Just traded a very good to excellent condition Ibanez SR405 5-string for a fairly dinged up 77-78 Musicmaster (yelowish-white with a black pick guard). The fender also has a puckered pick guard and a missing tone knob, and there is some corrosion on the saddle barrels. There is no static when operating the controls or playing through an amp. There does seem to possibly be the somewhat weak output I have read about, and the tone control does not seem to drastically change the sound (also something that seems common). Probably could use a good set up as I would assume any 30 something yr old bass would. Otherwise very sound. I have been wanting a 4-string to play old rock, pop and surf styles as well as just having a simpler instrument with passive elctronics. Does this sound like a trade up? Any thoughts on the Aero pickup? Also trying to decide on an affordable combo to pair with this. By the way, I am brand new to the forum and this is my first post. Thanks for any input.