NSSBD

[Chienmortbb]

Well due to injury, and therefore necessity, I have succumbed and bought a shorty. 
 

I have no idea how much movement I will get back in my shoulder but for now I can reach the 3rd fret pf a 34” bass. Back of a cornflake packer calculation says 30” scale length is ideal so off I went a-hunting. 
 

I did no want to spend an awful lot, I am already £250 down on a U Bass so It was an Affinity, HB, or Hartwood. 
 

I did not get on with the Affinity ‘Tang, the HB has been showing 1-2 weeks for about a month and now showed a bit longer so  a Hartwood Delta finally showed up. 
 

So far I am delighted. Feet work is some of the best that I have ever seen and there are lots of little touches that please. 
 

Machine Heads -Smooth and precise 

Control Knobs- Not the push on, splined type but held on with grub screws.

Body-Flawless, at least on first look. 
Action- Higher than I like but playable out of the box. 
Frets- I do my own fretwork and these are wonderful, the best fret ends on a bass or guitar I have had in 60 years. 
Screws-Pick-guard and control cavity screws sit well down. They are domed but sit well into the countersink. 
Nut-Could go lower but I will not be touching it for now. 

Criticisms?

The neck has what look like ran drops in the finish. However you cannot feel it under your hand, 

 

The pick-up selector switch is not straight up and dos but angled. Oddly when playing it seems more natural then if it were more like a Les Paul. The switch may be the first thing I change thought as cheap ones fail quickly IMHO.

 

Bridge- BBOT. However That does not matter to me, It is a well proven design and it works. 
 

Strings - Shiny and bright but may have more finger noise than I like. 

[Lozz196]

Congrats, hopefully this will work well for you, I like the fret markers.

[Chienmortbb]

11 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Congrats, hopefully this will work well for you, I like the fret markers.

Me too, I forgot to mention those. They are more visible than the usual dot from above. 

[martthebass]

Congrats.

Bear in mind this can be a rabbit hole.....I started off with a second hand Mikey Way Squier Mustang and I've ended up with, what I consider to be, 2 expensive shorties.  So the journey has involved money, but I got there in the end and the shorties take 90% of the gigs these days.

[Obrienp]

Congratulations. I have its Hartwood stablemate, the medium scale Satellite. I was very impressed with the neck on that and the fretwork. The general fit and finish was excellent for the money. In fact, the only things I wanted to change straight away were the strings: far too clanky and very rough feeling. 
 

By all accounts the Delta is the better of the two, so I think you’ve snagged yourself an excellent value bass there. Enjoy!

[Chienmortbb]

2 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Congratulations. I have its Hartwood stablemate, the medium scale Satellite. I was very impressed with the neck on that and the fretwork. The general fit and finish was excellent for the money. In fact, the only things I wanted to change straight away were the strings: far too clanky and very rough feeling. 
 

By all accounts the Delta is the better of the two, so I think you’ve snagged yourself an excellent value bass there. Enjoy!

Set the truss rod and lowered the action a bit. Really plays well now, and I agree about the strings. Father Christmas is bringing me a set of Newtone Shorties.

[police squad]

those fret ends must be finished like that before installaion, otherwise how could it be done

I think I'd be tempted to roll the fingerboard edges too