Hey Joe... I see that you are from my old neck of the woods (I'm from the Minocqua area). I want to warn you that you are about to hear from a lot of people trying to steer you away from the really low end Ebay basses, and I'm afraid I'm one of them. There are other folks that will tell you that it'll work out fine, but they are in the minority. It's been discussed here a lot in the past. I'm afraid that the extreme climatic swings of Northern Wisconsin will doom a cheapo bass before you even get a chance to learn to play it. I would instead try to find a decent used Englehardt ply or something along those lines. I found a nice blond one once for $400, and I also had a lovely Epiphone ply that I got for $600. Both were lightyears beyond the basses I've seen come off of the 'bay.
On the other hand, I see that you're an ex-Harley hillclimber, so clearly you're not afraid of risky behavior.
If you spend a little time here reading some of the tales of CCBs, BSOs, Craptastic Chinese basses, etc... you may want to keep your wallet in your pocket. Good luck.
