There is this thing known as "the law of diminishing returns". Basically it says as you start paying more and more for whatever you're buying, you get less and less improvement per price increase. Yes a bass that costs $200 is possibly twice as good as one that costs $100. A $400 bass though will not "normally" be twice as good, but it will be better. An $800 bass will probably be a bit better than a $400 bass but the question arises is it really twice the price better? - probably not. By the time you get into the $1600 basses, you'll have a hard time finding a bad one, but you could probably get one that is "almost as good" for that $800 price range.
Now perhaps I am not the best person to judge as the only two 4-string basses I've ever owned were both Made in the USA Fender Jazz Basses. I bought my 1965 Fender Jazz Bass used in 1966. Used it throughout high school, college, and toured with it in the early 70's playing 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year for 3-years. I got to know that feel and sound of that bass really well. Then in 1976 our house was burglarized and all my music gear was stolen including my '65 Jazz bass and my $1,000+ Standel piggy-back bass amp.
This was a time in my life where we had young kids and replacing a bass was a tough thing to do. That didn't stop me from searching though. Bad news was that none of the Made in the US Jazz basses I tried had the same feel to the neck - not even close. Sound was good but in most cases neck was crap (for me that is). Finally in 1985 I found a maple-necked '82/'83 Olympic White Fender Jazz Bass that had the same feel as my '65 did and I bought it.
Up until then, I couldn't find anything that came close to the neck I had on my '65. I was working part-time at a music store when I found it, and I had tried every bass they had in the place (well over 200). My "vintage" neck wasn't to be found. I could have bought some really nice basses for not much money, but none of them had the feature - that vintage neck that I demanded (60's shallow C-shape with 7.25" radius). I held out for that specific feature, finally found it, and have played that bass now for 40-years. In my opinion, it was/is much better than any other bass made anywhere...at least for me. You are welcome to send me basses to try out if you want to try to change my mind.
Now in about 2009 I was playing with a group that was playing songs that really called for 5-string. I was down-tuning the E-string on my Fender Jazz and it seemed we never played two songs together that needed me to be tuned to D or Db, but always put a standard tuning song in between them. So I started looking for a 5-string.
First thought was to check out the Ibanez 5-strings because they made quality instruments, they were known for narrow necks (similar to my jazz that I am so used to), and I thought I could get a decent one for ~$400. Looked like I could get a Fender MIM for around $600 then, but I tried one out at a music store and it was terribly uncomfortable for me to play. The edges of the neck were sharp and the neck was pretty flat. I mentioned on the Eden forum (when it was still around) that I was looking for a 5-string and had about $400 in my budget for it.
One of the old timers on the forum answered back and said I should look at the Rogue 5-string. He said the price was only about $200. He said he had three of their passes including their violin bass and that they were far better than their price. So I took him at his word and ordered a Rogue LX405 Pro, 5-string. This is before their Pro II or Pro III and was made in Korea, as opposed to China.
When I received the bass, I was quite surprised. The fit and finish is superb and cosmetically it is excellent. It has a bolt-on neck with 6 screws and the truss rod is accessible under a cover in the headstock. I've used the truss rod once, after my 3,000 mile move from Virginia to Washington state. That one adjustment got it right back to the set-up and intonation I'd had in VA.
It can be used in either active or passive mode, but just pulling up the volume knob or pushing it back in place. it has a Jazz-Bass type bar pickup in the neck position and a MusicMan-style double pickup (soapbar-type) in the bridge position. In passive mode only the volume and the pick-up blend controls work. In active mode the bass and treble controls also work. I like it a little bit better in active mode with a slight adjustment on the bass and treble, but I also like the sound in passive with the selector blend turned a little bit towards the neck pickup.
It's body is made from basswood with a flamed maple top and mine is a transparent tobacco sunburst. Basswood is a pretty soft wood so you need to be a little careful with it, but I am very careful with my basses, so that wasn't a problem. Because it uses basswood and only a flamed maple top, it's about 2-lbs. lighter than my 4 string Jazz and I just use a standard width nylon strap on it instead of the 3½" leather strap I use on my Jazz. The neck feels good to me across the 5-strings even though it has a 12" radius which is a LOT flatter than my 4-string. Still, it feels fine across the 5 strings. The rosewood fretboard has Mother-of-Pear dots, plus there are white dots on the side of the neck. So this was a real winner for me and I think I paid all of $219 for it.
Since their manufacturing moved to China, quality control has suffered. They are still a good design but not all of them have the superb fit and finish that mine does. Unfortunately, this is not unusual in Chinese bass factories. Some of the same models are great and some of them are not. Good news is that you can get one in your hands at Guitar Center and inspect it and play it before you buy it. Word of warning though, they don't know which controls do what and Rogue has no website. The top front control is volume and pulls and pushes to switch back and forth from active to passive. The bottom two are you bass and treble EQ knobs and they only work in active mode (don't work at all in passive mode). Most of the online shops carry it and have a 30 to 45-day return so if you get an unsatisfactory one you can return it for exchange or refund.
Fit and finish in mine is easily in the range of basses selling for $699+ And I can get a decent sound out of it in both passive and active modes. I'm real happy with mine even though I don't use it very often. I love the way my maple-necked Fender Jazz sounds and plays, so the Rogue is not going to replace that anytime in the future. Still, I will pull it out when I need to use a 5-string with absolutely no apologies. It sounds good, plays well, and looks good to boot!
Here's a shot of front and back:
