Harley Benton and Thomann

[kodiakblair]

I'd been looking for a cheap short scale and was looking at the Thomann site for the Mikro ( great wee bass BTW),
anyway looking at the other basses available the Benton PB-50 SB Vintage took my fancy.
Listened to the sound-clips and thought Yep like that.
Ordered Tuesday night, text and email on Wednesday to say
order confirmed and shipped.Arrived on Friday, box within a box packed in airbags, so fast delivery and safe packaging
plus point.
Out the box came a gorgeous looking Bass

[url="http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/kodiakblair/media/Benton.jpg.html"][/url]

Good neck,Well built and well balanced,shipped with Wilkinson Alnico single coil and D'ddario
strings. Quick easy set-up and away we go,good range of sounds. All in all a good sound bass.

At a cost of £87

First time dealing with Thomann and first Benton and I'm well happy.No hassles,fast delivery
and a good bass.I'd consider another Benton and deal with Thomann again

Just my tuppence worth. K.B

[HowieBass]

Nooooooooooo! This doesn't do my GAS any good at all! *groan*

[Annoying Twit]

Thanks for the review. I'm still tempted by the HB fretless jazz. While there have been stories of earlier HB instruments being a bit dodgy, it seems that everyone here that has bought a new one recently has been pleased.

[Woodinblack]

Does it weigh a ton? I have the Jazz bass version of theirs. It is a fantastic sound and a great neck, but it does double as a body building exercise!

[neverdil]

I own one of these and it's much lighter than my Lakland, definitely not uncomfortable at all.

[tom1946]

I have one too, it's perfect and not heavy. I was going to change the pickup and decided not to, no point. Well worth the money.

[madshadows]

Love my Harley Benton, amazing basses for the money, can't go wrong with them in my book

John

[redstriper]

I'm thinking of buying one of these but I don't know what to expect from such a low priced instrument.
Are the frets well finished - I hate sharp fret ends and more importantly what is the tone like?
Will it go really deep for reggae, like the neck pup on a Jazz bass?

[Woodinblack]

They are (based on my HB Jazz) far better than you have a right to expect at the cost. The sound the jazz makes is huge and puts quite a lot of things to shame. The frets are basically good, with no sharp edges, the electronics work and all the hardware is very functional.

[alyctes]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1397321517' post='2422822']
Nooooooooooo! This doesn't do my GAS any good at all! *groan*
[/quote]

Indeed... and it doesn't do much for my prospects of shifting the excessive number of basses I own either...

[SlapbassSteve]

Things I would have given for a bass of that quality for that little money when I started playing(and this is only eight years ago mind!)... I remember even in 2006 the cheapest bass I could find was a Boston P copy for £60 which was totally unplayable until I taught myself how to level the frets with knife-sharpening oilstone I'd nicked from my Dad's shed. £87 for a bass like that? Brilliant!

[tom1946]

Dead right Steve, when I think of the crap fenders in the 60's when I got into guitars... oh hang on a minute

[kodiakblair]

Steve my first bass was the £50 Kay out the catalogue 30 odd year back.

[URL=http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/kodiakblair/media/KayEB100.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb424/kodiakblair/th_KayEB100.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

When I think what £50 was worth back then ( 1st wage £16 ) what's available now is great and a damn sight cheaper.

[theyellowcar]

Quite like the look of this. I'm at risk of stockpiling HB's and J&D's at this rate.

[bigsmokebass]

Not a bad little bass for the cash. For me, this would make a brilliant bass and true to it's original form with a string through bridge, a belter for sub £100 '51 copy