Is Harley Benton actually a viable brand?

[Munk]

So... I've been hearing from all my friends that Harley Benton's basses from Thomann was a no go. So I thought I had to test them out to see what they're all about, today my Harley Benton JB-75NA Vintage Series arrived. Nice packaging was the first thing I notcied, the bass itself had no harm and looked stunning. I plugged it in and it actually plays great, I can feel that the neck is slighty off and could need an adjustment, but what can you expect when you ship a bass to another country, those mail men never threats packages nicely. Anyway, it plays great, I would almost dare to say that it plays as good as my Squier or Fender, but still only almost, the bass is extremly heavy, but feels like high quality.

So in conclusion, I have a good experience from Harley Benton, I will probably make an update on this thread once I've played it for a few days. Hopefully this might help someone in doubt if Harley Benton is a good buy.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Go over to the I own a Harley Benton club, they all certainly think so. Probably comparable to Rondo and plenty of folks love them. I've seen one I'd like to get to mod.

 

[4StringsEnough]

It's an own brand with little resale value. I'd look elsewhere....

 

[KingT]

I would definitely by one for the price they sell them.
After a disappointment from QC of my Squier VM 70's JB for which price I could've bought 3 HB basses (Invalid Link Removed, PJ deluxe bass and a Vintage 75NA Jazz bass).
I'm considering a Vintage 50 P bass from HB for a fun project.

 

[kodiakblair]

Owned plenty of Harley Benton basses,from £50 PB-20 to £240 BZ-4000 with most points in between. All have been decent well built basses,and with no middleman
Thomann cut prices not corners.

@KingT

It's a good bass the PB-50. I've had 3,gave 1 to a good friend. My only complaint is it should come with flats,the D'Addarios are fine but nearly everyone I know swaps to
flats.Man of the top of my head I must know easy 30 folks with PB-50s,very popular bass.

@4StringsEnough

I'm curious, What resale value do you expect from $100 basses ?

 

[Watchootognbout]

It's an own brand with little resale value. I'd look elsewhere....

Why shouldn't it be?
And we need to get off of that idea that only a bass with a "high resale value"is worth playing.
It's a bass!Not an Retirement Account!!!

 

[Temcat]

I've had one HB bass, and it was bad. But plenty of people here seem to like theirs. Looks like mine was just a lemon.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Owned plenty of Harley Benton basses,from £50 PB-20 to £240 BZ-4000 with most points in between. All have been decent well built basses,and with no middleman
Thomann cut prices not corners.

@KingT

It's a good bass the PB-50. I've had 3,gave 1 to a good friend. My only complaint is it should come with flats,the D'Addarios are fine but nearly everyone I know swaps to
flats.Man of the top of my head I must know easy 30 folks with PB-50s,very popular bass.

@4StringsEnough

I'm curious, What resale value do you expect from $100 basses ?

What's funny about that is a lot of cheapo instruments retain a higher RELATIVE resale value. I don't mean to imply all of them, but enough of them that it's not so cut-and-dry that the MIA is always better for resale. That is in the USA.

For example, a used Fender MIA Standard will run you between 800-900 dollars. New they are 1400 dollars. So figure you're losing somewhere around 43% of it's new value if you sell it used.

Now look at some Squier Vintage Modifieds. For example, a Fretless Precision. Frequently they'd be selling for 60-70% of new value, so you're losing 30-40% tops.

About a year or two ago when the Squier Classic Vibe series was still available everywhere and they offered more models you'd sometimes get as high as 80% of what you paid for it new if you sold it used.

Anyway, long story short, MIA doesn't always mean you get a better deal when you resale it. Not only are you losing hundreds of dollars in absolute terms on the MIA, it's also frequently a higher fraction of the new price that you are losing than on some cheaper instruments.

Consequently this is why I never buy new MIA instruments, but am usually fine with buying a new Squier or Mexican Fender. Once the MIA is already used it retains the value much better but that initial used-hit is too rich for my blood.

 

[GKon]

Buy the Harley Benton. It's a very good bass at a phenomenal price. If you don't want to take my word for it, just ask anyone at the HB club
I own a Harley Benton club

I, for one, have never bought a bass considering its resale value. That has no bearing for me. If it plays well, does. If you're looking for something with resale value, then don't buy it. If you're looking for a good sounding and playing bass,.then buy it.

If you live in Europe, Thomann has a phenomenal return policy that costs you nothing, so you have nothing to lose if you don't like it. You can send it back for a full refund and they'll even pay for the shipping.

If you live in the U.S. I believe they still give you a full refund, but you have to pay for the return shipping. Don't quote me on that, though.

 

[RyanKW]

I would definitely by one for the price they sell them.
After a disappointment from QC of my Squier VM 70's JB for which price I could've bought 3 HB basses (Invalid Link Removed, PJ deluxe bass and a Vintage 75NA Jazz bass).
I'm considering a Vintage 50 P bass from HB for a fun project.

What's wrong with your VM Jazz, if you don't mind me asking? I have one, and it's fantastic.

 

[FourBanger]

A house brand won't hold value like some of the recent Squier offerings. It's still basically a generic import bass.

 

[Watchootognbout]

A house brand won't hold value like some of the recent Squier offerings. It's still basically a generic import bass.

Resale value is only a factor if you plan on selling your precious,precious bass.
And WHY would anyone even consider selling their precious,precious high resale value bass?
Again!
Release the Ferengi!!

 

[Jools4001]

I've never really understood the mentality of buying an instrument on it's likely resale value; it's either a good instrument or it's not.

I recently bought a Harley Benton BZ5000 NT as a budget backup for my main player 5 string, with the aim of hot rodding it if it's basic build quality and feel was good enough. It cost me just £250. Not only is the build quality good enough, but I'm not even sure that it will need any major upgrades. I'm no stranger to top quality basses, amongst my collection I have a very nice '73 Rick 4001 and my main bass is a GB Rumour, which is a handmade boutique bass with a price to match. The Harley Benton holds it's own very well.

 

[kodiakblair]

Bought a b-stock PB-20 for £20 to try low F#,had to bore out bridge and fill nut to take the .85 - .175 gauge. Sold for £30
Bought b-stock Bass Uke for £50, sold for £50.
Bought used RB414 for £150 sold for £150.
Bought BZ-4000-NT for £219 sold to a broke friend year later for £180.
Bought b-stock PJ 4 HTR for £70 sold for £50.

Those were my asking prices,no-one attempted to haggle. So after selling 5 basses I'm down £50,hardly earth shattering and I could have asked more for the
BZ-4000. The buyers had posted on our local FB page looking for basses for X amount of £,I offered the HB's and they were bought with no problem.
Had 3 people contact me for the bass uke on off-chance original buyer dropped out.