Harley Benton PB-Shorty BK Standard Series

The Harley Benton PB Shorty is definitely a budget-friendly bass guitar. It features a short scale length of 762 mm, making it highly accessible for players with smaller hands; the neck width is okay, too. This little bass is very light and easy to handle. There were no sharp edges along the neck, so the neck is very smooth. Out of the box the tuners didn’t hold really well, and the A string was annoyingly buzzing, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The strings are not of the best quality, I must admit. However, the PB Shorty sounds cool, and looks great and it’s really FUN TO PLAY! :)

Only being an amatuer bassist I wanted a cheap short scale instrument to add to my arsenal.
I am not disapointed, great finish, great sound and great value.
I have already upgraded the strings to the GHS Stainless flatwounds, polished the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard, set the intonation to a higher standard than when it came out of the box, made a custom Ash wood pickguard and created a bone nut. I have just orderd some more parts for further upgrades as follows: Gotoh GB10 4L N Bass Tuners - Göldo HW50C 3-D Bass Bridge, both items have been ordered from Thomann. Now you know that I have further improvement plans for this instrument let me tell you why I spent the extra on these parts. When I first recieved this instrument the frets needed zero attention, I polished them because I changed the strings and I could. The pickguard was made purely for aesethetics and to add my own customization. The bone nut in my opinion was a "needed" upgrade because the nut that came fitted was some cheap soft plastic and probably reduced the sustain.
The strings HAD to be replaced because a: I prefer flatwound for the sound and my amateur fingers take less abuse, b: The original strings were terrible! The intonation wasn't actually that bad, I suspect that storage time and temperature change had an effect on the original setup. Which leads me to why I oiled the fretboard, storage time had dried it up somewhat and so a little fretboard oil was needed. Now I have spent some time playing and enjoying a great value for money instrument I feel it's time to add some further upgrades to enjoy it even more. Two of the machine heads (tuners) can be turned by nearly half a revoloution before they actually tighten or loosen the strings, on closer inspection I can see that the shaft of the keys are loose in the mechanism, now I could perhaps bend the whole tuner (machine head) plate to tighten on the shaft and stop the loose action of the tuning key but I'd rather replace them with some top quality tuners and enjoy reliable tuning action. The bridge replacement is mainly because I want a higher mass bridge to hopefully achieve more sustain and to be honest I want a more contemporary look, it isn't in my opinion a necessary upgrade but one I want to achieve a more unique Harley Benton Shorty custom.
I ain't no expert, I can setup a guitar and a bass and I can be honest, if you want my opinion this instrument is a NO BRAINER if you are looking for a short scale bass and for what ever your reasons don't want to spend an arm and a leg you, cannot go wrog with this instrument. Out of the box it will serve anyone and if you want it to serve you better or more it is easily upgradeable and easily worth spending a few quid at the local luthier to get it to perform at a satisfying level.
Next upgrade for me will be either a Tone Rider Pick up or a Wilkinson pick up, both Alnico V but to be honest the ceramic pick up that comes fitted is actually surprisingly good, nice warm sound with the GHS flatwounds I have fitted that punch if you dig in, again it's me being a tart and wanting to customise rather than a necessary upgrade. I hope that if you go for one of these you enjoy the same or similar experience as me!
A good one!

Unboxing Harley Benton PB Shorty was really a nice surprise. I have to say that I did not expect too much for the price I paid for this one. My feedback is based on the quality of this bass considering the very low price. After a few months of playing it I am very sure that this bass is the best bass in the market for the price. This one also beats all of the basses I have tried in local music stores that cost up to 10 times as much as this one.

My first impression was the looks of it as I unboxed it. It looked just fantastic and the finish was perfect. This bass is very light and is really easy to handle. Setup, intonation, playablility and feel was great right out of the box so I just had to tune it.
After playing for a short while I noticed that the fret ends kind of cut the skin on my left thumb. This was no big deal. It took no more than 5 minutes to file the sharp fret ends and after that it has been a dream to play. I give 4 quality stars because of the sharp fret ends.
I also have to add that the neck has got a kind of satin feel to it, something I prefer over a gloss neck since they tend to feel kind of sticky. This is my first short scale bass and as a guitar player I find this a lot easier to play than basses with longer scale.

After plugging the bass in I was sure that this was a good deal. It is quite easy to find the different tones with this one. I use this bass in the studio and have played it clean and with lots of different effects. It sounds a bit thin and weak played clean, and that is the only reason it get 4 stars for the sound. The machine heads is doing a good job and this bass stays in tune. I also want to add that this bass is usually perfectly in tune even if I have not played it for a few days.

Pros:
Fantastic value for money
Perfect finish
Stays in tune
Great playability
Good sound
All in all a great product

Cons:
Sharp fret ends on the "thumb side" of the neck.
A better patent for picup height adjustment. I would prefer a better solution than the kind of foam block under the pickups. It hardens and then it becomes an issue to adjust the height.

To wrap up my opinions on the Harley Benton PB shorty I have to say that you really can't go wrong with this one. I will say that this bass is perfect for the beginner (even if you have to pay someone for a setup), but I will also recommend this for more experienced players. This is really a great instrument.