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Thomann selling Harley Benton basses as 'Decoration only'


Annoying Twit

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Oh dear. Spoke to soon. Plugged in the jazz and getting virtually no noise from it at all! The bridge pick up appears to be dead and I am getting something from the neck pup but that is barely audible and with my amp turned right up. All the wiring appears to be in place but I am no expert on this sort of thing. Sure it is fixable but at the moment it is pretty much deko only. Any advice welcome.

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[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1425547212' post='2708351']
Oh dear. Spoke to soon. Plugged in the jazz and getting virtually no noise from it at all! The bridge pick up appears to be dead and I am getting something from the neck pup but that is barely audible and with my amp turned right up. All the wiring appears to be in place but I am no expert on this sort of thing. Sure it is fixable but at the moment it is pretty much deko only. Any advice welcome.
[/quote]

How's your soldering? Got a multimeter? If you want to diagnose it, you could unsolder the pickups and check their resistance to see whether the problem is the pups or the controls.

Alternatively, sounds like an opportunity to get a KiOgon wiring harness and a new set of pups...

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425533994' post='2708244']
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hb_60_wb_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._60_wb_deko.htm[/url]

semi-hollow 60s style bass.


Edit: gone. Was available for half an hour. I was tempted, but I'm thinking about whether I want to save my music allocation for a Yourock Gen2 MIDI controller. And I'm still waiting for a deko ukulele. (I may wait forever and buy a non-deko :) )
[/quote]

Oh, I like that a lot. Quite relieved it's sold out! :lol:

J.

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[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1425555311' post='2708482']
Oh, I like that a lot. Quite relieved it's sold out! :lol:
[/quote]

If I didn't have my Ibby SR760 as my 'work' bass, I would have snagged that HB. However, how many four string fretted basses does one need?

IMHO the HB sounds really good too. According to youtube videos. I like that 'tubby' short scale sound, as Ed Friedland describes it. I was very tempted by the similar Eastwood Classic 4 for a long time.

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425567297' post='2708681']
However, how many four string fretted basses does one need?
[/quote]

I don't know - how many are there? :D

My excuse would be that I've never had a semi. So to speak.

J.

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Sorry, but I don't have a life....but I was just thinking, under what circumstances do they list Decos during the night?

Are they maybe open 24 hours and a bad instrument is spotted on the nightshift and listed immediately?

Or does some Thomann techy have a programme that lists them in the early hours remotely or maybe someone listing works during the night?

These are the big questions for me today!

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We could have some fun by creating all sorts of conspiracy theories about this one.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are batching updates for quiet times. That wouldn't quite explain why the updates sometimes happen during the day however. It could be that they hold updates in a queue, so that they don't happen all at once and make the website non-responsive. (Effectively they would be DDOS'ing themselves). That would explain why the updates happen at seemingly random times. I wouldn't be surprised if an organisation the size of Thomann did have people working 24/7, and that was the time that someone actually entered the new dekos into the system.

@Bassassin - the Ibby 760 taking the niche that the HB Deko could take is a blow for Japanese made basses of previous decades getting one over on new dekos.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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Finally finished my Deko precision defret.

New flatwound strings were almost the same price as the bass!

A little bit more tweeking to get the action really low and get some MWAH from the board.

I covered it in 12 coats of Poundland cyano! I then refinished the back of the neck with some left over danish oil.

It doesn’t sound too bad.

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[quote name='irvined' timestamp='1425635389' post='2709196']
Finally finished my Deko precision defret.

New flatwound strings were almost the same price as the bass!

A little bit more tweeking to get the action really low and get some MWAH from the board.

I covered it in 12 coats of Poundland cyano! I then refinished the back of the neck with some left over danish oil.

It doesn’t sound too bad.
[/quote]

Pics! :)

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[quote name='irvined' timestamp='1425637069' post='2709220']
Can't upload! Did try - honest.
[/quote]

www.tinypic.com?
Send me the photos by email and I'll post?

I'm still thinking about that HB60 WB that I let get away. But head has ruled over heart.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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I've created a samepage account and uploaded the photos there.

[url="https://samepage.io/app/#!/53e9e8d46c0ac8bc80454bbf1e2286e5604f8649/page-199974265779472257"]https://samepage.io/app/#!/53e9e8d46c0ac8bc80454bbf1e2286e5604f8649/page-199974265779472257[/url]

Try that.

