stewblack Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 When the rest of the bass playing world wakes up to the fact of HB's astonishing ability to turn out flawless instruments and flog them at a 5th of the price of the competition, there will be more than a few manufacturers looking nervously over their shoulders. This is another beauty. Not 'good for a beginner' or 'OK considering the price point' or 'will do for a back up' or 'good as a start point for a mod' or 'might be OK once I replace every working part of it'. No. It's just great, straight out of the box, no qualification, no prevarication. It's beautifully finished, plays like a dream balances and sounds like a a P Bass. 42mm at the nut, no sharp edges, no dead spots, beautiful 3ply tort plate, no buzzing, no blemishes. And a laughable price tag. *sigh* in love again. Happens all the time. 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Looks great! I would change the Pickguard for a black one for full stealth, or Mirror for a bit of a laugh! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDaBass Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Stew, is the neck pocket the same as a Fender? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Looks great Stew 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Ooh, black plate. If only HB would do a Jag bass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said: Stew, is the neck pocket the same as a Fender? I don't know I'll have a look at my fenders and see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz39 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Love the finish. Schmexxy. What sort of ballpark price was it (shipping etc included)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 7 minutes ago, Daz39 said: Love the finish. Schmexxy. What sort of ballpark price was it (shipping etc included)? just under 100 quid posted 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said: Stew, is the neck pocket the same as a Fender? No need for the tape measure, they're very different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) I was going to say 'what about shipping costs' but they have waived them on a £99 and just £8 on an £89 Bass, so why bother buying the cheaper one? Nice Bass mon ami Edited July 23, 2020 by yorks5stringer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 2 hours ago, JohnDaBass said: Stew, is the neck pocket the same as a Fender? I've had a couple pb20's and they were fender spec. The Roswell pickups in the more expensive HBs are more than decent imho, and with the build quality, very decent and inexpensive basses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 3 hours ago, JohnDaBass said: Stew, is the neck pocket the same as a Fender? The slabs I build are Fender spec and I've stuck PB-50 necks on them with no problems. Slightly rounded heel vs square ? Fit a scratchplate and forget about it 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Oh I love that! I remember seeing the first batch pop up on Thomann and then quickly sell out. I've got an all black MIJ Jazz Bass Special and one of these would make a killer sibling for it! Another HB fan here. I've got a shorty P which was only 60 quid when I bought it a few years ago. I still haven't had to do anything to it. It's still got the original strings on it! It's the cheapest bass I've ever bought yet the only one I've never had to fiddle with regarding set up/ intonation etc. Still feels and sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Amazing value... is it light / medium / heavy Stew? 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 9 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said: Amazing value... is it light / medium / heavy Stew? 🙂 Good point, the only HB I had was a stringray copy and it wasn't light. My uncle has an older jazz and it also isn't light. Are the newer ones lighter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 I've had a few HBs, none were lightweight, all between 8.5 - 10.5lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 14 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said: I've had a few HBs, none were lightweight, all between 8.5 - 10.5lbs. So average weight then 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 12 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said: Amazing value... is it light / medium / heavy Stew? 🙂 Surprisingly light. Not feather light but definitely not heavy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 11 hours ago, BassApprentice said: Good point, the only HB I had was a stringray copy and it wasn't light. My uncle has an older jazz and it also isn't light. Are the newer ones lighter? I too have an older jazz and it's a bit lumpy, this one isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 18 hours ago, stewblack said: When the rest of the bass playing world wakes up to the fact of HB's astonishing ability to turn out flawless instruments and flog them at a 5th of the price of the competition, there will be more than a few manufacturers looking nervously over their shoulders. This is another beauty. Not 'good for a beginner' or 'OK considering the price point' or 'will do for a back up' or 'good as a start point for a mod' or 'might be OK once I replace every working part of it'. No. It's just great, straight out of the box, no qualification, no prevarication. It's beautifully finished, plays like a dream balances and sounds like a a P Bass. 42mm at the nut, no sharp edges, no dead spots, beautiful 3ply tort plate, no buzzing, no blemishes. And a laughable price tag. *sigh* in love again. Happens all the time. Pretty sweet looking! Now drop that pickguard (🤮) and put a black one, or mint/parchment, and it'll look really classy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 6 minutes ago, mcnach said: Pretty sweet looking! Now drop that pickguard (🤮) and put a black one, or mint/parchment, and it'll look really classy. You do know that when God made pickguard He called them scratchplates and He made them red tort, right? I'm not saying all other colours are heresy, but they're pretty damn close. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Jees, that is incredibly nice for such a crazy low price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) I've always loved the matte black finish for basses (Edit!!: on further inspection it looks more like matte dark grey, still really love it though, might also just be the light in those pictures), and the color of that fretboard wood match nicely with it (I assume very dark rosewood from the look of it), not a big fan of tortoise pickguards though, to say the least, but that particular one there is actually not all that bad, I'd definitely chose one looking similar to that if I was forced to use a tortoise pickguard, though in my opinion a black one with a red layer in, making the edge of the pickguard have sort of a red stripe around it, would have looked much sharper. But that is just me. Truly an amazing looking bass in any case. Congratulations! Edited July 24, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 4 hours ago, stewblack said: You do know that when God made pickguard He called them scratchplates and He made them red tort, right? I'm not saying all other colours are heresy, but they're pretty damn close. By the way, what model is that bass exactly? Such a lovely finish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 I knew I shouldn’t have given you that money back😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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