Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe Series

So first, let's get the bad out of the way, and there's not much.

1. I'd rather it have a master volume, coil blend, and master tone. Instead it has one volume for each coil and a master tone. Effectively the same, but in terms of how easy it is to use, if I want to mute the bass through the pots, I have to turn two of them. Very small nit pick, and really it's a point of preference.
2. The 18th fret is a bit high, which leads to some fret buzzing on the higher frets (14-17) for the E and A strings, but I'm not spending a lot of time, if any time at all up there on those strings anyway.

And that's really it for what I don't like. Now for the good.

1. This thing looks great. The burst finish with the matching headstock is something I'm very very happy with.
2. This thing sounds great. It looks like a music man stingray, and sounds a bit like it, though not exactly. It has some great bright presence, a lot of punch, and a lot of output despite being a passive bass.
3. The quality. I looked for any flaws in the finish and found none. The frets are not at all sharp, and the neck feels amazing. It's huge and fits my big mitts really well. Tuners work pretty well. They feel a bit tight, but don't seem to have any jumps or dead spots. The pots aren't scratchy (at least not yet), and the bridge seems sturdy and strong.
4. It's simple. Passive bass, one pickup, four strings. No nonsense. You pick this bass up and play, that's it. You don't spend time over-tweaking the EQ. You don't need to worry about the battery going dead. You don't really need to wonder if it would sound better on the neck or the bridge pickup, though you do get a little bit of flexibility there, but that's more of a "Would a single coil sound better than a humbucker?" choice than a bridge/neck choice. Most of the time the humbucker is all you need, though (see the nitpick about volume/blend/tone vs volume/volume/tone above).
5. It's balanced well. With a strap, there's a bit of neck dive, but it still stays with the headstock above the top horn of the body.
6. It came with a pretty good setup. Shipping over the ocean from Germany to the US, you expect a bit of an issue, and there was a little bit. I had to turn the truss rod about a quarter turn to get the fret buzz to go away, but after that I was able to lower the action a bit to where it's nice and comfortable.

I'd read/seen/heard good things about this low priced bass on YouTube and I wanted to start bass playing after playing acoustic and electric guitar to a pretty beginner basic standard.

The quality of this thing defies belief for £99! The best thing is the neck which has perfectly seated frets with no sprouting i.e. no sharp ends and a nice bit of graining in the fretboard. Love the matching sunburst headstock as well.

I can't fault it. Yes, it's heavy, I would say about 9 or maybe 10 pounds but I like that - I think a bass should have that solidity. I can't vouch too much on the electrics and bass sound as I'm playing it softened off a lot through a guitar Katana 100 Mk2 for now but still sounds nice to me - can't wait to get it through a dedicated bass combo.

No serious blemishes - just a small top coat chip around the truss-rod opening at the headstock but really nothing to moan about.

In short, I am absolutely astounded that Thomann/Harley Benton can produce and retail a bass guitar like this for the price. Sure, it isn't going to be as good as a £3000 MusicMan (which it is a copy of) but it is not 30 times worse - it's a damn fine instrument that better musicians than me could play live all day long.

The strings might not be the best but they're fine for starters and strings always need replacing anyway so no big deal.

This must be one of the best value bass guitars on the worldwide market today - I am quite simply gobsmacked and it is a total bargain :-0)

UPDATE: It does sound a lot better through a bass combo. It sounds great to me through a Fender Rumble LT25 for home use and practice.

