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Harley Benton


bassboy115
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My God, have you seen this one?

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1960bl_semiakustikbass.htm"]Harley Benton HBB 1960[/url]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, that is a Dean 'Stylist' re-badged - and for a fraction of the price! The fret markers are central instead of offset, and it's got independent vol+tone controls for each pickup, but that's it as far as differences go.
£165 - flamin 'eck!

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All of these basses are made in the same factory. they used to do a neck through 6 string that was actually a rebadged Peavey Grind. The current 6 string they do is a rebadged Shine. Shine also make Epiphone's.

there seems to be a factory putting out all different brands.

Interested in a 12 string semi-acoustic? You can go to the Waterstone website where Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick has his signature model made for about £1400 (I think) and then search out US sellers who will ship to the UK and get a rebranded one made in the same factory for about £200

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[quote name='Delberthot' post='19216' date='Jun 17 2007, 05:59 PM']All of these basses are made in the same factory. they used to do a neck through 6 string that was actually a rebadged Peavey Grind.[/quote]

No it's not. But i tell u what, it is exactly like this bass:

[url="http://www.bachmusik.com/en/p100198/bach-5m/"]http://www.bachmusik.com/en/p100198/bach-5m/[/url]

I must admit yes it does look a lot like a peavey grind, it might even be based off it but it's not. If u look at a peavy grind:

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/prod_ali_2_AR_146073.html"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/prod_ali_2_AR_146073.html[/url]

there are a few differences. First the peavey has that "shark tooth" headstock shape. It also has a scalloped bit on the treble side to help slapping. Another big difference, although not so obvoius just looking at it, is the peavey has imbuya body wings whereas the bach is made out of mahogony. So, copy? maybe. Same bass but rebranded? no.

Oh and btw none of these basses are a "rebadged" anything, the factory just send out a load of basses to various different companies that put their own brand names on.

I also bought one of those shine 5ers off some guy on ebay and despite me paying a lot more then i should have, it was still a nice bass for the money, imo. I actually sold it to one of my mates for £40.

Edited by EdwardHimself
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I see a lot of Harley Benton stuff and generally speaking I think you would expect to pay around half again for similar more well known brand names, but they are still budget instruments and you get what you pay for. But I have seen a lot of problems with Harley Benton basses and guitars, most of the non cosmetic problems can be corrected with a good set-up and fret level dress (which in some cases will cost more that the guitar or bass), but other problems like necks set at the wrong angle are more difficult to sort out. And sending the instrument back because it’s not up to your expectations will cost around £40-£50. There is no getting away from the fact that although good value for not a lot of money these are cheap guitars made in china with very poor quality control, the HB MM copies are OK for the price but feels nothing like say a stingray and the OLP basses are far superior, and the squires (even the made in china ones) are far superior to the HB jazz copy which feels nothing like a jazz bass and has very poor pickups etc. The HB stuff is very much entry level, and I would recommend spending a bit more on an OLP or better still a used Sub.

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I borrowed one of these to teach with a few months back. I thought it was really really nice and I couldn't believe my mate had only paid like £100 for it! Through neck construction and a really really comfortable neck. Nicely set up as well but I dunno if my mae had tweaked it. Well worth a go though. In region of £100 what have you got to lose?! If you don't like it you could always fanny about with it as a project to upgrade fpr that sort of money.

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Well i got home from school today to find my dad has bought me a HB music man...sounds great even when put thru my small kustom amp and feels really nice to play...mite put the strings a bit lower but other than that its great...

thanks for all the advice

Alex :)

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