Thank you for the suggestions...
I will research them more...all of these choices are a little more "modern" than I usually go , but what the hell...
Seems like the Schecter's and Ibanez's keep popping up the most when I ask this question...As my son has an Ibanez 4 that I like, I'll likely start there. I got a lot of people suggesting Schecter, also, so I will definitely check this out, as well as seeing if I can lay my hands on an EPI pro T Bird 5 in town here.
I like the look of the Yamaha BB's--looks more like familiar territory--especially the passive one, but saw several Harmony Central reviews where it appeared that the neck was not stable...
Anybody have experience with lower end Peavey basses (not $1500 Cirrus) lately? Any good?