Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe Series 5-stars Reviews

Wooow!

I've had a Stingray HH 2001 in Trans Orange, but it had a quiet G string no matter what I did, a neck like a baseball bat and a neck that needing tweaking every time the wind changed direction. I moved it on in the end, but always liked the ergos and tone. 90% of the Stingray tone if you are a bass anorak, an audience wouldn't notice. ... love the passive easy use electronics, the pup is incredibly hot, good variation on the tone, wonderful neck. The finish is faultless. I spent an hour on set up, as I do with every bass regardless of price point, didn't need much, touch off the nut, mere tweak of truss rod. It keeps tune impeccably, stable neck. Friendly of mine had a noodle on it not knowing it provenance, was blown away by it's ease of use and then imploded when told the price. All in all, just buy one enjoy. The usual great Harley Benton great quality.

Just exactly what I needed! Great value and great tones!

Can't complain

Ive played bass almost 20 years. Many instruments have came and gone in my journey, from ultra low end starter beginner guitars to ultra high end.

For the money you really can't complain. It sounds pretty decent , nice Stingray type growl . Perfectly suited with roundwounds. It's a good bass for the funk / rock. It's very fun to play. Hardware is cheap is flimsy . Pickup looks horrid but sounds good. Neck is on the wide side but easy and fast. Few blemishes on body. Fingerboard at body there is a couple of Millimeters gap. All is forgiven though. Great start up bass or a mod project / studio tool.

Totally useful for this price

This is an amazing bass especially for this price point. Quality and fretwork is really good. Pickup sounds balanced and responsive.

Only drawback for me is thick neck profile which some might prefer but I like slimmer and narrower neck profiles like jazz bass, this leans towards P bass neck profile.

I recommend this product if you don't mind thicker neck profiles, this bass is a steal for its price.

A cracking bass

For £110 what could possibly go wrong…?

NOTHING

Pretty much perfect out of the box. Looks great. Well made & fun to play. The perfect start for your bass journey

Wow

This thing is worth twice the price. Fret work is flawless. Pickup sounds ace. The finish is incredible.

A Wonderful Product!

This Bass holds remarkable value for the price. The quality is superb, and it sounds great! The controls allowed a lot more tonal versatility than I expected, and I can hardly put this bass down! I would recommend this bass to anyone!

Very versatile! I'm loving it.

I really like the flexibility of the split coil. Two volumes and a master tone. I can get a nice pbass sound if I favor the front part of the pickup, a really nice single coil if I favor the rear and a full on humbucker if you have both on and lots of craziness in between. Currently, I have the front volume down to about 80 percent and the rear volume to 90, tone knob 100 percent.

Amazing Bass For The Price!!

Honestly, this is a better bass than some of the 4-500 dollar basses I have looked at!

The sound is great, the action is awesome, and it really looks beautiful.

I gave it four stars on quality because the bridge is lifted some on one corner. It doesn't seem to affect the sound, and I like playing the bass too much to make a stink about that!

Plays superb right out of the box!

quality superior to its price

I bought it for the bass practice of my step daughter, but I'm playing it myself. The quality of the crafting and the sound is surprising. Certainly beyond its price range, way better than some much more expensive basses.

Great Bass! Very Happy with it!

After seeing many reviews of the bass on Youtube, I decided to take the leap. It arrived at my house in Louisiana in just 3 days! When I unboxed the bass, I noticed that there was a few sharp fret ends and that the nut was cut incorrectly causing high nut action. After getting the bass set up by a luthier, it plays great. Not as good as my Warmoth P Basses, but they are 10 times the price. I cannot get the action any lower on this bass without really bad fret buzz. Don't get me wrong the bass plays great and is perfectly giggable, but don't expect a perfectly playable bass out of the box. Overall it's a great investment for someone who wants a Music Man style bass, but be prepared to give the bass a proper set up. I would say that the bass is on par with the Sterling By Music Man Ray 4.

UPDATE: I initially gave up on this bass and took it apart. I stored it in my closet for over 3 months. I decided to give it another try. I rebuilt the bass and used roundwound strings instead of flats like all my other basses. Using rounds solved my problem with the setup. The action is nice and low and hangs with my Warmoths. This is an absolute killer bass that won't break the bank. I would compare it to instruments 3 to 5 times the price.

Super bass regardless of price !

Being a semi pro player for many years, playing mainly Blues, rock and funky stuff. I bought this bass as an addition to my trusty '54 style Fender P-bass, to have for the occasions where i need a more "modern" sound. I was looking at basses at much higher prices, but based on the reviews, I got curious on the Harley Benton MB-4 , and given the low price, I thought it was worth a try.

The fit & finish is flawless, and the bass looks absolutely beautiful. The weight is medium, not light but not heavy. Balance on the strap is good.

The satin neck is dead straight and feels fantastic. The neck profile is a bit on the chunky side, which I like, but it's maybe not ideal for smaller hands. The fretjob is good by any standard, no sharp edges here. The nut is probably plastic, but it's smooth and with perfectly filed slots, no string binding.

The amplified sound is good and "close enough" to a real Stingray to fool most people in a blind test. The output is not super high (Actually a tiny bit lower than on my P-bass), but the sound is punchy, deep and clear. The coil split with two volumes takes a little bit of getting used to, but gives good tonal variation, and the tone pot is doing its job.

The acoustic sound is loud and clear, the sustain is very good, and there are no noticeable dead spots on the neck.

The bridge seems fine, and the tuners works smoothly and holds tune well, even if the resistance is a bit uneven.

The setup was good out of the box, and even the strings was ok, so for a beginner this is a no-brainer, easily compareable to basses costing 3-4 times as much.

A pro player might want to tweak the setup to personal taste, upgrade the strings and maybe pickup, electronics and tuners, but then you also have a bass compareable to a true professional instrument.

I have already used the bass in the studio as it came out of the box, and have no hestitation bringing it on the road as it is.

Conclusion... This is a great bass, even if you do not consider the price. With some small upgrades, it will become absoutely awesome.... !

Class

Bought this bass on a whim as I don’t buy instruments Iv never played before so didn’t really know what to expect, but have just been completely blown away at the quality of this bass. Having played a friends £800 bass a couple of weeks ago I’m extremely surprised and pleased to say I wouldn’t trade basses with them if the opportunity came!

Awesome quality for insanely low price

Harley Benton makes really good guitars. MB-4SB is a great deal. It plays really well, and after a little bit of turning screws, I was able to get very very low action on it. I was worried about string quality since bass strings can be so expensive, and this bass is so cheap, but I was surprised how good these are, I have had this guitar for a year now and I didn't have to change the strings. Build quality is awesome, frets are leveled and don't stick out of the sides of the neck, so they don't hurt your fingers. The sound is nice and has a nice bridgy tone. I'm happy with the purchase, and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get a good guitar for a little price.

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.

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.

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.