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Harley Benton BZ 4000


kodiakblair
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Got this about an hour back.
[attachment=170212:P8260031.JPG]

What can I say apart from "Yeah". I'm a sucker for thru neck and natural finish and under that high gloss is a lovely sycamore front and back.
Sounds like a bass should,good bottom end, no hiss or hum. Good weight to it and solid construction. Necks slightly thicker than my Cirrus
but not uncomfortable.

I can't fault it, Thomann have delivered the goods yet again.Another welcome bass to the KB clan and I won't even mention the price

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Glad you mentioned that AT.

The body shapes are very similar,horns are longer and slimmer on the HB. The HB is about 3/4 inch taller
and the neck/body is less severe ie it's longer,wider and shallower. The V1004 is more a step down to the
neck than a gradual slope.

It's the necks that have me thinking,well the headstocks. The HB angles up and the Vintage down with the HB
having a slope. Here's the two side by side but its the peaks behind the nut. It thickens the neck at it's weak
point.It makes me think there's a connection,differences sure but could be cut from the same cloth so to speak.

I'll get some time tomorrow to compare them.I updated Amplitube recently and my presets are all to hell, so
no playing tonight,I'm ground floor flat.

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[quote name='alembic1989' timestamp='1409074477' post='2536076']
Congrats.
I'm a fan of Harley B basses. Just been playing my 6 er....and cured my gas for another bass ( temporarily I suspect).
[/quote]

Thread derial. Sorry.

Is your bass the BZ-6000? If so, what is the string spacing like?

Ta.

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I think he meant alembic by that comment. IIRC, alembic has had his six string Harley Benton for some time, and hence it's not the BZ-6000. IIRC (again), alembic has the rebadged Shine Harley Benton.

KB: Looking forward to the Vintage/Harley sound and playability comparison.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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I did the comparison tonight and was very pleased with the results and a wee bit confused.

Every thing was set to centre,volume full and zero treble and bass on the amp and I was going through headphones
Started like this for each one,gradually upping the bass and rolling back the treble.

The Vintage V1004 was first and I just couldn't take to it,just seemed to be lacking bottom so after 20 mins I gave up.The BZ 4000 was next heavier than the Vintage but the neck played great and the 3 band is a real bonus,1st time I really applied myself to this and can only conclude it's a very good bass.I can live with the extra couple of lbs.
Cirrus was next, felt half the weight and the RWs had lost the fresh zing,sounded great.Was the neck twice as good as the BZ ? not by any means. After that came the Traben,the Millennium (wonderful bass) and the Vintage V1005. The 5'er played and sounded sweet so why not the V1004 ? So I picked it up again,couple of minutes it was nearly there. Needing a change of strings or it could just be me that needed warmed up.

Between the Vintage 1004 and the BZ I'd say the BZ gets it due to me preferring the ebonal,the 3 band and the balance pot.Once I get other strings on the V that might change.But very little between them all.Cirrus came top then V1005 and that's just because of the condition of the strings.If all the 4 string BZs are like this one Thomann's got a gem,held it's own against 5 similar basses so no complaints.

Question here I've never tried half-rounds but I don't like new roundwounds,prefer when they've lost some zing, so would half-rounds be an option rather than waiting on the rounds to mellow.

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[quote name='owen' timestamp='1409171617' post='2537171']


Thread derial. Sorry.

Is your bass the BZ-6000? If so, what is the string spacing like?

Ta.
[/quote]

My HB 6 er is one of the early ones in transparent black finish...I think it was called the HB 600 ...I had 3 6ers at one point....2 of them were boutique..... Very expensive too....but I preferred my HB.....the other 2 ...long gone. :-)

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I think it's only three of us on this forum plus the guy on sevenstring.org (who I think is the same guy on Talkbass.com). I'm sure the numbers of people who own these is going to keep on rising. With @owen buying the BZ-6000, someone on the forum has to buy the BZ-5000 so that as a forum we have one of each.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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Is anyone looking for a 5 ? And how would we convince them.

Still I don't mind being part of a select group of 5. Got mines close to hand just now and stand by what I said Thomann got this so right. Give it a couple of weeks
somebody will get one.Then we'll be 6 but being the Gang of Four on Basschat sounds quite cool.

I've asked over at Big Bass Tabs but about the 5'er,not holding my breath though.The site's not really for me.

Edited by kodiakblair
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  • 1 month later...

I like it. The Curbow I have has it so It wasn't a surprise. I don't really concern myself about those kinds of things,
After most of the crap I've played over the years a hard-wearing fret board is a bonus.

The selling points for me were mainly it hit a lot of things I like.

Natural finish and thru neck being the 1 st. Balance was important and it hangs well,not overly heavy sure there's lighter
basses but I wouldn't use my 28" Mikro to gig with.I'm also about 50/50 with satin and gloss necks so again that wasn't
a problem. The EQ works well and is quiet with good range of tones.

With the other HB's being well built I was confident this one would be the same and It was.Any small marks in the finish wouldn't
bother me but I never found any.

Then there was the price,it's an awful lot of bass and thankfully I never had any set up issues.Had to file the nut on the Cirrus not
on the BZ. Though I leaning heavy towards the Peaveys just now the BZ really is a fine bass.The last few Peaveys are more P basses
so that's the tone for me just now but the BZ and the Grind are always close to hand.

Think that about covers it but ask away anything that comes to mind.

Great band BTW and what a busy 2015 you have ahead. Hopefully I'll make the O2 in Glasgow.

Edited by kodiakblair
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  • 1 month later...

Just noticed your reply about Cloudbusting kodaikblair - thanks very much bud, if you do make it to Glasgow be sure to come on over and say hi :)

as an experiment I bought one of the HB jazzes, played it at my last practice session and now it has taken the place of my trusty PJ for some of the CB songs, at the behest of the (non bass playing) rest of the band! Cant get much more of a recommendation than that I guess. Funds being saved for more HBs as we speak :)

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If I'm not working away in April I'll be at the show.

Good idea trying the JB,I've been happy with mines. I know some folks have a problem with the weight but with 30 year in the
building game 11lbs not an issue. Actually waiting on some things from Thomann myself and I still fancy the Ric-alike.

Keep saving those pennies :)

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