Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe Series Reviews

Loud & Proud.. This Is Not Just a Cheap Copy!!

I got the MB4 as a gift for a friend - she ´Used to play bass´.

I unboxed it at home beforehand... but it took very little work from me. Just a quick polish, removed plastic film & a lick with the fret-end file.

Really nice Fit & Finish plus awesome three piece body on this so we might swap out a translucent pickguard. The electrics are great too cool independent volume controls for ´each coil pickup!!

It is ´LOUD AS THE PROVERBIAL´ . I had a hand off ( yuk yuk) a bass playng friend to do a comparison with his Vintage 1983 EBMM Cutlass 🙂 I think my wee 15w acoustic amp we tested it on just threw in the towel after the HB monster passive pickups.

My friend is very happy ..it-s a chunky bass but not uncomfortably so!!

WE Hightly Recommend this bass.

Unbeatable, powerful workhorse!

This is without doubt, the best value “stingray style” bass that you could expect to buy. This is no ordinary budget bass, this is a bass that earns a spot in the studio or the stage!

The neck is flawlessly smooth and has a good, solid feel in the hands. The neck fits perfectly in the pocket and there are no sharp ends to the frets. Tuners are reliable and hold tune well and the matching headstock is a nice touch. The body is nice and light and the paintwork is immaculate, more so than my Sire and Fender basses.

The Roswell pickup is surprisingly powerful, without being too hot. Whilst this is passive, I can’t see active circuitry bringing much more to the party that a good amplifier couldn’t fix.

Harley Benton have made a real diamond in the rough here and anyone considering buying a SUB would be better off buying this and saving money, or spending the difference towards a good amp. If you are looking for the exact MM Stingray tone, you won’t get that outside of a genuine US made MM Stingray, so expectations should be managed. If you are looking for a reliable, well made bass that has value for money, then look no further. Nice work HB!

great bass!

doesnt sound like what its trying to emulate, but its still a great bass for a really incredible price.

Great value for money

A very good instrument for such a low price! Feels and

sounds like a more expensive one!

Probably the best bass for the money

This bass is extraordinary. Amazing build quality and a pleasure to play with. I cannot believe the value for the price. With little adjustments, the intonation was spot on, the frets were good and the tone amazing for a passive bass.

My only suggestion is that it could come with the cavities insulated by conductive paint and foil on the guards. there was some hum when not earthing the strings with your fingers, but this is the only thing I could say that could improve this bass further, but I am not sure how much this would raise the price of the bass. If you like MM style bass but not their price, this is your best choice.

Not bad, but quality control needs to be improved

Having received my HB, I noticed two splinters on the head of the guitar neck, and a spot of red paint near the anchor hole ( the paint will not wash off or it is under a layer of varnish), and there is also a small noise when working the Central volume knob in the extreme right and left positions. Initially, one of the humbucker coils did not work - the wire was not soldered to the potentiometer, and was dangling in the air.

At the same time, the anchor of the bass guitar was set up well and the scale was set up. and anchor.

Amazing bass for the price

I'm a guitarist, but I occasionally play bass. I wasn't expecting much out of this one, but was pleasantly surprised.

Pros:

-plays and looks great - feels like an instrument of double the price

-stays in tune

Cons:

-electronics are what you'd excpect - the weakest point on the bass, but they do the job

I'd higly recommend this if you want something that just does the job. This isn't the best bass in the world, but for the price, it's very impressive.

Great and affordable bass

This bass guitar comes with no flaws. It is not the first time I buy an HB bass and I have to say they always comes with a good overall setup.

This has a great maple neck, solid and confortable.

It is really good-looking and quite light and very easy to embrace and play.

Sounds good even with only one pick-up and it has not an aggressive feel nor an overwhelming presence... It is the ideal solution for bass players who want to be precise, smart and make effective bass lines, without exagerations.

