Harley Benton HB-60 WB

Bassen lyder super og har den der klassiske hollow body lyd, men med det rette set roundwound strenge på, kan den også brøle som en tyr med brok.

Strengene sad dog helt fjollet på den, da jeg modtog bassen. De sad skævt langt halsen, og de svævede 3-4 kilometer over gribebrættet. Dette skyldes, at broen tilsyneladende var placeret af en sindsforvirret chimpanse med Parkinsons, da den havde brug for en grundig justering.
Efter en fræk date med mig, bassen og min værktøjskasse spillede bassen dog som den burde, og den har endda været med i studiet et par gange.

Køb den, hvis du har mod på at justere den. Har din værktøjskasse forladt dig for en anden mand, ville jeg dog springe dette køb over, hvis jeg var dig.

Jeg var på udkig efter en flot short scale-bas, og faldt over denne. Som udgangspunkt er jeg godt tilfreds, da jeg har mig at opgradere bassen. Men nogle af fabriksdelene er ikke optimale:

1. Pickupperne på mit eksemplar er mikrofoniske, og kan ikke klare høj volumen eller drive uden at hyle. Måske har jeg bare været uheldig, men det er noterbart.

2. Elektronikken er dårligt jordet, og larmer meget. Jeg har haft to forskellige eksemplarer, hvor dette var tilfældet.

3. Halsen på mit eksemplar kan kun lige akkurat justeres til at være dejlig at spille på, da halsen, med strenge monteret står helt lige, når trussrod er løs. Tykkere strenge ville hjælpe på det, men bedre forarbejdning havde være at foretrække.

4. Kvalitetskontrollen kunne godt have været mere grundig. På begge eksemplarer jeg har haft, har der været meget savsmuld i krogene, som jeg selv fjernede. Og der er et hak i halsen, på den nyeste jeg har modtaget. Ikke fordi det er dealbreakere, men det tager noget af oplevelsen.

Men den spiller sgu godt. Så hvis den får en kærlig hånd, og nye dele, er det en lækker bas! Jeg glæder mig til at se hvad det kan blive til.

P.S. Denne gigbag passer fint til: <a class="article link" href="https://www.thomann.de/dk/thomann_gigbag_acousticbass_jumbo.htm">Thomann Acoustic-Bass Jumbo Gigbag</a>

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.