Harley Benton HBB30BK

Hecho en China, comprado online de Thomann en Alemania. Con trastes y 4 cuerdas. Aunque no lo indica expresamente en la descripci??n del producto, me imagino que la tapa ser?? laminada. El material es 'spruce', o sea picea o abeto falso. Un Cutaway permite el acceso f??cil a los trastes altos.
El cuerpo es de un tama??o enorme, tipo guitarra jumbo pero mayor, en vez de jumbo yo dir??a como un A-380. Es todo un reto tocarlo con el bajo colgado al hombro en posici??n de pie: mido 1'80 y me resulta dif??cil llegar a los trastes bajos del diapas??n en esa posici??n.
Equipado con un piezo y un previo activo con ecualizador de cuatro bandas, un control de volumen y un control de presencia, adem??s de un pulsador y un led rojo para comprobar el estado de la pila. Fue relativamente dif??cil al principio la colocaci??n de la pila para el previo activo debido a que el bajo no tiene un compartimento al lado o algo similar para alojar la pila, sino que ??sta va en la parte opuesta en el previo, por lo que hay que girar el previo para la instalaci??n. La pila lleva puesta ya un a??o entero y todav??a est?? en servicio.
Las clavijas de afinaci??n, los tuners, son de marca desconocida pero realizan su funci??n a la perfecci??n. 10/10 en este punto.

Toco fundamentalmente m??sica folk, aunque tambi??n lo uso para mis grabaciones de rock. Suena con suficiente volumen como para ensayar sin problemas con una guitarra, un banjo, una flauta, percusi??n y voces, mejor a??n si se toca con p??a. Sin embargo, lo he tocado 'a pelo', sin amplificar, en un bolo en un escenario con unas cualidades ac??sticas excepcionales y alg??n expectador me indic?? a posteriori que no se o??a nada. Para esos usos, mejor un contrabajo.
Amplificado o grabando no hay esos problemas, naturalmente. Extremadamente silencioso y con un ecualizador que cumple perfectamente su funci??n, pudi??ndosele sacar unos tonos ac??sticos perfectamente usables en cualquier contexto. No hay nada que negativo que destacar en este sentido.

El ajuste tal como sali?? de la caja dejaba mucho que desear. Este es el punto flaco de la mayor??a de los instrumentos baratos, como ya sabemos. El m??stil ten??a una curvatura bastante pronunciada, por lo que hube de darle un par de vueltas a la tuerca del alma. La madera del m??stil no debe estar todav??a bien curada, por lo que los cambios de estaci??n le afectan bastante. Lo tengo desde hace algo m??s de un a??o y ya lo he tenido que ajustar dos veces, la primera vez para apretar - reci??n comprado - y la segunda vez para aflojar - cuando lleg?? la primavera -.
Con el m??stil bien ajustado, la acci??n es buena y el bajo se toca con total facilidad. S??lo tiene un defectillo aqu??: el traste 15 o 16 est?? algo levantado por lo que si se toca la cuerda sol -G- en el traste 13 o 14 trastea un poco, pero s??lo en ese punto. Es cuesti??n de limarlo un poco. En cualquier caso tocando m??sica folk generalmente no voy m??s abajo del traste 10 ;-)
El acabado es el que se podr??a esperar de un instrumento de este precio, pero realmente no es algo que me preocupe mucho. De hecho no me preocupa nada si el instrumento suena bien y se toca bien.

Mi experiencia en vivo con ??l ha sido satisfactoria cuando lo he usado amplificado. No lo he sometido a gran stress o condiciones extremas por lo que no s?? lo que durar??a en tales circunstancias. D??ndole un uso normal no veo porqu?? no habr??a de durarme toda la vida...
Es mi ??nico bajo ac??stico y toc??ndolo en vivo s??lo de manera esporadica no creo que necesite uno de repuesto. Posiblemente adquiera un contrabajo en breve y entonces llevar?? este de repuesto.

No he necesitado utilizar la garant??a. Por otra parte creo que Thomann no suele tener grandes problemas en este sentido. Me reservo la opini??n.

