Cheeto726 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Hey guys. My sisters got me a Harley Benton PJ-5 SBK Deluxe Series 5 string PJ bass for Christmas and I'm just now going to set it up. I really haven't had much experience with these. I was thinking about switching out the pick ups and the ones that are the most popular are seymour Duncan's but I was wondering if anyone has heard of something different than these? These are cheaper guitars so not sure if upgrading the pickups are even worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 If you like the instrument and intend to keep it, by all means put some money into upgrades. Be aware that you will never get the money you spend on improvements back. A HB is still a HB, Seymour Duncans or no. Do you particularly dislike the pickups it has in it? If not, replacements will not magically transform it. HBs and similar are budget instruments, built down to a price. The woodwork and finish is generally quite reasonable (it has to be or people wouldn't buy them), but economies are made on fittings, metalwork, electronics etc. By the time you've replaced pickups, tuners, pots and the like, you could have bought something better with the money that will have a higher resale value. I appreciate it's difficult to sell on an instrument that was a gift. In your shoes, I'd use it as is and save for something better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I bought a very similar PJ-5 HTR as a spare to leave at our rehearsal studio. It was a bit of a mess when it arrived, but most of the work to get it playable just involved sandpaper and files. The bridge was junk, though, so I replaced that with a cheap but stable Wilkinson WBBC5, and the pots were scratchy so I fully rewired with good quality parts, and shielded the control cavity while I was at it. When they were attached to a decent wiring loom, I actually thought the stock pickups sounded pretty good! I could justify £30ish in parts to make a £120 bass as solid and reliable as possible, but I wouldn't be splashing out on fancy pickups for it. Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it, but if your HB is physically fine then mine would be to shield, rewire, restring and then just enjoy playing it for what it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Harley Bentons are very good just stock. I don't think you will get a wildly different instrument by making upgrades tbh. I have gigged my Harley Benton a few times this year, no modification at all required. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I’d echo what Uk_Lefty says above. Leave it as it is and just enjoy playing it. I gig with my HB short-scale P bass left just as it came out the box. Does the job just fine. And congratulations on having some cool sisters! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeto726 Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) Thanks everyone! I guess my biggest thing is I have heard a bunch of crap about HB and guitars/basses of this level and I was kind of putt off it. I honestly was thinking of selling it for dirt cheap but didn't want my siblings to kill me lol. I just sent it to get set up and I'm going to jam on it for a bit before I make any final decisions. Before I sent it though, I played with it and changed out the strings from stock to some D'Addario round wounds and just that made it sound way better (duh! I knew this would happen). Ed_s, where'd you order the Wilkinsons? Any specific website you'd recommend? And Dan Dare, to respond to you, I guess I just had a negative opinion on these HB basses before I even got one. I've heard a lot of bad and not much good but the more I think of it, I think it's because these aren't major brand and my musician buddies swear by Fender, LTD, Gibson etc and if it's not a one of those, it's not worth it lol. I have a Fender P Bass and a Sire Marcus Miller V7 that I think is waaaaaaaaaay better! Edited February 13 by Cheeto726 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 @Cheeto726 A lot of the bad press comes from guilt, folk's hearts want an £1800 bass but the wallet only stretches to £80 😕 Instead of just accepting they have a fairly decent bass for little money they go looking for supposed faults. It's almost like blaming the bass will absolve their purchasing power. I've owned several Harley Bentons and been happy enough with them stock, actually prefer PB-50 necks to the one on my Paisley Fender. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, Cheeto726 said: Before I sent it though, I played with it and changed out the strings from stock to some D'Addario round wounds and just that made it sound way better (duh! I knew this would happen). Good quality strings will always make a difference. Add in a pro setup and I think you'll definitely notice it in the feel if not the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 6 hours ago, Cheeto726 said: And Dan Dare, to respond to you, I guess I just had a negative opinion on these HB basses before I even got one. I've heard a lot of bad and not much good but the more I think of it, I think it's because these aren't major brand and my musician buddies swear by Fender, LTD, Gibson etc and if it's not a one of those, it's not worth it lol. I have a Fender P Bass and a Sire Marcus Miller V7 that I think is waaaaaaaaaay better! You should watch some of Glenn Fricker's Youtube videos on the SpectreSoundStudio channel - guitars rather than basses, but he has a lot of time for HBs and very little for gear snobs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeto726 Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 6 hours ago, kodiakblair said: @Cheeto726 A lot of the bad press comes from guilt, folk's hearts want an £1800 bass but the wallet only stretches to £80 😕 Instead of just accepting they have a fairly decent bass for little money they go looking for supposed faults. It's almost like blaming the bass will absolve their purchasing power. I've owned several Harley Bentons and been happy enough with them stock, actually prefer PB-50 necks to the one on my Paisley Fender. You are 100% right! I guess I just had some bad thoughts about the HB line. I should get mine back this weekend and I'm excited more now than I was! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I have the HB PB-50. After a little set up (filed the nut, rolled the fingerboard edges) it's awesome. It's my main bass in my Police Tribute band. Stcok Roswell pickup. Machine heads feel cheap but they hold tune perfectly. So far I've done two gigs with it with a third coming up this weekend. I'm really pleased with it 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelDean Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 @Cheeto726 I've got a HB TE-52 telecaster and it's a really comfortable instrument to play. I can get the action really low. A couple of the nut slots are a bit tall, but I don't spend a lot of time in that area so I've not remedied it yet. I have done some mods (humbucker rail bridge pickup, 6 saddle bridge, some tuners I've had for years), but they were also all budget upgrades. I've not got more than £200 in it all together and it's just really fun. I've also just ordered the SC-550 II Les Paul type guitar to have knocking around. I'm hoping that's going to be pretty great too. The consistency of low end guitars has come on a long way and with the HB business model, you (generally) get something a bit beyond the initial outlay and gig worthy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 13/02/2024 at 07:11, Cheeto726 said: Ed_s, where'd you order the Wilkinsons? Any specific website you'd recommend? When it comes to cheap bits like that bridge, I just head to eBay or Amazon and pick the cheapest supplier with new stock available. Of course if your bridge is mechanically sound, it will only be an aesthetic and possibly tactile (depending on where you rest your hand) 'upgrade' to fit something like the Wilkinson in place of the stock one. The bridge that came on mine had really loose grub screws which would rattle as I played and eventually end up with the saddles dropping to the deck, so it wasn't actually fit for purpose. I tried my pot of spare screws but I couldn't put a set together with the right thread pitch which would hold in place any better, so I just replaced the whole unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I have an HB MusicMan 5 string copy. I got it free, and soley to put a Roland hex pickup on it as an experiment. But much to my surprise it's really good to play, and sounds great as it is. I'd recommend an HB to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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