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NBD Harley Benton HBZ 2005FL Deluxe
- Thread starter kleaver
- Start date
Welp, it's NBD and I pulled the trigger on the 5 string fretless from Harley Benton. Again, I am shocked at the quality of these instruments. I have no idea how they sell them so cheap but I am not complaining and will jump on this train while it's on the tracks. It's my first 5 string, but I am already in love. Will take a few jam sessions to get the finger spacing right, but it's a great compliment to the EB-0 I stripped down and pulled the frets on. Bass is solid, tuners seem good and the active electronics work so winner winner, chicken dinner for around 500$ Canadian loonies to the door. Bonus d'addario strings installed from factory
Nice! I would love to see the end of the finger board at the same angle as the pup's.
Nice bass! If you turn it horizontal it will disappear against that background! 
Nice bass! If you turn it horizontal it will disappear against that background!
#turnt
Going by the serial number, they are Chinese. At least they were a couple of years back. Factory was the one opened by Young Chang in 1995.
Aside from being one of the world's largest piano companies, Young Chang built Squiers in the 80's/90's. They also had the highly regarded Fenix line . To top it off they operate their own sawmill, one in Tacoma deals with US timber prior to exporting.
You're welcome
While I never owned or played the HBZ, for awhile it seemed like I owned every other Harley Benton bass
You're welcome
While I never owned or played the HBZ, for awhile it seemed like I owned every other Harley Benton bass
Thats awesome! Does the quality stay the same throughout the different models?
To an extent.
All are well built and fantastic value but I felt the PJ-4 HTR was lacking something, probably just me not being a fan of PJ basses
The basic PB-20 was a decent bass, JB-75 a great jazz bass ( be warned, it's heavy) . Acoustic and the bass uke were bought only to see how I felt about those types of basses. BZ-4000-NTB, another solid bass. It didn't cause me to forsake my Peavey Cirrus basses but a friend gigged it plenty of times
Semi hollow was bought for nostalgia reasons, did it's job. The Ric-equse RB-414 , I can't complain about. Folks who have never played one claim it's a Rickenfaker or a clone.Nonsense. The body styling gave a nod to Ric but that's it.
Different pickups, pickup positions, cap/pot values, wiring loom set up, different materials ( all mahogany instead of Ric's all maple). Even the scale length is different.
It's it's own animal
Then there is the PB-50, IMO, a outstanding bass.
For over 7 years I've sung the praises of this model all across the web
Great looks, wonderful neck (not too chunky). Both the original Wilkinson and later Roswell single coil pickup I've found can hold their own against big name brand singles. Only faults are they come with roundwounds and a high'ish mass bridge, 2 saddle through body bridge and flats help it reach full potential.
Sounds like a good deal for a nice looking bass! $500 including any duties/taxes on delivery?