Being a semi pro player for many years, playing mainly Blues, rock and funky stuff. I bought this bass as an addition to my trusty '54 style Fender P-bass, to have for the occasions where i need a more "modern" sound. I was looking at basses at much higher prices, but based on the reviews, I got curious on the Harley Benton MB-4 , and given the low price, I thought it was worth a try.
The fit & finish is flawless, and the bass looks absolutely beautiful. The weight is medium, not light but not heavy. Balance on the strap is good.
The satin neck is dead straight and feels fantastic. The neck profile is a bit on the chunky side, which I like, but it's maybe not ideal for smaller hands. The fretjob is good by any standard, no sharp edges here. The nut is probably plastic, but it's smooth and with perfectly filed slots, no string binding.
The amplified sound is good and "close enough" to a real Stingray to fool most people in a blind test. The output is not super high (Actually a tiny bit lower than on my P-bass), but the sound is punchy, deep and clear. The coil split with two volumes takes a little bit of getting used to, but gives good tonal variation, and the tone pot is doing its job.
The acoustic sound is loud and clear, the sustain is very good, and there are no noticeable dead spots on the neck.
The bridge seems fine, and the tuners works smoothly and holds tune well, even if the resistance is a bit uneven.
The setup was good out of the box, and even the strings was ok, so for a beginner this is a no-brainer, easily compareable to basses costing 3-4 times as much.
A pro player might want to tweak the setup to personal taste, upgrade the strings and maybe pickup, electronics and tuners, but then you also have a bass compareable to a true professional instrument.
I have already used the bass in the studio as it came out of the box, and have no hestitation bringing it on the road as it is.
Conclusion... This is a great bass, even if you do not consider the price. With some small upgrades, it will become absoutely awesome.... !

This is without doubt, the best value “stingray style” bass that you could expect to buy. This is no ordinary budget bass, this is a bass that earns a spot in the studio or the stage!
The neck is flawlessly smooth and has a good, solid feel in the hands. The neck fits perfectly in the pocket and there are no sharp ends to the frets. Tuners are reliable and hold tune well and the matching headstock is a nice touch. The body is nice and light and the paintwork is immaculate, more so than my Sire and Fender basses.
The Roswell pickup is surprisingly powerful, without being too hot. Whilst this is passive, I can’t see active circuitry bringing much more to the party that a good amplifier couldn’t fix.
Harley Benton have made a real diamond in the rough here and anyone considering buying a SUB would be better off buying this and saving money, or spending the difference towards a good amp. If you are looking for the exact MM Stingray tone, you won’t get that outside of a genuine US made MM Stingray, so expectations should be managed. If you are looking for a reliable, well made bass that has value for money, then look no further. Nice work HB!

First off, the pros...
–passive pickups (i don't like battery powered preamps)
–decent action
–nice sound
–stays in tune
–not as heavy as a thought. surprisingly light.. to me.

cons are at the end. Very small cons.


I like this thing. I mean, at €119 I feel like i got more than my money's worth, by far! It has no issues and it sounds really good with a growly tone that you'd hope for. What I really dig with passive pickups is that it's probably the the closest thing you could get to a J.Dart bass (i abbreviated his name in case of some copyright issue. better safe than sorry). His bass is a passive MM stingray style bass. His bass might be the only passive MM. But, then you have this Harley Benton MB-4... a stingray style with passive pickups. Ya man! I love it! It sounds like a beast and plays really nice! I look forward to gigging with it.

If you're a beginner, this is one heck of a starter. If you're experienced, this will be a nice addition to your rotation or collection. Icing on the cake, it looks good ( I have the sunburst version). Thanks Harley Benton! Thanks Thomann! This bass is fun!

now the cons
––the tone knob doesn't offer much nuance. But, that doesn't bother me. I go full on with the tone, or full off. You can get different variations of tone, but at one point, the knob doesn't seem to make a difference and then all of sudden you're on to the next extreme tone setting.
––if i am playing without headphones on the E-string, then the pick guard clicks a bit when I tap it with my fingers. Super easy fix.

I needed a new bass but because I can’t work anymore, I couldn’t afford an expensive Instrument, but I watched a review of this Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe series guitar that looks like it was based on a (Music Man) , and it sounded brilliant , and for a passive bass it was really loud , the dual coil humbucker pickup has two volume controls and one tone which gives you so much control over a varied tonal spectrum, if you want a Music Man type of bass for a fraction of the price this guitar is the one to buy, I would have written a review over a week ago, but have been having such fun with this instrument that I haven’t put it down, the build quality is outstanding , I don’t know how it can be sold at such a competitive price. I’m so happy with my, and the service given by the Thomann team . Thank you so much .

