Harley Benton bass owners - honest opinions?

[kevvo66]

I have the hb vintage series jazz bass ,is it any good ,my honest opinion ,I've had this bass for nearly 12 months now , jumbo frets , natural wood colour looks very nice , pups not to bad a little weak but good enough to do the job in hand , I changed the strings to rotosounds half wounds only because that what I prefer ,I've used it at a few gigs with my band it's never missed a beat ,electrics are fine no crackling pots no sharp frets , for the money they are pretty good ,necks plays quit nice ,I was going to change the pups in mine but never bothered I still take it to gigs as my back up bass and use at home , I've moved onto short scale fender now ,only downside is it's heavy after a 2hr gig even with a decent leather strap you now you've been playing it ,mine cost about £110 notes delivered so for the money there ain't nothing too touch this IMHO

Edited December 21, 2014 by kevvo66

[miles'tone]

I would still love to know how heavy the B-550's are if anyone can help...

Boat anchors? neck divers?

[Vixivi]

[quote name='streather' timestamp='1417566014' post='2621928']


[size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]It was the B-550FL progressive, not sure if it's the older or newer model though, I bought it in september if that's much help.

I'd have bought the fretted version but I absolutely hated the way the fret markers looked in the photos, and i figured I can scratch the 5 string and the fretless itches in one go[/font][/size]
[/quote]

My battery seems to run out really fast, after about a week. I always unplug my bass after playing but it still seems to happen. Did you have this issue too?

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1419248125' post='2637898']
I would still love to know how heavy the B-550's are if anyone can help...

Boat anchors? neck divers?
[/quote]

I havent weighed mine yet but it's pretty light and has no neck dive. I'll try and weigh it later today.

[cachao]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1415744910' post='2603416']
I have had a couple hb's and recently bought a friend a guitar from there. Pics are in the guitar section.
I have found the more expensive the harley benton the better it is. The cheapest bass ive owned came from there a short scale p bass when i wanted to see if i like a shorter neck. It was ok perfectly playable, pickups were actually very usable and certainly more powerful than the base model yamaha rbx i had at the time.

When buying a harley benton in general always look for the ones that have wilkinson pickups and deluxe hardware as its a little better than the bass models. And the ones with better woods too.

Apparently HBs come from the chinese saein factory, which also have a place in korea. And have manufactured for other companies.So they know how to make guitars.

See in the guitar section my post on the recent HB purchase where i make an honest evaluation.
[/quote]

I agree about chosing those with Wilkinson pickups. Otherwise, should you wish to upgrade, the routing may not be suitable.

[blablas]

My Harley Benton's.

PB-Shorty.

Straight from the box: It only needed a proper setup and shielding and grounding job, I replaced the stock pickup with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder because I did not really like the sound from the stock pickup.

Another PB-Shorty, converted to JB-Shorty.

This one was made nowhere near as good as the first one and a bit of a lemon.
Straight from the box: Two damaged bridge saddles (striped allen key hole for the height adjustment on one saddle and a stuck intonation screw on the other saddle), a lot of sharp fret ends, neck needed shimming, the tuners needed realigning since they were not mounted at an straight angle and also were misaligned from each other, and of course it also needed proper grounding and shielding.
Since I bought this one to convert to a JB version all these defects didn't bother me and were fixed while doing the conversion.

As part of this conversion I also made a new pickguard for both but the stock ones were okay.

L-400 GT. (not a bass but still a HB experience)

Straight from the box: Two high frets and a weird bumpy varnish on all the frets that needed removing, I leveled the frets and crowned and polished them to fix this.
Also needed a setup and a grounding and shielding session.

The fingerboard wood on all three was really dry and needed some oil.

All in all they are very nice instruments after some TLC and are a lot better than the price might suggest.

[subrob]

I bought a white progressive series 5 er. I had to do a lot of work on the neck to get it playable, I shimmed it in fact. But Thomann were pretty good about it when I wrote to them with my comments. The fit and finish are as you'd expect, pretty functional. The sound is pretty good, kinda P bass, I thought, maybe a bit thicker, and more variety, too, when rolling towards the bridge pick up. Band liked it. I too found that it eats batteries in days, so I found myself having to remember (with natural hit and miss) to take the battery out.

It's gone back in its bag tbh, I can't say if it's the bass, the tighter 5 string spacing, or poor technique on my part, but I found that my right hand cramped up solidly after an hour or two at practice. At this point I'd consider selling it. Happy to have tried it, non the less.

Edited January 31, 2015 by subrob

[UglyDog]

[quote name='Lw.'] whilst you could probably make some changes to turn it into a playable bass, you'd may as well have bought a proper bass in the first place.
[/quote]
Define "proper bass"..?
Suffice it to say that I don't recognise any of the negative qualities you listed in my instrument.

