Harley Benton PB-50 '51 P bass

5redlights

Not as chunky as a proper 50's neck, but close enough and what you'd expect for a P-bass neck. The neck is actually quite nice considering the cost and better with a bit of fret work. 

stimpsonslostson

Perfect. Thanks for that.
The neck on my Te52 is surprisingly wonderful too.
I'll see what's out there second hand too, but this is definitely an option- as I said, you've done a lovely job.

5redlights

stimpsonslostson said:

Perfect. Thanks for that.
The neck on my Te52 is surprisingly wonderful too.
I'll see what's out there second hand too, but this is definitely an option- as I said, you've done a lovely job.

I think there's one of these basses on ebay now actually. I don't think it's being advertised as a Harley Benton though, so you may have to do a generic "bass guitar" search to find it. It was on there a couple of days ago when I was bored and scouring ebay for projects/bargains. 

reynomeyer

Hi 5redlights, very well done! I modded a HB PB 50 too and because of the slightly less characterful sound I changed the pickup to a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound single coil. I guess this could be something for you as well. Now the bass sounds really present and pushes like hell. I also changed the pickguard to a white one because the sunburst precis from 1956 were only delivered with this colour. The original Fender pickguard doesnt fit to the HB, so I fretsawed it from a sleeve.
Here is the result:
Body: https://db.tt/QXIVsIDR
Neck: https://db.tt/NJED8Dnl
Complete: https://db.tt/b7QvCqaK
The Fender decal is from a good friend who unfortunately died a very sudden death three weeks ago. The bridge and pickup covers and the roundwound Fender strings are from Thomann. Now the bass is perfect to me.
Kind regards
Reyno

Moss

That looks amazing @reynomeyer

reynomeyer

Thanks, Moss. Meanwhile I prefer this bass to my 1978 Fender Preci. The original has an ash body and is really heavy. After 1 set on stage you have a postural deformity. And a bump is not really a drama for this bat.

5redlights

Lovely job @reynomeyer, looks very authentic. Good news about the SD pickup too, as that is something on my mind given the lack of character with the wilkinson pup. 

stimpsonslostson

@reynomeyer That's really good too! 

What did you use to treat the neck? Does it have some oil on it?

Having seen what you've both achieved from a relatively inexpensive starting point definitely isn't helping my GAS! 

reynomeyer

@5redlights: I am sure you willl be very glad with the SD QP because this pup delivers what the Wilkinson does not: dynamic, a fundamental low frequency spectrum and very silky high frequencies. The Wilkinson sounds a little too tinny at high frequencies.

@stimpsonslostson: The neck was only treated with a fretsaw for the headstock, sandpaper and matt clear coat for the cut surface and to fix the decal. The rest was sweat and a lot of smoke.

stimpsonslostson

So I pulled the trigger & I now have a PB50.
I like it. I totally agree with your reviews: it's already a nice guitar, but some (relatively minor) modifications will make it even better. I particularly really like the thumpy tone it gives.

I'm gonna reshape the headstock, replace the bridge, wiring & pots (I have some CTS 250k pots and a Wilkinson brass saddled bridge in my box'O'stuff), add a new pick guard & probably bridge & pickup covers.

I'll probably start my own thread soon!

UnclePsychosis

Nice work.

Thanks to the magic of the Thomann voucher scheme and the deko instruments they sell I just snagged one of these for £8.80 delivered. Hoping its going to do the job as my emergency backup bass!

UnclePsychosis

@oiforlife do you have a link to the right black screws to buy?

Eltommo

Excellent bass. Well done!

Quick question. I was thinking of getting a white scratchplate my Harley Benton PB-50 '51 P bass.
Eg:
Thomann - Fender Pickguard WHT 1-PLY '51 P Bass: http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_pickguard_wht_1_ply_51_p_bass.htm?sid=054c89294042e85d42eca4b0d114f19f

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/parts-c4/pickguards-c106/bass-pickguards-c387/fender-7-hole-mount-classic-vibe-50s-precision-bass-pickguard-p9408

Do you know if there is a standard fit for 51 P bass scratchplates.

Many thanks! and well done!!

stimpsonslostson

@Eltommo I don't think a fender guard will fit. Someone else on here did one & had to custom cut one. Scratch-it could do you one, you email a scan of the guard, tell em what you want it to look like & they do the rest.

Winny_Pooh

@reynomeyer
I played a CIJ 51' for years as my main bass and had the stock pup and hot SD in there but found a wide GFS rails pup to work the best of all. Since selling the bass, its sitting idle in my parts box and I can send it to you to try if you like.

reynomeyer

@Winny_Pooh
Thanks a lot for your kind offer, but I am really satisfied with the SD Quarterpound pup. Together with a slightly overdriven Orange Amp this bass growls like the one of Dusty Hill from ZZ Top. And this was my intention. Up to now nobody realized the fake, I added a serial number and a Fender custom shop decal.

@Eltommo
The standard Fender 51 P bass scatchplate will not fit, you will have to fretsaw it from a sleeve. But this is not really a problem, it takes less than one hour if you are patient enough.

delllu

5redlights said:

It's actually a very good position for the pickup, as it puts it in the sweet spot for a good mix of low end punch and but without the muddiness you can get from neck pickups, and high end clarity. They split the pickup in 57/58 to the standard P bass pup because of the hum the 51 single coil style pickup used to create. 

I agree, as far as a fender style headstock goes, the HB headstocks are actually pretty good. With this one I wanted to get a 51 style look as much as possible. 

Managed to get the headstock done this weekend. Here it is for prep - 

And finished! As you can see, the 51 template just about fitted in, so just needed a tiny bit of sanding to smooth it out, and now it's ready for spraying this week. 

Soldering iron managed to die just when I needed it, so another ordered and wiring to be finished this week. I also went to cut the pickguard from the white pearloid sheet I had, and realised that the pickguard sheet was guitar sized, so not big enough. Annoyingly this means I'll have to leave this and save it for another time. 

can u help me whit the headstoke p telebass 50 shape ? from where i can get this martice ? tnx 

sunray757

Quality job that.  I have the same bass and want the headstock cutting/shaping.  Recommendations anyone?  Not a job I want to try myself!

Koa

Isunray757 said:

Quality job that.  I have the same bass and want the headstock cutting/shaping.  Recommendations anyone?  Not a job I want to try myself!

I found a template for the shape online, printed it on standard 80 gsm paper then cut it out. Placed it over the headstock and drew a pencil outline. Cut easily with a fret or coping saw sourced from Screwfix. A bit of light sanding and that was it.....remove neck and tuners to make it easier although the neck pocket is tight so go easy, I chipped the finish on mine.
Nice instruments, I put a real '69 Tele bass pickup in mine then changed back to the original Wilkinson pickup which is actually very good.

Funkfingers

@5redlights Excellent work except that the three-tone sunburst finish and 1957-style bridge cover plate look out of place.