I own a Harley Benton club

[noizebass]

I haven't seen it come by (could be me having just read over it and/or me being too lazy to read back more than two pages ), but what's the plan once you've made a double neck with them, different pickup configuration? One fretted and and one fretless?.... ???

Bass VI / plain ol' 4 string

 

[blablas]

Nice, should be a worthy rebuild for a build diary over in the luthiers corner.
I kept a diary there for my Shorty rebuild projects too.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Hey!
A bass ukulele string set by D'Addario?!?
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Didja guys know about this?

And they can be found at a bank-breaking ten-odd bucks to boot:
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Bass ukulele string set heads-up.

 

[blablas]

All of my HB instruments in one picture, made this picture for a another forum (HB club) but I might post it here as well.

 

[dezb1]

I know this isn't really the place for this... But have any of you guys tried the Harley Benton BB115T 15" cabinet? I ask here as I know you guys won't just diss it because of the name

 

[kodiakblair]

I found a photo of my Harleys too

Where on the Benton forum did you post Blablas ?

 

[blablas]

Saloon - Lets see your Harley Benton Family

 

[kodiakblair]

Thanks Blablas

 

[savofenno]

I am waiting a new H-B PB-50 bass to arrive soon. It`s my first try with the brand, my basses cost usually 4 times as much. But everything looks okay in it, so let`s see what it is.

 

[savofenno]

Sender? Sibson?

Suier.

 

[kodiakblair]

@savofenno

I hope yours arrive safe and well, it should do as B-stock PB-50s rarely appear. I've been waiting on a B-stock listing for a month now
Out of my HBs it's my favourite bass,hell out of all my basses it's a favorite. Simple and dead easy to play.

I'll stop now before I write a Saga about my PB-50

 

[aceytrixx]

I had previously asked about the hb-60 however that project is currently in hold so I'm turning my attention to another of these cheap delights. Specifically one of 2 maybe 3 models. I'm thinking about grabbing my first 5 string. Has anyone compared both the pj-5 and b-550? I love the p bass tone and was originally considering the squier vm p5 as it has the maple board I love. However I've never had an active bass so the b-550 has that going for it. Third choice will be the upcoming stingray style 5 but I'm not a fan of the burst and aways figured to get that ray tone it would really need to be active

 

[kodiakblair]

@aceytrixx

Hi there, I know a couple of folk with the PJ 5 and they think it's a decent bass,about the same level as the Squier VM. Owning neither the PJ 5
or a Squier VM means I can't really comment but I do have the PJ 4 and it's decent.Folks complain about the scratchplate but that's just a film
so will rub off easily. I've heard some folk had bother with battery drain on the B-x50 models but that was a while back,it has a bypass switch if
the battery dies mid-gig.

Now the Stingray 5 as far as I know no-one has one yet,they been due in stock for months.Personally I think pickup placement has more to do
with getting the Ray tone but active will help.It just so happens that Dave Konig from Retrovibe sells ray preamps,using the same circuit as MM
did and it comes with the pots etc.You just hook the pickups to it.It's £44 delivered though so that'll take you up to the price of the active HB MM-85A.

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I have one of Dave's Ray-type basses,the Evo and it does the burpy MM tone well,that's why I think placement matters.I keep meaning to fit a Stinger
to it but I'm getting lazy

Keep us up to speed with your thoughts on the matter cause we're here to help if we can

 

[FergusonRJ]

So far, I've experienced two.

I bought, for £135 (approx. $210) thw Fretless Electro-Acoustic 5 string, last year. Took a while to arrive, as I think they were on the boat from China when I ordered it from Thomann. Turned up - needed a setup, of course, but - for that price - who could complain, eh! Well... me.

After adjusting the truss rod (neck pocket) and sticking some decent strings on it, I noticed that I couldn't get rid of a buzz on the E, A and D strings, roughly around 2nd-3rd fret. On close inspection, I found that there was a 'scalloped depression' at that spot; possibly as a result of the truss rod not extending all the way to the headstock. I've known/heard about that problem before, with neck-pocket truss rods. Also, there was an odd looking, filled-in hole over the neck pocket... looked like it had be drilled and filled. After a few frustrating days of trying to decide whether or not to attempt my first fretless fingerboard sanding - I decided simply to send it back. Thankfully, Thomann were kind enough to accept the return, no fuss. Shame - apart from that suspiciously fundamental flaw... for that price, it could have been a good cheap bass to fettle and tweak. It was an all laminate body, so, given the lack of quality on the fretboard, I doubt the body would have endured years of playing/transport/gigging. I was rather disappointed.