[mcnach]

[quote name='subrob' timestamp='1422715336' post='2675959']
I bought a white progressive series 5 er. I had to do a lot of work on the neck to get it playable, I shimmed it in fact.
[/quote]

Shimming a neck is pretty much one of the "normal" things you might do to a bolt-on neck while you set it up to your liking, that's not "a lot of work".
How were the frets? sharp ends? did you need to level them?

[MarkG3]

I've recently got the HB T-bird. It is great, plays nicely, looks good and sounds good too. The only thing I would say is that the pickups perhaps are a little weak but then my headphones died so it could just be that the headphones weren't showing the true sound.

I also got the HB E335 guitar, that's great too and I would say there's nothing that I don't like about it. For just over £100 it plays and sounds just as good as a Hofner version I played recently which was about £500!

[Vixivi]

[quote name='Mark_88MPH' timestamp='1422869045' post='2677605']
I've recently got the HB T-bird. It is great, plays nicely, looks good and sounds good too. The only thing I would say is that the pickups perhaps are a little weak but then my headphones died so it could just be that the headphones weren't showing the true sound.

I also got the HB E335 guitar, that's great too and I would say there's nothing that I don't like about it. For just over £100 it plays and sounds just as good as a Hofner version I played recently which was about £500!
[/quote]

I've been wondering about the harley benton t bird, does it have that typical growl associated with t birds?

[Lw.]

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1422719687' post='2676029']
Define "proper bass"..?
Suffice it to say that I don't recognise any of the negative qualities you listed in my instrument.
[/quote]

I think it was quite clearly explained in my response to the OPs question about them cutting the mustard, in a gigging situation I doubt anyone in the crowd would even care what bass the bassist is playing let alone notice the relative tonal or aesthetic difference between these and any other brand.

Congratulations on having a bass that you are happy with.

[UglyDog]

Yes I am happy with it. I'm sorry yours wasn't so good. I'm assuming you must have had one, given all the things that you [i]know[/i] are wrong with them (dodgy frets, crap glued-together body wood, sloppy hardware, bad tone etc)..?

Edited February 2, 2015 by UglyDog

[discreet]

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1422872850' post='2677657']
Yes I am happy with it. I'm sorry yours wasn't so good.
[/quote]

I get the impression from Thomann that they sell container-loads of HB guitars and basses and going by online reviews and videos, the vast majority of them are fine and entirely playable. But given the sheer volume of sales there are bound to be some that are a bit iffy and these get complained about more vociferously (Behringer spring to mind). Squier are the same to a lesser extent and of course Fender's QC is famously variable...

[Lw.]

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1422872850' post='2677657']
Yes I am happy with it. I'm sorry yours wasn't so good. I'm assuming you must have had one, given all the things that you [i]know[/i] are wrong with them (dodgy frets, crap glued-together body wood, sloppy hardware, bad tone etc)..?
[/quote]

I think you're trying to read something in my post that isn't there; my points aren't complaints about the brand, they're just personal observations that may offer a reason for the basses being so affordable.

I've never bought one, though I have played on one for about a month. There was nothing particularly wrong with it for the price the owner had paid, I wouldn't expect such an affordable bass to come in at a super high spec or finish - Thomann & HB are not stupid, if they could charge more for the basses they would, it's just business - they have spec'd out & built a bass that they feel can compete with the other brands at a similar price point & as I said in my first post it does the job with no one in an audience likely to complain about the bass being played (which was the original question).

You are coming across as being very defensive & seemingly trying to have an argument when there is nothing to argue about - I think they're fine for the money & you think they're fine for the money, I wouldn't buy one because they don't offer what I want/need but that's not something you need to worry about - I can just make do with what I've got (for now).

[MarkG3]

[quote name='Vixivi' timestamp='1422871155' post='2677629']


I've been wondering about the harley benton t bird, does it have that typical growl associated with t birds?
[/quote]

I don't know to be honest, this is my first t-bird and only ever played one Gibson Thunderbird for about 10 minutes. However from what I have heard from mine is that the sound isn't as big as the gibsons but there are a few factors that could explain that:

I can only play through headphones at home and they were on the way out so it probably wasn't handling the HB very well.

When I tried the Gibson I was plugged into the new fender rumble head and 115 cab in a sound proof room so could really ramp the volume.

So I haven't really been able to give it a fair comparison. But the HB does sound good even with busted headphones!

In terms of playability, I would say they are the same

Hope that answers your question!

Edited February 2, 2015 by Mark_88MPH

[UglyDog]

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1422878304' post='2677751']
You are coming across as being very defensive & seemingly trying to have an argument when there is nothing to argue about - I think they're fine for the money & you think they're fine for the money, I wouldn't buy one because they don't offer what I want/need but that's not something you need to worry about - I can just make do with what I've got (for now).
[/quote]
I certainly don't want to argue, there are enough barneys going on on the forum already I'm just trying in my own clumsy way to point out that a low price does not [u]automatically[/u] mean that an instrument will have dodgy frets, crap glued-together body wood, sloppy hardware, bad tone and so on. My HB might be a 'deko' cheapy, but in terms of the above factors it is of a better quality than some instruments I've seen costing 7,8,9 times as much. So I suppose I am maybe being a tad defensive yes but I think it's a point worth making.