I suppose the five string "Stingray-like" version, aka HB MM-84, with its two pickups, has more options for different kinds of sound, but I preferred this four-string version since it lighter and more easy to play with the slap technique.

For the price it costs, it is definitely a big deal, with no flaws.

Buy it

I can't believe how do they make it and sell this so cheap.

I mean this is a very good instrument.

Finish,looks,sound,great comfortable neck...

Buy one,you will not regret it...

Everything I expected and more

When I unpacked the bass I was surprised by the quality of the finish. Because of the low price point I examined it closely trying to find fault but there were none!

Sunburst is not my first choice in colour schemes nor painted headstock but I have to say this bass looks impressive. The instrument is very solidly built and with six neck bolts I think it's the next best thing to a neck through. It plays out of the box though I had to tighten the truss rod a little. The neck is good, but for me the string spacing could be slightly closer as I prefer the E and G strings not quite so close to the outer edge of the neck but it plays well and I quickly got used to the feel. The action I was able to achieve without fret buss was not brilliant but definitely acceptably low enough.

The split coil pickup is a master stroke. Cutting the volume back the rear coil a little enables a more Rikki style tone. I may add later a single coil pick up half way between the 12th fret and the bridge to add to that although there is plenty of bass and mid response from the humbucker. Passive electrics means no fiddling with batterys and I have no problem dialing in a good tone. I have several basses and I bought this mainly as a back up but I am presently using this on all gigs .

All in all this is a Quality instrument at a bargain price

Couldn't have asked for more

I'm getting back into the bass after about 10-15 years and needed something to help me get my footing back. This bass is just the right combination of quality and value for someone in my position.

Came out of the box with a pretty good setup, good action, smooth fret ends, just the kind of quality you don't expect in this price range.

Had it shipped to the East Coast of USA and it arrived without issue. Not as well packed as some of the competitors but well enough that it survived unscathed. It took about 2 weeks, but considering it crossed an ocean I can deal with that.

If had to give it a con it'd be the weight. I've never been a "sit down" player, just something feels right about practicing standing up, but the sheer weight of this bass has forced me to sit for longer practice sessions. Even though it's heavy it's not unbalanced, the neck mostly stays where you want it while it's on a strap.

Bottom line: The bass is a pleasure to play, it's affordable without being cheaply made and it looks great.

This is my first exposure to Harley Benton and I think you've won yourselves a fan.

Yes! It worths!

I always wanted to have a really simple 4-string bass for some rock or heavy metal playing. And while I don't like the look of the most "P" or "Jazz" basses, as well as the huge price of Fenders or MusicMans, I was tempted by this Harley Benton look - a really cool MusicMan copy.

I've been following the Harley Benton brand in the last couple of years so I didn't have any doubts about their quality. This bass is not just looking cool, it sounds as cool. By tinkering the pickup knobs you can even make it sound like a "P" bass - it's versatile. I play mostly classic rock and Iron Maiden stuff. The instrument fully delivers soundwise. It is not as quiet as people might suggest for being a passive bass with a pickup brand they never heard of. It is a really nice bass!

Qualitywise it came to me with full setup - bridge action, truss rod, everything. Frets are leveled, the first fret is also fine. I had a little buzz on the "D" strings and had to raise the action a little bit, but after I change the stock strings with a new ones that might go away. The finish is also great, the machine heads are nice.

In overall this is a really nice bass, not only for beginners. Of course it's not a full copy of MusicMan but it doesn't have to be! It just a different bass with good sound. Cheers!

harley benton mb4-sb

Wow what can i say its great i love the neck and it sounds like a musicman.brilliant value for money

cheap parts but great sounding

overall does not inspire trust that the metal components will hold up normal gigging use. so it feels to me like a bedroom instrument.

Very tasty sound though, not too heavy, very playable. good looks also

Amazing Instrument for this price

Quality-awesome

Sound-awesome

Wood and other parts-awesome

Very good instrument for this price.

