Michael S: I play Yamaha basses exclusively. They’re light, with a solid, plunky sound. They also have the benefit of being reasonably priced. I’ve told the story for many years that I once played a $7,000 Alembis for a few minutes, then switched to a $400 Yamaha that, I thought, sounded better. Right now, I’m playing a Yamaha RBX-350, which is a couple of models old (I think they’re up to the 370 series). To be honest, I’m not as big of a fan of the 350 (my 3rd bass) as I was my RBX-250 (my 2nd) – but both of them beat out the Fender Musicmaster (aka “The Fart Bass”) that I started with.

Musician’s Friend has a Yamaha BB404 for right at $300. They’ve also got about 1 and a half million other basses.