Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series Reviews

Good Bass for the Price

I didn't expect much when I got this, but for a cheap 5 string just to hit them low ends I'd probably recommend it if you’re on a budget. It doesn't feel as jagged and sharp as other cheaper models on the frets. Like I said, if you’re on a budget or just starting out it’s a good 5 string - but if you’re wanting to do something more serious save up your money and get something higher quality.

An exceptional Instrument for a GREAT price!

I am so pleased with this bass. The look, the feel, the fit and finish, the neck, it is so playable, and looks so good. After a set up and putting my string of choice on the Bass, it growled to life, and I love it!

Awesome 5-string for a newbie

This is the black satin 'stealth' finish. They seemed to be on the light weight side, and mine didn't disappoint at 8.6 lbs. The bass itself was flawless. Fit and finish are remarkable for a cheapo bass. The bass feels substantial and well put together.

The set up was not the best, but a few minutes spent reducing the neck curvature and adjusting the saddles brought it to a very comfortable action. The tuners hold tune well. The plastic nut seems well cut. The knobs work great with no noise or scratchiness. I haven't adjusted the nut yet because it plays well enough already, but I'll have to do that to make the top positions a bit more comfy to play.

I really like it. The neck takes some getting used to as it is wider (about 45mm) than a SR5 but not excessively chunky. I find it quite comfortable. The frets are level which I find surprising for such a cheap bass. The narrower string spacing and the additional string means I was a little clumsy to start, but I've been playing this bass exclussively since I got it and I'm getting there now.

In fact, I'm starting to really like this 5 string thing.

If I had to give it a one word review it would be 'wow'.

This is a very decent bass, regardless of price, but when you consider the price... yeah, wow.

It has that Stingray vibe and the passive electronics are just fine. Sure, not as versatile as having an onboard preamp, but I actually love passive tone controls, so I'm happy with it as it is.

It was a bit frustrating at first, but as I adjust to the different layout it becomes more fun... and I feel like something clicked. I'm enjoying immensely how I can move across strings and reduce the movement up/down the neck that way. That being said, it sounds surprisingly good. It has a growl to it that I was not expecting. The bass sat good in the mix and the lows were pretty defined. The B string wasn’t as sloppy as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t go below D on the B string and found fretting the E came in handy as opposed to playing it open on the E string. The only thing the bass really lacked was high end spank (could be due the the strings it came with). I don't use the additional lower notes that much, but I use a lot of the notes I would often play on the E string on the B string now, just moving across with fewer jumps to different hand positions on the neck which also means I look at the neck a lot less. And having the option to play those notes between the low E and A on the E string for more definition or on the B string for additional girth is really useful too.

This may be the bass that makes me finally 'get' 5 string basses. All in all it is a fantastic bass at €140 shipped. For my first five string I think I made a good decision getting this thing and have no regrets at all. I am glad I made the purchase.

Not so bad for its price

I bought this bass mostly because of its cool look! It looks very nice! Black and matte.

The sound is not what I expected to hear. This humbucker pickup is actually two singles and they are noisy in any position. They don't give much lows, mostly middles and highs.

Frets are not polished and you can cut your hand. So I did all polishing work. While removing neck I found that it has a crack in the bolts place.

So my conclusion is if you are beginner and looking for a cheap and nice looking 5 string bass then this guitar is for you

Great looking 5 string bass

*Short Review*

Take the bass out of the box, change the strings, adjust the string height and enjoy your new bass.

*Long Review*

I was really disappointed with the bass the first day it arrived. The bass had horrible fret buzz on the D string. The B and E strings were dead and all strings extremely rough to the touch and would chew through my fingers within 10 minutes of playing. I've been playing bass for 21 years and have never had strings that bad. The pick ups didn't really produce much sound at all. I usually keep my amp on 2-4, but I had to turn it up to 5-7 to get the same volume, when compared to my Fender P-Bass. My amp is an Ampeg BA-210.

All is not bad. I put a new set of Fender strings and adjusted the string height and the bass really came to life. It was like a different bass. No more fret buzz, I had to turn my amp down to the normal 2-4 volume and the bass sounds amazing.

Overall, I'm very happy I got the bass. I'd say it is a much better bass than the price suggest. For under $140 USD, you could really do a lot worse.

Bang for the price

At this price it’s impossible to have better quality, absolutely great bass, it feels like a much more expensive bass, well adjusted and amazing finish for this price range.

Excellent cheap bass

I really love this bass and I can't believe it was this cheap.

It had some sharp frets at first and needed a little setup too, but after that, it was absolutely perfect and rivals far more expensive basses. Sounds great too

Not a bad 5 string

We have been pretty lucky with HB guitars to date so was about due one which took a little work to get set up, which is the luck of the draw with any mass produced instrument.

Mainly the frets needed levelling and dressing on top of the usual expected adjustments.

That done, the bass plays well and has a good tone and weighing in at just under 10lbs, feels like a proper bass.

Pros: looks good, sounds good, feels like a decent heavy beast

Cons: needed work to set up properly, was pretty much unplayable out of the box. The string spacing at the bridge didn't match the neck edges until I slipped 1mm shims in between the saddles. The factory strings, as others have said, have some strange tonal properties!

