Harley Benton PB-Shorty BK Standard Series Reviews

Cheap basguitar for home playing

I play only the guitar and HB is my first bass. I will use it for home recording. HB Shorty is good solutions.

- price is very good

- HB looks nice (colour, gloss, design)

- short scale is very comfortable for my "guitar" fingers

- it is necessary tune octaves but it is no problem for guitarist

Fantastic bass for very little money

I got this bass last week. Played it for about 6 hours since and i can believe how good it is for the price. I picked it as i have a problem with my left wrist and full scale basses are difficult for me to play. This is an absolute joy. Really comfortable neck. It has a good enough tone compared to other budget basses an is very well put together.

Short scale beauty

I'm a pro bass player, been playing for 10 years now - this is my first short scale. I bought it to easily schlep it to rehearsals and practice, as the 34" scale heavy basses are doing a number on my back.

Immediately after I recieved it, I took it directly to Rehearsal without even a test, and it performed admirably for the price. It definitely needs a setup and a change of strings, but with the right turn of the tone knob, I got the sound i was looking for, and the short scale makes it a breeze to play. I was so happy I even gigged it the next day!

Few cons, though.

1. neck dive!

2. the pickup on mine seems to be a bit noisy at times, but this might be a problem with the amp I was using. Also, there is definitely a difference in output for the strings, something I need to resolve with setup.

Pros

1. So easy to play, and light!

2. A really good P bass growl that I didn't expect from a bass of this size or price

Overall, A sensational buy if you want to try a short scale and don't want to pay too much - and also if you love the P bass sound!

Solid 3/4 bass funtastic

I bought this bass to have one at home, to compliment my guitars and for recording. I was surprised by the size and action, which was quite low. The price is great for just messing around. But to my surprise it sounded really good with my Zoom r8. I wanted the Epiphone eb0, but this can make very sound I need, and if I drop it it doesn't matter as it bounces, hehe

Recommended for those who like smaller guitars (who doesn't?)

and beginners who are scared to invest too much cash. Top notch instrument for a small investment.

Great value for money

Can't really say enough good things about this bass guitar. The quality is really top notch for a lower range instrument. It plays perfectly and the sound is good enough to gig it. It was bought as an easy to store away practice bass, but we have used it for recording, such is the great sound and playability it produces. Highly recommended if you are a user of short scale basses.

Not bad for the money

Reasonable bass for the cash. Sound wise you get what you pay for.

Just needs to replace the strings

An amazing bass for the price, after replacing the strings, the sound improved notoriously.

This bass guitar exceeded my expectations!

This instrument was my choise becouse my nephew want to start playing bass, but long scale instruments are too big for his small body (tested on my regular scale bass guitar).

He also don't have funds to buy more expensive instrument.

So we chose this one (I own one Harley Benton guitar and it's good, also I heard from other people, that bass guitars from HB are good for its price).

For the money it costs I didn't expected serious instrument, only something that will work good enough, till he get some experience and money for real instrument. BUT! As soon as I take it to my hands and checked the manufacture condition, settings and sound I was quite impressed. I did only small adjustment of bridge (lower the height of strings, improved tuning of octaves) and that was all. The bass sounds very good, feels good in hands, no problems with potentiometers, tuning works relatively fine.

Of course it is not comparable with expensive instruments, but as a first instrument for a student it is a very good choice.

I recommend!

Perfect entry lever bass with an eye to guitar players

I am new to bass guitars therefore I don't have previous experience on similar instruments to directly compare this product to, therefore this isn't an expert review but what I am writing here are my own impression and evaluation only based on my handling and feeling of the instrument which I hope might help other beginners making up their minds.

I already play a bit of guitar and, since I decided to learn bass I wanted an instrument which was as close as possible to my acoustic guitar, I went for a short fretboard bass which limited the transition between the two instruments when it comes to fretting hand position and fingers' stretch.

Unpacking

The bass I bought was a b-stock. It was actually flawless and the only sign of use was a hardly-visible light scratch on the black varnish. Other than that the bass is very nicely finished and I couldn't spot anything else.

Handling

Being used to a classic guitar the bass seemed heavier at first, but I soon got used to it. Especially I need to get used to the neck being heavier and pulling the bass down on the left side (I'm right-handed). I find this quite a drawback and I solutioned it with a strap which now helps me to keep it in balance.

Playing

I find it quite esy to move around the freatboard since the neck size is very similar to my guitars. I think the strings it came with are nichel wound and have that typical 'rocky' sound. I think they are OK for a start but, since I like to have a cleaner sound, I think I will soon swap them for some steel ones. Maybe the strings' play is a bit too high and I'll need to lower a bit.

