HARLEY BENTON PB-20 SBK STANDARD SERIES BASS
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- Let's test the Harley Benton PB-20 SBK Standard Series!
Find it on Thomann* ► bit.ly/3qD9cOv
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bassist: Peter Bornschein
surprised guy: @GregorFris
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This video was sponsored by Thomann. This fact doesn't influence my opinions or test results. Technically it is considered to be an ad, even if that is not the intended purpose.
#basstheworld #HarleyBenton
0:00 Intro
0:34 yay... it's Christmas!
1:09 Harley Benton
1:36 Great Sound! (fingerstyle)
2:20 a little issue
2:58 Pick Bass
3:05 Specs
5:05 Outro - Розваги
I got to agree sometimes the cheaper basses are so good its hard to justify the higher pricer on some of the other brands
I have a Dean Edge 1 that someone gifted me, and I love it. It's sound is a little lacking, but it's feel and playability rivals my Jazz bass. I'm gonna upgrade the pickups and put it to work
Main issue with the cheap bass/guitars compared to the pricier ones is how long they stay in tune, although getting decent lock tuners would still be cheaper.
I bought the candy red one in august as my first bass (only guitars until then) and it is amazing. The frets needed a filing because the fretboard was shrinking brutal this winter. Never had that on my guitars like this. Best money spent in along time!
It’s a great bass for the money, looks good, sounds decent, great starter bass, I got mine over a year ago, sounds exactly like this one
The P-bass is such a simple formula... Nothing to go wrong, as long as they're properly put together and set up.
So true. The P Bass is the all you need bass.
The classic sound, yes. But not built for tonal versatility and not everyone likes the feel of one. P bass necks are thicker and sometimes harder to maneuver around.
@Kevin Michael I like rounds but I've honestly thought about going to flats again for my P. I like the D'Addario Chromes. I also had Black Tapewound strings on my P at one point and man did that sound tight!
I have this bass next ho my high end basses. It plays nice and light after adjusting the neck a little and a set of DR-strings. Awesome bass for the money.
Got this one as my first bass and have been loving it since!
Hi Gregor, ich finde deine Videos total cool. Mach bitte noch lange weiter! 🤘🏻
I got this bass a few months back. Great instrument, plays well and sounds good too. Upgraded a couple of things (hi mass bridge, tuners, pickup) and for less than £300 I now have a bass that plays and sound better than my MIM P-bass. I have many other basses, but this cheap MOFO is the one I use for recording (and used even before the upgrades).
I've had this bass for some time now and I'm really happy with it. Ok so I changed the strings to a set of Elixir's(I'm nickel allergic) and had to set it up to my liking but totally awesome bass!
Ist doch normal! Super, Mann!
My favorite 'cheap' bass is the Fender Squier modified 5-string Jazz Bass... punchy as hell and clear bottom end .. LOVE IT
I think they will be great for gigging by upgrading the pickups. That’s what I’m gonna do! Mungo Jerry played a Benton ES-335 copy and sounded great
Great sound. Love it.
Let me ask you Peter I have actually bought a Yamaha bass like yours and I even bought the same pickups and I have not used any of my other (8) Basses’s. I’m so impressed by the feeling that this bass has but then I plugged it in and I got so much happier! I took it to NAMM and didn’t feel like I had inferior equipment and I was complemented by the sound by Frediricco Malaman. He told me that he recorded with one for years but got endorsed so he couldn’t play it live anymore
Yammy make great basses. Some of the best bang for your buck basses out there. I started playing on a modified RBX 350. Saved up on my paper round and brought EMG actives back in the late 80s. Great memories of my old red weapon.
Thanks for sharing Gregor 🎸🎸
Liverpool UK 👍
I needed a good cheap P-Bass, plus that color is pretty. Ordered through affiliate link. Lets see how it goes
Wow! Simple concept. Sounds great! I would get one.🤨🎶👍🏾
Funny - had the same problem with the G string tuner on my HB fretless; just one phone call and they offered me replacement!!!! But I put a piece of a toothpick to hold it in place - besides this the Bass is grate!!! I also own this black beast and it's a ton of fun;
Can confirm, this bass is so nice to play!
I picked up one of these last year. Great bass! I ended up swapping out the pickups for Geezer Butler EMGs, but that was because I wanted to, not because I had to.
This was my thought exactly! The bass looks very much Geezer.
Bought one has a mod platform, but had to do a ton of work in it. Frets were awful, nut slots were terrible. It was very hard to get the intonation right on the high frets, sign of a very bad instrument.