Llevo tocando m??s de 20 a??os, casi siempre como guitarrista. Es desde hace unos a??os que empec?? como bajista. Si se me perdieran o me lo robaran, me dar??a much??sima pena y al d??a siguiente pedir??a otro igual para reemplazarlo, esta vez en color 'natural'.
Lo que m??s me gusta de este instrumento es que por el precio es una verdadera ganga, cumple su funci??n perfectamente a precio de risa.

Mine is the 4-string natural coloured version. Other features are the same as described before.

I'm a keyboard and guitarplyayer and this is my first and only bass, which means I'don't have much comparison. But as I've played with different bass players in different Rock- and Unplugged Rock-bands I think I have some imagination how an acoustic bass should sound.
The unplugged sound is really ok but not loud enough (especially in the lowest octave) to compete with a strummed acoustic guitar, but I think this is a problem inherent to acoustic basses. I'm using Pyramid Acoustic Bass Bronze strings, which give nice trebles to the sound.
Plugged in a mixer or keyboard amp with flat onboard EQ the sound is very impressive and warm. The e-string on the first few frets is somewhat louder than the others, but it's easy to control with the onboard EQ.
The 4-band EQ gives access to a wide variety of sounds. The preamp is really quiet if you don't use too much EQ-boost.
Feedback senstivity in my opinion is low, I can play it pretty loud in the studio, but I don't have any experience with it on stage.

This beeing my first bass I can't compare it to others action-wise, but it's easy for me to play it (no buzz), so I think setup is ok.
Compared to my lakewood acoustic the finish is a 6, compared to the price it's a 9. The only thing to complain is that they seem to use way to rough sanding paper when doing the final (the only ?) sanding of the bod before putting the finish on. This leaves scratches in the wood below the finish, but you have to lock close to recognize them and I think it's no big deal.
Everything else fits very nice (neck, tuners (smooth), etc.).
What you have to take into consideration is the very !! huge body of this bass, which can make comfortable playing difficult (nevertheless for me it's ok)

It is heavy and made of laminted wood. Everything seems to be rigid. The tuners work smooth and seem to last.
The preamp/EQ maybe is not as sold as the rest, but - look at the price.
I now have this bass for 6 months (no problems) and I'm using it only at home, but I think that it could stand gigging very well.

No experience.

This is my first bass, but playing keyboards for 25 years and guitar (acoustic and electric) for 20 years I know what I expect from a musical instrument.
The resason why I choose this bass was the price and the positive reviews on this site. I have to admit, that I'm not disappointed at all and I would definitely buy it again if lost or stolen. There shure are better acoustic basses (for much more money, but for a hobby bass player like me this one is very, very good.

Matt Finish, spruce top, Mahogany back, sides & neck
Jumbo Single cut-away body, 34? Scale 24 fret Neck
Active Pre-amp, Di-cast tuners

Sounds great, copes well with acoustic jams, and retains a good acoustic sound when plugged in, the sound is very double bass like especially after I changed the strings to flat wound, as the finger noise on round wounds is annoying. This is definitely the best acoustic bass I?ve ever played, anf I?ve play a lot of expensive models as well as the joke cheap ones.

The finish on the bass is very good, but you have to be careful with any matt finish as they are more easily damaged and don?t like being polished with chemicals. But the up side is the acoustic sound is much sweeter as the wood can resonate better without being painted in thick plastic lacquer. As with the others here the bass was set up incredibly well, much better then any bass I?ve tried in the music stores.

Everything is very solid, just watch that matt finish

The guy I bought it off is brilliant, and the bass comes with a 3 year manufactures warranty

I?ve been playing for 20 years and have lots of guitars and high end stuff, this will be my forth acoustic bass and the best by far it?s a keeper, if you are reading this chances are you are thinking of buying one, I can highly recommend the ones from Benton Music as he seems to set them up etc himself, and really knows what he is doing. It?s my best bargain bit of kit to date!

A lot of the technical info has already been given.

I bought my bass from the same guy on ebay.

I am just getting back into playing, after a break of over 20 years. I wanted a bass that would be versatile, able to play Jazz, Blues, Rock and Folk.

I would echo the comments made about the accoustic capabilities of this guitar. Do not bother buying a practice amp to use with this guitar you would be wasting your money.

