HBZ-2005 Deluxe Series : Harley Benton HBZ005

Similar to other reviews I bought this bass for use in my project studio. As Ive had it a couple of weeks now i thought i would post this small review.

I am not a bass player but wanted an instrument that would suit my needs as a general all round bass to make my bass lines 'live' rather than programmed.

I have been lucky to play some expensive instruments in my time and i am very surprised that this is not more expensive.

It is a heavy bass but as i'm sat down to play most of the time so this is not a real issue for me but may be for someone who is going to gig with it. Tonally it has done what i've asked from it in a variety of styles from country to classic rock etc.

My only niggles with it are some of the upper frets required a small amount of dressing as they were quite rough, again no real problem especially at this price point. No thumb rest, the pickups are quite shallow and i require something a little more substantial to rest my thumb on as i tend to play mainly with my fingers rather than a pick and the supplied battery, required for the active controls, did not last very long, i do unplug at the end of a session!. This may be a worry to someone who has not used active controls before suddenly finding their output to be very quiet and distorted. I would thoroghly recommend this bass, may get the fretless one later, its even cheaper!!