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Thomann selling Harley Benton basses as 'Decoration only'


Annoying Twit

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Finally got mine, combination of no one in and lying couriers but won't go into that. First impressions after a tune up, very impressed, no buzzing anywhere so far, it's a decent size so volume isn't bad,I like the tuner and eq unit, Jack and xlr outside,what more could you want?
The only damage I can see on mine is a little round ding in the plastic heel binding which was pictured in the description and a tiny little nick in the headstock under the lacquer, the tuners are a tiny bit skew whiff but I suspect they may that way on a good one.
I haven't got time at the moment to have a good play but first impression is good enough to make me want to get a fretted to have a matching pair, for £40 why not?!

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I've had a followup concerning my voucher not being applied to the order. They've removed the voucher's expiry date. (The voucher expiring this month was one thing that tipped me over into making the purchase). It's not the best possible resolution, but I think it's an acceptable one as I will make another purchase from Thomann at some time.

Glad to hear you like yours Maude. It sounds like yours is perfect, apart from the decoration D stamp. Maybe they stamped the bass by mistake. Photos?

Edited by Annoying Twit
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I didn't realise the mark on the heel was a stamp, the only other defect I can see is a small chip on the headstock. The body seems blemish free, and the neck is definitely buzz free. I've fitted my favourite Fender tapewounds and it plays like a dream, the action could be a tiny bit lower but that's just my preference, I'm a high tension, low action kinda guy, plus a lower action would mean less volume.
The only other thing I could see wrong was the D string was dead, the others sounded nice for stock strings but I had the tapewounds spare anyway.
Definitely want to get a fretted one if possible.
When I was looking for a doublebass, about two years ago, they had decoration ones so they definitely are an ongoing thing.

Oh yeah, pictures tomorrow :-)

Edited by Maude
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Another happy new owner reporting in here .
I collected my 4 string fretless from a friend's address yesterday , tuned up and removed the plastic wrapper from the battery and ....
it is fine . :)

Minor faults ;
Tuners slightly out of line
5p-sized scuff on one side near the o/p jack , hasn't gone through the poly
Tiny bubbles under the headstock decal

Surprise good points ;
Allen key supplied in the box
Two strap buttons
Stings are better than I expected ( so far )

It has the " D " stamped on the heel.
I am flabbersmacked/gobghasted for the £36 (Jersey-no VAT) price .
Curiously the printed label glued inside reads " HB B30FL NT " which is correct , then below that " 5 string fretless " which isn't because it is a 4-string !

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At some point we're going to have to go through and count up how many people have purchased these.

I didn't receive a battery, nor allen keys with mine. Not that I'm concerned.

@DaveD - I'm not surprised you like the strings. Even though I switched mine, I think the originals are fine.

@Planer - looking forward to your New Bass Day post.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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Planer

There's a good chance you'll get it this week. I ordered on a Sunday morning and it was delivered by 1pm on the Wednesday.
Even allowing for xmas 10 days is plenty time.

No battery or allen key with mines but the 5 string fretless label was glued inside. Could this be another reason for the much
cheapness "False Advertising" it's a fretted 4 string :)

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Mine says '5 string fretless acoustic bass guitar' on the sticker too!

Oh no! It's unplayable and unsuitable for music. There's no way that I'll be able to avoid trying to play the nonexistent B string now that I know it's labelled as a five string acoustic bass guitar.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1418585148' post='2631468']
Planer

There's a good chance you'll get it this week. I ordered on a Sunday morning and it was delivered by 1pm on the Wednesday.
Even allowing for xmas 10 days is plenty time.[/quote]
That's good news - thank you mate :-)

However it gives me less time to think up an excuse I can use to justify its arrival!

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Maybe the sticker is the issue as I'm struggling to see why mine is a deko, I also have the five string sticker.
The nick on the headstock is there but surely would only make it B stock, whereas the sticker states that it's something it's not, Even then they could just change the sticker.
I'm not complaining mind,the only other problem I have is that I don't know if I have a high C or low B!

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It might be interesting to compare the cost of the bass to other household expenses. E.g. the cost of toilet paper for a year.

I had a look at the normal (not decoration, not B-stock) version of my bass page on Thomann. By zooming in on the label, I can see that the label on the normal bass also says that it's a five string fretless acoustic bass.

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb30ntfl_fretless_akustikbass.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...akustikbass.htm[/url]

[url="http://bdbo.thomann.de/thumb/bdb3000/pics/bdbo/9388899.jpg"]http://bdbo.thomann....dbo/9388899.jpg[/url]

(Image too big to inline).

I've finally managed to get around to plugging mine in. It's got a good sound, and the four band EQ seems very powerful.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1418595340' post='2631630']
It might be interesting to compare the cost of the bass to other household expenses. E.g. the cost of toilet paper for a year.
[/quote]

Ok then. I went into Lidl today (yes I really actually did!) And bought a nine pack of bog roll for £3.27, making them approximately 36p each. There are six of us in the house at the mo, so I reckon we go through five rolls a week.

At that rate of dumpage, we flush away £94.50 worth of bog roll a year (52.5 weeks), about twice what I've just spent on my H-B deco bass which, if it's a decent one, will last me decades.

Pretty good value I reckons...

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If you're going to suggest the good ladies in the house cut back on toilet roll and they too could own a bass like yours.

Take cover Man. I see the logic but it's a dangerous thing to suggest.

Our local kept the toilet roll behind the bar, landlord would give the folk 2 squares when they asked. Kept the lassies out the bar.
Was a dive though.

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[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1418682534' post='2632385']
Four reviews and £26 and a fretless 5-string is on its way to Zero Towers.
[/quote]

Yet another good man falls. Where will it all end?

BTW: There are a couple of new 'decorative' items today. A white electro-classical guitar, and a shorty left handed strat. I suspect that these aren't the most desired items around here, but seeing new instruments appear in the deco list is interesting. We need to be keeping our eyes open for new decorative basses being listed. 'm tempted to write a computer program to poll the decorative instruments once an hour and tell me if there is anything new :)

Edited by Annoying Twit
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