Harley Benton bass owners - honest opinions?

[Painy]

Hi all.
I've started a couple of threads on here recently about my newly acquired gas for a P bass but on a tight budget. I've also mentioned that I feel lost on a 4 string these days having played 5s/6s for the last seventeen years so I'm now looking at 5 string P bases.
I've come across the Harley Benton PJ-5 HTR Deluxe on Thomann and aside from the minging scratchplate it looks pretty good. Sounds really nice and growly in the sound clips on their site and on clips on YouTube but we all know that's not always the most reliable way to judge the sound of a bass.

Harley Benton PJ Precision Deluxe 5 strings Sound…: http://youtu.be/u07Xf-kVjzk

Not me playing by the way, I haven't bought one yet!

Now I'm not a beginner by any means having played well over 1000 gigs over the last 19 years and until recently played German built Warwicks exclusively and (until finances forced me to swap my SS1 for my current Cort A6) I've always been a bit of a gear snob if I'm completely honest.
So my question to those of you out there who own these basses is: Can they genuinely cut the mustard - not just as in great for beginners, but for serious gigging musicians too (albeit pub rock covers)?
Any opinions greatfully received!

Edited November 25, 2014 by Painy

[Horizontalste]

I haven't got any experience with them to be honest but I played a squire 5p and to me (only really play 4s) it was very useable. Maybe worth considering, think there was/is one for sale here.

[thebassist]

I wouldn't bother with them to be honest, especially as like me too, you admit you've always been a bit of a snob.

[Lw.]

Depends what you mean by passing the mustard; the average drunk punter at a pub gig won't be able to tell the difference so the answer is probably yes.

But you will be able to notice the difference; the tone won't quite be where you want it, the frets will be sharp, the tuners & BBOT bridge will have clear press marks around the edges, depending on the finish you go for you'll know the the body is made up of random chunks of wood that have been glued together & cut into a bass shape and lots of after market upgrades that you'll inevitably want to buy won't fit because the dimensions are out by a couple of mm in every direction.

There's a reason they're that cheap & whilst you could probably make some changes to turn it into a playable bass, you'd may as well have bought a proper bass in the first place. This is all made worse by the fact that you've been playing a lot on a Warwick which have some of the best build quality & finishing I've seen on basses.

[KiOgon]

Had a go on Andy's (JusLukin) Harley 5 & was really impressed, nothing to complain about - could have been any price really - absolute bargain I wouldn't buy one because I love my Fenders & I've got too many of them but if I was strapped for cash & needed a bass it would be high on my list of budget basses.

If you're a badge snob - then no it won't satisfy

[subdude]

i play a 4 string HB bass and i am extremely happy with it as far as the playability and sound goes. of course they are budget instruments, be prepared to make adjustments. but you might need to do that on more expensive basses too.
i would not hesitate to buy another one or two, every time i play it i'm amazed how much bass that little money can buy.

they don't give you much to snob about though, so if image is relevant, you might want to look eslewhere.

[Painy]

To be honest I've found my Cort to be a great bass and actually use it as my main bass now over my corvette which has lead me to look past my previous snobbery.
To be honest this whole gas attack is kind of symbolic of me throwing out all my old misconceived ideas from my uninformed youth about what a bass 'should' be:

Natural finish is better - coloured finished are only there to cover up cheap wood.
Active basses are better quality - passive is for people who can't afford a preamp in their bass.
All Fenders are boring and people only go on about them because they don't know about all the much better boutique basses out there.
The exclusivity and value of my instrument is a direct reflection of my abilities as a musician.

Fortunately I am now a proper grown up and have left all that behind me but unfortunately I now have crippling levels of gas for the style of bass I've been missing out on combined with a budget that will involve putting all my loose change smaller than a 50p in a jar until I have enough money!

Having said that I don't want to waste all my hard collected change on a bass I can't make use of.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Painy

[Lw.]

Ha - I think I used to have the same misconceptions when I was younger; swore I'd never play a fender because they were boring & ill-equipped. Now I play a Fender most often & it's even in the finish I used to hate (three tone sunburst)!

Whilst Cort are a cheaper brand than many, they're still a quality bass maker - proven by how many other companies get them to build their basses!

[Thunderbird]

The Harley Benton I had was a great sounding bass but I did change the pup as it was not my favorite flavor but it was by no means rubbish and it was really nice to play the only downside to it IMO is that it weighed about the same as a small planet lol

[icastle]

I think Harley Benton owners are a right bunch of... ah, that's not what you meant is it?

I've never tried one, and I'm pretty sure I've never even seen one in the flesh, but we all know that they're the 'own brand' for what is probably the largest internet musical retailer.

