K
Good, but needs some changes
First the good: This bass is very comfortable to play sitting down. The finish is lovely and without blemishes. The shape is unique and cool. The reverse head stock helps with drop tuning. The active preamp gives this instrument a lot of range which makes it appropriate for a wide variety of styles. The sound is clear and punchy and it responds very well to a variety of effects.
Now the bad: The gunmetal chrome looks cheap and scratches easily. Regular silver chrome or black looks much better. The pickguard doesn't look great, and the lines don't match up with the lines of the lower horn. The controls don't allow for using the bridge pickup on its own. This could be fixed with a second volume control or a blend control. The strap button locations are terrible, the bass neck dives and makes playing standing up very challenging. This is fixed by moving one button to the heel, and the other higher up, about half way between the center line and the top of the upper rear point. The branding on the head stock looks incredibly cheesy. "Progressive series" should be omitted, and the HB logo should be about twice the size, and in either white or gold. The fixes are fairly simple, and I think they would make this bass a great instrument.
Now the bad: The gunmetal chrome looks cheap and scratches easily. Regular silver chrome or black looks much better. The pickguard doesn't look great, and the lines don't match up with the lines of the lower horn. The controls don't allow for using the bridge pickup on its own. This could be fixed with a second volume control or a blend control. The strap button locations are terrible, the bass neck dives and makes playing standing up very challenging. This is fixed by moving one button to the heel, and the other higher up, about half way between the center line and the top of the upper rear point. The branding on the head stock looks incredibly cheesy. "Progressive series" should be omitted, and the HB logo should be about twice the size, and in either white or gold. The fixes are fairly simple, and I think they would make this bass a great instrument.
5
1
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MY
Very nice, but after adjustment.
This is my fourth Harley Benton bass guitar, and fifth instrument from that brand. All the other guitars that I bought from new were 100% out of the box.
Upon arrival, I noticed the finish at the bottom of the neck was rough looking, but expected from a budget bass guitar. Two of the volume/tone pots were loose and had to be tightened. The action was very high and found the truss rod was un-tightened and needed to be adjusted. There was fret buzz on the 10th fret and upon inspection saw one of the fret bars was slightly raised more than the others and I had to carefully apply pressure to the fret bar to get it to sink into its place. I was disappointed with the amount of adjustments I had to make to get this bass right.
Once it was in a playable condition, I was happy with the instrument. If it had arrived in the post-adjustment condition, I would have given nearly 5 stars. I love the look, the tone/sound and the feel of this guitar. The Thunderbird style bass is not for everyone, but for people who are into this shape/style of bass its definitely worth the money, providing you dont have the same issues that I did.
Having said all the complaints above, this won't turn me off buying more Harley Benton bass guitars.
Upon arrival, I noticed the finish at the bottom of the neck was rough looking, but expected from a budget bass guitar. Two of the volume/tone pots were loose and had to be tightened. The action was very high and found the truss rod was un-tightened and needed to be adjusted. There was fret buzz on the 10th fret and upon inspection saw one of the fret bars was slightly raised more than the others and I had to carefully apply pressure to the fret bar to get it to sink into its place. I was disappointed with the amount of adjustments I had to make to get this bass right.
Once it was in a playable condition, I was happy with the instrument. If it had arrived in the post-adjustment condition, I would have given nearly 5 stars. I love the look, the tone/sound and the feel of this guitar. The Thunderbird style bass is not for everyone, but for people who are into this shape/style of bass its definitely worth the money, providing you dont have the same issues that I did.
Having said all the complaints above, this won't turn me off buying more Harley Benton bass guitars.
3
0
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P
Excellent quality but awkward
The good parts about this bass are the looks, which are incredible, and the sound. The neck is gloss, but doesn't feel sticky which is amazing. Everything from the shape, to the finish to the knobs looks amazing. The sound is great. Much nicer than a previous active bass that I had.
The bad thing about this guitar is the balancing. It's OK to play sitting down, although it digs in to your chest a bit, but to play standing up is exhausting. The neck dive is unreal and the neck is incredibly long. That means that you really have to put energy into it using it and it just makes it unenjoyable.
The bad thing about this guitar is the balancing. It's OK to play sitting down, although it digs in to your chest a bit, but to play standing up is exhausting. The neck dive is unreal and the neck is incredibly long. That means that you really have to put energy into it using it and it just makes it unenjoyable.
0
0
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