"Am I hijacking my own thread?"
I think that's allowed. The Thumb is great but I play a Corvette. I also have a special place for Rickenbacker.
I liken Rickenbachers to Rolls Royces. I liken Warwick to Mercedes. I liken Ernie Ball to Porche.
Yeah, that may make no sense...
My latest favorite place to get basses is rondomusic.net. I bought one of their old style fender jazz basses with the big metal plates over the pickups and bridge for $139 on a lark. It has become one of my favorites, and the crowd LOVES it. Meanwhile I dropped it on solid concrete one day and it had no affect on it whatsoever except for a blemish in the finish on a back corner of the body.
I still feel a little queazy about pulling it out of the case in front of other bass players though.
I told a local guitar player (he runs a local jam and has been doing this stuff most of his life) about this place and over a period of two months he picked up three guitars there. Two of those are now his two favorites.
Something weird is going on.