Harley Benton PB-50 SB Vintage Series Reviews

Outstanding Value

This was bought for a beginner but I couldn't believe the quality for the money. OK when you hold it up to an American made Fender the difference is obvious but it is very hard to justify the ¤1500 price difference! The sound is excellent too. I'm very please that I bought it.

Just a hobby

I am professional musician, but just a hobby bassist. I chosed this bass because i liked its simplicity and price. Well, i enjoy playing it a lot. I changed the strings right away. Sound, tunes and feels great. Even my bassist-frinds loved it a lot. Absolutely worth it!

i can't believe this is only ¤109

this bass is amazing, it sounds amazing and looks like a classic 50's bass. the only issue i had with it was the pick guard, its fine just aesthetically i didn't like it. So that came off right away, which i think makes it look much better. the bass sounds great with the Roswell pickup and the one i got had a nice low action with no buzz! it was even in tune, awesome!

there is nothing about this bass i would call a con its all pros. its not too heavy or light, it sits on my lap and around my neck comfortably. I think i'm going to get another one of these in red. they're that good.

if anyone that reads this decides to get one i swear you will not regret it. it's an amazing instrument.

Exellent product

im so glad i decided to buy this bass , in short the Harley Benton pb-50 is one of the best guitars ive ever bought , not just because of the low pricepoint ,but the quality and playability you get at that price ! ive not been able to put this instrument down since i purchased it , in my opinion , its that good !

surprisingly good for the price

I was expecting less but that bass is surprisingly good for the price. As non-professional musician I'm recommending this to all people who want reasonably priced bass.

Great Bass

Years ago I had a Fender Precision which I loved and regretted selling ever since. While this is NOT a Precision, for the money it's unbeatable

One decent e-bass

Honest, responding fully to its price, its an overall good e-bass!!

After 6 months of playing, the bass knobs and electronics work smoothly and nice without noise signs.

Sound wise, a huge positive change came when I changed the first given strings.

Recommended choice for a beginner - intermediate player.

Very Good Bass

The finish of this bass is fantastic. The tuners feel solid, the neck is chunky. The Roswell pickup is hot and has a nice, deep sound. The fretwork is very good, there are only a couple of frets that feel a little sharp. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that the pots are audio pots and not linear pots. The volume goes from 0-100% from turning the pot only 1/3 of the way and then it doesn't get any louder. The tone pot has only a little effect on the tone. But for a $110 bass that feels as good as an $800 bass, I don't mind spending the extra $15 to change the pots.

Unreal!

first off, only took 8 days to get to the United States. Which is awesome! Then, this bass blew me away. I cannot believe how nice it is for the price. I had to do a little set up but that is normal and expected. This really makes me question the amount of money i have spent on guitars in the past. I have an american jazz bass and a 50's Fender P bass and so far this is my go to.... figure that out... It is not a matter of why are HB's so inexpensive, but why are the other brands so high... do not be afraid, it is for real. Going to be ordering the 6 string fret less soon.

Great value for the money

It's what you are hoping for looking at the specs,it definately lives up to expectations.I use it for covers on youtube and i will be using it also for gigs and so far so good.It's perfect for its territory meaning that the neck is really fat and thick and the pickup operates at its best on e standard and borderline acceptable on drop d and d# standard.so if you are a bass shredder virtuoso who wants to djent,nope for you.But for the basic riff bassists on e standard songs ,it couldn't be more fitting for your situation.The neck feels great, the frets are a bit rough on the edges but that is easy to fix and could be just to the one i ordered.

Great bass for an event greater price

A beginner bass player, but a pro mixing engineer, this bass hits all the right notes. Tighter on the bass end, this baby fits perfectly in the mix. It buzzes at times, but not if care is taken to hit the notes properly. I prefer the single magnet design, since it give a more coherent motown-like sound. Don't be impressed with the other models that have a much louder bass end. You'll struggle to fit it in the mix. Would have loved a green/blue saturated color version.

Looks like a P-bass, plays like a P-bass, Sounds like a p-bass

A fantastic instrument for the money. The resemblance of a 51 Fender P-Bass/Mike Dirnt P-bass is uncanny. HB have really done a great job. A slight negative though, mine came with a wobbly volume pot & doesn't turn smoothly at all but I hope to get this fixed within the coming days. Came set up & intonated perfectly.

Looks and sounds the part

I've not had a bass since Jean Jacques Burnel and Bruce Foxton were in their pomp, then, everyone had a p bass or copy. Then, in the 80's Japanese basses were the rage, Ibaneze and Aria. My last bass was an Aria SB900. £400 in 1981. It was made in the matsumoku plant in japan, and was a precision (no pun intended) instrument the match of any Fender or Rickenbacker.

Fast forward a few, ahem years and I'm getting the bass bug again, so I decided to find a cheap, fun bass to mess around with. That's where the PB50 comes in.

It arrived in Scotland five days later, well packed in a double box.

On opening I find one very nice looking bass, there's even a cheap lead, plectrums and stickers. First impressions were very promising, solid, well finished and a nice weight.

Plugging in and I was even more impressed. This is the Roswell pickup and I haven't heard the wilkinson version to compare but I'll tell you what, it definitely sounds like a p bass, it growls with the treble up, and thumps when wound back. The tone actually works really well, gradual and smooth. The neck is chunky and very well finished, silky smooth with nice bevelling at the edges. I manage to get the action down to 2.5mm at the 17th fret with no buzz - That's good.