The HB brand needs to be of a reasonable quality to ensure that they get repeat business from people as they progress.

[discreet]

Bought a Harley Benton P for young master discreet. It's a lefty, so I don't spend an awful lot of time with it, but the build quality is very good indeed and it was possible to set it up properly and get a decent action, properly tweak the truss rod, get proper intonation set and so forth. It sounds perfectly good too, just like a P bass in fact... And it was less than eighty quid - so I'd say as far as bang for buck is concerned, it's a winner. It's basically Thomann's brand too, so you're going to get superlative customer service and backup should anything go awry. But I doubt it will.

Would I be seen with one in public? Yeah, why not. I played a Sue Ryder P at The Grosvenor House Hotel one New Year because a custom bass wasn't quite ready... I'm not proud, me.

Edited November 11, 2014 by discreet

[darren]

Thomann accept returns without too much hassle If you decide it's too heavy or doesn't sound good enough etc

[leschirons]

Probably nothing wrong with them at all or Thomann wouldn't sell them. However, I would suggest that as makers such as Peavey and Aria have always made basses and guitars since the year dot, would it not be better to buy a secondhand one of those? I seem to remember a Peavey Milestone on here for about £50 just recently.

[Painy]

[quote name='darren' timestamp='1415730656' post='2603193']
Thomann accept returns without too much hassle If you decide it's too heavy or doesn't sound good enough etc
[/quote]

That's actually a really good point. Am I right in thinking I'd only have to cover postage (both ways) if I returned it?

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1415730828' post='2603197']
Probably nothing wrong with them at all or Thomann wouldn't sell them. However, I would suggest that as makers such as Peavey and Aria have always made basses and guitars since the year dot, would it not be better to buy a secondhand one of those? I seem to remember a Peavey Milestone on here for about £50 just recently.
[/quote]

To be honest it's probably the traditional styling of a good old fashioned Fender P that appeals as much as anything. If I didn't have a wedding to pay for next year I'd probably be looking at the Squire VM purely for the look even though (based solely on the sound clips on Thomann) I actually slightly prefer the sound of the Harley Benton!

Edited November 11, 2014 by Painy

[madshadows]

I've had my HB bass ( [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm[/url] ) since January this year and it's a great bass for the money, excellent pups, plays nice, nice tone variations using the tone and volume controls, stays in tune, looks great, build quality is very good, the only negative on mine was that the fret edges were a tiny bit sharp in places, the bass is quite heavy though

John

[Painy]

[quote name='madshadows' timestamp='1415736441' post='2603279']
I've had my HB bass ( [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm[/url] ) since January this year and it's a great bass for the money, excellent pups, plays nice, nice tone variations using the tone and volume controls, stays in tune, looks great, build quality is very good, the only negative on mine was that the fret edges were a tiny bit sharp in places, the bass is quite heavy though

John
[/quote]

Thanks for the info. I can always sort the fret ends out easily enough. I've never been bothered by weight. In fact I actually like a substantial feel to a bass. My Warwick Corvette is so heavy that, if I leave it out of its case for too long then it's gravitational field actually starts to create a tiny black hole in the air above it up near the ceiling!

[darren]

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1415733623' post='2603232']


That's actually a really good point. Am I right in thinking I'd only have to cover postage (both ways) if I returned it?

[/quote]

I returned a 112 cabinet last year and as far as I remember I just paid the return postage. You could check firstly though as the cabinet I returned was faulty - I'd email them. They provide return labels so it's very simple. [edit] Could be that you pay postal both ways if the item isn't faulty... I have no idea - worth checking.

Edited November 11, 2014 by darren

[jezzaboy]

Last week, I ordered their cheap P bass copy as a gig back up for my main squeeze. Total cost £65 to my door.

I changed the tuners and bridge to some Wilkinson gear I had kicking around, put on a set of Picato flats and its okay. The rosewood board did look a bit dry, so gave it a good going over with some lemon oil.

The frets have no sharp edges, bass is nice and light and sounds pretty decent through my amp at home noise levels. I removed the transfer as I was looking to put on a Funder transfer, which I may do in the future but for now it`s a Spiderman bass!

[attachment=176177:SAM_0792.JPG]
[attachment=176178:SAM_0793.JPG]

Edited November 11, 2014 by jezzaboy

[Painy]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1415742170' post='2603377']
Last week, I ordered their cheap P bass copy as a gig back up for my main squeeze. Total cost £65 to my door.

I changed the tuners and bridge to some Wilkinson gear I had kicking around, put on a set of Picato flats and its okay. The rosewood board did look a bit dry, so gave it a good going over with some lemon oil.

