Thomann selling Harley Benton basses as 'Decoration only'

[Owen]

And now I have just bought a 5 string acoustic.............. because............. ummmm................ Even more dangerous is the fact that you sync it up with Amazon payment details so that you can do one click ordering. Oh dear.

[Annoying Twit]

I'm going to sync Thomann up to my Amazon then. Buying quickly is important.

Congratulations on the purchase. I hope you enjoy it. (Or exercise your right to return if you don't).

[Owen]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1423915372' post='2690303']
Buying quickly is important.
[/quote]

Ain't that the truth!

[Mornats]

My bass ukulele came today. So that was an order placed at 9.30 on Saturday, shipped and delivered for when I got into the office 9am this morning (Tuesday). That's pretty good.

The uke is bigger than I expected. I've put a pic below of it resting against my Squier VM jazz.

There's an ever so slight mark on the front of the bass which is barely noticeable. If I'd bought a "proper" version I'd probably not notice it nor would I send it back for that.

The A string rattles a lot. I'd call it fret buzz but rubber strings don't buzz, they kinda boing off the frets a bit. The E string is a little like that, and the D and G to a much lesser extent. It came with a truss-rod tool so I tried loosening off the truss rod as there's a bit of back bow on the neck. The neck doesn't seem to be moving at all though. Also 5-6 of the frets are too high up the neck but I've got the tools to fix that.

I plugged it in and the D and G strings sound great but you can barely hear the E and A strings. It's not a slight difference, it's a "is it on? oh wait, yes, that's loud" difference when going from the A to the D string. I read about someone having an issue in the reviews of the non-deko ones. A quick read of the B-band website (the pickup/preamp maker) says that an incorrectly sat pickup can do this.

So at the moment it's unplayable due to the rattly A string and can't be amped due to the difference in string volumes. At the moment though, I think I can solve these. For £42 delivered it's probably not worth sending back if I think I can turn it into a bit of a project. I could even rip the frets out and turn it fretless. Not sure if that would solve the rattly A string though.

Reckon I should try and fix the issues or send it back? I've got the (huge) box it came in at work still but will have to recycle it in the next day or two so I'll need to decide today or tomorrow.

Here's the pic:

[attachment=184154:DSC_0459.JPG]

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1424199563' post='2693800']
My bass ukulele came today. So that was an order placed at 9.30 on Saturday, shipped and delivered for when I got into the office 9am this morning (Tuesday). That's pretty good.

The uke is bigger than I expected. I've put a pic below of it resting against my Squier VM jazz.

There's an ever so slight mark on the front of the bass which is barely noticeable. If I'd bought a "proper" version I'd probably not notice it nor would I send it back for that.

The A string rattles a lot. I'd call it fret buzz but rubber strings don't buzz, they kinda boing off the frets a bit. The E string is a little like that, and the D and G to a much lesser extent. It came with a truss-rod tool so I tried loosening off the truss rod as there's a bit of back bow on the neck. The neck doesn't seem to be moving at all though. Also 5-6 of the frets are too high up the neck but I've got the tools to fix that.

I plugged it in and the D and G strings sound great but you can barely hear the E and A strings. It's not a slight difference, it's a "is it on? oh wait, yes, that's loud" difference when going from the A to the D string. I read about someone having an issue in the reviews of the non-deko ones. A quick read of the B-band website (the pickup/preamp maker) says that an incorrectly sat pickup can do this.

So at the moment it's unplayable due to the rattly A string and can't be amped due to the difference in string volumes. At the moment though, I think I can solve these. For £42 delivered it's probably not worth sending back if I think I can turn it into a bit of a project. I could even rip the frets out and turn it fretless. Not sure if that would solve the rattly A string though.

Reckon I should try and fix the issues or send it back? I've got the (huge) box it came in at work still but will have to recycle it in the next day or two so I'll need to decide today or tomorrow.

Here's the pic:

[attachment=184154:DSC_0459.JPG]
[/quote]

It's a "Project" then?

[Mornats]

Might well be mate!

The neck is moving a little now that I've adjusted the truss rod so if I can sort that and file the frets it's a winner as an acoustic practice instrument (for the price). If I can fix the volume on the pickup (which should be doable based on the last FAQ here: http://www.b-band.com/index.php?page=faq) then it's all good. Incidentally, those preamps/pickups sell for £70 themselves.

[Annoying Twit]

That is a bit of a mixed bag. I think I remember reading about someone who had a problem with a misplaced pickup on a HB Ukulele bass. I had one of these in my shopping basket for a bit, but didn't buy it. Given that you know what to do, then it seems that you can make this purchase work for you. But if I had your ukulele bass, I'd be in a spot of bother. Good luck with the project.

[Annoying Twit]

Brass guitar thing. The most expensive 'deko' I remember seeing. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_clr_brass_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._brass_deko.htm[/url]

EDIT: Note that 'brass' is not a typo.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Annoying Twit

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1424211740' post='2693982']
Brass guitar thing. The most expensive 'deko' I remember seeing. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_clr_brass_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._brass_deko.htm[/url]

EDIT: Note that 'brass' is not a typo.
[/quote]

Is it any good for Metal?

