Ibanez GSRM25-BK

It's unbelievable you can get a 5 string short scale bass of this quality at this price.

It's fit and finish is great as you expect even from budget ibanez. It's a simple bass, but as a bass player it's my belief you can get away with very basic sounds and sculpt a lot of it through signal processing if you want. This is perfect to dabble into 5 string and try short scale at the same time.

The neck is so playable. I have small hands and this is just a dream... Used to have a multiscale 5 string redsub, this is much more comfortable and shocking how the B string holds plenty of tension, better than that multi scale. This means action can be lower as there's less flop on that low string.

It's my go-to practice bass at home now, and I'm hoping to transplant the neck onto my modded Ibanez SR which is full scale ATM and just 4 strings. Then I'll have my perfect gig bass.

Look after your hands! Everyone is different. It's not being weak or giving up if playing standard scale actually hurts or limits what you can grab on the fretboard. I've caused myself damage by not listening to my body and I'm paying for it now, if you think a short scale bass will help you, it probably will - so don't delay. Just buy it

With nice build quality for the price and a sound that exceeds the price range, this bass fits me really well. It's got all the features I need and none of the ones I don't need.
Also, really nice to have a bass guitar that fits my proportions, as I'm not 6 ft tall. If you just want to doodle around or have a bass to carry around while traveling, this will not fail you. You won't be playing Madison Square Garden with this, but then again, if you plan to play there you're not looking at this review.
The one thing I can say that is negative is that the strings it comes with aren't all that great, so I suggest buying a fresh set along with this bass.