Many very good to great guitars and basses came ou t of the legendary Matsumoku factory in Japan.  Some of the Matsumoku brands have already been mentioned in this thread. Brilliant bang for the buck and I believe very good investments as someday they will be more highly valued for their collectibility. They have always been recognized for their playability.

I have an old Mexi Jazz I paid $180 for, hot rodded it out with a new neck, pickups, and a badass bridge about $600 total. I just love it

Thanks Danno. I may get the opportunity to play one in the next few weeks. Although here in the UK it's rather more expensive; ?899 new (double that in dollars!)

I have a crummy Aria that I throw in the gig bag and cart around the city for rehearsals and just jamming sometimes.  Paid 150, and it actually gets a couple cool sounds, especially playing just the neck pickup.  Plus it's light, and I wouldn't cry if it got stolen or broken.  It's already paid for itself in spades.
 
 

I have a 1983 Squier which I customised with Alembic P/J pu's with 2 x Vol, bass & treble controls, Badass II bridge and gold plated screws, string retainer button.
I paid ?100 over ten years ago and it sounds the biz when I fitted the Alembic pu's, the neck has flame on the upper side, the action is superb and my son has inherited it since I own a MK signature.

Me and the mule are on the same wavelength:  The 80's Yamaha BBs are really well built axes, and like all 'vintage' Japanes guitars are WAY underpriced (YES!!) for what you get.  I slowly collected all three versions of the BB5000 for a grand total of less than 2 grand, for three neckthru, limited production axes.  MIJ, neckthru, great tone.
 
In the four string BBs, try and find a good 3000 or 3000A:  the earlier 1200 and 2000 are fine, but the necks are much fatter than a 3000.  The current BB 4- and 6-series reissues are absolute steals, there are NO better basses for under 500 bucks.
 
Past that, I would never break my 'standard-pickup-size' rule.  Most times on cheaper axes, the wood is way better than the electronics.  So I always shoot for something where I can drop in EMGs or Barts or Activators or whatever you like.  Not worth it to me to do major rout surgery:  I stick with axes that use regular P or J or MM, etc., routs.  The BBass is a perfect example:  All maple, well built for the price, and you could replace the factory pickups with Jazz Bass pickups from anyone you like, if you want to.
 
LOTS of Ibanez SoundGears out there, and since there are so many different ones, the really good ones are cheaper than you might expect in the used market, and take stock pickup sizes.  Squires are great hot-rod subjects.  The all-Koa Peavey DynaBass is a set of EMG P/J-BTS Circuit away from being a fabulous neckthru four-string.  Lots of guys bought the Toby Pros and replaced the pickups with an original Bart setup from their expensive brothers.
 
I love stealing an overlooked piece and customizing it.  Back in the 80s I bought one of the original Squier reissue P Basses ($179 ! ! ), installed a PJ EMG setup, replaced the chrome hardware with all-Fender gold parts, sold it to a guy for $1500.  He STILL plays it and won't sell it back to me.  You rarely get that kind of return, but still lots of fun.
 
J o e y

Bigbadbill mentioned Cort Curbow basses.  Anyone tried one of them?  I really like the way they look and they are all nice and petite.  Junk?  Worth trying?

How about Schecters?  There's one here in NYC, Diamond Series 5 Str. for $500.  Could be a cheap neck through option.
 

well i've got about ?400 saved up (roughly $800 with the exchange rate as it is now), and i'm wondering whether to save up the extra for an alembic or go for one of the ones mentioned here.  Any opinions would be....can't think of the right words....appreciated (that's the one!!! sorry, exams fry my brain).

actually, ignore that, I think i'm just going to save up for the next half year or so until i can afford an alembic, no point spending a few hundred and still not being completely satisfied, therefore having to spend several hundred more.

Do that and get close to what you want instead of something you would have to sell at a fraction of what you paid, to get close to what you want.

Hello Jack,
 
I would definitely consider the Schecter.
I recently purchased an Elite-4 with a Mahagony neck-thru body, flame maple top, EMG's & a rosewood fretboard. I paid $500.00 cash and I can say that it's well worth the price. Very stable neck, powerful p/u's and you can get a nice variety of sounds out of it. I would dare to say it's one of the best buys out there. By all means check it out, I think you'll be pleased.
I own an Alembic Brown Bass and I'm a former Elan owner, so I know about comfortable basses and the Schecter is quite comfortable to play.
 
John