Harley Benton opinions please.

[sellisnba]

Hi all.
Pretty much as the title says really. I'm looking to get myself another bass to start playing again after a while. I'm not looking to spend to much until I know if I want to pursue the bass properly.
I have been looking at a few including Vintage, squier and recently Harley Benton.
Does anybody have opinions on these...

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hot_rod_bass.htm

They seem like an ok bass for the money. I'm more of a p bass man myself, but you do seem to get the best of both worlds here, (p and jazz).
Any opinions would be appreciated.
Cheers.

[Maude]

I don't know about their bass guitars but I've got their electric upright which is the same as the Palatino, even came in a Palatino box, (bear with me ) there are a lot of known faults with the Palatino discussed on Talkbass but my HB doesn't appear to have any of them, no rattles, no buzzing etc. The finish is good, the build is solid, the only thing I would say is that the tuners feel a bit weak and vague. Overall I would say it was excellent value.
I don't really know where I'm going with this now , basically at that price and from my upright experience I would jump at that one, any little niggles could be put right cheaply anyway.
Thomann are very good to deal with too.

It's quite a looker too .

Edited September 16, 2012 by Maude

[rallyeluke]

Looks like a nice little bass and i would be keen to know what they are like myself

[dlloyd]

Harley Benton is Thomann's house branding of guitars made by various far east manufacturers. The headstock on this one looks a lot like those on SX basses... I can't imagine that this is that much of a coincidence.

[deefer_dog]

Have played a few, some good some bad. I won't preach about my bargain Jazz clone, but they do a P-bass variant too, although not as nice looking as the J clone. Another poster here was thinking of buying the J after seeing mine

The Ripwood has gotten great reviews too: [url="http://www.guitar-warehouse.ie/product_detail.asp?ProductID=61&Product=Stellah%20Ripwood%204-String%20Bass%20Guitar"]http://www.guitar-warehouse.ie/product_detail.asp?ProductID=61&Product=Stellah%20Ripwood%204-String%20Bass%20Guitar[/url]

[SlapbassSteve]

I've got a HB six string bass and recently a HB twelve string guitar from thomann. Fantastic value for money! There are a couple of places on the 12string where you can see they saved a bit of money at the QC stage but it's purely cosmetic. Shipping was fast, both were set up and ready to play straight out of the box and I wouldn't think twice about buying another bass/guitar from them.

I expect they were made in the same far eastern factories as a lot of the better branded guitars in the under £300 price bracket, and then just had a Harley Benton logo slapped on em and a quick set-up.

So... GO FOR IT!

[derrenleepoole]

There's nothing wrong with buying cheap gear. In fact, I think quite a few BC-ers would be in agreement that the standard of budget gear has shot through the roof in recent years and can, in some cases, make very worthwhile investments. Like any budget instrument, you'll get good ones and bad ones. So if you're concerned about the quality, maybe get yourself down to a local music shop and try out some budget gear there. Look out for names like Jim Deacon, Richwood, Eastcoast, Stagg etc. Most, if not all of them are made in the same factories, just with different names on. You may end up paying a bit more than Thomann, but it's better in my opinion to do this as you know exactly what you're getting as you've played it before hand.

[gafbass02]

I've a Harley benton acoustic bass and love it, a pretty brilliant guitar cab of theirs too. Great vfm

[Mog]

I've only played they're fretless and acoustic models but they were great for the price. Construction and playability were well above what I expected and the tone on the fretless in particular was great.

They also do a fantastic 2x12 guitar cab which comes loaded with V30's and is ridiculously cheap.

[Grassie]

I have two cheap P basses (an SX and a Squier VM) and they are great basses for the money. Spend the [i]proper[/i] money on a decent amp. You can always swap parts on your bass - a bit harder to do with an amp (unless you're an electronics whizz...)

[SlapbassSteve]

[quote name='Grant' timestamp='1347917341' post='1806730']
I have two cheap P basses (an SX and a Squier VM) and they are great basses for the money. Spend the [i]proper[/i] money on a decent amp. You can always swap parts on your bass - a bit harder to do with an amp (unless you're an electronics whizz...)
[/quote]


+1 -Always better to have a cheap bass through a good amp than the other way round, a cheap bass through an expensive amp will always sound better in my experience- hence my current setup being a £150 Squier Standard bass(admittedly with upgraded pups) through £1400+ worth of Markbass rig.

[cachao]

I have a couple of HBs, just because they are so inexpensive. My take on the P bass is based on my P-J.

The internal body cavity routing is dreadful. There are some areas where there is actually no wood to take the scratchplate screws. The electricals are doubtless nasty as well: we will have to see.

On the other hand, and I might have been fortunate, I have managed to get a really nice low action, and it is very playable.

OK, it's not the real thing, but I have added a Wizard Thumper pickup, and it sounds great with D'Addario ECB81's. The stock J pickup is louder than the Wizard, and I just dial in a touch if necessary.

For the price, it is excellent. I am going to give it a public run out at the weekend.