Has anyone seen, bought or played with the HB bass VI?
Poking around tonight and found it plus some reviews.
Can’t add a pic for some reason:
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I have a Squier Bass VI.
I… like it.
It feels like an experimental instrument, so I’m glad I did the experiment. For the cost, it was worth it.
But all of my gripes have to do with the electronics and parts.
Mine plays fine, but the electronics are pretty lousy.
Sorry it’s not the same brand. But as an instrument, I think these are amazing tools.
I just wish I had a nice one.
But… then, if it was expensive, I never would have got it in the first place.
It’s a weird catch 22.
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If you are a guitar player and/ or play lots of chords on bass it could be great. Chords on bass are not necessarily fun unless you are a contortionist or do a lot of finger yoga exercises. It’s on my list but have not found the right one yet because of the lack of upgrades. @John_E has the shell pink one that I like.
I once spent $20 and 45 minutes watching a street performers on Third street Promenade in Santa Monica, man that was amazing. He was so good he made it look so easy that I could do the same thing, lol.
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I have a Squier but upgraded the pickups, bridge, trem and now it’s fantastic. Most reviews will reco these to be swapped out for great sound and intonation and staying in tune for longer than 4 seconds. Had to have a luthier do some neck/fret work as well but still cheaper than a Fender.
If you hop over to talkbass I think a couple people have checked out the HB version, but from the Squier experience, I’d say this … without upgrades you may fight tuning / intonation so much that you don’t pick it up much. If you get it and love the concept there are great ways to upgrade it all around, but they are not cheap.
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Nice gateway drug to guitars too 
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I have been looking at these a bit more.
Quite like the Harley Benton one.
Don’t need a tremelo and it seems to bring issues.
What I like about the Squier one is the switches with the strangle but I hear it is fragile.
If I could get the HB one with the Squier switches I would be sold.
The trem does make it challenging, and most folks spend quite a bit of $ upgrading the Squier trem and bridge for that matter.
I don’t find the switches fragile at all, and these are cheap replacement if they do ever break.
I’d love to know how the HB plays.
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Is using the trem the thing that makes it unstable or is it a design “feature”?
By the time I get the HB to Australia it would end up being only $100 or so cheaper than the Squier so much of a muchness especially if one is clearly better.
There’s a few things wrong with the bridge/trem setup on the Squier
The other thing that must be replaced is the nut BTW - it’s crazy soft on the Squier.
This sums up the issues really well.
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Fair enough.
The HB is looking better; better bridge and graphite nut as stock.
Maybe a Squier pup switch as a luxury mod (what would you even call that part?)
Honestly the HB pickup might be better than the Squier.
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My Squier pickups came out when I opened the box, lol, put in Curtis Novak’s.
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Maybe a Squier pup switch as a luxury mod (what would you even call that part?)
This…
Here is someone selling the whole kit all assembled…
but you can buy the switched and the plate and do it yourself (may cost you just as much when you are all done.
So looking at the HB, they give you a 5-way toggle switch, which, I think will be more than enough tonal options for you to start.
If you want to really get into it, then I bet it is not much of a mod to replace that toggle with the switch bank. The switch bank gives you 8 pickup options and the high pass filter switch for even more options.
You may have to route a bigger cavity (unless they cleverly thought ahead) and cut out some pickguard or replace it. I don’t think you should even bother unless you get really into playing it later on.
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I would love to try out a Harley B. bass but the cost of shipping to the US puts it out of the “worth a shot” range for my current budget.
“Oh man, $105? I think I’ll take a risk on that one aaaaaaaand it’s $90 shipping. Nevermind.”
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That’s still a great deal.
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To me it’s a total cost kind of thing, how much does it cost to get the bass to my door.
The HB looks interesting, I was planning on a Squier for 2024. I don’t like the color on the HB though. For $200 might be worth a shot. Maybe give me a better experience to the last HB I got.
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Move to Europe. The food is better, but remember those French have a different word for everything.
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That looks pretty cool, the options are nice but the strangle is what I am interested in,
I wonder if that could be done with just adding a switch?
