Harley Benton MB-4 Satin Black (REVIEW and SOUND TEST)

[stewblack]

14 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Mines a fraction over 8lbs - the lightest full size bass I own!  Im worried about how little muscle tone some of you lot must have if you think these are anvils.

I do have one of the older HB basses and it could do with a bit more salad and a few less beers.

*fewer (sorry mum)

Edited December 6, 2020 by stewblack
grammar

[mr4stringz]

As there are a few HB MB posts around I wasn’t sure which to post on. Anyway...

I snagged a B-stock MB-5 SBK which has landed with me today. Playable straight out of the box with a fairly low action, excellent fit and finish, comfortable enough neck (not played a 5er for years so it’ll take a bit of adjustment on my part). The colour is ace and, while I may black out the guard it looks great as is.

Can only echo the words of others. Stupidly good for the price, and regardless of that just a very, very decent bass.

Was thinking back to the absolute dog of an Encore P that I learned on almost 30 years ago. Was a combined 15th birthday and Christmas present. It wasn’t far off £100 then. How far we have come...

[dave84]

Hi guys! Last bass cover of the series dedicated to the new Harley Benton MB-4 in satin black color: for this last video I chose one of the most technically fun and energetic songs of RHCP to play with the bass. A very fast and energetic slap bassline by Flea for the occasion played using the humbucker in the direction of the bridge. Enjoy!
 

 

 

[jassbass]

18 minutes ago, dave84 said:

Hi guys! Last bass cover of the series dedicated to the new Harley Benton MB-4 in satin black color: for this last video I chose one of the most technically fun and energetic songs of RHCP to play with the bass. A very fast and energetic slap bassline by Flea for the occasion played using the humbucker in the direction of the bridge. Enjoy!
 

 

 

Great

I deffo want one

[JohnDaBass]

On 29/11/2020 at 17:13, DarkHeart said:

There you go. The Warman has a slightly bigger casing and needs a little filing to make it fit but it`s worth it.

How much of an improvement did the Warman pup make?

[DarkHeart]

1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said:

How much of an improvement did the Warman pup make?

Quite a bit, much more aggressive sounding which is more to my taste but not everyone's and they've good balance across the strings.

[JohnDaBass]

On 13/12/2020 at 11:18, DarkHeart said:

Quite a bit, much more aggressive sounding which is more to my taste but not everyone's and they've good balance across the strings.

I am really impressed with the range of tones on offer with the Harley Benton MM 84A body, but the control pots are your typical low cost Chinese variety. So I sent an email to Thomann Service department ( cheekily) asking for a copy of the circuit diagram or parts list for the Bass. Within 24hrs I received a PDF of the circuit with the values of the pots clearly shown. They reminded me that I would invalidate my 3 yrs. warranty if I did proceed to upgrade the pots. I did some Tinterweb  searching and discovered that the company supplying the preamp for the MM 84A designs and supplies preamps to C F Martin for their acoustic guitars. Another good endorsement for the quality of the parts used in the some of the Harley Benton basses.

I have used Warman Pups of other Bitsa projects and from Jeff  @DarkHeart  feedback I think I will be replacing the current Pups with Warman.

[Guest]

That's a good looking bass.

[mcnach]

7 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

I am really impressed with the range of tones on offer with the Harley Benton MM 84A body, but the control pots are your typical low cost Chinese variety. So I sent an email to Thomann Service department ( cheekily) asking for a copy of the circuit diagram or parts list for the Bass. Within 24hrs I received a PDF of the circuit with the values of the pots clearly shown. They reminded me that I would invalidate my 3 yrs. warranty if I did proceed to upgrade the pots. I did some Tinterweb  searching and discovered that the company supplying the preamp for the MM 84A designs and supplies preamps to C F Martin for their acoustic guitars. Another good endorsement for the quality of the parts used in the some of the Harley Benton basses.

I have used Warman Pups of other Bitsa projects and from Jeff  @DarkHeart  feedback I think I will be replacing the current Pups with Warman.

 

Are the pickups cleanly routed under the pickguard? I think it would look really good without the pickguard.

I should stop checking this thread... I'm still waiting for the MB5 (Christmas present so it may be at home already, hidden away... hmmm, maybe it's time to pretend to sleepwalk, although it didn't work when I was 7, I don't think it'll work now  )

[JohnDaBass]

10 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

Are the pickups cleanly routed under the pickguard? I think it would look really good without the pickguard.

I should stop checking this thread... I'm still waiting for the MB5 (Christmas present so it may be at home already, hidden away... hmmm, maybe it's time to pretend to sleepwalk, although it didn't work when I was 7, I don't think it'll work now  )

The routing for the Pups is over sized so great for changing to a wide variety of Pups but not possible to remove the pickguard. Maybe tort pickguard sometime in the future. 

[mcnach]

Well, my MB-5 SBK has been shipped with UPS... but given the current situation I doubt I'll actually get my hands on it until the eleventy of Blebruary or thereabouts... 

The good news is that the PB20 SBK (Precision) has arrived and it's all wrapped up ready to be given to my girlfriend. I hope she drinks a lot tonight and falls asleep early so that I can play it too  

It's very light and looks better in person than in the photographs... which does not help my patience waiting for the MB-5... 

 

 

[horrorshowbass]

On 11/12/2020 at 17:40, jassbass said:

Great

I deffo want one

My kids love when I play get up and jump. They get up and jump!!!

[horrorshowbass]

Guys is the MB in satin black available anywhere? Not in stock in thomann

[PaulThePlug]

3 minutes ago, horrorshowbass said:

My kids love when I play get up and jump. They get up and jump!!!

Any chance of posting a cover of 'Get outa your lazy bed'... for my eldest?

Edited December 24, 2020 by PaulThePlug

[horrorshowbass]

9 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Any chance of posting a cover of 'Get outa your lazy bed'... for my eldest?

Lol all to look forward to......

[kodiakblair]

18 minutes ago, horrorshowbass said:

Guys is the MB in satin black available anywhere? Not in stock in thomann

No. Harley Bentons are Thomann's own brand so it's either from them or find  2nd hand.

[horrorshowbass]

Ah so play the waiting game.

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, horrorshowbass said:

Ah so play the waiting game.

Aye, afraid so.

Mind you the time passes quickly. When they announced the BZ-4000 I pre-ordered one despite the 3 month wait.

Next thing I knew the Parcelforce man was dropping it off, 2 days afore they went on sale to the public 🙂

[mr4stringz]

3 hours ago, horrorshowbass said:

Ah so play the waiting game.

Keep checking back at Thomann. Always a chance they’ll get returns and sell them as B-stock with a few quid off. Was how I got my MB-5 when they were out of stock. Not a thing wrong with it, they just can’t sell them as A1...

[mcnach]

Oh... what's in that big box? 

[4000]

Says on the website no longer available. 

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

Says on the website no longer available. 

 

Mine was ordered around mid-December, and a couple of days later they all had the "in stock in 10-12 weeks" or something of that kind. 

I'm assuming that what the label says on the box is correct  I haven't opened it yet, waiting for my girlfriend to finish work.

[4000]

Sorry, didn’t mean yours. 😉

[JohnDaBass]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

I'm assuming that what the label says on the box is correct  I haven't opened it yet, waiting for my girlfriend to finish work.

Oh come on open the box and show us some photos and sound clips.

Chop, chop get on with it 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, 4000 said:

Says on the website no longer available. 

Once factory supply times pass a certain limit Thomann pull the item. When the lead time is shorter then items appear again as if by magic 😀