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The frets are filled with some veneer I bought online as a job lot.

Got enought to do about 100 basses, all different colour veneers.

The frets came out quite easily (I did buy a special tool though) Didn't get too much tear away on the fretboard at all.

Cut the bottom of the veneer to the same radius as the fretboard, drop them in and put some cyano alongside to secure.

Then lots of sanding, 12 coats or cyano, bit more sanding and then polish.

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Whole lot of dekos just went up and disappeared within seconds. There was a maple necked vintage jazz bass.

IMHO someone is using a computer programme not just to look for them. But to buy them as well.

[code]
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton D-120NT Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton JB-75SB MN Vintage Ser Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton L-450Plus Cherry Burst Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton RX-40 Black Progressiv Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton S-620 TR Rock Series Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton D-120NT Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton JB-75SB MN Vintage Ser Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton L-450Plus Cherry Burst Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton RX-40 Black Progressiv Deko
2015-03-07 12:32:02: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton S-620 TR Rock Series Deko
[/code]

Edited by Annoying Twit
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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425688280' post='2709871']
IMHO someone is using a computer programme not just to look for them. But to buy them as well.
[/quote]
Seems a logical explanation, but perhaps they have noted your activity and are winding you up :)
But probably, ironically, a guy in China with a computer!

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It happened again. Standard Jazz bass appeared and disappeared within seconds.

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_20_sb_standard_seri_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...d_seri_deko.htm[/url]

[code]
2015-03-08 08:25:26: Notified: Harley Benton JB-20 SB Standard Seri Deko
2015-03-08 08:26:06: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton JB-20 SB Standard Seri Deko
[/code]

Edited by Annoying Twit
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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425688280' post='2709871']
Whole lot of dekos just went up and disappeared within seconds. There was a maple necked vintage jazz bass.

IMHO someone is using a computer programme not just to look for them. But to buy them as well.

[code]
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton D-120NT Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton JB-75SB MN Vintage Ser Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton L-450Plus Cherry Burst Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton RX-40 Black Progressiv Deko
2015-03-07 12:28:46: Notified: Harley Benton S-620 TR Rock Series Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton D-120NT Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton JB-75SB MN Vintage Ser Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton L-450Plus Cherry Burst Deko
2015-03-07 12:30:07: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton RX-40 Black Progressiv Deko
2015-03-07 12:32:02: Notified: Bye bye Harley Benton S-620 TR Rock Series Deko
[/code]
[/quote]

Available on an online auction site soon?

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[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1425841714' post='2711367']
Does this spell the end of the deko bass acquisitions for us mere mortals? Sounds like it might. Sad times.
[/quote]

For me I would have to write a competitive programme to automatically buy deko instruments. This is always risky as it might suddenly order me 1000 banjos or something if there is a bug in it.

RickyV, how is your Jazz bass? Is it making sound yet?

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425841926' post='2711371']
For me I would have to write a competitive programme to automatically buy deko instruments. This is always risky as it might suddenly order me 1000 banjos or something if there is a bug in it.

RickyV, how is your Jazz bass? Is it making sound yet?
[/quote]

Good god, I wouldnt wish one banjo on anyone let alone 1000!

Bass not making a noise just yet but I havent had the chance to test it properly yet with a multimeter and I dont have a soldering iron to carry out any repairs. Will probably purchase tomorrow. Have since discovered tho that the bridge grounding wire is completely disconnected form the back of the tone pot (or whichever one it was soldered to) but I wouldnt have thought that would cause the lack of sound. Would it? I intend to swap the pickups for some Entwistles anyway and I might as well upgrade the pots at the same time. Other than that the bass is fine. Adjusted the truss rod and now have the action nice and low how I like it. Will keep you posted.

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I think its pretty poor form , that's got to either be scripted buying .. Somone else with a more aggressive version of your job , twit , and no morales looking to pass them on via ebay or Thonnman removing them .

Its bad ... because it will mean misrepresentation of these usually very good , well priced instruments , probably sold for a mark up
perhaps Thonnman might like to be informed so they can , sell some expensive Deko Air in a box just for decoration priced at 1000 pounds.

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