It’s done!
I am sooo happy with the result.
Summary for new builders
What do you need?`
- sanding paper 120 and higher up to at least 300
- oil to seal the wood
- finish for the wood (optional although recommended by most here)
- Tools everyone should own (Screwdriver and stuff like that, normal tools)
Do you want to shape your headstock? Better have tools that are good to cut/shape solid wood. There are numerous options and it’s probably best if you use the tool you are most comfortable with. People might disagree but as someone who isn’t used to woodworking and a new builder that’s my judgement on that.
You can leave the headstock as it is. But it’s not very aesthetic as it is just a rectangle with rounded corners and way bigger than it needs to be.
That’s it. Everything else comes with the Kit!
The instructions say the first step is to sand and oil the body but I disagree because they ignore shaping the headstock and the needed follow-up.
Step 0: Check if the neck fits into the body - if not carefully adjust body with files/sandpaper (for me it fit perfectly as delivered - but it’s wood so they can’t guarantee it)
Step 1: Shape the Headstock
Step 2: Sand the Headstock and Body
Step 3: Clean and Oil the Headstock and Body
Step 4: Wait
Step 5: Wait some more
Step 6: Do another coat of oil. The strategies are numerous and I don’t feel experienced enough to recommend one. Only on this everyone agrees: Patience is key.
Step 7: Wait. For Real. Plan off-days or even off-weeks for the oil to get drawn into the wood.
Step 8: Did I say wait and that you should be patient? Yes? Oh. Okay. Just wanted to make sure.
Step 9: Build the thing together as they tell you in the instructions. I won’t repeat them because I realized apart from how to take care/seal and finish the wood the instructions are very clear and I would just repeat them. I will show pictures of the process though:
Screw in Pickups:
Make sure grounding wire goes to the bridge:
Attach bridge and fixate plate:
(Optional) Clean & Oil Neck with Lemon Oil
I won’t go into putting strings onto it and the setup. By the time I was done with the setup (30mins I guess) the strings have set and the bass didn’t go out of tune after a minute.
Be so friggin proud of what you build that you could burst. This step is important:
This step is not as important: Clean up after yourself as you surely will have created chaos for at least the last week while dragging out tools and machines you haven’t used for years.
In fact I think one would even manage without any help from the forum here as the instructions are pretty detailed but It was still good for me to get feedback. One huge point of criticism towards the instructions: It would have been helpful which screws are mentioned in the instructions. It never specifies, except that it should be those delivered with the kit. But as you have way more small screws than you need to complete the build you only have to make sure to not use the larger screws in the wrong place and I gotta give it them: the large screws are pretty obvious. I still was sorting 2 different kinds of small screws and was counting them because I wasn’t sure. Overall it probably doesn’t even matter as I noticed now as you got more than double the amount of small screws.
The sound of the finished product:
Billy Jean: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_CcTWoRyIYJD51gnFs-aEjcldvjRYYW4/view?usp=sharing
Module 5 - Lesson 2: Stream M5 - L2 by Stedd Lautenfein | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
Just playing around: Stream Monking Around by Stedd Lautenfein | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
My opinion of the finished product:
I am very proud I build together a working instrument. I like the feel of the neck although I would prefer it to be a bit smaller.
Overall this kit is well worth the 100€ I spend.
Things I don’t like (now I judge this bass as if I would want to buy it and not as if I built it):
The range in tone options is limited up to non-existent. I had a passive bass before but you can hear for yourself in the DAI recording Billy Jean is Tone Knob on 0 and M5L2 is Tone Knob on 100. That’s the full range and it’s honestly almost the same tone. I mean I can hear the difference but it’s rather subtle.
It feels much lighter than both my other basses and that’s probably a sign for cheaper wood but I like the fact that it’s not so heavy on my shoulders.
Fretboard feels nice, Setup incl. Intonation was easy - I almost did not have to do anything for intonation to be honest.
Would not complain if this would be a retail bass for 100€. I’d probably spend more money to get more tone options but I can wholeheartedly recommend the harley benton kit to anyone interested in starting builds.
Sorry. I couldn’t be bothered with a caped bassist video because then I would have to clean up first and it would have taken way longer. I wanted to get this post out first.