NBD (not again!) Harley Benton MSB-5 Flip Flop Blue

[Bar Band Bassman]

I know you may be thinking "What is it with this guy? He posted a NBD yesterday! I recognize those nasty orange curtains and dirty radiator!" Yeah sorry 'bout that. Yesterday's bass (Wal Tribute) took a lot longer to get here than expected. Today's got here a lot sooner! Anyway - I offer for your perusal the Harley Benton MSB-5 in "Flip Flop Blue" (sorry the pics don't do justice to the color, my photography skills are on a par with my bass playing skills...).

I've been curious about multi-scale basses but wasn't keen on making a big monetary commitment. Then some well meaning (I'm sure) fellow TB'er posted a video of this thing. Under $400 shopped from Thomann (no affiliation). I chose Flip Flop Blue because it was the cheapest. The price has already gone up a bit! Wow! It arrived from Germany unscathed in less time than it took the Wal Tribute to arrive from CA! Now I get the folks who rave about HB quality. Really quite remarkable. Sounds pretty nice and is well put together. Passive bypass is a nice touch. Scale is 33 1/2 - 35. Not extreme. It's less of a learning curve than I feared. Needed a set up and all the nut slots deepened. One fret on the "G" string buzzed a bit so I tapped that down. TBH though, I have the neck relief very shallow and the action quite low. I was surprised it set-up so well! Set the intonation (the monorail bridge pieces did not need to be so radically slanted). I pretty much hate setting intonation on monorails! All done now and ready to roll! Enough talk. Pics or it didn't happen:

BBB

 

[Iridescentone]

Looks good. How's the weight?

Didn't find the flip flop one on Thomann, just a purple sparkle burst, a green sparkle burst, and a nat-burst.

All seem to be out of stock at the moment, wait time approx 3 weeks.

Got a link for the flip flop one? Might have to get one. TIA

 

[Five or Six]

Did you order you new HB off of Reverb? Harley Benton is now being handled by them. Congrats!

Sorry, I should have read a little better. Got it from Thomann.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I know you may be thinking "What is it with this guy? He posted a NBD yesterday! I recognize those nasty orange curtains and dirty radiator!" Yeah sorry 'bout that. Yesterday's bass (Wal Tribute) took a lot longer to get here than expected. Today's got here a lot sooner! Anyway - I offer for your perusal the Harley Benton MSB-5 in "Flip Flop Blue" (sorry the pics don't do justice to the color, my photography skills are on a par with my bass playing skills...).

I've been curious about multi-scale basses but wasn't keen on making a big monetary commitment. Then some well meaning (I'm sure) fellow TB'er posted a video of this thing. Under $400 shopped from Thomann (no affiliation). I chose Flip Flop Blue because it was the cheapest. The price has already gone up a bit! Wow! It arrived from Germany unscathed in less time than it took the Wal Tribute to arrive from CA! Now I get the folks who rave about HB quality. Really quite remarkable. Sounds pretty nice and is well put together. Passive bypass is a nice touch. Scale is 33 1/2 - 35. Not extreme. It's less of a learning curve than I feared. Needed a set up and all the nut slots deepened. One fret on the "G" string buzzed a bit so I tapped that down. TBH though, I have the neck relief very shallow and the action quite low. I was surprised it set-up so well! Set the intonation (the monorail bridge pieces did not need to be so radically slanted). I pretty much hate setting intonation on monorails! All done now and ready to roll! Enough talk. Pics or it didn't happen:

BBB

What part of the planet do you live on? I am here in the US and have to pay the US tariff on this. Almost stopped the order because of it but wife told me to go ahead if I really wanted it.

So do you find it might be a keeper?

 

[DJ Bebop]

Looks good. How's the weight?

Didn't find the flip flop one on Thomann, just a purple sparkle burst, a green sparkle burst, and a nat-burst.

All seem to be out of stock at the moment, wait time approx 3 weeks.

