Harley Benton HBO-850 Bass Natural

111

Acoustic Bass

  • Design: Roundback with cutaway
  • Top: Spruce
  • Body: ABS Super Shallow Bowl
  • Neck: Mahogany
  • Neck profile: Modern C
  • Fretboard: Roseacer
  • Fretboard radius: 400 mm
  • 20 Frets
  • Multi-ply ABS body binding
  • ABS neck binding
  • Scale: 869 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Bridge: Blackwood
  • Diecast machine heads
  • Dual-Action truss rod
  • Ex-factory stringing: HB .040 - .100
  • Pickups system with 4-band EQ
  • Colour: Natural high gloss
Available since September 2017
Item number 410265
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Colour Natural
Top Spruce
Back and Sides Plastics, Synthetics
Neck Mahogany
Fretboard Roseacer
Incl. Pickup System Yes
Incl. Case No
Includes Gigbag No
Scale Longscale
$125
The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.
In stock within 8-10 weeks
In stock within 8-10 weeks

This product is expected back in stock soon and can then be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1

An afforable start for unplugged musicians

Harley Benton HBO-850 acoustic bass guitar

The Harley Benton HBO-850 Bass Natural is a four-string acoustic bass that offers an affordable point of entry into the world of unplugged music. The instrument's round back ensures comfortable playability without the player needing much time to get used to it, even if they are coming from the electric bass. Even a pickup including a four-band EQ and a tuner are included. The HBO-850 is an attractive and flexible companion for all those looking for an acoustic bass that they can start playing right away without having to dig too deep into their pocket.

Preamp in the ABS body of the Harley Benton HBO-850 Bass Natural

Smart combination of materials

The top of the HBO-850 is made of spruce and the body of a composite material called ABS. The latter is shaped into a curved "Super Shallow Bowl" form which fits comfortably against the upper body and arm and makes for comfortable playability as well as perfect ergonomics. ABS is of course also mostly unaffected by climatic fluctuations, which is particularly important when playing outdoors. For easy access to the upper registers and to fully utilise the potential of all 20 frets on the roseacer fingerboard, the HBO-850 also features a cutaway for the fretting hand. The mahogany neck sports a modern C-profile, making you quickly feel at home as well. The HBO-850 cuts a fine figure when amplified thanks to its pickup system and four-band EQ. This allows the sound to be adjusted to suit the individual needs of the player, and annoying feedback can be avoided as well. All the while, the integrated tuner keeps everything at the right pitch.

acoustic bass Harley Benton HBO-850 with a natural spruce top

Acoustic or amplified? Or both?

The Harley Benton HBO-850 Bass Natural is clearly aimed at musicians who appreciate an acoustic instrument with an authentic look and sound. The HBO-850 features a pickup system with an integrated four-band EQ should you need to use an amplifier, but it's otherwise loud enough for use at home or around the campfire - so you are well-prepared for any situation. Since acoustic basses are often used as second instruments, you won't want to re-acclimatise yourself too much or invest a lot of money, and all of this has been taken into account in the design and pricing of the HBO-850.

4-string bass headstock by Harley Benton

About Harley Benton

Since 1998, the Harley Benton brand has been catering for the needs of numerous guitarists and bassists. In addition to an extensive range of stringed instruments, Thomann's house brand also offers a wide choice of amplifiers, speakers, effect pedals, and other accessories. In total, the range includes over 1,500 products. Built by established names in the industry, all Harley Benton products combine quality and reliability at attractive and affordable prices. The continuous expansion of the range ensures that Harley Benton always provides new, exciting, and innovative products that keep players perfectly in tune with the musical world, day after day.

Built to last

For more than 20 years now, there has been no end to the popularity of unplugged music. Hardly any concert can do without an acoustic set, and live on stage both the sound and the look have to match. The Harley Benton HBO-850 Bass Natural provides both, and thanks to its ABS body, it is also resistant to the rigours of everyday life on stage, where climatic changes and minor bumps are inevitable. But don't worry, the HBO-850 is built to take it.

111 Customer ratings

4.4 / 5

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79 Reviews

a
Great Acoustic Bass
acdc77748 02.05.2020
What a great product. I wanted a bass to play that was easy to set up and didn’t need to be plugged in. I’m in Canada and it took less than 5 days to arrive...amazing! It sounds great unplugged and plugged into an amp. The on-board tuner works well while the fret edges are decent. The frets are level which is the most important thing on a neck. A strap that grips my clothes will solve the neck dive. The only thing I’ll end up changing are the tuners but the stock ones work well enough or now. I play in a two bands and I bought this bass with the intention of using it for practice only. It WILL find it’s way on the stage because it’s a quality, cool looking instrument. I bought it because I thought it would suit my needs and it was inexpensive. If I had been able to play it before purchasing it, I would have paid more for it. Great work THOMANN! It’s the 4th guitar that I’ve purchased and I’ve been satisfied with all of them. I’ve also purchased other products (speaker covers and locking tuners) which were priced better than anywhere else! Happy Customer from CANADA!
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Gf
Good Value roundback
Glenn from Virginia 14.02.2020
I got this HB acoustic bass to practice in the Living Room without having to have amps cluttering my living space. It's well built, and good looking. Needed minor setup. I was not crazy about the strings that came with it...a little too "twangy", which is common with an acoustic bass. After talking with a musician at a local bar gig who was playing an acoustic bass...he said he had the same issue with his expensive acoustic bass and replaced the strings with nylon tape-wound strings. They are black, look cool and sound much better. The wood design pieces glued on could use some minor sanding or oiling. I like this bass...it's a great practice tool for me (I'm a beginner...my wife is the musician) and we also have the matching round back HB classical nylon string guitar, and just ordered the steel string round back version too. Outstanding values for a ridiculously small amount of money. Buy it!
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As expected - recommended - you'll have to work on it a bit
Howard 14.09.2022
I bought this because I am doing some acoustic gigs with a friend. No amps are allowed and I wanted to be able to use bass on a few of the tracks. I wanted something not too large and also didn't want to spend a lot. So what do I think of it?

The first thing that I noticed was that it looks the part. The second thing I noticed was how fragile the glued on scroll work is when a bit of it fell off. I just glued it back on - I wasn't going to send it back for something that trivial. The key thing is that it played well enough out of the box (for what it is). Even the neck relief was OK, but now it has acclimatised it does need a touch of 'righty tighty' to get it correct. Acoustically it sounds OK, if as one would expect a little toppy. I play quite hard so for me the volume against one western acoustic guitar is OK. If you are one of the gentle players you would need to amplify it.

The things I like - the body size and material. Sits on my lap easily and I'm sure it's going to be durable. On a strap there is obvious neck dive, to be expected when the neck is so long and the body so light. I have seen comments that the tuner is not usable - I beg to differ, I have found it perfectly OK as long as you tune to the octave harmonics.
Amplified I am not enamoured with the sound - it lacks depth without a lot of EQ being applied, even with the bass turned right up on the built in pre-amp. The fret edges are not perfect, a little scratchy in parts, but I didn't notice this when I was playing it until I did a glissando and cut three of my fingers. I immediately smoothed them off to avoid any further incidents.

To conclude, you really can't go far wrong with this instrument at this price. Don't expect it to be more than it is and you'll be quite happy with it. So I recommend it.
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7
Superb quality for the price
78Bassman78 07.12.2021
No issues with my bass at all, machine heads have been touted as poor in previous reviews. I disagree...

I bought this for a knock around when it comes to camping etc... but i'll be using it in the studio too as it sounds great plugged in too.
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