I removed the pickguard and found sawdust and small pits and indents where the screws have been tightened onto the wood. The bridge and tuners are ok but this bass could take an upgrade on both. I Think the pickup is excellent, loud and clear. I have read that the wood grain is a print, if it is its very good and they've went to the trouble of making it look like several sections joined together - I think it's a real grain, but don't really care.

To summarise, this is a great bass. Impressive build and even better sound. I would say its better than my squier strat se, but not in the same league as my classic vibe tele at nearly four times the price and is a real fender in everything but name.

A true bargain.

Exceptional!!!

Let me tell you first that this is the bass with the Roswell pickup. At the beginning i was very sceptical about the new pickup, because everyone was talking about how good the older Wilkinson pickup was. Ok, i can't compare it direct, because i don't own one with Wilkinson, but this pickup is exceptional! Round and warm with a good amount of punch. You don't feel that something is missing. The bass is gorgeous! Unbelievable finish for the price. And what a price! The fretboard is very comfortable with no sharp edges, no big issues with buzz etc and a decent set up(action/string height/pickup height etc) . The hum from the big poles single coil is small and not annoying. The overall feel & sound is that this instrument worths more. Recommended.

my uncle has the real thing from the 50's, so i had the chance to compare them. as one would expect, there is a difference in sound. but consider the original p-bass costs several thousand euros, the Harley Benton PB-50 SB a little sharp of 100 quid. bully!

Great bass for the money...seriously. Don't wait until they decide to raise the price ! lol

(UPDATE 07/01/2018): Today, I brought the bass out to play at our church and I found that the bottom strap button had suffered an impact, strong enough that it was crushed *into the body*. At first I thought it came loose, but it was then I realized that there was damage during shipping. It's not the end of the world and I can do something about this, but be aware that carriers can be less than careful and this could be the result of that. One other thing, the bass is headstock heavy. When it was strapped on and left for gravity to do its thing, the headstock dropped to level with the body. No big deal and it's probably because of the beefy neck. In the end, I would still buy this bass and recommend it to everyone)

I bought this as a test subject for my pickup company (Shoreline Pickups), so I knew I would be replacing the pickup and probably the electronics as well. But I'll tell you, this instrument, shipped to New Jersey from Germany, was 96% in tune when it arrived and in very good shape. It as carefully packaged and protected. It took 20 days from the day I ordered it until it was received because I ordered it a Friday afternoon, and because of the Christmas and New Years Day holidays and there blizzard conditions here in NJ on the day it arrived to my house !

The instrument needed a proper set up (expected) which included the nut grooves being cut deeper, setting its intonation, its string height but nothing else.

If you have the tools to do this, you'll have the BEST DEAL ever. The bass sounds perfectly fine with the Roswell pickup.

Minor details... some of the tuner bushings on my bass need to be pressed to sit flush against the headstock. The E string tuner mounting plate needs to be screwed down properly as it's not flush against the headstock, but like I said, this is minor, the bass tunes and plays fine as-is. The tone pot is scratchy when sweeping it from 10 to 0 and back to 10. I'll take care of all of that later on.

Conclusion: I've got two more Harley Benton basses in my wish list ! Soon as I can get them, I WILL !! ...and you should too ! You will love them. It's the best deal for the money I've seen.

Ok for the price

I'm using the product mostly for rehearsals in pop, funk and jazz genres.

Really nice looking and sounding instrument. Please note that the bridge differs from the one could be seen in the pictures. I do not have the possibility to compare it with the Wilkinson pickups, but the Roswell pickups sounding great. The slap sounds and clear and very well defined. Turning down the tone and plucking at the end of the fretboard makes a really good upright-bass-like sound.

Pros:

+ Spectacular finish

+ Really nice sounding (yeah, I have mentioned that already twice ;) )

+ Quality tuning machines

+ The output level is extremely high (I suppose the big pole pieces are responsible for that.)

+ The instrument itself is not so heavy.

(+) The neck is wide and thick what is a pro for me.

Cons:

- All the minor screws are over-tightened, so I have to fix the ones holding the strap knob. The scratchplate holding screws are also affected.

- A bit wobbly jack connector

- Frets are not polished, scratchy sound is present when bending.

- Frets are not so well machined at the side of the fretboard.

- During the construction the wood flake is not cleaned from the surface before the scratchplate have been tightened, so one could fine minor defects of finish under it.

(-) The thumbrest annoyes me a bit when slapping, but it could be easily removed

One of the best basses "value for the money"

Cool bass, reasonably priced too

I'm a guitarist, not a bassist, but I got this to play with and it looks and feels wonderful. The setup was great from the get go, everything worked and sounded as it should, meaning a volume and a tone knob, it's rather simple.

The neck feels great, the action is good, sound is pretty classic.

I like everything about it, highly recommended for anyone wanting a vintage looking p-bass.

Oh dear.....

I bought one of these a few months back and it was great, really mellow P type sound, nice action, lovely, so nice that a friend begged me to sell it so I did and re-ordered.

The new one turned up and the Wilkinson pick-up has gone, replaced with some god-awful new "brand", gone is the mellowness, now all top end, truly awful.....and so badly shielded as to be totally unplayable through an amp.

Also arrived with a slight nick in the headstock and a really badly set up neck, rattling frets all over the place, serious QA issues.....it's cheap but in this instance, keep your money in your pocket, there is better around.