NBD

menamestom

I’ve been meaning to get a new bass for a while, mainly for recording.  I had a shorter scale Ibanez but sold it, as I wanted a Jazz bass.  But then I soent the funds elsewhere.

So thought I’d go for a cheaper stop gap and got one of these:-

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm?glp=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrfCRBhAXEiwAnkmKmd24bAbe7zag_H8d-WQknXzgqZiIyuqaXpbf5QJxTjv9kvHu3XA0PxoCbNsQAvD_BwE

Got to say, I’m impressed.  Played perfect out of the box and sounds great.  No need to get anything else and this will be perfect when it’s played in a bit.
Only thing I may change is to do something to darken the anaemic white neck, it’s the standard non tinted satin you get on all cheap guitars. But other than that it’s perfect.

hollywoodrox

Jolly well done ,it’s quite a looker from the picture on the site 
  Thomann really do turn out some terrific stuff 

Teyeplayer

They are cracking basses. Mine is about to go to a fellow Fretboarder and I’ll be putting the funds towards an upgrade, but I’m going to have to pay a lot more to get a significantly better bass.

menamestom

hollywoodrox said:

Jolly well done ,it’s quite a looker from the picture on the site 
  Thomann really do turn out some terrific stuff 

Yeah well impressed.  Might try one of their guitars at some point.

Teyeplayer said:

They are cracking basses. Mine is about to go to a fellow Fretboarder and I’ll be putting the funds towards an upgrade, but I’m going to have to pay a lot more to get a significantly better bass.

True, I’d say weight is probably something I’d pay more for if i was gigging or stood up with the bass, because it is quite heavy!

It’s not going to keep up with much more expensive guitars but it’s just nice to have something that I actually want to play for £139.

fretmeister

Lots of people seem very impressed by them.

If the were a bit lighter I'd have one myself.

hollywoodrox

menamestom said:

hollywoodrox said:

Jolly well done ,it’s quite a looker from the picture on the site 
  Thomann really do turn out some terrific stuff 

Yeah well impressed.  Might try one of their guitars at some point.

Teyeplayer said:

They are cracking basses. Mine is about to go to a fellow Fretboarder and I’ll be putting the funds towards an upgrade, but I’m going to have to pay a lot more to get a significantly better bass.

True, I’d say weight is probably something I’d pay more for if i was gigging or stood up with the bass, because it is quite heavy!

It’s not going to keep up with much more expensive guitars but it’s just nice to have something that I actually want to play for £139.

They do a stunning strat and p bass in Matt black with a tort style pick guard that looks amazing 

Dave_Mc

Nice!  

I was going to ask how heavy it was, but I guess you already answered that. The weight's the big thing that has put me off, unfortunately  

If you swap the pickups, does it sound like custom shop Gibson Les Paul?

menamestom

Dave_Mc said:

Nice!  

I was going to ask how heavy it was, but I guess you already answered that. The weight's the big thing that has put me off, unfortunately  

If you swap the pickups, does it sound like custom shop Gibson Les Paul?

10.5lbs.  To be fair some 70’s F bases were probably that anyway, but not something I’d want to gig with for 2 hours!

fretmeister

10.5lb??? Strewth.

My J type is 6.5lb.

menamestom

fretmeister said:

10.5lb??? Strewth.

My J type is 6.5lb.

But on the bright side it’s only £13.24 per pound 

Dave_Mc

menamestom said:

Dave_Mc said:

Nice!  

I was going to ask how heavy it was, but I guess you already answered that. The weight's the big thing that has put me off, unfortunately  

If you swap the pickups, does it sound like custom shop Gibson Les Paul?

10.5lbs.  To be fair some 70’s F bases were probably that anyway, but not something I’d want to gig with for 2 hours!

Yeah. I've got a Fret-King PJ which I guess is around that weight, and it's really nice apart from the weight, but I definitely notice I'm flagging after even 15-20 minutes playing!

It's a pity because at the price the HB is, if it weren't for the weight it'd probably be worth a punt- now I know that weight is kind of a problem for me.

menamestom said:

fretmeister said:

10.5lb??? Strewth.

My J type is 6.5lb.

But on the bright side it’s only £13.24 per pound 

Hahahahahaha well played! 

menamestom

I think most 70’s J style solid ash bases would be pretty heavy.  I would imagine some genuine 70's ones would be weight prohibitive.  The body is hard ash I think, but HB do some Alder ones that are supposed to be lighter, but they look like PJ's rather than J's.

If I ever get round to gigging on bass I'd get something lighter, or one of these!

fretmeister

menamestom said:

I think most 70’s J style solid ash bases would be pretty heavy.  I would imagine some genuine 70's ones would be weight prohibitive.  The body is hard ash I think, but HB do some Alder ones that are supposed to be lighter, but they look like PJ's rather than J's.

If I ever get round to gigging on bass I'd get something lighter, or one of these!

I've got one of those stands. I used it for a while when I was recovering from surgery. Was a bit wobbly, but good enough.

The lightest full scale basses around are the Sandberg Superlight series if you end up needing one.