three

Given your budget, it's worth thinking about buying one of the many very reasonably priced variants of the P that appear in the ads on Basschat. That way, if you don't like it, the band don't like it, things don't work out etc., you can sell it again with very little risk of losing much money. Think of it as chance to try a P and to rent one for a very minimal charge! And it's all good fun Here's a couple just from page one of the Basses for Sale section:

Thank you - very kind, but I bet the second bit isn't true! I'm a big fan of SIs and really miss mine - in some ways a bit easier to use on the fly and every bit the same in terms of art/artisanal craft. I've PMd if of any interest

Thanks very much indeed - I've been really pleased with the restoration work on the fretless. To be honest, it was probably a good 9.5/10 when I received it but good to see it back to (almost?) 10/10. The bass had been toured extensively and internationally but babied and protected very carefully by its previous owner. The refurb work was minor (but not inexpensive!) and replacing the worn pickup logo alone is worthy of its own thread. I'm a fretted player (mainly) myself but have been enjoying getting back to fretless following a considerable hiatus. Indeed, I've been enjoying playing fretless more than fretted this past few weeks. The difference in weight between the coco and walnut is a surprise - most of it must be in the facings - coco is surprisingly heavy. That said, the tone out of the fretted is gigantic

An absolutely gorgeous bass! I'm a big fan of shortscale and of Jon's work and this is up there with his best. I'm not usually too keen on spalted maple but the top on this is superb. A fabulous spec and build - lovely to see it and thanks for sharing

Apologies - I’d been promising this for a while - the fretless now restored entirely and on view here with its non-identical twin. A bit of natural light this morning so front and rear facings. Unusually, Mica selected the more dramatically figured facings for the rear of the fretless. Massive thanks to Bow, the Gallery, Mica and others for some world-class work/advice on getting the fretless back to ‘as new’

You’re very kind but I think mine’s unique - sort of squiffy baritone clanger. Here’s a better image though and with its non-identical twin

Hahaha, thank you but not the way I play it!

I've been promising to stick this in the Alembic thread but it might fit here too

A very kind comment, and this is possibly gratuitous, but here's an image of the SII (with a Streamline just visible behind it). Also, an image of the Steinberger - a truly lovely bass

I've owned 4 streamlines (including a 5 and a fretless) and one XL2 transitional. The Streamlines were nice basses - I liked them but didn't love them (some had very expensive options too - I bought second-hand). I was initially fairly impressed - they're light and compact and the tone is ok/acceptable. They're very easy to transport as you'd expect. That said, the Status bags aren't good in my opinion - a bit cheap and nasty. They also mark the bass - one of my Streamlines was seafoam green and another sonic blue - both ended-up with difficult to remove black marks. I only re-bought Streamlines because of their portability... then gave up. For me, they're nothing like the quality of an SII. Now that's a bass that I love - solid, heavy, fantastic hardware and incredible tone. I still have the SII. Onto the Steinberger. In a different league to the Streamline and an incredible example of superb industrial design. Solid, heavy, truly innovative in so many ways and biblical tone. Really, unbelievable power and poke. I loved the Steinberger but only had it a couple of months. The balance was awkward for me - really awkward - and it exacerbated back pain. The neck is solid as others have noted and whilst twists/warps have been reported, these are unusual. The board is fascinating - really quite flat, and as there's no truss-rod, the relief is built-in as the neck is constructed. Ned really did re-think the bass from the ground-up with the vision and detail that only the best industrial designers bring to their creations. I wish I could get that tone out of a short-scale conventional bass. To address the OP's question, when you have a Steinberger in your hands, you can see/feel why they were so expensive. To resurrect the original would be horrendously expensive and I suspect that there's a really limited market at present.

Wow, absolutely stunning! I'm a big fan of Jon's work and that looks sublime. The facing and body binding are beautiful. Three frets short for me and I'm not a big fan of the B bridge, but overall incredible example of Jon's work

Old school class. Mighty

just had a great deal with Derrick on a very nice amp. Really quick payment and great communications throughout. One of this community's fine, upstanding and honest members - flawless transaction and fully recommended!

An extremely sensible approach. I've had a couple - you may have played the fretless 4 and fretted 6 Andy - both Paul Herman period I think? After loving Wals since the late '70s (I used to play the Pros in Barrett's in Manchester when the latter, as distributor, had a shop full), I found that owning them didn't really live up to my expectations. Still absolutely gorgeous basses and beautifully constructed, but I think my tastes must have changed