Edited February 17, 2015 by yorks5stringer

[irvined]

Ordered a deko HB precision on the 12th and it arrived yesterday.

I can't find anything wrong with it. It feels really light but I haven't weighed it.There are two Ds stamped on the back of the body and on the neck.

The action is set really low and does buzz a bit, nothing a few minutes adjustment won't fix. I wil defret it in the near future.

Neck is much thinner than I remember for a precision.

All in all a good buy for £37 delivered.

[Annoying Twit]

Good result there. Irvined. What does the bass sound like? Apart from one youtube video that sounds awful, what I've heard from the standard HB Jazz bass suggests it sounds very nice. I'm curious about the precision as well.

I see the £99 metal thing sold out. Since it started as 'Available immediately' rather than saying that there are only a few of this item, there must have been a number of them. I'm surprised that they sold at that price, but they did.

[irvined]

I didn't have much time to check it out last night, just plugged it into my small Boss guitar combo that was hiding in the lounge.

Sounded fine but with new strings a bit too 'twangy' for my taste.

I'm going to defret it and change the strings to flats. I have a project that needs this so I'm hoping for good things!

[tall_martin]

Hi,

After reading about these basses on here I crumbled and bought a 5 string fretless acoustic.

It is cosmetically perfect, but had a bump on the neck which made it unplayable.

After fiddling with the trussrod and getting some advice of the repairs forum I sanded the neck.

Now its ace. It took me about 2 hours to do this with lots of stopping and checking.

Sounds good in the house on its own. Sounded good at practice with my band. It did feedback massively, this was not helped by standing in front of the amp or using distortion pedals.

So If you want one why not? £60 posted and I'm happy with it.

Martin

[Annoying Twit]

Thanks @Irvined.

@Tall Martin. What sort of bump was it? Small, or large (comparative to the size of a fretboard)?

Edited February 18, 2015 by Annoying Twit

[tall_martin]

Probably only a mm or 2 high for 30 mm or so. It was making sure I didn't go too far that took the time

[Twincam]

Do Thomann still give the vouchers for reviews???, if so i have a a few reviews i can do 3 in all and if i get some money off i will no doubt go in for a deko bass.

[Annoying Twit]

@Twincam I'm pretty sure they do vouchers for reviews. I received a voucher for a review a couple of months ago.

@Tall Martin. I wonder if I should check my fretless deco for similar. Now that I've got the trussrod somewhere in the ballpark, I haven't noticed any playing problems. How obvious would it be if mine had a similar problem? You described it as 'unplayable', so I'd guess that mine doesn't have a similar problem since it appears to play fine. But, perhaps I should take a second look.

[tall_martin]

Hi, if you haven't noticed it, it's fine. Mine could get 10 notes around the 5th fret cleanly but had massive buzzing everywhere up to the 12th fret and then clean above that.

If you can play it without massive buzzing and an action you are happy with I would avoid fiddling.

Martin

[tall_martin]

Double post!

Edited February 20, 2015 by tall_martin

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1424343587' post='2695289']
Do Thomann still give the vouchers for reviews???, if so i have a a few reviews i can do 3 in all and if i get some money off i will no doubt go in for a deko bass.
[/quote]

Yes, but up to max of 50 euros credit only as I found out to my cost!

[Annoying Twit]

@Tall Martin. Thanks. In some ways it's good that I didn't read your experience until now. When I received mine it buzzed quite a bit on the lower stops. But a turn or so to loosen the truss rod and it's fine now. The action isn't super-low, it's medium. I think, I'm not used to fretlesses.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Annoying Twit

[Twincam]

Got my vouchers yay!.

Hmmm debating if i should get a deko bass as its almost a free bass, but knowing my luck it would have a hole in the back haha. Or the neck literally bent.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Twincam

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1424443166' post='2696374']


Hmmm debating if i should get a deko bass as its almost a free bass, but knowing my luck it would have a hole in the back haha.
[/quote]

If you have bass with a hole in the back you are actually holding an [i]acoustic[/i] bass back-to-front!

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1424445279' post='2696407']
If you have bass with a hole in the back you are actually holding an [i]acoustic[/i] bass back-to-front!
[/quote]



@TwinCam - if you don't like it, you can send it back.

However, I wonder what would happen to vouchers if you redeemed them, then sent the bass back.

[pfretrock]

[quote name='tall_martin' timestamp='1424261788' post='2694456']
It is cosmetically perfect, but had a bump on the neck which made it unplayable....
Martin
[/quote]
Mine has a visible bump in the neck at the 17th fret where it joins the body. I suspect the truss rod does not flex the neck beyond the 17th, where it is held straight by the body (unlike a bolt on neck solid). This seems to be the problem to me. However the 17th fret is also high as it was not seated fully into the board. When I fixed this, it did not buzz.. Action is a little high, but I gather this is usual for an acoustic?

Twincam - go for it, nice bass for the money. But they don't issue vouchers for discontinued items which would not be in their future product list, as I found out, left it too long to review my next purchase!