@@josearaujo8616 more of poor craftsmanship for the particular one that you got.
@@musenw8834 actually not the first time. Bought a beetlebass and same problems, good for decoration.
Bought a strat kit and it was very bad.
Think the more expensive HB are good value, but the cheap stuff is really cheap.
Got this Bass as my first one :)
I put EMG P pickups, D'Addario Nylon strings, a home-made weird Cat Pickguard and some stickers 😏
Frets and Neck came great from the factory and had no hardware issue since I got it in September 2020 !
If anything, I had to properly link the Ground to the Bridge (bare wire against black paint, it was just not working)
how did you solve the ground problem? i guess by scratching it
@@taken852 I have a very short vid on the matter. Scratching would do.
Ηello and keep up the good work. Are there any differences from the simple PB-20? (The black & white one)
I'm a guitarist who dabbles in bass to mainly write basslines for demos... This is pretty much perfect for my needs.
I have it and it is great for laying down tracks in my studio. I am not a bass player.
I love mine! I popped some EMG Geezer pickups in mine and changed the strings, it's now almost as good as my Fender American Standard Precision... almost! ;-)
If i just replace pickups and keep the buttons as is am i good ?
@tomallonsmusicalcreation3944 if you go for EMG GZR pickups, they're supplied with new tone and volume pots, so it's plug and play. 🤘 The only thing you'll need are new knobs as the supplied HB ones have a smaller internal width and won't fit the EMG pots. Again, cheap and easy to source and fit.
@@themiddle-agedmediocrebass479 thanks !! One question
My Bass have this noise high trebely will this go away with the the mod or will i have to go active ?
@@tomallonsmusicalcreation1111 ooft, that's a tricky one to diagnose remotely, I'm afraid... might be best to pop into your local guitar shop so they can have a look in person?
You might even be able to tune that out with a good EQ pedal to remove some treble without it sounding too muddy?
Either way, I can massively recommend the EMG GZR pickups! 👌👌👌
@@themiddle-agedmediocrebass479 are they passive ? For the same price i could get the fender original 60 p bass pick ups , i never tried to install any pickups my self … the emg gives a deep bass sound with no hiss ?
I bought one a while back paid $118.00 and really like it!
I bought this bass, I had to replace the jack, but that’s it. I thought about replacing the pickup, however it sounds really good, very punchy. Great looking bass as well
There is a need to think deeply about replacing a pickup.If HB continues to use the same pickup as it did 15 years ago, I switched to SD and back!
More balanced sound and less 50 cycle hum!😁
@@onkelpool Seen a UA-cam video on a cheap "student version" of a P-bass. Strat body, strat neck, bass bridge and tuners. And here it comes, a guitar single coil pickup. Just because these builders had plenty of those, I guess. It's not ideal, but the reviewers actually liked that pickup in that bass. You never know, until you try such extreme ideas. So, I took a humbucker from a cheap strat clone, and put it in one of my P-basses. I can recommend such experiments, you get another sound and one day you will use it, for a certain number.
Just got my 3rd one. Sold my first 2 and its in competition with my musicman. Simple and sexy.
I recently bought this bass from Thomann, I have a unboxing video on my channel. Great instrument!!
I love your accent dude. I think these basses are tremendous value.
Hello, thank you very much for the review, I would like to know if there is a difference in the sound quality of the P pickup from the pj74 and pb20, thanks in advance.
Nice bass.
funnily enough i have that exact bass
its got some issues on it (A string tuner is loose, A string nut hole is worn which causes a lot of rattle) but its probably user error
and im getting a new nut anyway
Nice bass, wish they offered at least another color option
Sounds great with a Fender Custom Shop '62 pup in it.
Love this bass! Took it and modded it like crazy but it is sooo nice. Put in barts, a hip shot bridge, flats, new tuners, graph tech nut, and some fancy new knobs ;)
I want to replace the tuners and pots on my HB MB4 SBK do you have any suggestions where to buy, and what parts to use? would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.
@@satanssurfer5965 hip shot if you can afford. But honestly just regular metal tuners off stewmack are good
@@Max-Kozol-Bass thanks, will check them out.
Did you also hire a bass player to play it for you? I once payed a hobbit for polishing the magnetic field of my fretless bass, but the creature started running the moment he had my money in his tiny hands.
Just wondering with the total spend you could have got something better from Yamaha or Ibanez. Even the more affordable SRs are pretty damn good, as are the Yamaha affordable stuff?
I have this - and I LOVE it!!! :-D
I bought one and it was beautiful but I had to return it because when I tightened up the truss rod when setting it up it actually caused more of a convex bend in the neck when trying to balance against the string tension which was weird.