Conclusion

As a whole I consider this bass as the perfect start for a beginner like me and, because of the short freatboard, with an eye at the guitar players who want to learn this very cool instrument. And Inexpensive as it is you cannot really go wrong.

A bass for guitarists

If I need to put down a basic bass track to riff over I can use this rather than a guitar and an Octave divider pedal - and this does not warble! I find that the longer scale of a normal bass guitar makes it seem like a totally different instrument but the shorter bass scale of the PB-Shorty means that I can think "guitar" rather than "bass". The sound is good enough for recording and practice so after a little while I sold my Fender Precision.

Well made little bass. Extraordinary value.

Good and Cheap

I bought it for my son.

I'm teaching him Bass.

I have already an Epiphone Toby Deluxe-V Bass which I love.

To be sincere, I was not expecting much for this Harley Benton because it was so cheap, but I gave it a try.

And was I happily surprised :)

The HB Bass have a solid sound and it is easy to play, specially if you are a guitar player.

I wouldn't mind playing on this Bass in a small gig.

Of course, if you are a accomplished musician already, this is not the bass for you.

Overall, it is a very good starter and my son loves it.

Great value for the price!

Even though is for people with a tight budget looking for an entry level instrument, this bass has a pretty good sound and very easy to play.

You'll be surprised, and can be side by side with some more expensive ones.

Built quality is good.

Absolutely not heavy to hold and handy for the size.

To start with and have fun is absolutely recommended.

Cheers

For the price, unbeatable

I got this to mod up and was so impressed

By far beats my squire affinity p bass, wonderful for the money

Gave it to my guitarist friend to ask what he thought it was worth, he said at least £175

Unbeatable for the price

Great little bass with a nice neck which plays really well. The only drawbacks are the neck is sunk into the body a bit too far, making it hard to fine tune the set up, a couple of mm higher would be better and the usual complaint with cheap guitars is the strings are awful, but at this price it's completely understandable.

For a young beginner or a guitarist who can't cope with the extra stretch like, me I'd highly recommend it.

A good beginners bass.

My main instrument is guitar, so I find this scale length more comfortable than a normal bass. I got this instrument for a fellow guitarist who wanted to play bass at a ukelele band. The finish is good and the instrument was playable straight from the box.

Unbelievable value

The bass came set up almost perfectly. The intonation was perfect, I only needed to lower the action by 0.2 mm and retune the strings to get an ideal setup.

There were no flaws in the finish, the frets were leveled with no sharp ends. The knobs and output jack work fine with no crackling. The pickup sounds good to me.

The guitar is a bit neck heavy, since the body is so small, but I have no problems playing it. Overall it is very light and easy to carry/hold.

I can't believe a bass this good can be sold for so little money.

Great for beginner/intermediate!

I bought this for my daughter as a first instrument thinking that it would just be one of those cheap poor quality instruments you get similar to the Squire guitar starter kit that everyone gets as a kid, Well I was wrong! This instrument is solid, well built and was still in tune and perfectly setup straight out of the box (shipped from Germany to UK). So happy with this I almost kept it for myself :P

Remarkably good at the price.

This is a scaled-down copy of a classic Fender bass. OK, it isn't of classic Fender quality, but is certainly equal to some of their budget models (e.g. Squier) which I've tried in the past, and at a much lower price.

After spending a couple of hours adjusting the truss rod and saddles to get the action and intonation right, it's playability compares favourably with a Fender Mustang bass I once borrowed for a few weeks.

The tone was very acceptable as delivered. Recently changing the strings to a set of D'Addario EXL220S has resulted in noticeably increased volume through the amp, together with more flexibility in tone.

Very pleased with my purchase.

Passable

The neck seems well made. Frets are smooth. Well playable.

The mechanical bits are basic but good enough. The tuners turn evenly and stay in tune. The bridge can be adjusted (for intonation and action) as expected.

The electronics are the weak point. The pickups are low in output. The tone knob crackles when you turn it quickly and it's filter isn't very musical sounding for some reason.

But hey. It works. And it sounds OK. A little woody and stumpy sounding. Not the most vibrant and dynamic tone. Not the first choice for jazz solos one might say.

The intonation required some work, but otherwise the setup was fine out of the box.

Given that it plays well, I have no trouble recommending it as a first bass for youngsters. Also works as a secondary practice bass, or even the occasional recording. Don't expect a great sound and you wont be disappointed.

It's ok.

So there's nothing fancy about this guitar but price:)

The quality is ok for the price. Frets were bit sharp at the lower edge of the neck but I filed them easily. You can tell that some parts like tuners are done quite cheaply.

Sound would suit almost every music genre but metal and I wouldn't recommend to tune lower than D.

Features... oh come on it's a simple electric bass guitar.