Conclusion: with a little setting up this is a perfectly workable 5 string with clever yet simple controls. Not bad at all.

Great bass at an unbelievable price

Ok, this is just amazing, especially at the price it goes for!

I don't really have to write very much here.

Fit and finish were spot on. And I mean, SPOT ON! Not a single spot on it is bad. No paint/clear runs, nothing. Everything is as it should. My only gripe with it is the white nut. Why they chose to put a white nut on a stealth black bass is beyond me (cost cutting, obviously but still).

As for playability. This one does have a few high frets and the nut did need a bit of filing. Nothing excessive and it can be set up with medium-lowish action without buzzing so I'm leaving it alone for now. The nut I did file a little but honestly, it would probably be okay-ish without it, if you're okay with a little higher action.

The electronics are also just fine. The pickup gets growly and grindy easily and, considering the price, you can't argue with it! It is passive, after all and I quite like it as is. I don't think I'd swap, honestly. Perhaps it might benefit from a 2-band preamp but it's fine as is. The separate coil volume controls work fine, although I usually have them dimed and roll off a little treble with the tone.

The low B is okay. Nothing crispy or perfect but it is servicable and it's by no means bad.

Bridge does its job, tuners are fine as well. I'd upgrade the tuners at some point but it's not really necessary.

What IS absolutely necessary is a string change. And I mean, right out of the box! Do not expect to like this bass very much with the stock strings. When I first tried it, the output was so low it was surprising. I though that was the nature of probably a cheap pickup in a Chinese bass.

But no.

After changing the strings, the bass came alive! MASSIVE difference in output. I have no idea what kind of strings were on it from the factory but they were absolute rubbish and sounded beyond dead. The only use for them is to serve as DIY nut files!

All in all, this is a 5/5. At this price, you can't get a better fiver and it punches way above its weight. If anything happened to it, I'd probably buy another one!

Don't believe the hype.

Use:

I primarily bought this bass to play wedding gigs since there are a couple of sets were I needed a five string and I don't really like playing 5 strings so I didn't want to spend much money.

Clarity:

The instrument really does look and feel more expensive than it is until you plug it in. The fretwork was really good, all the frets were as level as you'd expect for this bass and suprisingly no frets are sticking out which is a pleasant suprise for this price. The action was very high in my opinion but I have since found out some people like it like that. The intonation was dreadfull though. With factory strings it was almost impossible to set up the intonation properly so I bought a pack of DR PureBlues. But all of this is ok for the price. But the pickup is just horrid. The high are so prounounced and loud aswell as the hi-mids while there is no definition in the bass and low-mids frequency range. Once I plugged it in my MarkBass Little Marcus 500 and heard it I thought I got a defective bass and then I saw that people had the same problems online. I fixed this with a 13 dollar AliExpress pickup and it really is a dealbreaker for this bass. IMHO you can not use this bass in any sort of professional situation if you don't change the pickup.

Pros&Cons:

Pros - Good looking, pretty affordable and very playable after a decent setup and a new pack of strings

Cons - The pickup(whose production should be illegal), really cheap and low quality plastic nut and really bad strings

Conclusion:

If you want something to hold on to and use for a lot of years to come avoid this bass, buy the J or P style HB. If you know how to work on basses and install pickups, electronics etc. for not much more money you can build an excellent bass. The AliExpress pickup, and DR strings made the bass come to life and it sounds awesome now.

Great entry level 5 string

I waited a long time for this bass. I can see why now. These basses [at that price] are absolutely fantastic and they seem to be selling out fast.

Finish in matte black is flawless and even better in the flesh.

Of course they are not medium or high end basses and there are flaws but the build quality, attention to detail and overall sound are much higher than one would expect.

I have a Sterling Stingray 5 and in comparison this is very close. I prefer the neck on the Harley Benton, fast and very playable over the Sterling.

There is huge output from the pickup and although passive it is very punchy. Maybe I got lucky?

On overall volume it is as loud as my active Sterling. The bass has with no noticeable electrical buzz and is well earthed.

As other reviews have said the front and back poles of the humbucker running into the two separate volume controls are strange and take some getting used to. The tone pot adds quite a lot of boost, although I had to eq my amp a little as the guitar is quite "bright" even with the tone fully rolled off.

Negatives are few and can be resolved: bridge is ok but I will replace and the tuners are very poor. I will replace these first.

I also wish they had gone the whole hog and put on a matte black pickguard. Tort shell is fine for now, not great but I will see about a replacement to black.

Overall I am delighted with the bass now that it has eventually arrived.

Its a pity it took so long from ordering to delivery [7 months] with a large number of "expected" due dates that came and went until the new stock eventually arrived.

Amazing

You can't go wrong with this bass.

It needed shielding in the electronic cavity and a setup to lower the strings but other than that this is a perfectly fine bass.

Very High quality for the price!

Sounds very good. Setup is playing ready from the box! Just tune it .

The neck is perfect size and shape for me ..

Buy one! You will be happy !