Harley Benton Beatbass VS LH Vintage Series

I got this bass guitar for home recording for use with my 1204usb mixer. I was concerned I might need a DI box yet no problem - the bass plugs into the mixer with the supplied cable and with the level set at about three quarters and full compression this little beauty sounds awesome.

I have it going into a single active 12 inch PA speaker and was blown away by the bass sound I got from this setup (Behringer Eurolive B112D) as I did not buy this as a bass rig, more for use as a vocal practice rig. There is absolutely no need for any other bass amp - this sounds completely perfect, even with the bottom E dropped down to D (as most rock bands preffer)

The bass guitar arrived perfectly set up and ready to go. The build quality is excellent and the materials used are good. It seems to me that this model is different from the older Harley Benton Beatbass for which reviews can be heard on youtube. Those older models are not built using true violin construction methods. This can be seen at the input jack, which used to be mounted on a metal place, to cope with the increased thickness of the body. This new model has the standard jack plug fitten directly to the body, which indicates it is probably true violin construction. I was not expecting this so it was an added bonus. The sound is so good and the pickups are more than adequate. I just dialed in full volume on both pickups and this sounds great. No need to fiddle with the knobs it just works.

I have been playing the bass guitar mostly accoustically without amplification - it has great sustain owing to the neck construction join to body design (not bolt on like some others). When pluged into an amp there is virtually unlimited sustain on each note - probably a feature of the violin construction and a pleasure to play for slow moving parts. Being new to the Beatle Bass and was surprised and very happy about this feature. The last hollow body bass I owned was an old Diplomat from the early sixties which had virtually no sustain. This is a very rich and bass-full instrument which should please nearly everyone who is in the market for this king of the lightweight basses. I was considering another well known and low cost model which has problems with tuning heads breaking - no problem with that here - all is very solid and built to last a lifetime of playing, as has McCarney's personal instrument.

If you are interested in this kind of bass guitar - buy it whilst the international money system favours it - this price is bound to go up in the longer term as it is simply not possible under normal exchange rates to build such an instrument for this low cost.