If you want that sort of guitar without paying that sort of money, you'd be best looking at the specs for basses. What you want is a body and preferably neck wood that isn't too bright and be prepared to swap the pup if necessary. The pup is easier to swap than the wood. Wood types I'd avoid are basswood and poplar and aim for mahogany, walnut or the less-common korina.
You can have a look at my Jim Reed (mine's a BE5 but the BE4 is identical but for the missing B string) here:
Clicking on the "shops" button will get you a Canadian seller, but he looks like a one-man operation. Might be worth emailing to discuss his sales policy. Even with the Kramer pups, this is a nice bass and worth the money. If you can stretch to a pup replacement (just replace the neck pup, not worth coughing up for both) then it's worth also chatting to Bartolini. They should be able to make a good suggestion for you.
If you want that sort of guitar without paying that sort of money, you'd be best looking at the specs for basses. What you want is a body and preferably neck wood that isn't too bright and be prepared to swap the pup if necessary. The pup is easier to swap than the wood. Wood types I'd avoid are basswood and poplar and aim for mahogany, walnut or the less-common korina.
You can have a look at my Jim Reed (mine's a BE5 but the BE4 is identical but for the missing B string) here:
http://www.jim-reed-guitars.com/eng/prodotti.php
Clicking on the "shops" button will get you a Canadian seller, but he looks like a one-man operation. Might be worth emailing to discuss his sales policy. Even with the Kramer pups, this is a nice bass and worth the money. If you can stretch to a pup replacement (just replace the neck pup, not worth coughing up for both) then it's worth also chatting to Bartolini. They should be able to make a good suggestion for you.