I haven't owned a bass in like 3 years because I am a damn fool. For some reason I often find it easier to write songs around a bassline rather than a guitar part, and I'm writing a lot at the moment, so I thought I'd buy a cheap-ish bass instead of trying to borrow one from a pal yet again. I was tempted by the new shell pink Bronco, but this will mostly be for home use, and the impression I've gotten from a few of you guys is that the Bronco pickup sounds decent in a live context, but sucks for recording. Plus my new Tele has basically satisfied my lust for a shell pink guitar. The TMB30 is a similar price and has "proper" bass pickups.
This is the first shortscale bass I've owned (and possibly the first I've even played?!) and I'm amazed by how much more comfortable it feels. I guess that makes sense, because I'm only a little guy. Haven't had chance to play it plugged in yet, but it feels very solid.
On its own:
And with the whole gang:
I feel like I've got all my guitar needs covered now, although I'm still tempted to upgrade the Les Paul SL a little bit.