Harley Benton PJ-4 HTR Deluxe Series 5-stars Reviews

Great bang for the buck!

I primarily bought this bass as a modding platform. I really like to put my personal touch on all of my instruments and this HB PJ4 has what it takes to make a great looking, playing and sounding bass.

Looks: The absolute first thing to change was the pick guard. The tortoiseshell does not work for me at all! I took it off and painted it gloss black to match the pickups. The quality of the pick guard was okay but not great. The bevel was a little wavy, so I sanded the edges straight and smooth. Even though the stock hardware is very good, I decided to change all of it (bridge, tuners, knobs) to black. Black looks really great with the transparent red of the body. I would have preferred a solid red but this shade of red is very nice. Although the wood underneath the paint is slightly visible, it doesn't have any glaring discrepancies and the transparent

red coat is applied quite evenly. I did find one flaw in the clear top coat that I should be able to polish out. Another reason that I am changing the tuners is so that I can get lighter ones from Gotoh. Even though the bass is fairly well balanced and light weight (not neck heavy), I want to favor the weight on the body side so that the neck sits a little higher. I ordered a high mass bridge for the same reason. I ebonized the fingerboard with India ink. Looks awesome! Playibility: The bass came with the action set too high and intonation off at the bridge. I was able to adjust it quite low without any fret buzz. Neck bow was set perfectly. Frets are dressed very nicely. I steel-wooled and lemon-oiled the back of the neck for an ultra smooth finish. The vintage tint of the neck is perfect. Amber in color. Not a fake yellow as on a lot of guitars these days. Sound: I read some complaints that the pickups are out of balance. This is true as far as how the bass sounded when it first arrived. HOWEVER, the pickups are completely adjustable and I was able to match them perfectly with little effort. I ended up with the neck pickups 1/4" off the body and the bridge pickup 1/8" from the strings. And they sound great! Fairly low output but clear and balanced. There is no reason to change them out at all. There is nothing that a good boost/preamp can't remedy if you need a hotter output. Oh yes, one important thing...the bass is not shielded in any way. So there is a fair amount of buzz. Might be okay for some but annoys the heck out of me. This will also be fixed with lining all the cavities with copper shielding tape.

Conclusion: For what I payed for this bass ($200US incl. shipping) it's a great bargain. It is totally usable right out of the box. BUT, if you want to make it a really great bass, you'll need to put a little more time and money into it. Even then, you can equal or exceed the quality of a bass that costs three times more. The tones from this PJ bass are varied and excellent. All the classic sounds are there. You can find good demos on Youtube and hear for yourself.

Good for the money

It stays in tune and the finish is perfect on the other hand the electronics aren't so good the single coil pickup is noisy and there's noise when I take my hand off the strings

awesome bass!

absolutely love this thing, plays so comfortably and has a great tone for the price!!

My first bass

Well as I decided to finally start practicing the bass my quest started to find one good priced and most important good sounding bass guitar

So this one came on my path and after receiving and having played on it for the first day I have to say that I am happy so far.

Sound wise I find it good,price wise great and the look is fine for me to, but hey its my first bass so I am not to picky yet

I do think I would like to try different strings, those can be a bit better

For a starter bass great deal!

greetings

Daniel

Great option for a first bass

As one of the cheapest options on the market this bass really is worth all the money you spend. The features are great, to have p and j pickups is very ideal for helping discover which is more your sound and can help you decide what you’d like your next bass to be. In terms of quality everything is the way it would be for the price. The wires aren’t insulated which can result in feedback if you hold your phone too close to the pickups but really apart from that this thing is brilliant

Very good for beginners

I'm using these for a couple weeks, and i'm extremly exited to thes guitar. i can't stop headbang then i playing, so it really nice, i aprove thise

Ideal for getting started

As a bass for getting started its PERFECT. Sounds good, built well and needed very little setup. Highly recommend if you want something that's good but didn't want to throw a lot at it to get started playing.

Pretty good and solid instrument

The instrument is pretty good, light, the sound is very fair for its price. I recommend it with no second thoughts.

Another winner!

Yet another Harley Benton bass for me, they are so nice I can't stop buying them!

This guitar is flawless as usual and the only change I plan to make is some branded strings.

I fail to see how anybody could be disappointed in this guitar, not just taking account of the price paid, it's just really nice, the quality is as good if not better than guitars I have paid more than five times this for.

Pretty good

I have been using it for 5 months and it is great. The setup on it wasn't great but it was still playable. It plays great with a good setup. I don't really like the looks of it , but it is what i could get for the price. Great quality and it works fine after 5 months of daily use.

Great bass considering the price

I don't think there is a better bass you can get for this price.

You won't get things you get with premium instruments, like brand name pickups, better selection of woods (and less pieces used), good final inspection, but everything works, and it sounds good too.

Perfect choice for people starting to play bass and for people that play other instruments primarily. You get a nice, well built, versatile PJ bass without breaking the bank.

Great bass for the money!!

Bought to replace Harley Benton vintage series Bass (99 euro model).

This one represents a substantial bump in quality.

Great finish, no flaws to speak of.

Good fret finishing, no sharpies.

Lovely rosewood fretboard, unlike other HBs I've bought this one was not dry when received, it seemed to have been treated

Sounds really good, nice range of tones depending on which pickup combo you use, it has J and P pickups.

Colour is great, turtle-shell pickguard is a like it/hate it thing. I like it

for 111 euro this is a seriously nice bass. I've owned similarly priced examples from other brands and they were not in the same league

whallop!

I was going to join a rock band and wanted a P-J just for that. I could've got the 5 string for a few extra shillings but wanted the 4 to make myself work harder, but it's anything but hard work, this bass is a joy to play.

straight out of the box, good set up, good balance, no LX problems, both pick-ups being very lively and a great, big sound from both - I use the J up full with the P dialled in a little for warmth and it's right there, the exact sound I want.

looks cool, good weight, put together very well, no faults with the finish or build, love it. tres happy.

Great little Bass

This is a unbelievable bass for the money..!!! Build quality is much better than other named brands at a third of there price..!!! If your looking for a a studio work horse with just a simple pickup change you've got one..!!

exception value

I'm a 6 string guitarist who occasionally play bass about 10% of the time. I'm no connoisseur of 4 stringers but have owned many guitars and was very pleased with the quality, playability and sound of this 'budget' instrument.

The setup was spot on out of the box and the finish was far better than I expected for a sub £100 guitar. Recommended!

Perfect for beginners

I would definitely recommend this bass for beginners!! Although it is cheap, it has great sound!!

I mostly play the guitar but I needed a bass for some recordings.. I made lots of recordings with it, played on rehearsals and live concerts!! Everybody got mad when I told them the price I paid for it!!

I would replace the factory tuners with some better ones, because they seem "fake", and maybe the pickups.. Although they are great for what you pay for, if they will be replaced, the bass would be a "beast"!!

A lot for the money

At a price you cannot beat, this instrument is very very decent. A small oversight in quality control (the jack was feeling a little loose and didn't connect properly) are nothing compared to what this instrument offers at such a price. I would definitely buy it again.