mm nut that really starts to grow on me. Size matters, but sometimes smaller is better! This is one of those cases…
For the ones that like big buts, here they are – there is a lot to like, but:
- Manufacturer setup on the Burgundy Mist model s#cked totally, on the black model it was soso. That’s quite unusual for Harley Bentons nowadays, but easy to resolve myself.
- The China tuners look better than I thought. The previous model had good old Gotoh GB707s, and I know why: the China tuners have problems keeping their tuning over a 24 hour period. Also, tuning the bass is a little cumbersome, as it feels like there is a delay between turning the peg and change in tune. At the start of a turn it feels “harder”, than very light and then quite right. I am planning to replace the China tuners with the Gotoh GB707, and already found a solution to fit 14mm tuners in 17mm holes (or so I hope).
- The pickups are soso. That was expected. The precision pickup sounds muddy in lower frequencies and I hear a slight hiss (but no humming"). I planned to replace those anyway, so I don’t care. For a beginner it is OK though, I guess. Oh, one more thing: I found the sound of the EHB EHB1005SMS also muddy in lower frequencies, so maybe it’s just me? My old ESP sounded perfect though!
- At last this model has a pickup selection switch, which it didn’t have before. On the Burgundy Mist I felt that I could select J and P mode only (no difference between P and PJ). On the black one there is J, P and PJ mode. Strange. Will change that to jazz volume, precision volume and tone pots anyway.
- Strings sounded and felt worse than the same string type on the Sire U5. They also look different. Still ok, but on the Sire my fingers felt right at home.
- The pickguard is tortoise and I cannot eat enough to keep up with barfing about this! Oh, how much I look forward to change that!
VERDICT
I would recommend this bass 100% to a beginner with a small budget or a modder that needs a good platform (neck and body) and ignores all the China stuff on it as it will be replaced anyway. I am sure this bass could bring a lot of joy to advanced players too!
Pretty picture:
Link with the story of my modding adventure and the usual chaos happening when I comment on stuff:
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