Harley Benton PB-50 LH FR Vintage Series

De bouwkwaliteit, balans, de zeer goed af te stellen hals en de looks kennen we als van de andere Harley Benton-bassen (en gitaren) maar hier heb je voor deze zeer lage prijs ook een Roswell-pickup waarvan we weten dat dit merk zich minstens kan meten met de bekendere en vooral (veel) duurdere merken. Op het Belgisch-Nederlandse zeer kritische forum zijn er tig posts te vinden van ervaren bassisten met dikwijls véél en vooral véél duurder materiaal die deze bas kopen als knutselmateriaal maar hem uiteindelijk meer ter hand nemen dan zijn duurdere broertjes en vooral de Roswell pup de hemel inprijzen! Zeer weinig tot geen ruis (voor een single coil), heel veel output, pittige herkenbare sound, simpel maar steengoed. En onder de slagplaat zit geen freeswerk, ze kan er dus gewoon af voor wie dit mooier vindt.

TL;DR -- PB-50 is a great instrument that doesn't scream "budget" at all. Highly recommended to anyone who looks after a bass with the classic precision sound we all love.

For quite some time I've been looking after the Fender Precision bass, though I've been lacking the funds to buy one. Then came to my attention the PB-50, for which I've read only good things. Combined with the 30-day Money Back Guarantee of Thomann I thought I could try one and see myself.

Around a week since my order I received the bass. First things first, the bass was carefully packaged (double box). Not sure if this is a standard practice on other retailers, but at least in the case of Thomann this is something worthy of remark. Great job!

When I opened the box, I was expecting to see a good low budget instrument. Good as in "good for the money". Suffice to say that only "budget" thing on it applies only to its price.

Let's see why:

+ Construction/Materials: It sports a lightweight body and a stable maple neck with some awesome grain showing on the back and a very nice satin finish -- bonus points that it sits perfectly tight in the neck pocket. The headstock isn't based on the classic tele look, but it can be modded easily if needed, though in my opinion it looks great as is. As for the fretboard, it is flawless with no sharp frets whatsoever and no dead spots as far as I'm aware. Also, at this price point don't expect anything like mother of pearl or abalone for the inlays -- that would surely raise the price and I'm thankfull they didn't go that way since painted inlays do the job just as good. The nut is a basic plastic one, as expected, though it was engineered with precision and the strings sit nicely on it -- well done! As for the pickguard, it is of good quality and it lends to the classic '54 Precision look of it, though I removed it since pickguards aren't my cup of tea and prefer to let the awesome red finish to fill the room with color!

+ Electronics: The hot passive single-coil Roswell pickup does a great job at providing that well-known sound of the first generation of Precision basses. Some hum is to be expected due to its construction, though it is so little that i'm not even going to bother myself shielding the cavity. It provides the thump and the clarity that is associated with the early Precisions but if you boost the mids on your amp, it does the split-coil Precision sound well enough. It won't be the same, so if you're looking for that particular sound, then there's the PB-20 for you. The two big potentionmeters work as intended, turn smoothly and they don't feel flimsy at all.

+ Hardware: The bridge and the open-gear tuning keys are solid and they do their job at keeping the tuning stable. No problems whatsoever. The original strings are fairly decent for certain kinds of music and sound good whether you play with a pick or fingers, though in my opinion the bass really shines when strung with flatwounds. In any case, it all comes down to personal preference but either way it sounds great.

+ Ergonomics: The bass sports a double cutaway body reminiscent to the '54 Precisions. That means more comfort and less weight which in turn means more enjoyment during the longer sessions. The one I received measures 3.5 kg. The neck is fairly chunky but super comfortable, even with my average sized hands. Reaching the higher notes bears no problem if needed.

+ Setup: It arrived with a perfect setup for my taste: aside from the spot-on intonation, the action was about my preferable 2mm and out of the box it felt just like I just did the setup. I mean, how cool is that! Perfect service, kudos to the T.team!

Overall, I'm surprised to receive such a *great bass* for so little price. Outstanding service and quality, really recommended to anyone looking for an inexpensive P bass of great quality.

Having said that, if at some point I'm able to afford an original Fender Precision, I'm definitely not going to part with this one -- it's a keeper! 10/10

Thanks to Thomann's largesse (and with an initiative with a prominent Youtuber) we lefties get to have this sweet axe. Proof is in the number of runs they've already went through (as of this writing, it's been sold out four times! Clearly, they're moving a lot of these)

First off, this bass is gorgeous in person. The photos don't do it justice. Its construction is solid and tight and the ergonomics make for a very comfortable feel. The neck has a nice, smooth satin finish, very thin, feel like an oil finish. The hardware is very good quality (the tuning machines do work, but their look screams 'budget'!!!) but the bridge and string retainer are solid steel components that are as good as anything out there.

The Roswell pickup sounds phenomenal. Dynamic, full range, I doubt swapping it out would be necessary. The potentiometers work smoothly and offer a great volume and tone taper for more precise settings.

The bass feels balanced and light, plays well.

Although the neck is a two-piece, it has been milled and finished like a one piece, and it ends up feeling like a one-piece (the maple they used for both the fret board and the neck seem to be from the same tree and have the same wood grain, so it's a fairly decent job of it)

The fret ends in the wintertime since I got this bass at the end of December have started poking out of the sides, but considering this instrument was made in Southern China or Vietnam, then shipped to Germany, then to eastern Canada in winter, it's to be expected (and fairly easy to fix) Luckily, the truss rod works well and the neck otherwise is very stable.

My overall impression - with an upgrade of tuning machines, I would confidently compare this model (and the sunburst version, I'm sure) to the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Precision Bass -- and that's high praise and important, considering we lefties can't get a left-handed version otherwise.

In conclusion: Highly recommended instrument for left-handed people. Thanks Thomann!!!