I have never owned a Harley Benton, but I have read a Squier has better quality. Josh made a video comparing a few cheap brands of P basses, and Harley Benton was one of them. The video is 4 years old, so it is possible the quality could be better now than it was then. But Josh mentioned the ends of the frets were sharp and were cutting into his fingers. He said one possible reason could be wood shrinkage.
In the beginning of the video he plays all the basses. At about 5:40 minutes into the video he talks about his experience with the HB.
Ps: if that HB model only costed 99 dollars, it is so cheap one couldnât expect it to be good enough. More expensive HB models must be better than that one.
There are so many Fenders out there yes everyone knows someone who has had a bad one, just a law of numbers. 7 of the top 10 basses sold on Reverb are Fender. Thereâs just more basses out there.
Iâm not one to put down things; I have had basses that had issues and am pretty much accepting of it. The quality of the HB was so eggregiously bad I am comfortable in saying no more for me.
I have three HBâs (all the same model though) and the neck is perfect.
I played a few Fenders in a store and two of them had terrible necks. One had exactly the issue that Josh described.
I donât say that HB is the greatest ever. I just say that I think thereâs a lot of wishfull thinking in saying that Fender or Sire is generally better.
In the end itâs about image ⌠so that means: vanity! Nobody will EVER say: âOh, cool: a Harley Benton!â. But if the same bass had a Dingwall sticker it would be âOh, greatest bass EVER!â
A bass guitar is just some pieces wood hammered together with some parts that everybody uses, often even produced in the same factory. Even the shapes are similar. Itâs not rocket science and itâs definitely no magic.
Actually âgenerallyâ is a good and fitting word. They are generally better â generally doesnât mean always, just generally. Of course there might sometimes be bad ones, ones with dead frets, etc. But generally, if one buys a Squier, chances are it will be a good instrument.
I also heard great things about them.
Here in Germany âweâ say: âBut generally, if one buys certain HB models, chances are it will be a good instrumentâ.
But some suck terribly. I heard
Ah, one more thing: I think one issue of brands like HB is that they source their basses from different factories in different countries. So, one model might be produced in a good factory (possibly making basses for A-brands as well), while other basses are produced in s#cky-s#cky factories.
Like great Japanese Fenders and not so great US fenders, maybe
The most vital thing it will come down to is feel in your hands. For your purposes, that trumps everything else.
I asked the question of your experience or skill level in another thread, but you didnât answer. So I am assuming that youâre either starting or re-starting your musical journey, and not an active musician who is getting a bass to round out their recording capabilities.
In that case⌠you need the bass that makes you smile and motivates you to practice. That is going to be primarily about looks and feel. Either a P or P/J (and most other styles) will make a wide enough variety of sounds for your needs. Your technique and amp/speaker will have a bigger impact on the sound.
Hopefully some day I will have the opportunity to travel on vacations in Bayern again (my favourite place in Germany, I love the lakes and mountains), and then I would love to visit a Thomann store. I would like to see and try Harley Bentons myself. Sometimes all we have are conflicting information and the best way to know would be by personal experience.
I only have 2 bass guitars. A Squier Classic Vibe jazz bass I tried and bought from a local store, and a Danelectro 58 Longhorn I ordered from Thomann. I love them both. I canât compare them because they are too different from each other. I play a lot more with the Danelectro because it has such a great sound and it is so light! But I like the Squierâs neck more â the shape, the finish, how comfortable it feels.
The neck of the Danelectro is less comfortable. But because it is a short scale, it is easier to make longer stretches. I mean, often one doesnât need to make long stretches.
Based on my personal experience, I would rather whenever possible try a bass myself at a store before buying, because each bass might feel so different. I had the opportunity of playing a 32â scale bass, and a 34â Sire. So many people love Sires. I didnât like it. So, often it goes down to personal tastes and opinions. Also, each person has different hands and different playing styles, and all that can impact on how we perceive a bass, and whether we like it more or less than other bass.
This is the generally accepted opinion. You are the one making a bold claim to the contrary. If you want to convince me that HB is on par with Sire in terms of quality, why not ask Thomann (since they sell a lot of both brands) if theyâd be willing to share the info on rates of return between them?
Iâm sure they will do that
But: do YOU know ⌠or are you guessing?
I had a Sire U5 here - which I really liked, especially the look. But than I got a Harley Benton MV-4MSB. Tested both in parallel ⌠and found the HB (marginally) better. For half the price. With a few small mods it was the same price ⌠and infinitely betterâŚ
There are many discussions on this on the forum, please search for them. PJs are their own thing, not a âgood enoughâ to cover both P and J. They are fine P like basses but not a J bass at all. I use mine to cut the P a bit for a nice rounded tone (J~30%) and leave them there. Most seem to do the same.
Iâm a former drummer, beginner bass and piano player. Iâm currently recording original song in the style of classic soul, R&B, and a little Jazz for spice. Iâm not interested in a future bass project like swapping out pickups etc. So Im looking at a forever bass lol
It depends on which country it was built in. They are produced in multi-brand production plants. (Phillip Knight has covered that topic in depth and very well)
Japan, Korea, and an honorable mention to Indonesia are better.
China and the U.S. are some of the worst made instruments, ever.
