Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Harely Benton PJ-5 HTR Deluxe Deko tear down...


bartelby
 Share

Recommended Posts

I wasn't really sure whether to put this in the reviews sections or not. But as it's not so much of a review, more like an information post I thought I'd put it here.

I got this bass delivered on Tuesday and took it to band practice on Thursday. It sounds and feels fantastic. The B isn't quite as good as the last 5 string I had, but that was a 35" Ibanez with 18v electronics......

At rehearsal the lack of shielding became noticeable, so I ordered some copper tape and fitted it all today. I've used to opportunity to strip the bass down and photograph what I found.

So what makes this bass a Deko?

Well once the strings were off the cheap nut was obvious:


I also noticed the satin finish didn't quite go all the way around the headstock, and from just by the G's tuner to round the curve of the headstock it was missing :


This was the total amount of shielding that was done by the factory:


The pickups came out of their covers without any persuasion and are just generic pickups:



With everything cleared off the body there's a large patch of foggy and orange peely finish, but the dodgy area is entirely covered by the pickguard, and the cavities are full of crap:


The neck pocket had obviously had some post finish work done to it:


Once I cleaned out all the dust and bits of wood from the neck pocket and cavities I did all the shielding work (forgot to take a photo before putting the J pickup back in):


While the pickguard was off I gave it another couple of coats of spray.
Everything went back together nicely and there is noticeably less noise thanks to the new shielding. I need to set up the action and intonation as all the crap in the neck pocket was acting like a shim. There's a lot more air under the strings now, but the saddles were raised up quite a lot.

None of the things I've found made the bass "unplayable" as Thomann advertise. All that's needed is a good clean, some shielding and a good set up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...