Yes. My experience has been the same more or less with all 3 Harley Bentons I bought from new. It takes work either from a luthier or personal to get them playable. And that's something people avoid mentioning.
i love mine..straight out of the box...its awesome ! cheers from Canada !
What did it end up costing you after shipping?
@@Bad_Phil i didnt pay any extra taxes or shipping..whatever thomann had at check out..came Canada post when it finally made it across the pond.
@@chrisb48907 great news! I guess that eliminates any question as to why I shouldn’t get one (or more) 👍🏻
@@Bad_Phil yes sir..i am eyeing another bass and guitar..LOL
@@Bad_Phil i gave ya a sub as well... cheers !
Amaranth is purpleheart! These fretboards in particular seem to have already turned the dark brown color that all purpleheart eventually turns. It's a great wood and the novelty color NEVER lasts, so good on Harley Benton for making use of it!
This amaranth definitely isn’t purpleheart. They’re using a familiar name to make it appear more familiar
Muito bom esse baixo, deveriam vir para o Brasil!
Sounds amazing for the money! If you really want the very typical p-bass sound, this not the one, but the sound is great anyway, even is it not so "fenderisch"...
Mine says "Progressive series" on the headstock. Is there any difference with the usual "Standard Series" ?
yay for Gregor
👍🏿❤
I feel like the build quality is generally the same. It's the electronics that are cheaped out with budget basses. Cheaper bridge, tunning pegs, pickups, tone/volume knobs, pickup selectors, input jack, etc.
How is it compared to PJ-4? They cost around the same, though the latter one has an additional J pickup. Are there any other differences?
Sounds fantastic HB making some great basses
Harley Benton is the husband of Thomann? Nice insider info and cute couple.
Peter us a pretty slick bassist.
Thanks for the video.
Sounds great. I recently went Bass-Shopping all over NYC, and I found (3) that really impressed me: Jackson Spectra JS2, Yamaha TRBX304 and (the one I purchased) which was a little more expensive: Sterling Stingray SS-4.
The Yamaha trbx304/305 are amazing basses, I love them also! 😎👍
@@Basstank I have the trbx 304. The red one. Best gift my wife gave me!😌❤️🎶👍🏾
I have a TBRX304, great bass
I started off in the 80’s with a RBX 350, saved up snd brought EMGs for it. Loved cranking out the punk and pre-grunge Pixies on that old thing.
guys i need your help. I currently looking to get back in bass playing (main instrument is Keys but i just want to play bass again :-) )...now im torned between the harley benton P and the MB4 (stingray). What would you choose?
And thanx for the cool videos about those cheaper instruments. Great to hear them!
Does the Short scale version have the same pickup>
I bought a HB Jazz Bass one year ago. The first thing I did was to throw away the original strings. Since then it sounds really good.
live in the states and want to buy the bundle from the website but would the plug for the amp fit the outlets here?
My bass arrived today 😀 factory string tension is better in standard D tuning then E standard. In D standard not have dead tone and there is normal string buzz of new string. In standard E tuning string have very much tension. Is it normal or? Little wird.
I've been thinking about one of these as want a reasonably priced P Bass. woudl be good to compare against Squire 40th Anniversary and Sire P5 . Any thoughts on Sire ? , thanks
Sire makes excellent basses for the money, especially the passive.P5 and V5 basses. Check out the demos of those.
It is good for a beginner I guess. Got one of these once, but I sold it pretty fast. There was too much I had to finetune and the mechanics were so bad that I lost my joy in putting more afford into it. Maybe a "monday model". I really wanted to like it, but it just did not kick me. Just my 2 Cents. It is not a bad bass, but you get what you pay for and I would rather get a squier model instead if I would be a starter. Then I just baught a used peavey Zephyr really cheap and now it is my backup live and for rehearsals.
It really depends. Of course you can generally expect better quality on Squier CV or VM basses than say Harley Benton, Bacchus or Ammoon, which are not well known brands. Or sometimes you get SX or craftsman instead, those brands of basses are inspired by Fender but just with a different headstock.
Of course not everyone plays a fender even though they've started becoming more popular during this period. That's how you get the pro II, player and performer series all coming out to appeal to newer musicians.
Had this for a while and loved the neck profile and feel (chunky!). I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned. The things you give up for the price, IMO:
1) Extreme headstock dive - the neck is very heavy and so are the steel tuners. It's not worth replacing them because anything better would be more expensive that the bass and probably not fix the problem entirely.
