Harley Benton PB-20 BK Standard Series 4-stars Reviews

Good with some work/fun project.

Mine came with broken saddles and sharp fret ends, but somehow felt good to play. Changed the saddles for brass ones, filed down fret ends and rounded them and fretboard edges slightly, reseated a slightly lifted fret, shielded the electronics, made and installed a half degree 1mm shim, added a string tree that also held down the A string, changed the strings and gave it a setup. It's now a quiet and comfortable bass, that was fun to work on. Budget instruments have really come a long way! I used the strings that came with the bass through all the modifications, and thought they where decent enough.

Very good for beginners

I ordered this bass as a birthday present for my girlfriend who wanted to start playing, and i picked this one specifically because of how good it sounds and looks. The build quality is also solid and i should mention that it came in near perfect condition. The only drawbacks i can name are that it definitely needs some fret polishing and fine tuning if you want to get the most out of it. Overall solid beginner bass.

Can’t beat x price

I’ve spend less than $130 in improvements (pickups,bridge etc.)

and some TLC with the neck and it’s competes with $1k basses . Can’t believe it!! .

Brilliant starting bass.

I'm a guitar player at heart, but found alot of bands in need of a bass player. So I gave it a shot!

In the studio or playing it live it holds up against a Fender anyday!

Perfect for starting out and introducing you to the world of " SLAP THE BASS "

Can’t beat it for the price

It could use better pickups, the stock ones are

weak, other than that, after you give the truss rod a 1/8”-1/4” turn and buy a gig bag or case for it you’re good to go!

Great bass for the price

We got this for our friend's birthday and she really enjoys it so far. The sound quality and the playability is really nice for the price. Of course it's not flawless and doesn't produce the same sound quality as a 600 Euro bass or something, but it's still pretty solid and for her first bass, it's satisfying to use! :)

I needed a standard cheap bass to do some home studio recording and this was just the ticket. Whatever your basic needs are for recording on a DAW or if you're an aspiring bass player, this seems to tick all those boxes. The fretboard edges could do with a sand down but apart from that it was value for money.

Good for the price

Started getting into bass with this one, for the price it's really good to get into.

The sound is decent, but I know that when I really want to get into playing bass I will probably end up ordering another one in the future.

Pros: Sounds like a P-bass, plays fine, tuners hold tune and feel solid.

Cons: Electronics aren't great, a screw snapped in half when I was removing the pickguard. Neck dives a little bit, wear a strap.

Pretty good for the price. It's a P-bass.

After three months use - Very playable for the price

TLDR: Recommended for someone moving from another instrument. Great quality for the money. Output very low.

The neck quality is spot on here, no issues with frets or neck profile. The bass is very playable and sounds pretty decent. Tuning is easy and stable and intonation was pretty quick to achieve. String action is great after I lowered and intonated.

The only issue I could find with this bass is that the output is very very low. Moving the pickups closer to the strings results in the pickup screws just falling out. There doesn't seem to be a way to fix this as yet. Turning up the input on my audio interface solves the low output, but still..

Overall, for the price of this bass, I am very happy with the quality. I've been playing it now for just over three months and it certainly satisfies my needs at present for home recording. I'd definitely recommend this bass for beginners, and those moving over to bass from another instrument for the first time.

Pretty Good

For the price this bass is great. The stock strings sounded surprisingly great (that bright fresh sound), I bought this in July and they still sound pretty bright (but I haven't played it a huge amount).

At first I found that it played pretty well but after a few weeks/months I noticed the action was too high. I need to get it adjusted, it feels hard to play.

I had to get used to the weight of it because I had been using a very light Encore bass in the same price range for like a year before it (it was loaned to me). The Encore also felt much smoother to play but I'm sure after this bass gets a proper setup + new strings it will feel smooth enough.

My first Bass Guitar

I ordered the Harley Benton PB-20 as my first bass guitar. The bass guitar plus the amp I ordered came well packaged , after unboxing the guitar , a friend who is an experienced musician looked over the PB-20 and confirmed it was sent fully set up and the action be set and ready for play straight out of the box. As of now 9 months later , I have had no problems but starting to notice the sound of the strings rattling against the fret board , my musician friend will be looking at it and suggested it could be the strings need changing . It could be the action needs to be set or truss rod adjustment, which he said is normal at this 9 month period.

Great for the price

I was surprised for its quality is unmatched for its price range, top purchase.

Harley Benton PB-20 BK Standard Series

In short: unbelievable for this amount of money!

I use this bass for home recordings (i play guitar, not bass) and for this pupose it's more than good enough! Stays in tune, is easy to play or easy adjustable to your likings. Great bass to start with or like me, to be able to record a bassline casually.

Cheers;)

Good product for the price

A good product for its price for a beginner. In the initial state, you can play, but the pickups are too noisy and have a weak signal level. Frets stick out along the edge - had to be filed. I bought new active EMG pickups and I am very happy with the result, though the pickup kit cost more than the cost of the guitar itself :) Translated from Russian

Great bass for the price

If you are starting, and want a base that is reliable, and not so pricy..this is perfect. nothing extra ordinary. just perfect to start. afordable, good quality, no complains.

A great P-bass value!

As a longtime bass player, I have always wanted a P-bass in my stable. Recently discovered this brand and instrument and at this price, how could I resist? Several YouTube reviews pushed me to buy.

Took a while to arrive in US from Germany (so hard to wait!), but what I got was a very solid instrument. Feels well-built and well...solid. There are a few places where you can tell that I spent less than $100 for the bass (tuners are tighter than I like), but overall, I'm very happy with the purchase.

Have brought it to some band rehearsals. Has a nice growl to it and feels good. Rather heavy but I don't mind.

Love my purchase! Can't wait to buy another Harley Benton!

Good for beginners

For a beginner it does the job! Nothing fancy.

Seeing is believing

I did not expect to receive a P-Bass clone that felt and sounded Good right out of the box. No rattles or hums, no protruding frets. A bit headstock-heavy, it wants to dive... This is probably not My last HB. Low price - Good quality.

Good for a starting bass!

This was my first bass. I bought it 4 years ago and it's excellent for learning the instrument. It's really sturdy and for the most part has served me well. It's great for the price and I honestly didn't expect much.

One big problem I've had with it is that the output jack is kind of loose and often the conncection between the bass and the amp would fail, resulting in an awful popping noise. This has happened to me on stage and it's not a pleasant experience.

If you plan to play gigs with it, you may need to touch up a few things. Otherwise it's great for playing at home and practicing.