Harley Benton MB-5 SBK (5 string, Stingray style, stealth black) is back!!!

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Just being objective for a moment, would anyone actually look at this bass twice if the body shape was different?

 

The point I'm trying to make is just because something looks like something, doesn't mean it is something.  With no disrespect, it might pay like a dream, but seeing the comment by @mcnachthat, 'It does sound like some flavour of a Stingray' made me chortle a bit; you need to watch the footage of the blind bass shoot-out from the SE Bass Bash a few years back, my friend.  25 basses, 30 bass players all trying to work out what bass @cetera was playing behind a curtain.  People couldn't even recognise their own basses, let alone any others.  It's amazing how vanilla pretty much every bass sounded.

 

If Thomann stuck that pickup and circuit on this Soviet beauty, nobody would be saying it sounded like a Stingray. 

 

 

 

 

Glad it made you chortle. 

Do all Precision style basses sound the same? Not to me, but put a P pickup at the right spot and it's going to be 'precisiony'... and nobody seems to laugh at the notion, try that with a Stingray and it's comedy time 🤪

 

If Thomann stuck a MM style pickup at the right place on that thing above, it's going to sound more Stingray than anything else... look, they even put the G string falling off the edge of the fretboard, a bit like in a SR5  

 

I know my way around a Stingray and Stingray style basses, and have been for years so I would like to think I know what sounds a Stingray makes.

But feel free to criticise without trying them, it's free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

18 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

 

Glad it made you chortle. 

Do all Precision style basses sound the same? Not to me, but put a P pickup at the right spot and it's going to be 'precisiony'... and nobody seems to laugh at the notion, try that with a Stingray and it's comedy time 🤪

 

If Thomann stuck a MM style pickup at the right place on that thing above, it's going to sound more Stingray than anything else... look, they even put the G string falling off the edge of the fretboard, a bit like in a SR5  

 

I know my way around a Stingray and Stingray style basses, and have been for years so I would like to think I know what sounds a Stingray makes.

But feel free to criticise without trying them, it's free.

 

 

I'm sorry, but no.

 

Just because there's a P-pickup in a P-bass sweet-spot doesn't automatically make it Precisiony.  There's so many other factors that contribute to the sound; the type of magnet, the number of windings, whether it's waxed or taped, the pots, the capacitor, the internal wiring etc.  Everything in the signal path contributes to what the bass will sound like.  Don't get me started on strings.  Same applies the the pickup on the HB.

 

For about ten/fifteen years I was the go-to resource here for Gibson Thunderbirds; I'll admit that of the dozen or so that went through my hands in that period, there was only one that sounded different - I mean by this that it had a bit more top-end definition, although I suspect was more down to the rewire it underwent just after I imported it from Japan.  All the others sounded (more or less) the same and same goes the stuff I've got now (£20 to £5.5K).  

 

You know, the whole train of though here was seeded years ago when someone from the Bass Centre appeared on one of those Saturday night ITV gameshows like You Bet!.  Flanked by about twenty basses, he claimed to be able to identify any of them played at random.  I do recall this may have been the first time I'd ever heard the term 'Warwick Streamer'.  I don't think he got one right.

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

It's amusing how the person who owns and plays the bass says it sounds like a Stingray, only for others who don't own and play the bass to tell him he's wrong.

[mcnach]

To play devil's advocate for a bit, I think I know where he's coming from. There are too many examples of something cheaper being hyped-up, sometimes ridiculously so, and it's hard to distinguish the good from the bad unless you have direct experience. Even Youtube demos can be very misleading. 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

21 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

It's amusing how the person who owns and plays the bass says it sounds like a Stingray, only for others who don't own and play the bass to tell him he's wrong.

 

If this is a dig at me, then meh (shrugs).

 

I'll stand by my comments that pretty much every bass sounds more or less the same and will do so until they screw the lid on.  The only bass (IME) that bucked that trend was a 4003.  So what if I don't own a Stingray; that makes my comments invalid?  (I did use a late 70s one for a gig about 20 years ago, but suppose in your book that doesn't count.) 

 

We're drawn to certain instruments because of shape/design; it's how we are.  Just because it looks like something else doesn't make it the instrument it alludes to be.  Look at the comments when people post NBD pics, the comments are heavily weighted in favour of how lovely something looks rather than what it sounds like.

 

 

[rmorris]

On 05/08/2021 at 19:17, owen said:

I have lost WAY more than the full purchase price on many basses.

 

Mmmm...how does that work ? Arithmetic is failing me 🤔

[Cosmo Valdemar]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

If this is a dig at me, then meh (shrugs).

 

I'll stand by my comments that pretty much every bass sounds more or less the same and will do so until they screw the lid on.  The only bass (IME) that bucked that trend was a 4003.  So what if I don't own a Stingray; that makes my comments invalid?  (I did use a late 70s one for a gig about 20 years ago, but suppose in your book that doesn't count.) 

