Ok this bass is pretty good for it being short scale and only $200. It's one of the best you can buy in the price range. I do recommend changing the strings, but I do that with all new basses. Not bashing this one, it's good, but I believe a better choice is the fender affinity jazz bass. It's got a better tone and more tonal options for the money. This basses tone (at least with the Ernie ball strings I have one it now) is a little on the bright sounding side. Nothing wrong with that, but I do like the tonal options for the fender jazz basses. However, the fender jazzes aren't short scale unless you buy a jaguar (which are also pretty good) so yeah. That's my take. Definitely a good bass for the price. Just keep your options open for other short scales and see what will fit you better :)