The ESP Guitar Company

i dont know of any short scale "metal" style basses

yeah but all of the short scale basses ive seen are danos

I'll play in Standard D but sometimes also in Standard E

gibson necks are like baseball bats on their basses compared to fender

I actually found something interesting, it's entry-level but still okay. I'm short on cash anyway ^^.

It's an Ibanez (I usually hate Ibanez guitars, their basses are okay though), the ARTB 100. It's cheap, but it'll be sufficient for some time for me.

I have a 1983 jackson num. 00034. Its very well on drop. good quality and sound with that "Metal" look. I also Recommend Anything By Richenbacher or alembic(for custom).
But Fender For Sure Seems to be the all around "good idea". now spector and ltd/ESP's are good too, IF u wanna stick to the brand u know n love lol.

^they dont have the scale length that he wants

he wants 30" scale length read the OP

I want a shortscale bass because I'm a goddamn guitarist with small hands, I'm used to guitar scales and my hands are too small for 35 and even 34 inch scaled basses. I never tried 32" but I already know 30" fit perfectly into my hands.

What's strange is this (well not strange but at least it's not logic) : when I play guitar, I prefer longer 27" baritone scales (for soloing, the highest frets are very small on a standard scale) but on bass, I need shorter scales. Call me weird !