Got a link for the flip flop one? Might have to get one. TIA

🎸 Harley Benton MSB-5 Flip Flop Blue

5-String Multiscale Electric Bass Body: Okoume, Top: Flame burl maole, 5-Piece neck: Roasted Canadian maple / okoumé / roasted Canadian maple / okoumé / roasted Canadian maple, Dual Action Truss Rod, Fingerboard: Canadian maple, Fingerboard inlays:...

www.thomannmusic.com

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Looks nice. How does it play?

Montreal?

 

[DJ Bebop]

Looks nice. How does it play?

Montreal?

I get it now

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

How were the import fees and shipping costs?

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Looks good. How's the weight?

Didn't find the flip flop one on Thomann, just a purple sparkle burst, a green sparkle burst, and a nat-burst.

All seem to be out of stock at the moment, wait time approx 3 weeks.

Got a link for the flip flop one? Might have to get one. TIA

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Here's the link: Harley Benton MSB-5 Flip Flop Blue

Weight: 8.84#

BBB

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

What part of the planet do you live on? I am here in the US and have to pay the US tariff on this. Almost stopped the order because of it but wife told me to go ahead if I really wanted it.

So do you find it might be a keeper?

Don't think there's duty. Under $800. Bass was $305 (a bit more today, apparently) S/H just under $100. $400 total.

BBB

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Did you order you new HB off of Reverb? Harley Benton is now being handled by them. Congrats!

Sorry, I should have read a little better. Got it from Thomann.

Not much HB on Reverb ATM.

BBB

 

[DJ Bebop]

I went ahead and bit the bullet and put the order through., We will see how the tariff hits on top of everything else I guess

Hopefully, I will also have a NBD to share

 

[Five or Six]

Not much HB on Reverb ATM.

BBB

Ya I know. Their 5 string selection isnt much but, should get better?

 

[Five or Six]

I went ahead and bit the bullet and put the order through., We will see how the tariff hits on top of everything else I guess

Hopefully, I will also have a NBD to share

You will be replacing teefus if you keep biting bullets!

 

[The Basement]

I have just unboxed and finished a quick setup of a MSB-5 (also in Flip-flop blue), and I'm really pleased. The fretwork on mine is stellar and the overall fit & finish is good. There are signs that it's an affordable bass with some rough spots on the back of the neck and a minor missalignment of the bridge saddles, however. The rough spots are some kind of residue from the manufacturing, I imagine, but the are easily sanded down.

The saddles have small differences in the space between them, but since the saddles have a tiny bit of side-to-side adjustment I managed to get the string spacing to be even. Prior to ordering I emailed Harley Benton asking about the string spacing on this model and they said it was 16mm. However, after my setup, it's more like 17mm (which I actually prefer).

I have set the bass with about 0.30mm neck relief and a string height of 2.0mm (g) and 2.8mm (B) on the last fret. Fretbuzz is no problem with my normal right hand attack and I suspect the action could be lowered further, if I wanted to. If the neck remains stable over time, this is an excellent purchase.

 

[DJ Bebop]

@The Basement​

Do you find any discomfort or problems as you transfer up the neck past the 12th fret? I have read some don't like it up there where the neck is fastened.

 

[Ritter667]

Looks very green for a blue bass...

 

[DJ Bebop]

I was going for the purple one but Mama thought it looked too girly

So I went with the flip-flop blue-green one.

The green with the black burst didn’t do anything for me and again Mama didn’t like the burl wood one. Which I found odd because she usually likes natural wood basses.

 

[The Basement]

@The Basement​

Do you find any discomfort or problems as you transfer up the neck past the 12th fret? I have read some don't like it up there where the neck is fastened.

Well, in all honesty, it feels a little cumbersome past the 12th fret. I would have prefered a neckthrough rather than a bolt-on, as I think the transition looks smoother on those. But then again, a see Sadowsky also have a bolt-on single cut bass, so it's most likely a question of getting used to it.