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NBD HB Jazz


stewblack
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Bought this here a couple of weeks ago. It's the lightest, fastest HB jazz I've ever played.

Oh and the shell pink finish is really lovely.

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I gigged it this weekend. The previous gig I had used my Sandberg California - a truly beautiful instrument to play.

I have to say there was absolutely no drop in quality. None. Not in sound, feel, balance or playability.

Anyone trying to convince me that price is any indication of quality, or 'you get what you pay for' has their work cut out I'm afraid.

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2 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Are the stock pickups on the HB's okay? Also, do standard aftermarket J/P/MM pickguards fit them?

Never felt the need to change the pickups so I honestly can't say.

Some people who have stronger views on these things change them without trying them.

I've never had a problem with the parts on HB basses. Funnily enough I was thinking about this in relation to the Sandberg I mentioned earlier. The finish is bubbling and peeling off one of the tuners - I noticed it on Friday - never had anything like that on my 'cheap' basses.

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3 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Point 1 - probably

Point 2 - probably not

Thank you for the concise answer 😅

 

I'm quite tempted to pick up one of the MM 5 string models as a project, with a view to moving the pickup forwards, but I'm comfortable with making a pickguard, it just takes time and elbow grease 😅

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At risk of sounding like a "well in my day, we 'ad it tough" crusty old fart, when I think back to the days when I was starting out on the bass, you had to spend quite a bit of money to get anything even halfway decent. £140 now gets you a really very nice Harley Benton Jazz; that's the equivalent of £45 in 1983. Forty five quid. That  wouldn't even have bought a dog-legged piece of Korean balsawood back then, much less a good quality solid-wood working bass. It seems to me that these days you actually have to work quite hard to find a genuinely bad instrument. This can only be a very good thing.

 

And having read this again a couple of hours later, yes, I do sound exactly like a "well in my day, we 'ad it tough" crusty old fart :lol: 

Edited by Rich
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13 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

Thank you for the concise answer 😅

 

I'm quite tempted to pick up one of the MM 5 string models as a project, with a view to moving the pickup forwards, but I'm comfortable with making a pickguard, it just takes time and elbow grease 😅

 

The way I see it, even Fender can't standardise on pickguard layouts between their various factories, so what hope do we have if you then spin it out to non Fender products?

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The pickup in my PB-50 is excellent. I get an awesome sound from it. The tuners feel a bit flimsy and stiff in places but they hold their tune perfectly

I may but another one and refinish it to a 50s Fender sunburst with no red in it.

But there's no rush

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HB pickups are really good. I also see no need to replace mine. The tuners, not great but they do they do the job. 

 

Pickguards... Mine doesn't actually have one, it's the "jaco" style fretless, but if you want a new pickguard get one made by GigInk (that's who I'd use) or something of the others that are often recommended on here. It's cheap and you get what you want instead of hoping an off the shelf buy fits or looks as good as the stock photos.

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I had to change the tuners on my PB-20 when I broke one..... but otherwise good, although my search for an HB Jazz neck as a replacement (without buying the whole kit) seems fruitless, but that's hardly a massive complaint! and EarlPilanz (eBay, Glasgow) makes HB guards to order

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