Other end of the scale... a friend of mine, in a band called Funkasaw, has always been one of my favourite bassists; he's f'n awesome. Used to listen to him when I was a kid; the guy can make anything sing. Or growl. Or pound. Or sound as slick as silk ice. Went to hear them at a battle of the bands (The Diamond, Sutton-in-Ashfield) and he had what at first appeared to be a Fender/Squier Jazz 5. So I asked him about it, had a look. Harley-Benton Jazz copy 5. I was a bit surprised, given my own experience with HB. He'd replaced the stock pickups with Seymour Duncans, set it up properly, and whacked new strings on it... he sounded... well, as he does. AWESOME.

So, I think, as long as you can modify a bass/have a decent tech who can, their copy models are very useful at an incredibly low price; however, do not expect actual quality. Having said that - I'd like to find out, in 10 year's time, if anyone who bought one still has it in good condition.

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[aceytrixx]

Thanks for the feedback!

The preamp on the stingray could be an option. I'm not that interested in the double humbucker one but id ideally want to hear both before I bought in. I'm currently in two minds about the whole thing. Ive always been interested in a 5 string but I'm not sure how much use it would get. Theres very few bands I listen to actually use one. Quite a CFCG four strings and that's not always the easiest to transpose to a 5. Ive got some recording to do with an old band and I like the idea of the options a 5 could bring but given what I'll be playing (more of a sleazy glam hard rock thing) I'm not sure I'd really find much use for the low b. It's not like 5 strings are prevalent in that particular genre of music. I could just de tune a 4 to try it out and I would but once I'd filed the nut to take the thicker strings it would make going back to standard awkward.

 

[kodiakblair]

I what you mean about the 5s especially in the sleazy rock thing.4 strings
were enough in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction
Swapping the nut isnt hard oryou could build it up again using super glue.
Nothing really you can do until the MM basses go on sale and somebody
buys one.Same goes for 4 vs 5 strings unless flying to Germany and trying
them out is an option,cheaper to buy both and send one back though

 

[savofenno]

@savofenno

I hope yours arrive safe and well, it should do as B-stock PB-50s rarely appear. I've been waiting on a B-stock listing for a month now
Out of my HBs it's my favourite bass,hell out of all my basses it's a favorite. Simple and dead easy to play.

I'll stop now before I write a Saga about my PB-50

It arrived, it`s good, except tone pot does almost nothing, which seems to be typical for Harley Bentons. It`s same with S-600 guitar.
But it is a robust bass, with good pickup. Only thing to do is swap pots and maybe other innards which is not much. I enjoy to play it!

 

[Supercollide]

Heya all,

About to join the club, just ordered a HB Bass Uke (Deko) and will be picking up a shorty (b stock) shortly.

Bass VI / plain ol' 4 string

Cool! So I gather you are converting a bass shorty body & neck to a (full octave down) baritone?
That's giving me interesting project ideas, I could convert a shorty to a Bass VI, run 2 separate pickups going to 2 different amps to cover both guitar & bass in church...

 

[kodiakblair]

@savofenno

I'm glad you like the bass. Off the top of my head I couldn't say if the pots a 500k or not but as there's so little maybe just try a different cap.
The nylon tapes I put on mine tells you a bright tone isn't what I was looking for Comfortable basses to play aren't they.

@Supercollide

Warm welcome to a Yorkshire Man. Was talking to mate this morning about the old guy in Loxley sitting smoking his pipe in the car while waiting on a rescue,
he'd ditched the car in a lake Must something in the air cause I've ordered another bass uke myself,went fretless this time.

Get some photos up lads and JACink will get you a number.

 

[Goteky45]

Hi guys. Going to join this club really soon. Can anyone tell me the weight of the PB50-SB?