Rogue LX205B 5-String Bass, Metallic Charcoal

 great
this is one of the best basses i have used, high quality and cheap, one of the best out there if you are begining or in a band

 Surprisingly good entry level bass
As an entry bass, I'm giving it 5 stars, because it's a tremendous value. (It doesn't compare at all to a Warwick or Alembic.)

I'm an advanced guitarist (guitarist, not bassist), having played guitar for 15 years, and I decided to buy a cheap bass to play around on. Normally I wouldn't purchase anything under $400, but I heard these were quite good.

This bass gets good tone, especially if you run it through a little compression and equalization. You can go from a gutteral crunch to a bright punch with ease. It has a responsive, sleek neck. The most common problem with low end guitars and basses is that they tend to have distorted, often uncorrectable intonation, but the intonation on this bass was perfect out of the box.

I had to do some set up to get this playing right. Apparently it's common on these. If you buy one and find that the lower 5 frets on the E and A strings tend to buzz, your neck is too straight. Loosen the truss rod a little and that should take care of it. (Be careful with truss rods. You can ruin your neck. If you are very inexperienced, have an experienced friend show you how or pay $20 at a guitar store for a set up.)

The upper frets are quite accessible. I have no problem doing bass solos on this. A nice feature is that it has 24 frets, compared to 20 or less on a typical Fender P-bass. (This also applies to the Squier P-bass, which is probably something you're considering if you're looking at this. I had a Squier electric 13 years ago. It was a piece of junk.)

The bass is also quite attractive. The finish seems durable, and is nicer than what you'd expect from the website image.

Overall, this is a great entry bass, as along as you're willing to set it up.