Harley Benton B-650 Black Progressive Series 5-stars Reviews

Impressive Deal

this bass as good as some 280 - 350 Euro bass guitars , no joke

i couldn't believe it when i open the box that i just pay 179 euro for such fine instrument along with gig-bag and cable , lets go through everything : tuners is stable and roll nicely and not lousy or hard also stays in tune , the neck smooth stained maple back with a black walnut fret-board which i try for the first time it feels like some where between to warmth of rose wood and the smoothness Ebony , frets edged and finished nicely , body is strong solid gloss black no dents or bad finish paint , awesome shape and side curves that made according to your arms position specification for better play-ability , the wiring cavity is isolated and all wiring is highly pro job with the 500k knobs and active mode convertor to 250k for better sound integrity , pickups sounds really good rich , punchy mid, sharp treble and strong low end , bottom line is you pay that few money for such bass .. its a 5 stars deal, Bravo Harley Benton , the bass arrived with low action neck setup and tuned already this bass can handle low action setup with no frets buzz or any problem

You'd think it was three times the price!

I bought this on a whim as it was so cheap and wanted a six-string to play around with. It easily could pass for a bass around the 5-600 price mark. Would I use it as my main bass? Probably not, but as a backup or a first try on a six-string it's a no brainer.

Unbelievable for the price

Personally i could not have asked for a better bass at this price. Sure it may not look super cool and my neck got a scratched quite quickly, but remember the price.

The sound is also very good in my opinion. It is probably a bit too strong for some genres due to the very hot pickups and may not be for everyone, but replacing pickups is easy anyway if you really do not like them.

Overall it is unbeatable in this price range.

Great Six String Bass

Very well put together bass feels very nice to play. it arrived pretty much set up to how i like it with a low action, there is very little buzzing on the b string but you can't hear this through the amp. the push pull function for the active/passive pups works well though the drop in sound is very minor, which is great. The bass is pretty light and and doesn't become uncomfortable with prolonged use. I recommend this bass if you are looking for a six string.

Couldn't be happier with this purchase

You do not expect much for such a low price. Long story short I really wanted a six string bass for the fun of it but didn't feel like spending much at all.

From the time I first opened the package this bass was nothing but a pleasant surprise. The thin neck suits me very well (I'm a guitarist) and plays very comfortably and fast. The whole bass is not heavy at all and sits comfortably. The fretwork could obviously be better being a budget instrument, however in my case it doesn't affect the performance and the only sharp ends I found are on the bass side close to the body (20-24). As far as sound goes this thing has it all. With the easy to control electronics I can get both a soothing buttery tone for the solo play as well as a punchy heavy metal tone.

I've had this bass for over a year now and it has been one of the most fun instruments I have ever played. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a really good entry point for a newcomer to basses or a casual player.

Great Value for money

Great value for money. I can't believe you can get such a decent 6 string bass at this price. I'm very happy with it. Sounds great and the neck feels comfortable and nice. It looks good too. I love the inlays on it.

I'm Glad I Did!

I bought this bass on impulse, as I wanted to get back into 6 string bass playing, but didn't have a lot of money to spend. Ordinarily I would have investigated in depth spoken to people that owned one, and definitely demoed one! That wasn't the case here, I'd never heard of Harley Benton before, I didn't know anyone that owned one, and going to Germany to try one out wasn't really on the cards at the time, so I closed my eyes and pressed "checkout". A few days later my bass lay waiting for me when I got home. I was very pleasantly surprised, the first thing you notice is how good it looks, it's not too heavy, and how well put together it is. When I first connected up to my practice amp even the tone straight out of the box was usable, and it it didn't take much to dial in the sound I was looking for with no annoying electrical hum from the active electronics.

I have gigged this bass quite a bit, and it has never let me down, so if you're working to a tight budget, but don't want to sacrifice quality or features I would wholeheartedly recommend the Progressive Series range of basses.

A great bass

The yin of this instrument is the work the chinese craft people put into this instrument,the yang is the journey of elightenment to really enjoy this bass at its best.

