I had a pretty cheap factory second Johnson bass guitar, that sounded absolutely fantastic played acoustically with some black tapewound strings. The Belcat (sp.?) electronics it came with weren't especially great, but were reliable. And it was a big, unwieldy thing to play casually on the couch. I loaned it to a buddy at work who's taken an interest in playing, but not yet ready to spring for a nice bass or amp. I hear mostly good reports on the Michael Kelly ABG's...
+1 for Dan Erlewine.