I bought the cheapest bass and it’s embarrassingly brilliant.

So for some context, I’ve been playing for 35 years. I’m 54. Due to back issues and tendinitis I switched to short scale a number of years ago. I originally played a Japanese P bass, which I still have, but the weight & stretch was aggravating a shoulder and lower back injury as well as tendinitis in my wrist. My physio recommended I find a lightweight shorter option. I bought a Danelectro long horn. Short scale, very light, goes with the 60s retro nature of my band too. Love it. Not long ago, we were asked to play a stripped back acoustic style show, seated - and that’s when I learned that a long horn does not balance on your lap well. It constantly wants to slide off backwards. I ended up standing after soundcheck. The show went well & we’ve been asked back. So I thought, I need to get another short scale, one that I will only really use at this type of show where the whole band is sat down. So I thought ‘I’ll just get something cheap. I don’t want to spend big bucks on something that will only get used now and again.’ I played an Ibanez mikro bass and loved it, but the aesthetic was all wrong for my band. The other two options were a Squier mini p-bass and a J&D PB mini. The J&D was the cheapest and was closest in scale length (29”) to my Dano, so I went with that. Ordered on line. This thing arrived and it had had a proper set up and fret dress. Strings were also decent, not the usual cheapo ones that come on a Chinese / far east budget bass. It plays like butter. The action is super low, no buzz. It sounds as good as my full size Japanese P bass. I’m not joking. I rehearsed with it last week and I love it. And now I can’t stop playing it. At a push, if I could find fault of any kind with the build quality, it would be the tuners feel a bit cheap and I might swap them. But they hold tuning. Not sure if it has mini pots, I’ve not taken the pick guard off. So they might need upgrading at some point. But I don’t think I’ll swap the pickup. The stock sounds great. I read somewhere that they use Wilkinson, but I can’t confirm that. This thing cost me £100, brand new and needed no work from me. That’s the equivalent of $140. I’m embarrassed to say it’s rapidly becoming my fave bass. It’s comfortable to play, it looks really nice. The spec says body is alder, neck is maple with a rosewood board. I don’t understand how a bass this cheap could be so good. Have any of you had a similar experience with something you got cheap?