I use a Gretsch G2210 Jet Bass to compose bass lines with. It's around $200. Solid chunk of wood, actually heavier than you would expect. It sounds good, does P-Bass/Jazz kind of tones, plays in tune, intonation good. It's only drawback is it has some flappy, distorted snap to it if you pluck the strings too hard. I usually have to keep the tone dialed down to a really warm setting like 3-5 and watch my technique.
I tried a Squire Bronco Bass, Epiphone EB-0, Ibanez Mikro when I was shopping. Squire wouldn't play in tune and sounded weak/weird. Epiphone was very comfortable, played like a small guitar, but the sound was absolutely vintage dead. One-trick pony. The Ibanez I tried had electrical problems and what worked didn't sound great. The tone controls weren't musical. Like listening to your bass from another room.