The frets have no sharp edges, bass is nice and light and sounds pretty decent through my amp at home noise levels. I removed the transfer as I was looking to put on a Funder transfer, which I may do in the future but for now it`s a Spiderman bass!

[attachment=176177:SAM_0792.JPG]
[attachment=176178:SAM_0793.JPG]
[/quote]

I like the look of the black tuners you've put on there. When you say you removed the transfer though do you mean it wasn't under the laquer so you could just peel it off or did you have to sand it off?
I'd be interested to know what the output from that p type pup is like too.

[Twincam]

I have had a couple hb's and recently bought a friend a guitar from there. Pics are in the guitar section.
I have found the more expensive the harley benton the better it is. The cheapest bass ive owned came from there a short scale p bass when i wanted to see if i like a shorter neck. It was ok perfectly playable, pickups were actually very usable and certainly more powerful than the base model yamaha rbx i had at the time.

When buying a harley benton in general always look for the ones that have wilkinson pickups and deluxe hardware as its a little better than the bass models. And the ones with better woods too.

Apparently HBs come from the chinese saein factory, which also have a place in korea. And have manufactured for other companies.So they know how to make guitars.

See in the guitar section my post on the recent HB purchase where i make an honest evaluation.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Twincam

[Painy]

Thanks Twincam. All useful info. Had a look at you your guitar review to and all useful again.

[tom1946]

This is all very subjective stuff isn't it? I was a Cort dealer before I retired in 2009 and my experience was that their then basses were ok but we struggled to get the actions low enough to sell because a lot of the necks had proud frets on them, I'm sure all our Cort owners here have excellent basses though.

HB basses are ok and for the money you can't really grumble can you? If you're a gear snob (like me ) you are never going to be happy. If you're not then you'll be happy with them. I love Precisions and G&L L-2000's but it's taken 5 years and countless buys off here to discover that. I have 7 P's now and 1 G&L on its way.

I'm not greedy

[biro]

I have a Harley Benton JB (the 75 model) and a Les Paul model guitar, both with Wilkinson pick ups. In terms of quality, I am very, very happy. The Les Paul I received had a cracked tuning machine, but that was hardly Thomann's fault - I decided to repair it myself, but they had offered to replace the item.

The good: both instruments play beautifully. The fretwork is very good on the guitar and flat-out incredible on the bass. I have written about it: the only bass I owned that would have compared was my Peavey TL-Six - my Status S1 wouldn't have come ahead.

As to the bass, the truss rod works flawlessly and the neck is stable. I like the Wilkinson PUs, which are yield a very good, if modern, tone. In terms of finish, the pieces of the body could have been matched slightly better, but nothing ugly going on. That does not apply to the pickguard, which is one of the most horrible specimens I have ever witnessed. However, it is just paint, so three minutes with fine sanding paper will make it plain white if needed. Or, you know, you can always replace it.

The bad: there is a very tiny 'crack' on the back of the neck (over the skunk stripe). I am using the inverted commas because it is actually quite difficult to say whether it is in fact a crack or just some rougher finish. Certainly it is not the skunk stripe coming out of the neck. (It's on, not on the sides of the stripe.) It is invisible unless one looks for it quite carefully or makes a commitment to feel it running the fingers on the neck. It's not a major concern, and doesn't really bother me. (The thought of it being there does, but that's just me!) The shielding could be better, I guess, but it's good enough for recording anyways.

In short: worth the money? Big time. How does it compare with similarly priced items? I can speak of Squiers (I had a Deluxe V active) and SXs, and I think this is is far better than the SX in terms of sound and fretwork. Perhaps the body of the SX was a tad nicer in terms of colours, but I sold it long ago.The Squier was an entirely different beast, but its cost was not at all justified when considering the HB as a comparator.

Hope this helps!

[Annoying Twit]

I have a Harley Benton BZ7000. It seems a very good instrument for the money. Nothing exceptional about it, but nothing really bad either. It does what it says on the tin. I haven't played an Ibanez BTB-7 or a Conklin 7 String which are the obvious competitors at many times the price to compare.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Annoying Twit

[yorks5stringer]

I had the very Bass you mention and moved it on to someone on here a few months ago.

It's not a bad Bass for the £, I wound the action down very easily via the truss rod and bridge saddles and had it playing well.
Issues, the weight of them can vary. The first one I had I sent back as it was very heavy (and it had some damage). The second one was appreciably lighter but arrived damaged as well. Got a further discount but you get what you pay for as the "minging" tortplate is just a printed pattern and it started to wear off where I placed my thumb. I put flats on it and it sounded OK, the bottom B was good for a Bass of this price and the hardware was reasonable quality too. I traded up to a VM Squier Precision which I prefer but it cost 1.5x as much again.