August,
Kind of same here - when I got the bass - it looked a little rough for a "clean" bass, but I was able to get the white marks off and it cleaned up pretty well!
The neck is thicker than anything I've played before - but it's (weirdly) comfortable.
August recently purchased a bass from me. He paid immediately and it was a very smooth and easy transaction. Great TB'er to deal with, I would not hesitate to do another transaction with him in the future.
Johno!