[kodiakblair]

Don't think you're being defensive UD.

Lw listed a range of flaws as if they were commonplace,which isn't the case.

My own experience with HB basses is if they cost twice as much I'd still be happy.
And that 50% has stayed constant as the PB-20 far outplays the Squier Affinity P bass I have
and I still reckon the BZ-4000 stands up against the Cirrus and others.

I'd like to try the T-bird against my Epi one as they're both built by Saein and not counting the HB's active it
still cost 50% less.

I can't say how the HB's rate against the J&Ds but remember hearing somebody say it took a lot of work to get
their J&D as playable as their HB.

I'll stick with my view the HBs are as good as most costing twice as much. Gave a Gear4Music or a Rockburn P bass to my neice
at Xmas,it was ok but not great and still was 50% more than the PB-20.

Why didn't she get the PB-20 ? It had been altered to BEAD and the G4M or whatever was a £40 last minute from Cash Converters

[Painy]

Well after starting this thread a while ago, and seeing as it's still going, I thought I'd check in with an update.

Well for those of you who didn't see my NBD thread, I went ahead and ordered the bass (and went through with the plan to change the pickguard and reshape the headstock and there's a pic of the result below.

Anyhow, I've now gigged this a few times and been really impressed with the build quality, playability and sound. It really is a usable instrument with my only complaint being the low output from the pickups (input gain on the amp has to be set to 8.5 when I'd normally have it between 3 and 5 with other passive basses) but that's what the input gain control on the amp is for after all.
I also received my new Fender Jazz this week (which I'm loving) and although I can't deny there is a noticeable difference in quality between them, it certainly wasn't enough to stop me swapping between them at my gig on Saturday for songs where I needed a p tone rather than a j!

[Annoying Twit]

New quilted sycamore top Harley Benton BZ-6000.

[sprocketflup]

I rather like mine, but need to invest in a reinforced shoulder

Edited February 4, 2015 by sprocketflup

[JPJ]

I've been looking at the HB T'bird as a basis for a project. The spec says mahogany body and neck (like the Gibson's) and whilst its set neck construction rather than through neck (like the later Studio Gibson's) I'd be getting a whole bass for about the cost of the timber here in the UK. Rip out the cheap(er) pickups and electrics, throw in some Thunderbuckers and I'm thinking it could be a good alternative to a self-build. Ok if I need to tweak the neck or finish the frets as at that price you can hardly complain can you?
.

[Vixivi]

[quote name='Mark_88MPH' timestamp='1422884209' post='2677834']
I don't know to be honest, this is my first t-bird and only ever played one Gibson Thunderbird for about 10 minutes. However from what I have heard from mine is that the sound isn't as big as the gibsons but there are a few factors that could explain that:

I can only play through headphones at home and they were on the way out so it probably wasn't handling the HB very well.

When I tried the Gibson I was plugged into the new fender rumble head and 115 cab in a sound proof room so could really ramp the volume.

So I haven't really been able to give it a fair comparison. But the HB does sound good even with busted headphones!

In terms of playability, I would say they are the same

Hope that answers your question!
[/quote]

If it sounds good even through busted headphones, i think it would be killer through a big rig!
Must save up money first tho..

[theyellowcar]

Can anyone share their experiences of the 75 Jazz copy? Incredibly tempting at that price. I had a J&D for a little while which was ace, but I'm sort of sold on the ash body on the natural model, and having Wilko pickups in there is reassuring.

[madshadows]

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1423413584' post='2684492']
Can anyone share their experiences of the 75 Jazz copy? Incredibly tempting at that price. I had a J&D for a little while which was ace, but I'm sort of sold on the ash body on the natural model, and having Wilko pickups in there is reassuring.
[/quote]

I've copied and pasted this below from what I posted last November, had the bass for just over a year and I'm still loving it, it's a great bass for the money

John

[quote][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've had my HB bass ( [/font][/color][url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._hbb1975_na.htm[/url][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] ) since January this year and it's a great bass for the money, excellent pups, plays nice, nice tone variations using the tone and volume controls, stays in tune, looks great, build quality is very good, the only negative on mine was that the fret edges were a tiny bit sharp in places, the bass is quite heavy though [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]John [/font][/color][/quote]

[Vixivi]

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1423413584' post='2684492']
Can anyone share their experiences of the 75 Jazz copy? Incredibly tempting at that price. I had a J&D for a little while which was ace, but I'm sort of sold on the ash body on the natural model, and having Wilko pickups in there is reassuring.
[/quote]

I have one and i love it, already gigged it and it sounded great!
It just needed a basic setup, i needed to lower strings and setup intonation.

Controls don't feel cheap (which is often the case with budget basses) pickups sound quite good. Neck, fretwork,... all feels good. So i don't have anything negative to say.
All in all great bass!