Harley Benton HB-60 WB

Greetings from the USA. I wanted something different from my '73 P Bass fretless and my '80s MIJ Jazz Bass Special. I wanted something with some different tones and definitely lighter. My HB-60 is all of that and more.

THE LOOK
I love it. The finish might be a little too dark to really show off the wood, but it's still very nice. The craftsmanship is much better than I would have expected for an instrument at this price. My friends see a little bit of rockabily in this bass, but I'm OK with that.

THE FEEL
It's much lighter than my J Bass Special. I'm looking forward to playing gigs again because I know I'll be able to play all night long without feeling like my shoulder is going to give in under the weight of a slab of wood. The frets feel great - nothing snags. The tuners are just fine. And there isn't any noticeable neckdive. Overall it just feels good in my hands.

TONE
When I first plugged the bass in I wasn't wowed. The tone was OK but a little thin. It turns out that one of the first things to do is to remove the felt from under the floating bridge. (Careful when you do that, though, so intonation stays true. You might want to mark the position.) Then I upgraded to medium length La Bella Deep Talking strings. WOW! Talk about deep, rich sound! The combination might be too dark for some, but that's what I'm looking for.

The biggest sound definitely comes with the switch in the middle position. It's just a HUGE sound. I like the bridge pickup for brighter work and the neck pickup for more subtle songs. The tone knob doesn't seem to make a huge difference for me, but changing the volume of the neck and bridge pickups can really make a difference.

Even after adjusting the pickups, getting an even tone across the strings can take a little work. I find that it works best if I play the lower strings a little closer to the bridge and the higher strings a little closer to the neck. That gives the most even tone across all of them. I mean, if you play them all at the same place it's OK, but a little tweak to technique just helps out a bit.

In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a tone geek. I've found that I can really work the tone in this instrument. Right hand finger position and plucking technique can make a massive difference. There's plenty to experiment with here. And then once in a while I pull out the pick for something completely different. There's just something fantastic about that middle position with both pickups one full and blasting something with a pick!

OTHER THOUGHTS

There was one minor flaw in my bass. I think I found someone on a forum with the same flaw, so it might be a design issue. At times the next pickup will rattle a bit. It does not sit securely in the bracket. I placed a small piece of felt or ribbon around the pickup between the pickup and its housing. I can't see the felt or ribbon, but it's just enough to keep the pickup from rattling.

I bought this with modifications in mind - maybe an option for switching between double and single coil and/or a series/parallel switch or even doing something crazy like adding a piezo pickup. All of that seems possible, but I'm not really sure I want or need to make any of those changes. Of course, if I do that and then decide that I liked the original sound I know I can a replacement for cheap, so it's low risk.

One note - the bass does not come with a case. Paid shipping to the US is NOT cheap through Thomann (like $50 for a $39 case), so you might want to buy a case at the time you buy the instrument. Similar cases are much more expensive on US-based sites.

I have recommended Harley Benton to other people based on my experience and might buy more in the future.

I wanted a short scale, semi acoustic bass to use in a sixties influenced pop / rock trio. This HB-60 was drawn to my attention by a friend who has recently purchased a couple of HB instruments and forund them value for money.

The bass finish is much darker than it appears in the catalogue photograph. Nonetheless it is an attractive instrument and the quality of finish is good, save for one (very minor) blemish near the upper F-hole. Whilst not the heaviest bass I own (a Peavey T-40 holds that honour) this is a solid feeling instrument and I have no qualms about taking it to reherasals.

Once tuned up, the bass was playable, with a reasonably low action (approximately 3mm) at the 12th fret. There was no relief in the neck and consequently open strings rattled when played hard. I restrung with Fender 9050L flatwound strings (.045 - .100) and loosened the truss rod about 1/2 a turn which solved the problem.

The neck is comfortable, and I had no problem swapping between this and my long scale basses.

Sound unplugged is full and rich. Loud enough for quiet practice. Through a Line 6 Bass Pod it is possible to obtain a range of useable tones. The 'Sgt. Pepper' tone in particular is quite convincing! I play fingerstyle, but this bass also responds nicely when played with a pick.

No problems with electronics so far, all work as they should and without noise.

The only con is that the bass is too large for most cases, so the Hagstrom Viking bass case is the only one that will fit. It is a nice, retro looking, case, but relatively expensive.

It probably helps if you are confident enough to perform a basic set up, but that goes for most guitars. So far, I am very pleased with this purchase and consider it good value for money.

I'm a little on the fence about this instrument.

What stands out to me about this bass:

Absolutely stunning finish, in my opinion. At this price, I expected it to feel cheap and 'plasticky', but it's smooth and glossy. I'd personally prefer it without a pickguard, but that's very minor.

The neck is great. For someone like me who's mainly a guitarist, the shorter scale really lends itself to faster, tighter playing than a regular size, without compromise in tone or feel. I can get kinda sloppy on a regular bass, but this neck is very noob friendly and playable. Strings are a little bit rough, but nothing too noticeable. Not painfully, just a little annoying.

The sound is warm and round, but be advised, it's sort of low and it straight upp doesn't work with any kind of distortion. I'm totally down with the mics for jazz, soul or indie pop, but this bass can barely be in the same room as a fuzz pedal without catching fire. Huge bummer, to be honest.

The action when I got it was SO LOW. Rattles for days. It sounds and feels fine above the 7th/5th fret, depending on the string, but below it gets muddy at best and fully dead at worst. Very limiting, and if you're not comfortable with doing your own maintenance, it's gonna cost you more money. Maybe I'm being picky, but an instrument should be finished when it leaves the factory. Light setup is fine, but this bass has unplayable frets out of the box. Big mad.

In all, it's a beautiful, cool looking and sounding instrument for the price. Honestly a little too much setup is required for me to be *happy*, but again given the price pretty worth it. Just be prepared for work. Change the strings and mics and fix the awful action, and it's gonna be way bitter than you've paid for. But you'll be annoyed at receiving a half finished bass. Final verdict: a WHOPPING 3.5/5.