..and that is a good point well taken. I would be getting a used bass--but still less. It also isn't the exact cost that the wife counts...it sometimes is the number of items. She doesn't see the difference between a thousand dollar item and a few items under $600. In fact she may see the few items as being more greedy. Kid you not.....
You can hide the preamp inside the bass you already have. And you could probably resell the stock preamp for $20-30, some project bass out there might be screaming for a cheap preamp.
But if it was me in your shoes, I would get a real stingray, chances are you can plug into a back line cab or one of the other band's cabs at a gig. It is one thing to beef up a sub, but if you can afford the real deal, it is a lifetime keeper. I wish I could have kept mine (classic, bfr HH and standard 3band), but they were purchases made under mkultra government mind control, to cause me to ruin my credit. And I am not kidding either! I bought them new, where value is not king, and I took a bath selling them too. Used stingrays are the way to go value wise. That was why I chose the Warwick FNA over the sterling (EBMM) and stingray 5 back in the day, same price got the same (but upgraded) style electronics, exotic woods, adjustable nut, reinforced necks, and greater bridge adjustability. It was a choice of basic woods hand made, or uber woods made by German robots (CNC). For the same price, I chose the warwick.
Mkultra, mind control said, be a rock star, buy new stingrays! Never fear new credit is here! (That also included a boogie guitar rig, a bfr jp6 petrucci, a PRS Mira, an 89 strat, a stratacoustic, steinberger spirit bass etc... It was fun while it lasted, decided the spirit was a keeper, but it got stolen 2 years later)
