TheLowDown

That photo is still on the website https://harleybenton.com/product/mb-4-sb/

I'm well aware of Thomann. It was suggested on a YouTube review of the MB-4

There's some decent Harley Benton 5 strings as well as the Sire M2 range.

Because there's a market for them. They have quite a unique tone that people like, and they're really easy to handle and play, less chance of neck dive, generally lighter. There's not much not to like.

I've heard that the pics that they use are slightly different to the bass that you receive due to legal considerations.

Yup, well it didn't happen all the time but I'd noticed it at least once.

The finish is actually brown even though it looks red. The progressive series is old but I like them. So much so that i bought 3 of them. They're really lightweight, flexible with the pickups, and can provide a good upgrade platform if necessary. There seems to be an issue with them eating batteries though, and I've noticed that with some of mine, so I only use with in passive mode. I think the feel of them is fantastic though, and awesome value for money.

I'm the same. Choice is overrated 😃. I often find that once I've got a tone I like I've never change it, and I don't see any reason to ever change it. Most tones sound good to me so long as it's not that nasal jazz bass bridge pickup sound, then I'm OK with it.

I think 8lb for a 4 string is quite decent. It's definitely on the lighter side of things. Basses like Ibanez SR300 and Sire M2 are about 7.8/7.9lbs and they're some of the lightest. Plenty of 4 strings that are over 10lbs. Perhaps they put dumbbells in them, otherwise I don't know how they manage to weigh so much.

The volume difference with the B string could be a twisted string. Happened to me once. I'm not sure otherwise.

Height of pickups?

There's a Thunderbird copy by Harley Benton for around £170 if you want that shape. Heavy as hell though. Perhaps they include a zimmer frame. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_tb_70_sbk_deluxe_series.htm

Stew, any idea how heavy it is? Thanks.

I'm not a collector of basses, so I would consider the Gibson to be hugely overpriced for what you get. It's also way too heavy and unbalanced for me.

Glad you have decided to avoid Apple's Beats headphones. They are literately expensive junk (Apple bought them, so no surprises there). They even add weights in them to give the impression of quality. I have some Beyerdynamics DT990 headphones that I would recommend, but they're a little over £50 (I got them on special offer).

I keep on reading that too. It's 42mm wide, which is around p bass size but then someone mentioned that it was also the depth of the neck which made it baseball bat size. I think i may actually give this one a miss because of it's weight. I've read that it's around 8.4lbs, which is pushing it for me for a 4 string. It looks great and is a fantastic value for money bass otherwise.

Woods influence the sound of the bass? Has there ever been any scientific proof or is it just an assumption? The reason why I ask is that there is lots of nonsense sprouted in the audiophile world of "break-in periods" and such like which don't exist except in the audiophile's mind, or that gold cables influence the quality of the sound.

Thanks for the review. I think it looks quite sexy and understated in black.

If you're considering writing a novel or embarking on some other project, it's often a good idea to do "stream of consciousness" journaling where you just write whatever is on your mind. No matter what you start with - the weather, the lockdown, grandma's cooking - it always leads onto more interesting and productive subjects, and quite often you can end up solving many personal problems and generating creative ideas just by expressing yourself. It's a great stress reliever and allows you to reoganise things in your mind so that they don't seem so scary or complicated. Good luck! And take things one at a time.

I've been considering that one too. Let us all know what you think.

The position of the strap nut looks like it could encourage some neck dive.

Try practicing everything using the circle of 5ths, and make it a long term habit. Scales/modes, inversions, arpeggios, going up and down the neck in major/minor 2nds through to octave, or whatever you choose to do. After around 4 months or less they will become second nature. With the circle of 5ths, the sharps and flats go up by one each time.

Cuzzie, below, gets it. The frets don't have to be metal - they can just be markers. Beyond the 12th fret I would want some sort of fret to indicate where they are.

What part of it don't you get?

With frets, the action is going to be high no matter what.