 

 

 

Not a dig, just an observation 😁

 

I didn't know if you owned a Stingray or not. It's not really relevant.

My point still stands - McNach bought a lovely new bass that he's very happy with. He said it sounded like a Stingray. You (and possibly others) felt the need to argue that.

 

 

But like you say, meh (shrugs).

[Owen]

1 hour ago, rmorris said:

 

Mmmm...how does that work ? Arithmetic is failing me 🤔

I should have said " I have lost way more than the full purchase price of this bass on many basses I have sold on during my long and glorious record of buying and selling basses".

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

If this is a dig at me, then meh (shrugs).

 

I'll stand by my comments that pretty much every bass sounds more or less the same and will do so until they screw the lid on.  The only bass (IME) that bucked that trend was a 4003.  So what if I don't own a Stingray; that makes my comments invalid?  (I did use a late 70s one for a gig about 20 years ago, but suppose in your book that doesn't count.) 

 

We're drawn to certain instruments because of shape/design; it's how we are.  Just because it looks like something else doesn't make it the instrument it alludes to be.  Look at the comments when people post NBD pics, the comments are heavily weighted in favour of how lovely something looks rather than what it sounds like.

 

Paul - I kinda get where you're coming from. I have had exactly the same debate over the years with the compressor-brigade that no typical pub audience is going to really notice pedal board compression (which, FWIW, I contrast to carefully sound engineered compression on studio recordings). 

But I think you're perhaps taking it too far in that, as you have acknowledged, a Rick does have its signature tone. In the same vein a classic Fender P is pretty signature and quite different to e.g. a Warwick MEC growl.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Al Krow

[4000]

I can’t believe we’re back to the “they all sound the same” argument. Yes, it is perfectly possible to make very different basses sound similar, and the differences (or lack thereof) will likely be impacted by the person playing them (by some more than others), but certain basses have a distinct sonic imprint and response, particularly doing certain things or in certain registers, which is something often forgotten when doing blind tests. If you can’t tell the difference, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Maybe your ears just aren’t very good, or maybe you just aren’t as interested in it as someone else is. 

And as in the other thread, “the audience can’t tell” has absolutely nothing to do with why I make music….I guess YMMV. 
 

 

[rmorris]

On 12/08/2021 at 11:19, owen said:

I should have said " I have lost way more than the full purchase price of this bass on many basses I have sold on during my long and glorious record of buying and selling basses".

 

I see. I think ?

I'll add that I buy more than sell. Think I've only ever sold two basses and I regret having sold the first ! Have (sort of) replaced it with same !

Cheers in Bass.

 

Wrong - I forgot about a Westone Thunder 1 fretless I sold.

Edited August 16, 2021 by rmorris
Remembering !

[rmorris]

On 12/08/2021 at 11:29, Al Krow said:

 

 that no typical pub audience is going to really notice pedal board compression (which, FWIW, I contrast to carefully sound engineered compression on studio recordings). 

 

 

Interesting comment. But I'll just take a slightly different view that while an audience may not explicitly identify a sonic quality, the overall sound may influence the way they perceive the quality of the band etc.

A 'lumpy' live bass sound that is often either inaudible or 'booming' is likely to put people off even when they don't recognise it.

And I'll add that that may often be down to the PA and room acoustics regardless of the signal coming to the FOH desk.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, rmorris said:

 

Interesting comment. But I'll just take a slightly different view that while an audience may not explicitly identify a sonic quality, the overall sound may influence the way they perceive the quality of the band etc.

A 'lumpy' live bass sound that is often either inaudible or 'booming' is likely to put people off even when they don't recognise it.

And I'll add that that may often be down to the PA and room acoustics regardless of the signal coming to the FOH desk.

I entirely agree that getting the EQ right on your bass e.g. boosting the mids to cut through the mix, or reining them back a little to sit in the mix etc and certainly avoiding boominess by judiciously paring back some of the lower 20 to 40 Hz freqs, where possible, is very desirable. No disagreement from me whatsoever on the important topic of EQ! Every bass player will have access to and ability to adjust EQ - it's vital part of our toolkit.

 

But plenty bassists don't bother using pedals (other than perhaps a tuner) and they can manage to sound just fine, fantastic in fact. At the end of the day live performance really does boil down to groove, feel and technique and those are 90% in your fingers. The rest is what we angst about on BC to keep ourselves, as bass players, entertained. 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Al Krow

[rmorris]

On 14/08/2021 at 00:03, Al Krow said:

 

But plenty bassists don't bother using pedals (other than perhaps a tuner) and they can manage to sound just fine, fantastic in fact. At the end of the day live performance really does boil down to groove, feel and technique and those are 90% in your fingers. The rest is what we angst about on BC to keep ourselves, as bass players, entertained. 

 

 

Can't argue with the basis of a good performance being 'in the fingers'.