2) The finish. It looks fine, but will wear very quickly and I don't know how that would look. Also, a fingerprint/grease/dust magnet and hard to clean safely. This extends to the fretboard and neck as well.
3) Fret work. Edges were rough and hurt in spots. Could definitely be fixed if you have the tools and experience, but risks the finish. Getting professionally done would cost more than the bass.
All these things could probably be said about any cheap bass, but the neck dive was particularly annoying, requiring constant force to keep the head up when sitting down. As with all cheap instruments, once you invest the time and money to fix the fixable problems, you're probably in the range of a Yamaha or used bass. However, if you truly only have $100 or want a project bass, this might be a good option.
Also consider: do you want to buy something made cheaply? Consider the humans who made it and what that entails.
The neck dive issue is probably due to a light body rather than a heavy neck. As the reviewer says, this HB is on the light side for a P-bass, and I'll bet that most of the weight difference is missing from the body. This can be a problem with non-Fender P-bass 'tributes', particularly the cheaper ones. Basswood is not a very dense wood, and in the interest of cost saving the clones sometimes slightly downsize the body from the original. No wonder then if the balance suffers. On a Fender, it's quite normal for the body of a P-bass - without any parts - to account for 60% of the total weight of the instrument. Add the bridge, control plate, controls and pickup, and it should have no problem balancing the neck and tuners.
Possibly. I don't remember the weight of mine, but it certainly wasn't as light as his. I'm sure inconsistency will be a key factor in these cheaper instruments. Thanks for the input.
How about put a EMG P Pickup inside?
I used to be a jazz bass guy but owning a precision bass as a first bass completely changed my mind..
What's the biggest upside of the P that made you change your mind?
@@sebastiaanhoenderdos7458 I just started to appreciate it more. The looks the asthetics and loved the feeling of the neck. It overall felt right to me and very comfortable. As for the sound it might not have as much variety to the tones it produces like the jazz bass has but that deep sound just fits everywhere in general.
@@billxanthgr thanks for the info, I was looking for a J bass but people tend to agree the P fits the mix nicer.
I see some PJ versions aswell any thoughts on that?
I'm a double bass player but I'd like to explore electric basses.
@@sebastiaanhoenderdos7458 well a pj is the best of both worlds. You have both the p and jazz bass tone options and combined gives you a whole different sound. I think pj basses are ideal for beginners because you can try both how p bass pickup sounds to you and the jazz as well so that you can later decide on what will be your second electric bass
@@billxanthgr thanks for all the information and your insights, much appreciated!
Very good bass player also
Thanks isaac❤❤❤
Man i love you german accent! Es ist so stark 😂
Real good bass for good price, for beginners. And also good original strings. The advantage is thin fretboard, very comfortable. If you need good bass for small gigs, just change the pickup 😉
Not a good bass for beginners, quite the opposite. Just the tunners alone make this a very bad bass for who ever is starting. Good for players who know how to set-up and work on their instrument.
Harley Benton MB-4 SBK Deluxe Series or Harley Benton PB-20 SBK Standard Series do you recommend most for a beginner?
I love cheap basses. I don't buy them because "they're as good as a Fender" or other brand, just because they're fun to play and sounds fun for what they are.
My only issue being a UK citizen, is importing these basses from outside the UK (Inc Europe) is the import tax, so it becomes a bit more expensive and then does rival the named brands.
brexit babe!
I need a great 500w amp who’s best
How does this bass compare to the regular PB-20?
It’s the exact same bass
As someone who wants to buy a bass and play through sound interface and Amplitube, would this be good bass?
My understanding is that sound is not so important since Amplitube will take care of sound, correct?
It’s an ok bass, so yes, that works
5 string version of that?
Der Test sagte nur etwas über Preis und Sound aus! Wie ist die Saitenlage, Bespielbarkeit usw?
Also ich hatte ihn nur kurz für die session in der hand und die bespielbarkeit war echt in ordnung. Saitenlage war out of the box auch gut. Insgesamt hat er sich echt gut spielen lassen. Greetz und danke fürs schauen!
Noodling on the same bass while watching the video. I gig more with this bass now and my musician is collecting dust!
nice shirt, gregor 😜
🙏 DANKE noch mal!
One thing is confusing: you say, the bass is 3.8 kg, bondeo says in their review about this bass that its 4,5kg and if you compare it in thoman, it tells you its 6kg.
Wood is a natural material. Weight can drastically change from Bass to bass, especially in this price range where they can’t be as picky when choosing which materials to use
U are left or right handed? I ordered this guitar in bundle and got for left hand people. It is normal???
