Looking around at ~$350 basses, thoughts?

[StuartV]

+1 on some of the above. In that price range, I'd take pretty much any used MIA Peavey. You can usually find a nice Peavey Fury (i.e. a P bass) for $150 - 200. There's a really nice Peavey Foundation S (i.e. a P/J) on my local CL right now for $200. If you're patient, you might even be able to score a MIA Millennium 4-string for $350-ish.

You MAY find other basses of equal quality in the price range - if you buy used, but I don't believe you'll find better. And any bass that is in that price range, new, is probably not as good quality and will certainly lose a good chunk of its value as soon as you walk out the music store's door with it. Unlike a used MIA Peavey.

 

[Webtroll]

Mahogany can be a heavy wood, but it isn't always heavy. That said if you can't get the weight in advance you could get a nasty surprise.

+1 on the SUB line, I love mine. I bought the SUB SB14, not the StingRay

+1 on getting a pro quality bass. I'd avoid the T-40 because they can gete very heavy, someone was selling an 18 pounder locally a while back. 18 pounds?!! The Yamaha BB basses and Squier VMs are excellent choices, but I think in the long run the SUBs will be lumped in with them (they haven't been out long enough for durability to be known).

 

[Dan_reeves]

Maybe not the tone you are looking for but lighter + faster neck to me could mean Beatle Bass copy of some kind...maybe the Epi Viola or a Rogue? Some have neck dive, but all of the one's I have tried I considered incredibly light.

Have you considered other short scales like the Squier VM Jaguar Short Scale? Maybe for more traditional tone options.

 

[phatcyclist]

Lots of information, I'll have a ton to look for when I go out in search of my next bass. This is all good stuff too.

I'm leaning towards a long scale, 24 fret setup as it's what I have already, but I'll have to play some of the other scale lengths and see what I think.

 

[Maxdusty]

I forgot the Sub.
I'm a bassist with smaller hands, I have the following. I've had 60 basses the past 3 years and narrowed it down to about 13 that suit me best.
Here are some that I have decided to keep or is worth mentioning.

Ibanez - Ergodyne EDA900 (2) -Super slim necks on these, just like the SR300
Ergodyne EDB600 - slim neck, bit on the heavier side, good sound though.
(These Ergodynes are no longer made but are an upgrade over my two SR300s that I have since sold. More comparable to the SR500 in terms of sound. Price used for each was about $150-200.

Sterling Sub: nice balance of great sound, slim neck and light weight. Probably the best bass you can buy new for under $300. Used, you can get these for under $200.
New color this year is Transparent Red.. I've got a hankering for this one.

Squier VM Jaguar Special P/J Active: full scale bass- pretty good, nice neck and weight- not really into Fender style basses and sounds, but this is one I like.

Rogue VB100 (Beatle bass)- not versatile, super light & nice neck, but again, you're not going to slap on this thing.

Tobias Toby: not sold on the sound, but neck, weight is just right. Sold this to get Ergodyne EDA900.

 

[Wesley R]

If you like the SR300, then maybe a used SR500 would do. Your price is a wide open field, and could get you a decent enough, fun to play machine.