Naetharu Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Hi folks, After asking around here for some advice I decided to take the plunge and get myself a Harley Benton 6-string bass. It’s arrived today and I thought I would share some details with you. I’ll start by saying I am very pleased with the bass. It’s a neat yet simple design and it feels nicely made and well finished. I was expecting it to weigh quite a bit but actually it’s quite light – certainly a lot easier on the shoulders than my Harley Benton Jazz. The neck is very playable. Being a 6-string it’s clearly chunky, and the shape reminds me quite a bit of my Squire P-bass albeit even fatter. Despite the size, I find the neck pretty fast and there is no problem reaching the low B string. It came really well set up with a nice low action. The intonation needed seeing to but otherwise it was playable out of the box. The electronics are pretty nice too. It’s got a 2-band active EQ with a blend and volume. It also has the option of going passive when the volume pot is pulled out, in which case the treble control becomes a passive tone control. Sound wise it has quite a bit of growl to it. It almost reminds me of a Warwick in that respect. The active circuit is pretty hot and can easily bring on some distortion when the bass control is tweaked up even a little. However, it’s a nice sound and pretty flexible. I’d say the passive sound is the nicest – clean and rich and certainly much more impressive than a bass of this price has any right to sound. I’m off to band practice with it tonight so I’ll report my experience with it in the wild tomorrow, but until then it looks like Harley Benton have designed a really nice bass for just silly money here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) Looks like a winner to me I had a prog and the only thing that really needed changing was the stock strings as they were awful.. What's the string spacing like? That's an area that tends to suffer with budget sixers. I think HB stuff is great and ridiculously good value for money, hopefully this is another example Edited September 30, 2015 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naetharu Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1443624191' post='2876362'] Looks like a winner to me I had a prog and the only thing that really needed changing was the stock strings as they were awful.. What's the string spacing like? That's an area that tends to suffer with budget sixers. I think HB stuff is great and ridiculously good value for money, hopefully this is another example [/quote] I'm not sure what the actual spacing measurement is - its certainly closer than my 4-strings which are all 19mm. I know the nut is 51mm wide, and I would make an educated guess that it's around 17mm spacing bridge end - a bit tight for me to slap comfortably (not that I was planning on slap with this bass) but still pretty comfortable. I've never tried a 6-string before this morning so I dont have anything to compare it to directly. Edited September 30, 2015 by Naetharu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I'll be interested to hear your thoughts after you have used it in a band situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) consider my interest piqued edit: Having looked at their web site, especially at that price. Edited September 30, 2015 by cybertect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naetharu Posted October 1, 2015 Author Share Posted October 1, 2015 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1443627797' post='2876411'] I'll be interested to hear your thoughts after you have used it in a band situation. [/quote] Well I had it out last night and I performed pretty well. I was running it into an Ampeg Portaflex 350 hooked up to a SVT 410 cab. Sound wise it offers lots of growl which works nicely for the style of music we play - though I'm not sure I would be quite so comfortable with it in a mellower situation. There is a very noticeable 'boom' when swapping between active and passive mode so its not really possible to use both in a single song unless you have a chance to mute at some point in order to make the switch. In terms of the pliability it certainly stood up to the test. We were practicing for just over three and half hours and the bass was comfortable to wear and use all that time. No shoulder ache or wrist problems at all which is great as I was a little unsure how easy a six-string would be to get to grips with. The low B string also seems pretty good. Despite a 34 inch scale it's surprisingly tight and offers a nice clear deep sound. All in all I'm pleased with the bass. The design is simple and there are a few rough edges but nothing that effects the playability of it. It's not the greatest looker but from a distance it looks nice enough for using on stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 [quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1443706192' post='2877042'] Well I had it out last night... [/quote] Thanks for the update, very useful and I'm glad the 6er working out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musashimonkey Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Glad you like it! I had the same one and was very happy with it. As you say it's better built and better sounding than it has any right to at that price! I've also had more positive comments with it than basses four times the price! Good luck getting to grips with a 6er, this beast cemented my change over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Congratulations. I'd been curious about what the 'Progressive' six string was like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badboy1984 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I was also unsure when I first got my 6 string but after awhile you get use to it and the 6 string become my go to bass now since it is so versatile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Prog 6 string DEKO. https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_650_black_progressiv_deko.htm?o=6&ref=mal_a_6&search=1444144717 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 So now, a few months on, is it any good? I am kind of interested in getting a 6 string, and you don't get much cheaper than that, and it looks amazing for the price. So still liking it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz39 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Holy contrabass noodlings, Batman. That is cheap. Almost worth getting to see if you like 6-strings. Even if you lose a chunk reselling it's a fairly good value experiment. The deluxe is about twice the price, still good value, looks really nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.