Just got this from Thomann in Germany:
It's one of their enhanced series basses: Enhanced MP-4EB Creme - Harley Benton
$412 shipped to my door from Germany in three days!
The great:
It's one of their enhanced series basses: Enhanced MP-4EB Creme - Harley Benton
$412 shipped to my door from Germany in three days!
The great:
- I really like the neck profile. 1.5" nut but a little fuller in the hand than a Jazz.
- With only a little effort I was able to get low, buzz-free action.
- The blocks are real inlays and the fretboard is ebony.
- The finish is flawless, and I love matching headstocks.
- Truss rod wheel easily accessible at base of neck.
- 6-bolt neck attachment.
- A crazy amount of bass for the money! An excellent modding platform.
- The bridge is solid and I don't see a reason to replace it.
- The tuners are fine and turn smoothly. They're not super accurate, but that's okay
- There wasn't any fret overhang like I've experienced on other, more expensive bases made in Indonesia. With a little effort I rounded off the fret ends and micro meshed the squarish fret ends, and it's now smooth playing like my other basses.
- The finish is many shades lighter than the pictures on both the Harley Benton and Thomann websites. I like it better, though - less banana pudding.
- String tree is solid
- The neck pickup sounds really good and I prefer a reverse P setup.
- Alder body and maple neck.
- The preamp is only okay. It's not a bad preamp (especially for a bass that cost me $340 before shipping) but I've been spoiled by Audere and the excellent USA Peavey Millennium preamps. In passive mode the neck pickup has a nice smooth tone, but not only jumps in output but seemingly in aggressiveness when the preamp is engaged. I'm going to pull the preamp and go completely passive with some fun switching options.
- The bridge pickup is weak and thin sounding. I know DCR isn't always the best indicator of pickup output, but the bridge pickup has a published DCR of 4.7k and the neck pickup is 15.4k. I've already got an 11k replacement pickup ready for installation.
- It's a bit heavy for my liking at 9.8 lbs. I prefer my basses at 9 or less. Not a deal breaker, though. Compare the picture above to this Fender Precision bass and you can see my new girl has a bigger booty, and that probably contributes to a bit more heft. She's a bit more pear shaped.
- After taking these pictures is painfully obvious I need to get our carpets cleaned...
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