Superb bass!

Got it quite amazingly set up out of the box which was surprising to be honest! action not too high and the stock strings sound decent enough to work with.

Good punchy tones... simple controls just the split volumes and the tone control.

The neck is a tad bit fatter than im used to being an ibanez player all me life but its a standard musicman style neck so ive just got to get used to it.

All in all great bass that punches far outside its suggested price range and gives superb tones while recording direct line in too!

MB-4 Bass

Amazing bass for the money! I've played basses 4/5 times the price that arent as good as this one. set up very well out of the box. i use it with heavy gauge strings in drop c for a my band lead by lies, and its never failed me in both tuning and tone. I play all my Harley Benton instruments proudly whether its on my own or on stage.

Harley Benton MB-4

Good platform for Stingray modding!

Excellent for the money

Really nice bass for the money. This is my second, I foolishly sold the first and regretted it.

Visually- it looks great, very, very few minor cosmetic blemishes.

Frets are nicely rounded on the ends, no sharp ones when playing.

Checked the neck relief, it's pretty much straight. The action needs to go down a little at the saddles, it's a touch high for my liking.

Controls all work fine. The two volume knobs are slightly off axis, so they scrape a little as you turn them. I just pulled them up a touch on the shafts, now they're fine.

I'm a hobby player, so my expectations are for something that won't cut my hands (yes), holds tune (yes), easy to play (yes) doesn't weigh too much (yes- quite a light body), and it sounds good. The split coil function is in the form of two volume knobs, one for each coil. It works well and gives some variations. The tone knob doesn't do much, through most of the turn there is no change and then the treble is muffled lost at the end.

But, this bass is great for 119 euro. I bought it to play at home, my 14 y/o also wants to play so if he likes this one and can manage the size, I will be buying another.

Highly recommended for a beginner, or home player/ part-time bassist.

I don't think I could have picked a better bass to start

So first, let's get the bad out of the way, and there's not much.

1. I'd rather it have a master volume, coil blend, and master tone. Instead it has one volume for each coil and a master tone. Effectively the same, but in terms of how easy it is to use, if I want to mute the bass through the pots, I have to turn two of them. Very small nit pick, and really it's a point of preference.

2. The 18th fret is a bit high, which leads to some fret buzzing on the higher frets (14-17) for the E and A strings, but I'm not spending a lot of time, if any time at all up there on those strings anyway.

And that's really it for what I don't like. Now for the good.

1. This thing looks great. The burst finish with the matching headstock is something I'm very very happy with.

2. This thing sounds great. It looks like a music man stingray, and sounds a bit like it, though not exactly. It has some great bright presence, a lot of punch, and a lot of output despite being a passive bass.

3. The quality. I looked for any flaws in the finish and found none. The frets are not at all sharp, and the neck feels amazing. It's huge and fits my big mitts really well. Tuners work pretty well. They feel a bit tight, but don't seem to have any jumps or dead spots. The pots aren't scratchy (at least not yet), and the bridge seems sturdy and strong.

4. It's simple. Passive bass, one pickup, four strings. No nonsense. You pick this bass up and play, that's it. You don't spend time over-tweaking the EQ. You don't need to worry about the battery going dead. You don't really need to wonder if it would sound better on the neck or the bridge pickup, though you do get a little bit of flexibility there, but that's more of a "Would a single coil sound better than a humbucker?" choice than a bridge/neck choice. Most of the time the humbucker is all you need, though (see the nitpick about volume/blend/tone vs volume/volume/tone above).

5. It's balanced well. With a strap, there's a bit of neck dive, but it still stays with the headstock above the top horn of the body.

6. It came with a pretty good setup. Shipping over the ocean from Germany to the US, you expect a bit of an issue, and there was a little bit. I had to turn the truss rod about a quarter turn to get the fret buzz to go away, but after that I was able to lower the action a bit to where it's nice and comfortable.