Product: Harley Benton HBP90BK Shortscale Bass
Price Paid: (# 46 GBP)
Submitted
09/03/2005
at
07:52am
by
James
Features
:
5
It's made by Huan Jian [says so on control cavity] So I guess it's made in China [recently] and it's a 3/4 size ,black, "P bass" without a pickguard. Umm..it's a mini P Bass copy , and how much do you SINCERELY expect for #46 or so??
It's web presence lives here: http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_harley_benton_hbp90bk_shortscale_ebass_prodinfo.html
Well, i must be a sucker for these Harley Bentons because i also have the really cheap HB strat copy,which is ok too, and I like it/them.
It has one split coil pickup which I have no blithering idea about, but, it sounds and plays better than it should at this price.
Sound
:
8
I'm a beginner at bass,although as a [rhythmic] guitarist for yaaay long
i know some bass lines and could do with a bass rather than a guitar sometimes. I have a wide range of styles in cluding both country AND western
and blues and ZZ Top,Peter Green, Hubert Sumlin plus classic Pub rock/blues. With the stock control pots she would just barely cover this type of range of sounds.
It does help that i'm playing her/it through a Korg Ax100G [large old effects unit for guitars] and can simply step on buttons to change sounds..which helps.
If i got a gig i'd play this it's my only bass.
No right to complain at this price [but i will] and this unit even sounds good to me at times, in fact i bought a pair of alnico magnets from Stewmac,and have not used them to fettle this beast with.
That's how good/reasonable it sounds.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
6
Mostly this unit was fine in most aspects except that to [almost] intonate the E and D strings i had to completely remove the springs from the bridge adjusters. By the way do ALL bass makers have a stupid height adjustment for their pickups?? having the foam is a real pain to get the pup in the right place guitarists would be crying into their PAFS or rioting if they had to adjust them like this...mind you, a lot of guitarists cant even spell pickup so I guess bassists are more ...uh, discerning.
Plays well,although the frets are a bit small[?].
Tuners,neck joint, bridge,nut and "weak" points not as weak as you'ld think and all seem well secured.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
Live Playing, maybe. As a joke.
Hardware/ all tough.
Seems fine.
What are you risking, really??
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
9
No other bass gear, except a small amp and my friends Roland KC60. [Modified Pacifica 112,Gibson "The Paul II", Fender Gemini II , Harley Benton MS11, AXL Telecaster copy, Epiphone Speciall II, Small Vox,AXL and Park amps.Zoom and korg FX units, Home built pedals and amplification malarkey.] I am the HOME of cheap gear.
Really decent little shortscale Bass, IN NO WAY PERFECT, but, reasonable and acceptable even for double the price.
