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Thomann selling Harley Benton basses as 'Decoration only'


Annoying Twit

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Ok, so, I've been lucky enough to wake up early in the morning on a glorious British day and be the first to message Rob, who was generously getting rid of some of his HB dekos. After a quick beer in Camden, the Jazz had traded hands / switched gigbags.

Honestly, I think I've had just about any jazz bass short of the real thing, and I have played enough "real things" to know what's to like and not to like. I don't think I can fault this one. The pups sound great, the fret job is very, very well done and the finish is, in all seriousness, just great. My other Harley Benton Jazz, which was not a deko, was also sunburst originally, and was 1) in more than three pieces; 2) exceedingly heavy.

The only complaint I could have was that the second fret was a bit high and caused a slight rattle when pressing the first fret (with the neck straight as an arrow). That could easily be fixed adjusting the relief, but since the fret was quite clearly not pressed down properly, I decided to give [url="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/crazy-construction-worker-hammer-34479591.jpg"]ye olde hammer and cloth method a go[/url], which fixed the problem immediately.

One other minor problem with these basses is that the pick up screw holes are not really that deep, which might be a problem if you want very low action (and avoid a neck heel). I am pleased to report that this was quite the exception: by pressing a bit harder with the screwdriver I managed to set the pick ups exactly where I liked them.

There you have it, extremely low action on a beautiful, great sounding, maple-spanky bass. I am recording some stuff now, so hopefully I'll post some samples soon. Again, CamdenRob, I owe you more than one!

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[quote name='biro' timestamp='1442568053' post='2867803']
Ok, so, I've been lucky enough to wake up early in the morning on a glorious British day and be the first to message Rob, who was generously getting rid of some of his HB dekos. After a quick beer in Camden, the Jazz had traded hands / switched gigbags.

Honestly, I think I've had just about any jazz bass short of the real thing, and I have played enough "real things" to know what's to like and not to like. I don't think I can fault this one. The pups sound great, the fret job is very, very well done and the finish is, in all seriousness, just great. My other Harley Benton Jazz, which was not a deko, was also sunburst originally, and was 1) in more than three pieces; 2) exceedingly heavy.

The only complaint I could have was that the second fret was a bit high and caused a slight rattle when pressing the first fret (with the neck straight as an arrow). That could easily be fixed adjusting the relief, but since the fret was quite clearly not pressed down properly, I decided to give [url="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/crazy-construction-worker-hammer-34479591.jpg"]ye olde hammer and cloth method a go[/url], which fixed the problem immediately.

One other minor problem with these basses is that the pick up screw holes are not really that deep, which might be a problem if you want very low action (and avoid a neck heel). I am pleased to report that this was quite the exception: by pressing a bit harder with the screwdriver I managed to set the pick ups exactly where I liked them.

There you have it, extremely low action on a beautiful, great sounding, maple-spanky bass. I am recording some stuff now, so hopefully I'll post some samples soon. Again, CamdenRob, I owe you more than one!
[/quote]

You're more than welcome, glad you're getting some use out of it.

Was really nice to meet you over a beer and chat about basses, we must hook up again sometime and make night of it.

I had two JB-75s, the one you have and a natural one and they were both astonishing quality... not just for the price either, they were very nice basses indeed as you describe.

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Go for it! You won't be disappointed.
The herd will feel almost identical in your hands but each has it's own distinctive sound which makes these fun little basses even more fun to play.

If you buy them 'deco' almost any part you replace on them will be more expansive than the bass itself. :biggrin:

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[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1442572076' post='2867861']
You're more than welcome, glad you're getting some use out of it.

Was really nice to meet you over a beer and chat about basses, we must hook up again sometime and make night of it.

[/quote]

Likewise! And of course, I'd be happy to!

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[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1442575487' post='2867907']
Go for it! You won't be disappointed.
The herd will feel almost identical in your hands but each has it's own distinctive sound which makes these fun little basses even more fun to play.

If you buy them 'deco' almost any part you replace on them will be more expansive than the bass itself. :biggrin:
[/quote]

iv already got spare pickups of all types, just need to do some routing practice!

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Six string progressive DEKO!!!

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_650_black_progressiv_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ressiv_deko.htm[/url]

£47 I think.

EDIT: Beaten to it. One day I'll expand my program to check for dekos more than just on the main deko page. It's still 'available immediately' now though.

@Andytre - the neck you gave me looks significantly different now. I need to order some fine sandpaper to sand down the veneer I used to fill the empty fret slots :)

Edited by Annoying Twit
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[quote name='Andytre' timestamp='1442749530' post='2869166']
[url="https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_650_black_progressiv_deko.htm?o=10&ref=mal_a_10&search=1442749464"]https://m.thomann.de...arch=1442749464[/url]


Deko 6 string progressive bass up
[/quote]

Thank goodness they had sold out by the time I saw it, went out and came back in again!

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