Harley Benton B-550 White Progressive Series Reviews

good

I've had it for around 1.5 months at the time of writing this review. It came set up well. I only had to fix the intonation on the highest string. Fret ends were not sharp either. Guitar stays in tune well. Not a lot of fret buzz even with a very low action. I don't see any problems with it except that there is a slight rumbling noise coming from inside the body when plucking open strings hard, possibly something loose but not that bothersome and it doesn't get picked up by the pickups. The neck is nice and thin. The guitar is very light and well balanced, no neck dive or anything like that. The bass and treble controls still work even when the preamp is bypassed, which is a bit unusual. When played in passive mode, the signal is not as hot as when the preamp is engaged which is expected. As for the sound: The pickups sound a bit muddy in my opinion, I find myself boosting the treble and cutting the bass usually. Sounds good in the mix though. Overall, you can not go wrong with this guitar. It can simply not be beaten for the price you pay for it.

Amazing value for money

This is my first bass and I got it purely for recording as Im mainly a guitarist so I didnt want to bust the bank and what a decision it was. Bass came very well set up, neck was perfect and it sounds great. Only downside are the small gaps at the neck pocket but for the price you really cant complain

Good, but not great

You will notice right away that this is a budget bass, the pickups are a little muddy. If you wanna get a clear sound especially on the low B string, You are gonna want to get a new pickup. also the frets are not well filed off, so they're a little sharp which is the case on a lot of budget basses. Other than that it's a fun bass I would recommend it, and if you are going for a higher quality sound just get a new pickup and you'll be solid.

Amazing quality for the price

I bought this bass as I am building my own small studio at home, and I obviously want to be able to record whatever without depending on nothing or anybody whenever I want to.

The bass came perfectly packed, ordered on Thursday/Friday (can't remember exactly) and was at my place by Monday, amazing as always.

In general the quality of the build was almost perfect, only 2 small imperfections:

1. The jack plate wasn't perfectly centered on the side of the body, risulting in the plate itself popping out of a mm or 2 from the top of the body.

2. The fretboard was rather dry, and you could clearly feel it by touch and just by looking at it.

It has to be said that these are details that do not compromise the sound of the instrument in any way whatsoever, therefore I didn't and still don't care.

Especially considered the fact that everything else, such as the finish of the body, frets and related edges, neck finish, pickup alignment, headstock design, all absolutely perfect, completely spot on.

Furthermore the instrument feels extremely balanced and comfortable, not too heavy at all, and very very nice to play with a great sustain I must say.

Once hooked up to an amp, the sound is very pleasant, full and rich in dynamics. The different controls give a great aid in shaping the sound according to one's liking, and allow the instrument to be played in several genres of music, from metal to blues, rock, pop, maybe even jazz.

I must say I am totally blown away by this instrument, considering what I have paid for it, and considering that for any other brand, to get something that sounds like this, I would have had to spend at least 3 times the price.

Definitely recommended to anyone who needs a great bass and is on a budget, or to any player looking to approach a 5 string for the first time.

Solid all round versatile bass

For this price, it is near impossible to find a better bass guitar. Active pickups can be turned on and there are multiple tone knobs so you get the tone you need.

A great Bass all around!

I bought this as my first Bass after playing Guitar for 10 years and it exceeded my expectations.

First of all, the built quality is great! The bass looks great and has no chipped paint at all, not even around the screw holes which is often a problem with more affordable guitars in general. All the Hardware sits nice and fit on the body and does its job well.

The Neck looks very nice and feels great to play. The fretboard is nice to move around on and the frets themselves are even and don't have any sharp edged.

More importantly, about the sound. Its great!

A very nice, warm sound and thanks to the active circuit a lot of different tones are achievable. The pickups do their job well, but in instruments in this price range a pickup change could enhance the sound some more.

I can't name a single complain and a few of my bass playing friends didn't have any either.

I can recommend this Bass to everyone who wants a great beginner instrument or a first try at a 5 String Bass.

Fantastic for the price!

This is a fantastic bass for the price. It is lightweight and has a solid construction. I didn't find any problems with quality control, so on that front it was all good. The only thing I'd do would be to upgrade the pickups, but that said, the stock pickups are decent enough and that is something that can be done later on down the line. You get a decent sound from it, and I would definitely buy another one again in the future if I needed.

Good budget bass - after modifications

I?ve been a bass player for many years but have always stuck to ?name? brands (Precision, Gibson Thunderbird, Rickenbacker etc).

Having never played 5-string I didn?t want to spend loads of money on something I may not take to, so thought this bass was cheap enough to try.

I am not going to go into great detail about this bass as most of the relevant points have been made by Howard who reviewed the black version, but some points are worth expanding on.

Firstly, on initial connection, the sound was very distorted and scratchy until I found that all the controls were loose. The strings are not very good, but this is easily remedied. The biggest flaw is the battery ? as has been said elsewhere, the battery is always live even with the jack cable removed. This is because the active circuitry needs to be earthed. However, the solution is easier than fitting a toggle switch. On removing the back plate, I found that the negative side of the battery was connected to the jack socket as normal. I also found that the earth lead (yellow in my case) from the active circuitry was also connected to the socket. A little solder work to remove the yellow cable from the socket and connect it to the earth side of the volume pot fixed the problem in 2 minutes.

On the plus side the bass is a comfortable weight and well distributed (although I?m not particularly keen on the quirky chamfered body shape). I also like the idea of the push/pull volume pot to switch between active and passive ? although, if there was some LED indication of battery state you would never need to go passive!

All in all, this is a very usable bass after some modifications and I consider it to be reasonable value for money.

Good For Learning 5 String

I bought this as I wanted to give string a go but without paying the amount of a mortgage at the same time. This bass was a pleasant surprise. A few rough edges, little bit of fret buzz but nothing not easily fixed. I recommend this to anyone wishing to give it a shot.

Harley Benton B-550 - Modern Measure

When I bought this bass, I was stricken by the lightness of the body, it's weight is incomparable to any other 5 string I played before, plus, it has no neck-dive whatsoever, and the way it's thin neck is carved makes a combo of both comfort and playability without question.

From cleaner tones to heavier ones, this bass delivers a rich tone much due to it's peculiar humbuckers and active electronics. The hardware is very well crafted, adding to the instrument's overall positive playing experience.

The price, as far as all the features go on the Harley Benton B-550 when compared to similar instruments, is so low, that when I first bought it I was afraid I was making a mistake, clearly, that wasn't the case, as you surely realised right from the start of this text.

I used it in several gigs, rehearsals and home playing, and to add to the features I noted above, I must also refer to the tuning stability, that surprised not only me, but also my band members, especially when I didn't worry to tune this instrument before betting on stage.

Unfortunately, I already dropped it twice, once, because I knocked it over my workstation while changing strings, and again when I used an old gig-bag I had laying around and it ripped from the seam when I was getting down the stairs from my apartment, and to my surprise (again) I only dinged it slightly on the headstock the second time it fell, just a tiny scratch and a minor ding, but it did fell down a flight of stairs and landed strings down. It didn't even bent the neck or set it out of tune.

I encourage everyone to try out one of these, they are amazing!

amazing bass guitar

thought i would try this 5 string bass, i have an old fender precision, rickenbacker 4003, so didn't expect much at this price.

how suprised i was, i truly think it's equal to my other basses, it has a beautiful tone, and great depth.

i recommend this highly!