Mine was a disaster when I received it. They made it such a pain in the ass to send all the way back to Germany I kept it. Made it a project. Tossed the crap bridge out. Had to shim the neck because the bridge had no adjustment left and truss was adjusted. Had Lawrence pickups and pots in a drawer so I put them in it. Works now but I won’t deal with Thomann again.
How heavy is this bass?
Sounds more like a P than most Fenders.
Nice!
How can this be?
Wish they would make a 5 string
Sounds pretty good, but I didn’t buy this gushing review.
Surely it lacks that hint of sustain which will be noticeable and make all the difference in a final mix? Still very good for learning and jamming, but save time and record with a higher quality instrument. Or switch the bridge or some hardware out to add the missing sustain…
There’s no such issue
Do you think it's good for playing metal songs?
Bassist of one of my favorite Serbian black metal bands play on this bass and it rocks.
a total buzzing festival when playing with a pick
This is one of my favourite instruments. Easily as good as basses 5 or 6 times as expensive.
Same words, different (better) question: Why is this good bass so damn cheap?
What strings are on this bass Gregor?
Just the Thomann stock strings
It’s got to sound better “outside of the box” than “inside the box”
It looks good “outside the box” as well…
Cheers
Underrated comment
0:17 why it doesnt has a g string tuner?
just watch the video 😉
What material is the nut?
Plastic
Again one with "2" pick ups.....mine has 3...same bass though..(bridge PU)
frets are completely rubish(( couple days of plaing and they are pushed through under strings and many other problems... only if you want to by constructor and change almost half instrument then it will be good
I have no such issues with my Harley Benton
I have a HB 51 P only weighs 35 lbs!!!!
Ich hab' irgendwo gehört, das HB die PB herstellt aus "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum". Deswegen ist es so billig. Stimmt das?
It’s a shame fender can’t patent the shape
How did they get away with using that head shape without Fender having a kitten??? It looks identical to the patented fender headstock lol
It's completely different from a Fender headstock.
Do they have lefties?
How much does this cost?
Check the link in the video description
Cheap Bass? Was your first brand NEW car a Cadillac? No. We have to start somewhere and dream of having a Cadillac...
Well halfway through and I just stopped paying attention and noticed I was working on my accent.
Harley benton have short scale bass ?
They have a few short scalers Yes.
I just got the Beatlebass.
I unboxed it just a few hours ago.
My first short scale bass since 1973 when I traded in my Fender Musicmaster for a Rickenbacker 4001.
This Beatlebass has humbuckers; better than the old Höfner single coils. 👍
Similar whacky pickup switching though.
They do a very nice sounding Gretsch syle semi-hollow as well.
This BeatleBASS is amazingly good value BTW !!
yes a few
They do the PB Shorty - my favourite bass. I did put Fender pickups in it - just because I could, not because it needed it.
💙👊😎
I purchased this bass and it arrived with an improperly set neck: the action was way too high and the bridge saddles were bottomed out. The fret sprout on the treble side of the neck was 1/16" and had ruined the finish the entire length of the neck. I was a repeat customer and Thomann refused refund/return saying these are 'acceptable' defects for this bass. Please get your gear from anywhere but Thomann ... these online favorable reviews are bought and paid for by Thomann.
I’m sorry to hear that, but please don’t make these kind of assumptions about us. I’m not talking favorably about Thomann because they have to pay for our videos. I’ve never had an experience like you describe. Neither as a reviewer nor as a regular paying customer. Just send it back. Everything can be returned within 33 days
Just like this bass showed up broken, I had the same issue. The return policy on the site is not what you will encounter actually. The return process is a hassle and if defective you have to pay shipping back to them. With these cheap bases once you pay shipping twice you have bought another of their cheap instruments...my advice...avoid at all cost.
I never had this return issue - as long as you contact them within 30 days of receiving it, shipping should be free and easy back to Thomann :)
I have notthing but praise for HB basses, Thomann and their return policy. ...my advice..... give them a try, especially at the cost!
Never had such an issue in many many years as a Thomann customer
you can actually order 3 instruments try them and send 2 back without cost. However I dont want to advice doing so, especially for the enviroment.
@@armignac All thumbs up for this coment. There also so many good used quality basses on ebay that there is no need for me to get a brand new instrument
Sounds like a P-Bass to me - what else matters at this price ? You probably would want to upgrade the tuners anyways ... the electronics and the strings too ... and you're good to go - an incredible bargain IMO ... as a side note the bass player's got some serious chops eh ?