Harley Benton Beatbass VS Vintage Series

A DECENT BASS GUITAR FOR ITS PRICE

FEATURES - The guitar is a hollow body so its very light and easy to carry. But it also does neck dive due to its construction so it is better to put on a strap while playing and make sure to support the neck at all times. It also has a short scale so its easier to play especially for someone like me with small hands. It feels just like a guitar. SOUND - The sound is satisfactory especially if you want that Beatles early to mid 60's sound. The only thing is that it is not that versatile as it does not have a tone knob which limits the variety of sound that can be produced. Volume 1 adjusts the volume of the bridge pickup while Volume 2 does the neck. The bass and treble switches are also reversed as the Bass "on" controls the bridge pickup while the Treble "on" engages the neck pickup. The Rhythm/Solo switch modifies the tone - rhythm tends to be quieter, has lower tone and more bassy feel to it while solo give louder, brighter and adds mid-range to the tone. QUALITY - For its price, the quality seems to be ok as it has a nice finish and does not feel cheap at all. While testing, I initially thought there was a problem on some frets for the E string as it produced a strange sound. But later I noticed that it started to sound normal once the strings or probably the neck settled. I have to tune it initially as I received it with loose strings. I just find the action to be a bit high and would have preferred it a few millimeters lower. In conclusion, if you are on a tight budget and want a decent bass for practice or small gigs, then you may want to consider this. But if you are looking for a particular sound that warrants variety and versatility, I think it is better to look somewhere else.

My GO-TO Road Bass

Coming up on two years of ownership of my Beatbass I can give a realistic review. I use this bass almost exclusively when I play out and jam with friends. I have probably performed 75 + gigs that include many outdoor events and cruise ship onboard gigs. I also attend 2 jams a week so over the space of almost two years I have used this bass a lot.

Some observations: It is light weight, maybe 6 pounds. It is well made and durable. I use a gig bag and it gets loaded in and out a lot. So far no battle damage. It is not really a short scale bass as my last set of slinky's for short scale are a tiny bit too short. The truss rod is user friendly and every so often as the seasons and conditions change you might need to tweak the neck. No big deal.

Tone: This one has no dedicated tone knob, you have two volume pots and two on off switchs for the bridge and neck pups along with a switch that must cut your output slightly. You can get a very wide range of tone by varying the volumes and using the switches . I don't play much slap style but I do not believe IMHO that this bass is particularly suited.

Easy to play, easy to carry, looks great and lord knows it is affordable! But there have been two times I had to "fix" something. One time I lost signal. After checking everything I pulled the quarter inch jack out and there was a whisker of wire, one tiny hair width strand of signal wire grounding out against the jack. Snipped with a wire cutter the problem was solved. That took about ten minutes. The other was a volume control was getting loose and allowing the knob to twist the pot in the body of the bass, Another five minute deal.

So if you are trying to lighten up (remember loading up the SVT up two flights of stairs?) and want to have a bass you can enjoy a lot I don't know how you can beat it for the buck. Plus if you play for Boomers they all know about this bass as they grew up with it-that doesn't hurt the tip jar.

My other Basses are a Steinberger Spirit 5 string and a Hohner B-4 played through either GK 100 Combo, Fender 100 Rumble, or Acoustic 25. I also own other Harley Benton guitars, all with very good results!

Realy good bass for the price

The finish on the neck is not perfect, but nothing too important considering the price. It compares favorably in terms of sound to any major brand bass, and with a little more tweaking, you can get it to almost perfection.

Beatles tribute

This is a very good alternative to play and feel like the real Höfner,specially if you work with it professionally as a tribute act like myself.I playing on ships and deplanes aswell with it for more than 7years in a row.great choice with the flat pyramid strings.

Brilliant

Looks good and plays perfectly

Not what I expected

I have other Harley Benton basses which I love. In general I’d say Harley Benton is one of the best bass brands for the price.

This bass however was a huge let down. It is not the usual HB quality. It felt cheap and poorly made. Perhaps with modifications it would be playable but the bones of this bass aren’t really worth putting money into.

Perhaps I just got a bad one because my other HB bass is incredible.

Disclaimer: I don't consider myself an expert in instrument craftsmanship, this is just my view based on having casually owned a few guitars and basses in my life.

I am totally happy with this guitar. I have purchased a few guitars in my life new, or off the shelf at a standard guitar shop, and this is by far the best coming directly out of the box. I have not once had an issue with fret sharpness. I don't have the expertise to be able to tell if the frets are level but they look ok to me and fret buzz has been minimal.

Low points: intonation needs some work (tiny bit sharp on all strings at the 12th fret)

Tuners seem budget quality. Not too smooth turning, some inconsistency between tuners (some seem strong/more solid than others), but they're not properly rickety and no slipping I've noticed. I do have to tune up a little pretty much every use.

Pickups/sound I'm absolutely happy with. No neck issues. Mine is very straight and after a few months of ownership truss seems to be slowly becoming in need of a little loosening.

But this sounds and feels incredible. I have owned a comparable Rogue model in the past and this is a better instrument. The Rogue had some dead notes and shaky electronics. No problems like that here.

Beautiful looking bass

Plays a dream and looks even better.

Excellent guitar for young beginner

My 10 year old struggled with bass guitars and their weight but the Violin Beatbass is ideal.

The Amazing Beatbass

I couldn't be happier with this instrument. Ordered this bass and It arrived only a few days after I ordered it.. Great quality and it sounds amazing through my Spark amp.. One of my best purchases of 2022.