Mitchell basses?

Hey guys, a week or so ago I went a Guitar Center and messed around on a 5-string bass branded "Mitchell". I LOVED it - it was incredibly versatile sound-wise, the neck and string spacing felt great and the action was good, plus it was rather stylish in appearance. Couldn't really find anything to complain about with it.
 
Does anyone have any experience with this brand of instruments, especially their basses? I'd be thinking of getting one for church use and some light studio stuff (within the degree that I'd be able to perform on bass). Perhaps I'll see about renting that model for a week to see how I like it in the real world.
 
Whaddya think?

If it feels good, plays well and you like the sound, then for you it is great!  The fact that it is inexpensive is a bonus!
 

Squier Basses are suppose to be pretty decent.  There are plenty of people out there that play on low cost instruments and they are good players.  Some people prefer cheap gear for live playing.  Accidents do happen.

Love my Squire Jazzbass. I can't compare it to anything, but it didn't take me long to get it set up, and I didn't have any problems doing so.
 
I got mine shipped from a cold country to a hot country (having started in a hoot country). So it was going to need a truss rod adjustment. My Squire is from Indonesia, not China by the way, and 
 
If you are going into a shop, I'd say get them to do the set up. If you are happy with it's feel, and sound, go for it. When you get to know it better, you can always adjust and change things later
 

used is another way to go.  Sometimes you can find nice used equipment that is very nice.  I've always like Ibanez bases.  The cost vs. performance there is very good.  For a < $200 you can get a nice looking/nice sounding bass:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/GSRM20B-4-String-Electric-Bass-Guitar.gchttp://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/GSRM20B-4-String-Electric-Bass-Guitar.gc
 
This doesn't have any active electronics, but the pickups should perform similar to a Jazz bass.
This one does though:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/GSR200-4-String-Electric-Bass-H75860.gc
 
Again recommend trying these before ordering.  They do feel different than the Fenders of old!
 

fireberd
The problem with some "not a big name brand" instruments is resale value.  You usually take a hit when trying to resell them (if you even can).

 
This- Sage advice-   As I said, if it's not made in USA or Canada it's just another import factory made axe and it is what it is. There are plenty of times these instruments are put together nice enough to be enjoyable to play. 
But one needs to know what a good instruments feels like first before trying the rest. 
My favorite Bass is a $199 Yamaha ( Indonesian)  I've had for 18 years now but I had to swap out the Pups to  DeMArzios to make it right. And that's what your not going to find on any cheap import,,, good PUP's. No big deal. If you like the way it plays and feels, pups are the easiest upgrade you can make on a Bass. 
For me a deciding factor is weight. That's why I love my Yammy, it's nice and light. I have an old Hondo that weighs 100lbs too and it's as good as any Fender but it cannot be worn for more than 15 minutes. I also have a Godin 5 string that is a bit to heavy to play all night. Awesome bass but will kill me. 

Johnny's point about PUPs is accurate. As long as you play a guitar (physically use it) and it is solid, made properly, and has a fully adjustable bridge, PUPs and wiring are the only real variable requiring "replacement"(and a fun playground for those who enjoy it). If it satisfies your creative needs, that is what matters most.

I have yet to sell any equipment and would never consider a guitar an investment, but realize there are some who consider this.

mettelus
Johnny's point about PUPs is accurate. As long as you play a guitar (physically use it) and it is solid, made properly, and has a fully adjustable bridge, PUPs and wiring are the only real variable requiring "replacement"(and a fun playground for those who enjoy it). If it satisfies your creative needs, that is what matters most.

I have yet to sell any equipment and would never consider a guitar an investment, but realize there are some who consider this.

Dead on, on both points.
I tend to buy MIM Fenders (3 of them at the moment), and replace the pickups.  To be even stingier, I buy USED MIM guitars and basses.  Then I've upgraded the pickups and bridges in all of them, and they sound and play better than anything else I've bought.  And all-in, probably $500 USD for each.
I also have a Yamaha TVL guitar.  Yamaha quality has really improved in the last decade!  
 
And like Mettelus says, i don't buy them for investment.  You've really got to get into high-end instruments before resale value would make a significant enough difference to be worth what you pay at buying time.
 
From the 3 links you gave, the Squier link didn't work for me.
Between the Yamaha and the Mitchell, they're very similar.  The Mitchell looks a bit nicer to me (i like the sunburst), but Yamaha is a known model which I expect will play nicely.  But since you've played a Mitchell and liked it, that may negate the playability.
At that low price-point, re-sale value shouldn't really matter.  You'll probably get 50% of the new price for either of those.

I've only seen Mitchell basses in GC and MucisionsFriend (which, I believe may be owned by the same parent company?). It's very possible GC has been struggling to find new brands that can quickly fill gaps in the mass-production market. I've picked up a few of them, and although the styling looks very 80's/90's, the sound isn't bad at all. They have some great-sounding pickups, and playability seems pretty good to me.

From perusing their Press Releases, they seem to be in the realm of Sire (Marcus Miller), but for different tones and styles. This is becoming a new thing with newcomers that are fraught with the history of shoddy instruments, which discourage new players from getting good. With today's CNC builds, it's far easier to get a high-quality instrument at a lower price than ever. Just go look at what you can custom order from Carvin. You can custom order a really sweet bass that luthiers would charge quadruple to build for you. 

I highly recommend plugging those in and A/B them to the new Fenders and MusicMan basses. They won't match perfectly, but you can at least stack them up to some of the most sought keystone basses in the market.

That would be similar to me using my old St. Blues bass, serial #000153. It was unknown at the time, but a fabulous bass!!

Mitchell is the Guitar Center house brand, named after the founder Wayne Mitchell, and obviously sold only at Guitar Center. They buy instruments from manufacturers in Asia and put their brand name on them. They're not necessarily bad instruments, but they're not necessarily good instruments, either. The quality varies widely from guitar to guitar, so make sure you know what you're getting if you buy one. They will never be collector's items or have much resale value (unless you become a rock star), and in fact you might have a hard time a year or two later even finding another of the same model.
 
Personally I think you'd be better off with a low-end Yamaha or Ibanez. These are real basses designed and made by real companies that have a genuine interest in your satisfaction because they are going to want to sell you your next bass and the one after that. There's likely to be a variety of exact matching accessories (pickups, tuners, pickguards) available for your bass from both the manufacturer and third parties. There's quite a selection of these instruments in the $200 - $300 range.
 
But if you are in love with that Mitchell bass, I can assure you Guitar Center was making money at $250. Go in and play it for a while, sometime near the last day of the month, and then politely tell them you're sorry you missed the sale but your budget is only $250 and offer them that much, cash right now. You might be surprised.

If you've got more of a budget, used American Fender or MusicMan would be perfect.
MIJ Geddy Lee Jazz Bass is also very nice.  Just a tad heavy, but not a boat-anchor.

Yeah, some of the American MusicMan bases can get on the heavier side.

Oops. Looks like I got sucked into an old, dead thread. Enjoy your Yamaha!