Annoying Twit

Anyone have a 'Disaster Area' bass? I've recently bought some nylon coated strings to try out, which are bllack. I've also been reading a thread on a DIY Bass Kit. I was wondering how black you could get a bass. Fretless ebony board. Black finish (including the neck), Black hardware. Black nut. Nylon black strings and a black 1-ply pick guard. Has anyone done this? Who on basschat has the blackest bass? EDIT: I found this on talkbass. IMHO this looks damn good. I'll even forgive the non-black strings. I couldn't inline the image here, this is a copy uploaded to my own tiny pic account. [url=http://www.talkbass.com/threads/can-anybody-show-me-a-black-bass.412076/]here is the talk bass thread, though IMHO this is the best bass on that thread[/url].

I must admit that I can't see what's wrong with the bridge. I assume that others know how to make a photobucket image display in full resolution and can see some flaw on the bridge. (If I right click on the image or paste its address into the browser I go back to photo bucket. If I zoom in on the page showing the picture of the bass's body, I get blur city and can't clearly see what is wrong with the bridge. What is wrong with it? It looks as if you have a very nice action dialled in there.

That grain has come out much better than I would have expected for a basswood body. It is basswood isn't it? It looks nicely finished. Is it just an oil job? Or did you do more for the finishing. I echo y5s's comments about the paddle - but hey, it works

My acoustic fretless was 'set up' similar to your B550-FL. That was a Deko however. If I received a non-deko set up like that, I'd query it passing through QC.

Seriously though, I would appreciate seeing pics of your build. I was very tempted to buy one of these kits, but I bought a complete bass instead, and am now thinking about what to do with it.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1427972849' post='2736457'] Yes, mine had a QC hang tag dated late last year. [/quote] Mine says 11th of November 2014, passed by "Jack". What does yours say? I'm wondering if the instruments that have been returned that are found to have been docked about with by the purchasers are the ones that become dekos. They passed quality control at one time, I presume. But why would mine have such high action if it had passed QC?

I can record something, but I'm now having a learning experience getting the most out of the pedal. What produces a nicely round and smooth tone played solo is not necessarily a tone that will stand up against a drum beat and other instruments. I'm in learning curve city with this at the moment. It's going to be a while before I can predict what each band is going to do to the sound when boosted or cut. Usually I produce bass by using a lowpass filter to fit it into the mix, and then using a multi band compressor on the whole track which seems to help the bass fit into its proper sonic space. I've not applied a lot of graphic EQ to individual instruments.

I wonder if they could be returns. Mine had a very high action out of the box. If it had been purchased by someone who didn't want to or couldn't do a basic setup, then I could easily imagine them returning it. Similar for my fretless acoustic deko which was pretty much unplayable out of the box due to a maladjusted (but fully working) truss rod. Though, that also has minor finish blemishes. My fretless lacked tools, making me think that it was a return. It still leaves the question of what the difference is between 'Deko' and 'b-stock'.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1427927741' post='2736087'] Well at least the left-handers are catered for! [/quote] I received a Deko in the post today, so I can't complain. I was actually playing it into Logic when the speech synthesiser told me of the new dekos and I put it down mid-take in order to post on here. My next Deco purchase will be one of the Santos series electro-acoustic classicals. If one turns up at an appropriate time.

Jazz bass deko (as well as some other dekos). [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_75sb_mn_vintage_ser_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ge_ser_deko.htm[/url] EDIT: Gone already.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1427887321' post='2735427'] and where is this harley benton forum? I wish to read his review.... [/quote] Here: [url="http://theharleybentonclub.proboards.com/thread/108/harley-benton-bigtone-gretsch-likes"]http://theharleybent...e-gretsch-likes[/url] There is some duplication between the HB forum and here on basschat. You may recognise quite a lot on there It was one of the most in-depth reviews I've read. First time I've ever seen inside photos taken by a spy cam.

Just bought one of these today. I've only just started using it, and there is something 'right' about this pedal. A couple of my basses have weak pickups, including a 5 string PJ I bought today. Even if I put the bass through this pedal with all of the EQ adjustments and the 'level' flat, I get a higher level. And not only that, it has more 'oomph' over and above the increase in volume IMHO. There's something about this pedal. I don't know what it is, but it really seems to add something to any signal going through it. Maybe this applies to all EQ pedals, and I'd be even happier with a more up-market one. But over and above the tone-shaping options of the 7-band EQ, just switching it on flat seems to make the bass sound bassier, stronger, deeper. And yes I am aware of Fletcher-Munson curves. I've got one of the Behringer BDI21 DI boxes. And in terms of adding oomph to weak basses, this EQ pedal seems to do a better job than the Behringer. I was expecting a flimsy plastic box too. It's small, but solid metal. Maybe I should wait longer before posting on this, but I'm very pleased with this little box, and I want to tell someone (See username for explanation).

[quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1427896733' post='2735583'] PJ5 turned up today, plays nice, no big visible problems that I can see, and sounds good! I found 1 very small scuff. Mental... [/quote] [size=4]Congratulations, and happy NBD. I'm jealous, as I'm still at work and mine is at home.[/size] [quote] What sort of things should I be looking for? [/quote] A family of mice living in the body cavities? Seriously though, my biggest worry is the truss rod. EDIT: I am home and have spent the last half hour trying to work out what is wrong with my PJ5 HTR. The pickup output is low, but the bass equaliser pedal I bought in the same order solves that and then some. It arrived poorly adjusted, with a very high action. I've lowered the action, and it's not super low but there is some buzzing. It's at a quite comfortable height for me, but I prefer a higher action than some. The nut isn't cut too badly, but could probably come down a bit across all the strings. It's plausible that further fettling by someone who knows more than me could bring the action down further. The truss rod turns smoother and more easily than any I've ever experienced. (Not that many, but some). The noise being produced suggests that this bass needs better shielding. I've got some sticky copper tape around somewhere. IMHO this bass sounds better with both the P and J pickups up full. With the additional boost of the Bass EQ, the B string sounds quite solid, IMHO. It does sound a bit inconsistent compared to the other strings however. The little dot you can see on the back of the body is a 'D' stamp. There is another stamp on the back of the neck. What look like weird shapes on the body are reflections of our lampshade, and my hands holding a camera.

There is now a Deko waiting for me at home. And I'm at work. BTW: Classical guitars without pickups still available. Good to see something new last from one day to the next without it being a deko priced at £200.

Loads of dekos including a p-bass. P-Bass: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pb_20_bk_standard_seri_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...d_seri_deko.htm[/url] Loads of acoustic guitars including quite a few that I've never seen as a Deko before, and a 'traveller steel'. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/decorative_guitars_and_basses.html"]http://www.thomann.d...and_basses.html[/url] First deko that I've seen under £10. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/startone_cg_851_4_4_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...51_4_4_deko.htm[/url] EDIT: P-bass still there. And ... still there .... EDIT2: P-bass and most others have just gone, about 16 minutes after being listed. There are still some black and natural slightly upmarket (for HB) fully acoustic classical guitars. (No pickups). E.g. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_santos_series_c_40s_nt_deko.htm

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1427487677' post='2731148'] If you were closer I was gonna say you could pop down and have a go using my tools. Have a crack anyway, Ben's videos are really good and it's nowhere near as terrifying as it sounds [/quote] Thanks. I most likely will give it a go sometime.

I would say that there is a good chance that the Gretsch-a-likes will return, given that they've sold out. A poster on the Harley Benton forum bought one. His review was mixed. Were you thinking of getting the Manhattan standard or the Manhattan wizard?

What tempts me to do a self-build would be Andyjr's learning more about how a bass goes together. I was seriously (and am still) considering a cheap Jazz bass kit, solely to give me something to practice doing fret jobs on. The rest of fettling a bass seems fairly simple, levelling and rounding frets looks more difficult. But, if I could learn to do it, I'm sure that I would save the purchase of the kit through being able to do it myself on future basses.

I don't think there is a surf green Harley Benton Jazz Bass is there?

Happy NBD. Great review, really pleased to hear an audio sample too.

I'm only answering as you have no replies yet. IMHO you asked an interesting question and I was wondering if anyone would answer it. EDIT: I spent too long writing this reply and DaveFry replied while I was writing it! I've had a vague interest in doing a self-build kit for some time. A recent purchase has pushed this back again, but I've been looking at them off and on for a while. [size=4]It appears that the variety of kits available in the UK has been shrinking, along with the number of sellers who aren't small ebay suppliers. [/size] There's this: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-Hollow-Body-Style-DIY-Unfinished-Project-Luthier-Electric-Guitar-Kit-/251885261979?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aa588149b"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3aa588149b[/url] But given the reviews I've seen of no-name bass DIY kits, it would be potluck as to whether it's high quality or not. And the quality of the hardware is unlikely to be wonderful. And by the time you'd paid the postage costs and import duties, it isn't going to be a cheap kit. EDIT: It looks to be the same kit as the one sourced from Australia.

@Stubass - even the non-deko ones often have the wrong labels. I don't think that it what has made yours a deko. @Owen - they look very nice, good to hear it's a very nice instrument. But, I must admit that I was hoping for more un-amplified volume than that.

Congratulations! How many do you have now? How does the sound of the HB60 meet your expectations? Does it have that 'tubby' short scale sound, as described by Ed Friedland? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSUjhcJaPo[/media]

Thanks Owen. What do you think of the acoustic sound of the classical? Both in terms of loudness and sound quality. I must admit that I'm tempted by the Santos series acoustics that are going up now, including the one that's up as I type. But, I've just bought one deko. Maybe a few months before the next one. This review says some interesting things about the finish on a non-deko example. However, the review states that it sounds good. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_santos_series_c_40sce_nt.htm

Natural classical deko back. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_santos_series_c_40scedeko_2.htm?sid=2cca1fb020b7fdd7f6de42366f73a8f3