It is best tuned in a c tuning without the low b and then you can get tritones ,third,fourths and triads all with perfect intonation ....find your tuning, grasshopper and the secret sound will be yours....tzu lao

Awesome

The bass is really good at all, the pickups do their work, the neck is really solid that is necessary in a 6 strings bass, tuners are perfect: I bought it few moths ago and i tuned it just one or two times. Harley Benton did a really good work also with the disign that is aggressive and elegant at the same time. Such a good bass for that prize should be Illegal!! I suggest it to all people who wants to try something new.

Much more than perfect for this price!

I just wanted to try something new for me, so I decided to buy a 6-string-bass. I was pretty surprised by a quality of this product. Sound, ergonomics, look. Everything made me to fall in love with this amazing instrument. I have already used it in my records and brought it to my concert. Six string made some difference, because it's a bigger field for imrovising with solos etc.

Totally recommend to start with this bass.

You can't beat the price!

Very good bass for the price. Couldn't get used to the extra strings, so I sold the bass to one of my friends. He loves it! If u wanna try out some more strings on the bass before reaching deep in your pockets, this bass is for you.

WOW!!!!

Great guitar for the price!!!

Value for money and much more!

In my opinion it is an excellent bass for messing up with the six strings and see if you really like these extra notes. It has very good construction and for this price price you cannot ask anything more! Really happy to have it. Maybe in the future I will change strings and pick ups for better sound!

Great 6 string bass guitar

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and have owned a few basses over those years, some good, some expensive and some nasty. I'd been checking out youtube reviews of Harley Benton guitars for a week or so but hadn't seen anything for this bass.

After some thought I decided to gamble on buying a bass that I couldn't find reviews for, and also just generally buying a musical instrument online. This bass is fantastic and the setup, action and intonation were almost spot on.

Build quality, including the electrics looks good (I've taken the inspection cover off and checked everything).

I'm very pleased, in fact so happy that I've already ordered 2 other guitars!

A great bass and for this price just utterly amazing

I picked this bass up a few weeks ago after joining a Prog/Metal band and finding myself in need of an instrument with a low-B string. Previously I’ve always played 4-strings (A Maruszczyk Elwood X is my main bass) and so this was a big change for me.

In terms of build quality the bass is very good. There are a few rough edges, such as the finish on the bottom edge of the fret-board and a couple of scuffs on the hardware, but nothing you’d notice without going and really looking for it.

The electronics are very impressive given the price of the bass. The EQ is usable, with a good range of +/- on all three pots. It’s easy to get a good tone that cuts through the mix even when playing along with a couple of noisy metal guitarists. The passive sound is also very nice, perhaps the best of the lot. The only issue is that there is a loud ‘pop’ when swapping between passive and active modes so it is not easy to use the active as a means of boosting volume / altering tone mid-song unless you can get away with muting the bass for a moment first.

Despite being a six-string the bass is very manageable with good ergonomics. The neck is a kind of D shape with a noticeable flattened section on the back. It does get chunky toward the body of the bass, but it never feels un-manageable. The fret-board has a very flat radius - it feels almost like playing on a classical guitar – which took some getting used to, but it works well and lends itself to fast runs and string-bending with ease.

I did find the bridge to be a bit of a problem. The saddles sit too tightly in the ‘monorail’ slots and so adjusting the intonation was a nightmare. I had to use a spanner to lever the saddles to get them to move, which resulted in a lot of trial and error and over-adjustment before I finally got the thing intonated properly. This job would normally take me ~5 mins on my expensive basses, and I would estimate it took around 2 hours with this one. However, it’s not something you’ll need to mess with much once set so it’s far from a deal breaker. Just be prepared to really work to get the bass properly in tune.

In terms of sound, the bass is pretty nice. I have it running into an Ampeg Portaflex-500 & 4x10 and it sounds good. With the active pre-amp on there is a lot of growl, and an almost Warwick like tone. It works well for the kind of heavy music I use the bass for, however, I doubt I would be very impressed if I wanted to play smooth Jazz on it. By contrast, when set to passive mode the bass is tamed a lot, and has a much smoother voice that works fine for mellower styles of music, even if it does lack a little articulation.