But bear in mind that most bass playing heard through a Mixer/PA with a Sound Engineer running that is subject to dynamics processing for technical or subjective reasons.

[Eldon Tyrell]

On 08/08/2021 at 10:28, NancyJohnson said:

Just being objective for a moment, would anyone actually look at this bass twice if the body shape was different?

 

The point I'm trying to make is just because something looks like something, doesn't mean it is something.  With no disrespect, it might pay like a dream, but seeing the comment by @mcnachthat, 'It does sound like some flavour of a Stingray' made me chortle a bit; you need to watch the footage of the blind bass shoot-out from the SE Bass Bash a few years back, my friend.  25 basses, 30 bass players all trying to work out what bass @cetera was playing behind a curtain.  People couldn't even recognise their own basses, let alone any others.  It's amazing how vanilla pretty much every bass sounded.

 

If Thomann stuck that pickup and circuit on this Soviet beauty, nobody would be saying it sounded like a Stingray. 

 

 

Interestingly, this Soviet "beauty" looks more like a Stingray (fish) than the Stingray (bass, the instrument, not the fish):

 

[ChrisLovatt]

I have the 4 string version of this. 

Insane quality for the price, I prefer passive pickups so this was a no brainer for me. 

How's the low B on the 5string?

[mcnach]

18 hours ago, ChrisLovatt said:

I have the 4 string version of this. 

Insane quality for the price, I prefer passive pickups so this was a no brainer for me. 

How's the low B on the 5string?

 

I like it just fine. It seems pretty even in volume with the others and it's got good definition but I guess that's in great part a function of the pickup & its position.

 

I'm still on the original strings. I bought a set of stainless steel Newtones but as soon as the original strings mellowed a bit (took no time) I liked them enough to keep them on.

 

 

[ChrisLovatt]

5 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

I like it just fine. It seems pretty even in volume with the others and it's got good definition but I guess that's in great part a function of the pickup & its position.

 

I'm still on the original strings. I bought a set of stainless steel Newtones but as soon as the original strings mellowed a bit (took no time) I liked them enough to keep them on.

 

 

Yeah same the strings it came with sound surprisingly good.
Apart from the action which I had to adjust, everything else was set up well, truss rod and intonation are really good.

[mcnach]

18 hours ago, ChrisLovatt said:

Yeah same the strings it came with sound surprisingly good.
Apart from the action which I had to adjust, everything else was set up well, truss rod and intonation are really good.

 

 

It wasn't as good on mine, but nothing terrible. Intonation needed adjustment, the nut was a little higher than needed to get the lower action I prefer, but just a little. I took to filing the slots a bit at a time over several days until they were right. The fret ends were pretty sharp, 'though. I got all these little microcuts after playing it for an hour. Twenty minutes with a file, a bit of masking tape and care, and all good.

I'd rather not have to do that, but when you look at the price... "ok, fair enough"

 

[Woodinblack]

On 07/08/2021 at 11:31, mcnach said:

 

 

9.1 lbs this one

 

 

 

Looks great with a black plate. Think I would prefer it with the two pickups, but I suppose at that price it is just a platform for experimentation.

 

[mcnach]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Looks great with a black plate. Think I would prefer it with the two pickups, but I suppose at that price it is just a platform for experimentation.

 

 

Exactly, at that price you get a perfectly usable instrument, and nothing too precious so experiment at will! 

 

Being a Stingray/Precision kind of guy, mostly, I was considering buying another and turn it into a 5-string Precision sounding machine: those pickguards can hide all the routing sins so even I can take care of that. My chisel work is not pretty but it is functional

 

[Rich]

On 09/08/2021 at 09:01, NancyJohnson said:

You know, the whole train of though here was seeded years ago when someone from the Bass Centre appeared on one of those Saturday night ITV gameshows like You Bet!.  Flanked by about twenty basses, he claimed to be able to identify any of them played at random.  I do recall this may have been the first time I'd ever heard the term 'Warwick Streamer'.  I don't think he got one right.

 

 

Yes, I remember this. It was pretty cringeworthy just how badly he did. IIRC he was actually from the late lamented Allbang & Strummit rather than the Bass Centre?

[NancyJohnson]

30 minutes ago, Rich said:

 

Yes, I remember this. It was pretty cringeworthy just how badly he did. IIRC he was actually from the late lamented Allbang & Strummit rather than the Bass Centre?

 

Ooh, I stand corrected:

 

[ChrisLovatt]

21 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Looks great with a black plate. Think I would prefer it with the two pickups, but I suppose at that price it is just a platform for experimentation.

 

Oh I need to know where you got that plate from! Definitely want to change it

[kodiakblair]

52 minutes ago, ChrisLovatt said:

Oh I need to know where you got that plate from! Definitely want to change it

Might be from Brian , he cuts MB-5 plates. Offers them in about 40 different colours, 2 matt black options.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114675042782?hash=item1ab32a49de:g:mPEAAOSwVChgKmQT