Harley Benton B-550 Black Progressive Series 4-stars Reviews

Very satisfied

We really love this bass. Looks really cool!

İ recommend it!

142 euros for 5-string bass - what can possibly go wrong?

Actualy nothing. First of all - what do you want if it's price is half (or more) lower than similar models by other companies? A miracle? Nice try, but it doent's work like that. BUT. Harley Benton low-cost-series is an affordable chance for guys from Easter Europe like me to try any tipe of instruments before buying something that worth 2 of my monthly salaries (hello 500 euros per month). And i really glad that i had such a chance: i realised that 5-string a not convinient for me and 135-th string on 34' is just doesn't work properly and even in theory can not have proper tension for B-note and not being a spaghetti. Why does people still doing this in 2021 is a great mystery for me. About miracle: everything in bass was good, except of one problem - the screw protruded from the one of pickups by 3-4 millimeters and there was no way to tighten the screw. What about sound - bass sounds good.

Conclusion: this bass is a good chance to try the combination of things that you want to find in the future. Actualy it's good by itself, but i 'm not a guy from youtube who can say "Holy *****, HB making unbelievably cool stuff for THIS money". Maybe i'm just not lucky enough and actually the phrase above is true in 99%, but in my case it's not. Anyway it just works properly and i'm fine with it.

Greetings from Russia, sorry for bad english. Have a nice day btw

If you are looking for your first bass, look no further.

I record my own music at home, and having a few guitars already, I decided to give basses a chance.

And I could not have asked for a better first contact.

This bass plays nicely. The action is a bit on the high side for me, as it has to acommodate that low 5th string, but it feels very good to play with. No sharp frets, stays in tune, and the neck feels very smooth.

Sound wise, phenomenal. It can get a bit muddy on the 5th string if u start cranking up some distortion, but nothing that trimming the low frequencies with the eq knob in the bass can't fix.

Also, did I mention you can mix both pickups while also tweaking the bass and treble for a huge variety of tones BEFORE actually getting to any amps or pedals?

To end the review, I'll talk about the body of the bass itself. It looks beautifully and it's properly balanced, so you won't have to worry about any neck dive while playing it.

Overall, a VERY solid bass ready for anything you need.

Great bass! more like a 4.5

It has good strings on it on arrival, and it is set up pretty good.

It could be set up a little better but nothing like a little neck adjustment will fix.

The intonation is great and the feel is fantastic.

I got this to be my first five string bass and I love it so much as that.

I would have liked to give it 4.5 but because of the cons I could not give it a 5 just cause to be a 5 is perfect, but I think it is simply amazing for the price, as you will never get this quality or sound or anything that this bass has to offer in the price range anywhere else!

use: I would use this as a bass to either start learning, as a first 5 string, a backup bass, or even a main bass as I use it now.

Pros: good sound, battery included! good set up, good strings, feel.

Cons: the neck was a bit back bowed.

Ridiculous value

I've always been a four string bass player, but when I saw the price on the new Harley Benton Progressive Series I just couldn't help myself. I just had to try this thing out.

Setup wise, this bass came in with a way too tight neck and way too low setting. Literally the only thing you could hear was fret buzz. After adjusting the neck and the bridge (and putting some Rotosounds on it), there was not much too complain left. Sure, the frets could have been shaved a bit cleaner, and I really don't understand why the fret board extends way over the highest fret, but at this stage, that's just nitpicking.

Sound wise, I was very impressed. Although the factory strings are pretty bad, after I put some Rotosounds on it, I couldn't be more surprised. The active circuit combined with the two humbuckers is gnarly in the mids, the B string sounds awesome, and overall you have a pretty wide array of tonal options.

Conclusion: after a simple setup and some new strings, this is just ridiculous value. A five string that sounds good for EUR 149,-?! Sign me up!

a balanced and well made electric bass

Nice instrument but...

The most important thing that you need to play lot with tones until it sound right but its still good very good for begginers :)