I began learning on an old bass that wasn't mine, so wanted to get one of my own. I decided on this due to many positive reviews, and I can only agree with them.

When I took it out of the box, it was already set up perfectly. The action, intonation etc were all brilliant. All I had to do was tune it up and it was ready to go. No batteries needed, banged out some riffs straight away. I haven't felt the need to change strings.

I love the simplicity of it. I don't worry about batteries dying, or how my pre-amp is set. I just pick it up and play.

One thing worth mentioning, the pickup is further back towards the bridge than on the images on the Thomann website. This doesn't bother me, but it might some people.

I have had zero neck dive, though I also bought a big thick padded leather strap with it which may help.

I don't really have any cons for it to be honest. The controls aren't the best, but its a £107 bass. The tone control seems to really be on or off, and doesn't seem gradual when you turn the knob.

I'm extremely pleased with my purchase.

I got the MB4 as a gift for a friend - she ´Used to play bass´.
I unboxed it at home beforehand... but it took very little work from me. Just a quick polish, removed plastic film & a lick with the fret-end file.

Really nice Fit & Finish plus awesome three piece body on this so we might swap out a translucent pickguard. The electrics are great too cool independent volume controls for ´each coil pickup!!
It is ´LOUD AS THE PROVERBIAL´ . I had a hand off ( yuk yuk) a bass playng friend to do a comparison with his Vintage 1983 EBMM Cutlass 🙂 I think my wee 15w acoustic amp we tested it on just threw in the towel after the HB monster passive pickups.

My friend is very happy ..it-s a chunky bass but not uncomfortably so!!
WE Hightly Recommend this bass.

I'm getting back into the bass after about 10-15 years and needed something to help me get my footing back. This bass is just the right combination of quality and value for someone in my position.

Came out of the box with a pretty good setup, good action, smooth fret ends, just the kind of quality you don't expect in this price range.

Had it shipped to the East Coast of USA and it arrived without issue. Not as well packed as some of the competitors but well enough that it survived unscathed. It took about 2 weeks, but considering it crossed an ocean I can deal with that.

If had to give it a con it'd be the weight. I've never been a "sit down" player, just something feels right about practicing standing up, but the sheer weight of this bass has forced me to sit for longer practice sessions. Even though it's heavy it's not unbalanced, the neck mostly stays where you want it while it's on a strap.

Bottom line: The bass is a pleasure to play, it's affordable without being cheaply made and it looks great.

This is my first exposure to Harley Benton and I think you've won yourselves a fan.

So this is interesting piece of gear. my third benton. since i wanted to get that ray tone in my arsenal, i pulled the trigger on this one.

first glance, everything is great, finish is good, body wood is great, sunbrust looks good with that black pickguard and maple neck. also matching headstock is just extra sauce on the steak.

upon further inspection; neck is chunky/thick but comfortable! also maple on the neck looks quartersawn (!!!!!! WOW!) and neck is stable. out the box setup was good, medium - low. so i turned the trussrod 1/4 of the turn and got really low action, amazingly low for this price point. also no fretbuzz! imagine that. so more tweaking and i've got it even lower, and tuned E string to drop D. still no unwanted stringbuzz :)

and now to sound, frist of all, strings on this bass seem like some cheapo stuff and this bass really needs some good strings (elixir nickel or something similar). sound is stingray sound but a bit more ... warmer? could be because it's passive ,and tone pot really gives you something amazing in tone posibilites. i would descirbe basic sound as thick, phat with really deep but responsive low end and punchy defined mid-range but with subdued highs.

it's worth at least 4-5 times it's price imho. also, it's really light. so another plus!!

go get it!