A final point to mention is that the weight of the bass is really great. While heavier than my four-strings I’ve not had any issues using it for long periods. Twice I’ve taken it to a band practice where I’ve had it around my neck for just shy of 4 hours without fatigue or discomfort. Pretty impressive given that it is a six-string made on a budget.

In conclusion I would really recommend this bass to anyone looking to try out a six-string for the first time, or perhaps who just fancies something a bit different to mess around with on occasion. If I was going to play six-string more frequently (at present I use it only for a couple of songs in our set-list) I’d probably consider upgrading to something a little bit more fancy, but for what I need now this bass is great and the value for money is utterly astounding.

Fantastic bass

This is a superb bass for this price. It plays exceptionally well and has a fantastically playable neck. The electronics produce a nice warm signal too, so all.

More Detail:

The finis on the bass is quite high, although it is clear when you look closely that this is a budget instrument. The visual impact is actually quite striking and I've had more positive comments on this than I have my Fodera!

The neck is very pleasing for a 6 and is easy to manoeuvre over all the strings. The rest are well finished and levelled well enough of a surprisingly low action if needed.

The electronics are probably the weakest area, but would be quick win of an upgrade post purchase i you wanted. You can get some pleasing tone from the preamp, but the bass boost and cut is a little to wooly for my liking. Although it's still usable enough that I haven't swapped out or upgraded yet! I just feel that an upgrade could provide more focus in the low end. Having said that, the B string is surprisingly good with nice tension and clarity in the lower notes.

Overall a fantastic bass that you''s struggle to be disappointed with tat this price point! Incredible value.

Very good six string, very good price.

I bought this on a whim, thinking it'd be "Awrite" and a bit "quirky". When I recieved it though, I was delighted to find that it was not a cheap and nasty bass, but a cheap and well made bass.

It has a great feeling neck, very smooth. The tuners stay in tune quite well, but the main show is the pickups. They deliver a rich tone, and are very versatile. You can easily get a trebbely Jazz tone using the bridge pickup on passive setting. THen change over to a deep and warm tone with the active system aswell.

All in all this is a great bass at an incrediable price, I'd reccomend it to anyone that is looking for a 6 string, on a budget.

Amazing what you get for the money

I needed a 5 string bass but seeing the price difference of adding a 6th string I just went for the 6 stringed version.

I truly love have nice it is to play on and the sound is quite good to.

Just a few adjustment of the bridge was needed intone was also good

The main purpose of buying this bass was for recording and it grate for that

Harley Benton B-650 Black

this is an instrument i am sort of familiar with .

i bought a five string version of this guitar six months ago ..and thought that it was a great instrument ..and am very happy with that .. i didn't really think that there would be any difference between then.. and i was right .. yes you have a low B .. but now i have the high c .. makes a difference when your writing songs and the ability to scale high down to low when your improvising .. has a greater range ..obviously you may say : )

but the cost is a huge appealing factor hear .. cheap budget poor quality instrument here is not the case .

this like all the harley benton range are superbly constructed ..well balanced ...reliable look good .. feel good ... and definitely sound good .. because you'd have to be a bit silly to buy one ..ie five string .. then a six string ..

i guess because i had the confidence knowing it would deliver .

the active pre amp makes it very responsive to all style of playing ..

weather finger style or plectrum .. in fact it makes it easier .

like i said it feels great to hold ..and for a six string neck i was very surprised to see and feel how easy it was still was to play .

All the hardware is robust ..

the tuning keys are very precise .

the neck is a very easy feeling to it .. this eases play .

It can also be used passive or active ..which is handy adding a wider variety of sounds .

the bolt on neck i particular like ..the rigidity enhances the sustain through the body .

the paintwork is of a high standard ..and looks up there with some of the more expensive guitars ..

I don't really have any negative comments on this instrument really .

i am happy with this guitar as i was happy with the previous ..

a very reasonable price ..

great for gigging ..recording .. a great all rounder .

i have no regrets ..and would easily and happily recommend this guitar to anyone .

another great priced instrument from H B .

three basses i have from H B and impressed with all of them at a great price as well ..

hope this gives you some insight to low end priced bass guitars .

i'm happy with mine ..

thank you harley benton : )