Harley Benton PB-20 SBK Standard Series Reviews

Don't be fooled by the price, this is as good a P bass as any

This is an absolutely joyful instrument. I'll probably switch out the tuners at some point, they seem like the only weak link on the instrument, they're not bad tuners, it holds the tuning well, but the pegs feel a bit flimsy. I

don't feel rushed to change them though. It doesn't bump down my rating though, the tuners probably cost a 1/3 of the cost for the bass. I needed this purely for recording, I just needed a P bass sound for a project, and this gets it. It just gives you that classic P bass sound instantly. Get two!

Really good for the money!

This bass is good for the bassist that likes to jam in a garage or play in small clubs. maybe not for the touring musician who plays arenas. With that said, really good quality for such a low price, it feels alright and gets the job done and that's what's important.

Worth SO much more!

I have many basses including several some high dollar instruments and to compare dollars to what you get.......this bass is a steal. A give-away, really (but I shouldn't be saying that, should I?). I'll take this one off the wall as often as my favorites and have an enjoyable time with it.

Cheap and fun to play

Definitely not the best pbass around but for the money you get a great looking instrument with decent tone and a great modding platform.

SBK 20 great for the money

Received my SBK 20 in the mail today. It took 11 days to get to Toronto so excellent service in that regards. It is a fine bass, the tuners I may upgrade. Great looker as well! Sounds like a P Bass should. If this was my first bass, I would be very happy with this product.

Don't believe the hype

I've bought now 6 HB basses, and this one is the worst. In fact, it's the worst product I've bought from here. Bar none. I was thinking at least it'd be better than the Glary's and Monoprice's or my 20-year old p-bass I use fore practice, but no. The neck is very chunky and really uncomfortable for smaller hands. The pickup is tinny at best. Hardware is as cheap as you can buy (man, they don't bother removing the jagged edge of the pick guard). The strings ain't even D'Addario that come with the other HB basses. There's absolutely no setup!!! If you don't know how to set it up, don't buy. It can't play out-of-the-box: the action is a mile high. The setup wasn't simple: I had to fiddle around with both the truss rod and the saddle heights to get it to a decent (i.e., without buzz) action, but still quite higher than what I'm used to. Fret ends are good. Finish good, except there's a chip at the head stock. The only thing I like about it is the color scheme!!! Spend a bit more money to get the deluxe line (PJ-74). The costs of the strings and the Roswell pickup(s) are already worth the difference.

In summary, it is not worth the wood and even the minimal labor put into making it.

Great for such a low price

I was looking for a “starter “ bass, I did not expect this one to be so good for ~110 euro. Quality is not the best, but come on, for such a price… I’m sure it is the best choice in terms of cost and quality comparison.

Pros: price, it does sound nice and feels good in your hands

Cons: minor quality issues (zero fret, tuners) it also arrived with two tiny scratches.

Overall I should say the product could not be better for such price

Buy It !!

What a great bass for the price...quality is great, sounds amazing ! straight out of the box..its ready to rock !!

Great bass for the money

Lovely build quality, electrics are basic but with some upgrades would sound amazing. Highly recommended

Great Bass

I can’t find anything I don’t like about the bass, sounds great, neck feels great. I’m looking forward to my next Harley Benton guitar.

Not too bad for the price!

I bought it because I was desperate for a bass for my music project.

The only negative aspect I can mention is that you need to really crank up your preamps to get a decent output.

Just incredible!

Incredible quality for the price. Sounds great too. Very happy with the purchase.

How much? Honestly?

Just under 100 English pounds!!

A great bass, bridge is solid, tuners do the job and well lubricated!

May replace the nut as it is cut a bit low. But I'm not complaining, a new nut is cheap and easy to replace.

Great BASS guitar HB!

The looks are fantastic in real life finish looks and feels really nice

Pros

Finish fret ends and frets are all good for the price really can not go wrong

Cons

Tuners after a while the black is coming off the gears and gone silver. Pickups are perfectly serviceable but are not the best (buy what do you expect for €90)

I don't plat bass much so it's perfect for the odd bass fix

Unexpectedly nice

So, I thought I bought an electric guitar but I ended up with this bass on my doorstep. Initially I wanted to send it back but then I did my research and decided that I wanted to keep it. And it was a great decision ngl.

The body is gorgeous and the contrast it has with the red/white pickguard is beautiful. The only bone I have to pick with it is that the volume/tone knobs feel a little bit cheaper (material wise) compared to the rest of the bass.

The sound is pretty nice, I dont have much to say about it other that no matter where you set the tone knobit still sounds great.

Truthfully, I only gave it a 4/5 feature rating because it would look suspicious to have it rated at a full 5/5.

For the money, its definitely worth it. Great bass.

Wow

This is a bargain. Well intonated straight out of the box, action is a bit high, but that's an easy fix. No sharp fret ends, great finish (but probably thin - will scratch easily). The tuners feel cheap, but tight. Well put together, and at this price point that's a bonus. The pickup is the weak point, tinny and lacking mids, but I bought a EMG GZR to drop in as a replacement. Easily on par with many basses at three or four times the price.

Beautiful bass guitar!

This is my first bass guitar. I'm a guitarist. I bought it for the record. The quality is excellent. Definitely worth the money. A similar guitar from the brand will cost more! Thanks to this store! I will continue to order equipment here!

Amazing.

For under a hundred quid this thing is astounding. I'm not a bass player, but have owned a few in the past, the last of which (a 1976 Fender Precision) I sold to a friend and bandmate who loved it and will give it a lot more use than I do. So, with the wad of cash one gets for things like that, I thought I'd get a cheap replacement to tootle about on and this looked worth a shot. Bought Fender strings to change them immediately (though the others were OK). Drop of oil on the very dry fretboard. On first play I thought there must be a mistake: this didn't feel a great deal different to the Fender. Some reviews on here say it's got a wide neck: it didn't feel wider than the Fender. Without any other work, I lowered the already perfectly acceptable action about two full turns on each string, lower than the Fender. No buzz or choking anywhere. Then I put it back up a little to a sensible height. The pickup doesn't growl quite like the P-bass, but is fine for now. I may use some of the leftover money to upgrade it. Even then I could still buy a whole bunch more HB guitars. I currently have two amongst other, more expensive brands and they're excellent as well.

Downsides? The satin matt finish is going to show every finger mark and the supplied strings aren't great. That's it. Maybe I was lucky and got a good one, in which case I was lucky with the two 6-strings I bought too.....

For the price you really can't go wrong.

You can't get better for the money

This is an amazing bass for the money - it it very well made, it came well set up and sounds great! I like that it is lightweight and comfortable to play.

I have made some upgrades to mine now and it has taken it to the next level - video here for reference:

https://youtu.be/04l8gpopQZQ

Thanks.

Good for the price

Really good bass for the price