One word of caution - this guitar is big - very big - almost Chello size. I am about six foot one tall and have to wrap myself round the guitar to play it seated - a small person may experience difficulty with its sheer physical size. So ask yourself am I big enough - I would suggest going to your local music shop and trying the largest accoustic "jumbo" guitar they have, before buying this guitar. Its overall length is 50 inches and it is nearly 20 inches across at the bridge and it is over 4 inches deep.

For a new price of ?179 plus p&p off ebay it was an absolute snip.

Once again mine also played straight out of the box. I have never come across such a perfect Bass.

As said it is loud in accoustic mode - drowns out a friend's Musicmaster.
The sound is rich and natural like that of a double bass.
In accoustic mode a reasonable sustain can be acieved allowing notes to be bent.

Features as in other review, the only thing to add is this is a full sized acoustic bass, bigger and louder than any other I?ve played and was made in Korea 2004.

Sound wise this bass sounds brilliant both unplugged and amplified, Unplugged it?s louder than any other acoustic bass I?ve played, including my Fender and has a really nice woody sound, plugged in it still sounds acoustic which is what you want, the onboard EQ is pretty basic but it?s all you need to tweak your sound. I?ve been using the bass mainly for acoustic jamming sessions and it?s great for a bit of impromptu song writing, I?m also using it live for the acoustic spot and the more jazzy tracks as it does sound a bit like an upright if you reduce the treble and presence controls.

I bought the bass from ebay and the guy sets them up so it played perfectly out of the box, it was even in tune!, action was spot on, low but just high enough to preserve the tone, the finish was excellent, and the playability is great again better than my fender, generally the bass feels and sounds like a much more expensive instrument.

Everything seems solid, but this is an acoustic instrument so you have to take case of it.

2 year warranty and the seller was an absolute star, and was extremely helpful; I wish I could get this kind of service locally.

I?ve been gigging for around 5 years and I have an acoustic Fender already but wasn?t really happy with it and bought this bass on impulse after reading other comments from buyers on ebay, I didn?t expect that much but I was really surprised when I opened the box, I just loved everything about it, the cool black finish the playability and tone, it was so much better than my Fender (which I?m now selling), if it were stolen I?d certainly buy another, if your looking fior an acoustic bass you really can?t go wrong with this one.

Features:
Single cut-away body
Solid spruce top
Mahogany back, sides & neck
24 fret rosewood fingerboard
86cn Scale
Active Pre-amp system with Volume & EQ sliders
sealed tuners

OK this is a recent model so probably made 2004; it was made in the Saein Musical Instrument factory where they make OME instruments for most of the big name brands, but of course you pay a lot more for the name on the headstock.

I played quite a few before buying this bass, and all of them were more expensive, in some case a lot more expensive, so I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of this bass, it?s really rounded and woody when played acoustically, and even better plugged in due to the decent pre-map and EQ controls, It was also well set up and played right out of the box, all I had to do was tune it up!

I?ve not used it on stage yet, as I bought it for practicing on and the out door barbie jam sessions, and it sounds great, I?ve also used it for recording and it is an extremely versatile bass, I?m thinkming of buying another and putting flat wound strings on for a real jazz like tone.

as I said it played right out of the box with no nee for a set up at all, it?s got a black gloss finish which looks really great, and I get lots of people asking me about the bass, I really can?t fault this section at all, but I don?t give anything a 10 so it gets a 9.5

It?s as solid as a rock, it?s has lots of action out doors and at parties and apart from greasy finger marks it?s unscratched,I think it's going to last a long time, but I must get a hardcase at some point.

The guy I bought it off is a dealer in the UK, he checks each instrument personally before it goes out, which might explain the perfect set up, he was extremely friendly and answered my emails with in a few hours, both before and after the sale.

I?ve been playing bass for around 10 years now, and I?ve built up quite a collection of Fender and Musicman models, if this one were stolen I?d buy 2 more, as I said I played quite a few before taking the plunge with this one, and a friend of mine bought a similar looking bass called a Wesley for around the same money and that really doesn?t come close in trems of quality, playability, finish or sound, I think these guys got it right and I can?t fault this baby at all, I recommended it to anybody looking for a bargin.