Harley Benton B-650 Black Progressive Series Reviews

Almost perfect

The build quality is amazing and unrivaled by price. The overall sound is very good although less pronounced in the upper register. The only real problems I have are how high up the neck humbucker is making it more difficult for my style of slap technique and the active/passive volume knob being where my hand usually sits for fingerstyle and slap, abruptly muting the instrument while playing.

AWESOME

Top quality guitar for a very small amount of money

My go to instrument

My god, this was love at first touch. 9 years ago, I bought it out of total need for an instrument. I was going to live abroad for 4 months away from my family and I needed comfort. I had been playing bass for many years but I had to leave my instruments back home. So, I bought this just to try 6 strings and to keep me playing. Long story short, it felt right all from the beginning. I have used it on gigs and on recordings and it both handles great and sounds good. If you want to broaden the note range of your playing, this is the best tool to try it and experience. You might not have to buy a more expensive one later on.

Made it my main bass

It's a solid bass griff, not esy to handle but it'perfect if you can handle it. Can't play in a straight-up possition but as a chord-jazz or funk bass. Heavy weight and full of garmony, like a piano.great finish, perfect condition. Fully recomend for medium-professional players!

Perfect quality for this money

It was one of those moments that I act sudden while buying it and it worths. Perfect guitar. It is recommended to change strings as soon as possible because stock ones doesn't have good sound. I am looking forward to play it in gigs.

There is a lovely bass inside this bass waiting to get out!

Initially too heavy, neck dive, (Neck is lovely) but guitar is not balanced.. Frustrating but Cheap. In fact cheap enough to totally remodel (bespoke) to fit me. It took a couple of weeks of very obsessive work, I sanded it down, did a bit of fretwork, removed some of the body and headstock by stylishly reshaping it. Now I can get to all the fret positions available, belly cut - fits as snug as a bug, very beautifully balanced, no neck dive what-so-ever. I kept the pickups but replaced the electronics with something "really nice" and now I love it and so does my back. (I would never let it go) Plays like a dream. It is my "Special Bass" and I feel like a plastic surgeon. Great project.

Couldn't be better!

Plays great, sounds great, stays in tune, no sharp frets, actually impressed, good job guys.

Remarkably well made but had to return

This 6 string bass is remarkably well made considering its price tag of only € 199,-. Stable and smooth neck with a natural feeling fretboard. Decent frets, proper intonation and string spacing and reliable tuners. The push/pull volume knob seconds as a passive/active selector. Next are balancing, trebble and bass. Nice black finish and chrome hardware. Its sound is decent, covering my basic needs. This is my first six string bass and having played only 4 string basses it does take a while to get used to the much wider fretboard but it gave me great pleasure getting there in a few weeks. I would recommend this as a low budget 6-string practice bass guitar, however:

The rear control cavity cover is made of flimsy plastic and does not stay flush. One extra screw would have prevented that. The bass knob was whobbling and cracking indicating bad installation and quality control. After a few weeks it failed to produce any sound. This should not have been shipped. I have enquired for a repair and/or return.

Features: Four stars, five if it had all worked fine.

Sound: Three stars, I would have liked a little more high freq but this bass is definately not boomy

Quality: 3 stars, as aforementioned. The rear cover is cheaply made and the installation of the knobs leaves to be desired. I would with no doubt give 4 stars if it worked properly and 5 with a proper cover.

Excellent, if considering price

Features. Very feature-rich bass guitar (perhaps, even too rich). There are a lots of possibilities to tweak the sound, but the resulting sound is not always usable. Still, works well, considering the fact, it is the cheapest 6-string bass in the universe.

Sound. Quite typical for this kind of instruments, a bit muddy, but OK.

Playability. Very comfortable neck, all good. Has a tendency of neck dive, but this is typical for 6 string basses. Sustain - very good. Tuners and tuning stability - excellent.

Quality. Mine was very well-finished, but needed some fretwork - many of frets were set in a bit different level, so, caused buzz in several places, but fixed easily by fret file. Potentiometers are mostly OK, the only issue I had is loud pop sound when switching between active and passive modes (not a problem, but should remember about this).

Beautiful budget 6 string

Bought this a few weeks ago and it works perfectly, tone is considerably versatile and the active EQ gives a lot of control considering the restrictions.

Would recommend

Good for first time 6-Stringers

If you want to try 6 string bass for extended range, this is the best bass you may find for affordable price on the market.

pros;

cheaper price, good quality tone & built.

cons;

heavy, narrow string spacing and its difficult to reach upper frets because of the horn.

In conclusion; if you want to experience 6 string bass but dont want to spend too much money ,that's it!

It has nice tone shape but too heavy for using on live gigs. At home for recording probably the best value/money bass.

Very good affordable 6 string bass

The general construction and sound of this instrument is very good considering the price. The bass is well setup and is easy to play. There is only a little bit of fret sprout (sharp fret ends).

Excellent value for money

I never realised you could get a 6-string bass this cheap. And I certainly never imagined you’d get a bass this cheap with this level of quality.

The bass sounds good, and has a great feel and build quality. It feels like a much more expensive bass. It makes a great beginner 6-string. Although to be honest I feel like I’d need to be playing 6-string a lot before I’d be able to justify spending considerably more money on the next level up.

The bass arrived needing a complete setup: one of the truss rods was way too tight, and the action could not physically have been higher. But these are fairly minor adjustments, which you’d likely want to do on any new bass.

Overall I’m extremely pleased with my bass, and would recommend anyone new to 6-strings to try this out.

Buy it for gift

Good sound

An absolute unit.

This thing is beastly, heavy, and great for tuning down to A or lower.

Stays in tune very well.

The only downside is I have an unavoidable fret buzz on the low B string while using the 2nd fret only. Unsure if that's due to fret leveling, but even with trying to set it up differently it was still unavoidable which is kind of a bummer.

Pickups are okay, I would probably change them at some point but they get the job done well enough running through DSP Parallax.

Mainly use it for metal, and downtuned projects.

Not too much of a fan of the neck wood, it's pretty dry and something with the texture of it, but it's a budget guitar and definitely worth your money despite the small little opinion nit picks.

great bang for the buck

Bought this to test the waters in the 6 string world. For the price the build quity is great and has decent pickups and electronics. Not disappointed with the sound I get from it.

Best Value to Money 6 strings bass guitar

Best Value to Money 6 strings bass guitar

Great extended range bass for the money

I've played this instrument for years, toured with it and abused it, and it's still rocking.

Best bass for the money

Perfect for what I need it for, prog metal. The pickups sound loud and clear. Most importantly though, the thin neck makes it very easy for someone with really short fingers to play comfortably.

Met My Expectations And More

I studied the YouTube videos with the greatest fear it being damaged in shipping but that was only one guy -and mine came to Canada in mint, perfect condition. You have to expect to set the relief, action and intonation but it played actually pretty good, right out of the box. 12th fret intonation off big-time, but easily remedied. The EQ can be a bit boomy, but pan back to the bridge humbucker with the bass off and you can get a Jaco midrange. Using pedals you can get it all and more if desired. Neck flat and straight, adjust the low B where you want it and set all string action as well, the flat fingerboard doesn’t have the Fender bump radius so you can go low. I like this bass so much, I’m having one of Canada’s top luthier do a PLEK on the frets, if it indeed even needs it. Put Dunlop strap locks on it with a Levi wide leather strap and you have dream bass.

Lastly check out the YT video on the B-650 by BassTheWorld running 6:41- that review gave me the confidence to make the purchase. Very glad, I did.