Spirit XT-2 Standard Bass HR : Far better than it has any right to be - almost perfect

I bought this as a travel bass, I need to practice when I'm on holiday, and I needed a bass that doesn't take up half of the space in the car. I do not usually rate passive basses, and this is only the second one I have bought in more that 2 decades - I sold the other one because it sounded so dull.

Pros: number one, much smaller overall than a conventional bass, so it immediately fulfils it's role as a travel instrument. The flip down body rest makes it easy to keep on your lap when sitting down. Stays in tune amazingly well. Very glossy and almost blemish free finish - I'll come to that in the cons. The neck is comfortable and the gloss finish slippery enough. The most surprising thing for me was the sound - really full and with a very usable tone control. I usually find that passive basses are a bit dull, especially the low end, and especially if they have humbuckers - I like single coils on a bass. This, however, astonished me. I shall be using this as my spare gigging bass - an outcome I did not anticipate when I bought it.

Cons: balance on a strap is not the best, but it is so relatively light that this is not a huge annoyance. Double ball end - buy a Steinberg adaptor so that you can use a much larger range of strings. Missing one star for features as I remember the Hohner from the 90s that was active - if it was active it would probably be even better. Almost missing one star for quality as there are a few spots of paint overspray on the edge of the fretboard and on a couple of fret ends. They appear to have been varnished over, so can't really be removed. I am nit picking, I didn't notice this until I'd been playing it for a week.

Conclusion: absolutely recommend this is you need something not too large, and also really as a second pro bass. I actually love this odd looking thing.