Harley Benton PJ-4 HTR Deluxe Series

OK first I'll start with the bad stuff, when the bass arrived the "E" string was damaged and the guitar needed setting up properly, the bridge as the height adjustment screws on the "D" set at a slight angle. Thomann's where contacted and promptly sent me a new set of strings, not just the "E" string but the whole set! So top marks there to the crew at Thomann's. New strings fitted, truss rod and neck adjusted, intonation and action set and I now have a superb bass guitar that is every bit as good as some of the more expensive basses I've owned and played! It sounds good, there is a good variety of sounds to be had just by adjusting the volume and tone pots. I intend to use it next time I'm out with the band I play in. Would I recommend this bass? I certainly would, but you will need to be prepared to set the bass up and for the money the bass costs, its well worth the effort. You will have to spend a lot more money, probably 10 times more to get one better, a superb bass at a bargain basement price - brilliant!

Bought this as a gift, and as a pro guitar player/ luthier, I was amazed by this instrument. A great looking and sounding bass for a 100€? I'll get one for myself.
This combined with HB-40B Combo amp, sounds killer!

Few things I noticed straight away, we're few small blemishes in the finish, scratches, and looks like it was finished in a rush, but hey, no beginner is going to complain about it.

Giving it a small truss rod adjustment, and action setup (although it was good from the Thomann, it felt like a pro instrument.

Body is very light (little bit of neck dive), 1 piece maple neck, and perfect fret job. Comfortable neck, I could play it for days. Nut is cut correctly, hardware feels solid.

I really recommend this bass for beginners/or home studio players. PJ combo sounds fantastic!

This thing of beauty arrived today (just over a week in transit). I was a little dubious about the colour, as I don’t generally like red, but it’s slightly darker than the website pictures and with the ‘tortoiseshell’ (ahem, yes I know it’s possibly a photo) pick guard it’s gorgeous, looking far more expensive than the £105 I paid. All it needed from out of the box was a tune up, as it was set up pretty much how I’d do it. Hardware seems good for such a cheapy, and the pickups and electronics work fine (much more ‘bass’ than my old Squier Bronco…) so overall I’m very satisfied. Ta muchly Thomann folks

I got one of these for two reasons, I don't have a PJ bass and the price.

The bass is a vibrant red colour and the scratch plate is nice too, it has a satin neck varnish and mine had a small mark I could feel but that was easily removed.

The frets were smooth along the edge and the machine heads are ok. It took a quarter turn on the truss rod to straighten the neck and after some nut filing and lowering the action, the bass now feels like one three of four times the price.

I wouldn't do this if you are unsure of what you are doing but a professional Luthier could set this up to play as well as a Fender worth a lot more.

I found the pickup setup easy too, the J bass pickup needed to be raised a little to level out the pickup volumes but once that was done it was fine.

Now to the sound, which despite some of the reviews I have seen, the pickups are good and powerful, I used a wireless system so I couldn't judge any earth buzz.

The only problem I really found was the scratch plate was not fully screwed down but that's easy to fix, also the knobs were a bit stiff but taking the covers off and reseating them solved that.

For some reason Cheap basses get looked at with the stigma from many years ago but this Bass is worth every single penny I spent on it, in fact if you bought it for double the price it was at, it would still be good value for money, but at the price of £102, it's a steal. I bought this myself, it wasn't sponsored or discounted and this is an honest review.

I was going to join a rock band and wanted a P-J just for that. I could've got the 5 string for a few extra shillings but wanted the 4 to make myself work harder, but it's anything but hard work, this bass is a joy to play.

straight out of the box, good set up, good balance, no LX problems, both pick-ups being very lively and a great, big sound from both - I use the J up full with the P dialled in a little for warmth and it's right there, the exact sound I want.

looks cool, good weight, put together very well, no faults with the finish or build, love it. tres happy.

I primarily bought this bass as a modding platform. I really like to put my personal touch on all of my instruments and this HB PJ4 has what it takes to make a great looking, playing and sounding bass.
Looks: The absolute first thing to change was the pick guard. The tortoiseshell does not work for me at all! I took it off and painted it gloss black to match the pickups. The quality of the pick guard was okay but not great. The bevel was a little wavy, so I sanded the edges straight and smooth. Even though the stock hardware is very good, I decided to change all of it (bridge, tuners, knobs) to black. Black looks really great with the transparent red of the body. I would have preferred a solid red but this shade of red is very nice. Although the wood underneath the paint is slightly visible, it doesn't have any glaring discrepancies and the transparent
red coat is applied quite evenly. I did find one flaw in the clear top coat that I should be able to polish out. Another reason that I am changing the tuners is so that I can get lighter ones from Gotoh. Even though the bass is fairly well balanced and light weight (not neck heavy), I want to favor the weight on the body side so that the neck sits a little higher. I ordered a high mass bridge for the same reason. I ebonized the fingerboard with India ink. Looks awesome! Playibility: The bass came with the action set too high and intonation off at the bridge. I was able to adjust it quite low without any fret buzz. Neck bow was set perfectly. Frets are dressed very nicely. I steel-wooled and lemon-oiled the back of the neck for an ultra smooth finish. The vintage tint of the neck is perfect. Amber in color. Not a fake yellow as on a lot of guitars these days. Sound: I read some complaints that the pickups are out of balance. This is true as far as how the bass sounded when it first arrived. HOWEVER, the pickups are completely adjustable and I was able to match them perfectly with little effort. I ended up with the neck pickups 1/4" off the body and the bridge pickup 1/8" from the strings. And they sound great! Fairly low output but clear and balanced. There is no reason to change them out at all. There is nothing that a good boost/preamp can't remedy if you need a hotter output. Oh yes, one important thing...the bass is not shielded in any way. So there is a fair amount of buzz. Might be okay for some but annoys the heck out of me. This will also be fixed with lining all the cavities with copper shielding tape.
Conclusion: For what I payed for this bass ($200US incl. shipping) it's a great bargain. It is totally usable right out of the box. BUT, if you want to make it a really great bass, you'll need to put a little more time and money into it. Even then, you can equal or exceed the quality of a bass that costs three times more. The tones from this PJ bass are varied and excellent. All the classic sounds are there. You can find good demos on Youtube and hear for yourself.

I was unable to bring my 1964 Gibson EB0 or 1980s Fender Jazz or Vox AC50 and Foundation 18ins cabinet so I bought the PJ (and the 40W) combo as it was all I need and can afford and it is beautiful and I can't really fault it. Clearly I can't do a direct comparison but I don't need to.

Maybe the tuners could do with replacing and maybe the G-string doesn't have the power / depth of the other three but for what i paid it is brilliant.

I an not a fan of 5 string bases with fretboards like planks but I with probably have this modifies to B E A D for fun.

It had an advantage not many people would think of...... when a bottle of red wine is placed in front of it (with the label cunningly removed camouflaged, I don't need to share it!