Harley Benton B-650 Black Progressive Series

I've only ever played my trusty old 4 string basses, so this was a first 'toe in the water' into the land of both extended range and 'budget' basses for me. Initially I rather dismissed the lower cost end of the market after listening to the views of other musicians with more experience than me of 'entry level' priced instruments, until I stumbled upon BassTheWorld's review of the B-650 on the usual video site everyone knows, got intrigued and then checked out the reviews on here.

Although I used to gig in the past, nowadays I mainly work on recording my own tunes at home, usually overlaying multiple bass parts in a looper or DAW. A six string bass seemed a good idea to access the extended range and make separation in the mix of parts a bit easier.

Ordered Thursday and it was was delivered to my door in Scotland the following Wednesday. The outer box was pretty badly damaged in transit but Thomann had double boxed with plenty of air pillow packaging protection, so the inner box and bass were totally unscathed. I'd also communicated a few times before and during ordering via email and online chat and found Thomann to be efficient and courteous. Full marks to Thomann so far then, as far as I'm concerned.

The bass arrived without any flaws in the finish, a lovely straight neck, intonated and with a medium action. Nut slot depth just right (surprising to me for a factory instrument) and it was even very nearly in tune too. Frets are level with no sharp edges and the bass is fairly lightweight. The neck is very thin in profile, which happens to be my preference and the width very manageable due to the 16mm string spacing.

My current 4 stringers are standard 19mm, or 17.5mm at the bridge in the case of my old Rickenbackers, so I wasn't sure how I'd get on with the narrow spacing, but the 16mm or so of the B-650 actually feels very comfortable. I prefer a low action and was able to lower things a bit without fret buzz. That also required a bit of intonation adjustment with the, unfamiliar to me, monorail bridges, but once I (eventually) saw the angled grub screw partially hidden beneath the string on the black bridge pieces, that was straightforward.

A big selling point for me was the active passive pull pot, a tone knob which worked in passive mode and the bass's ability to still work even without a battery in. I was quite surprised to find that in passive mode not only does the treble roll off work but the other tone knob works as a bass roll off. Quite surprising features considering even some expensive basses don't do some of these things.
Volume knob has a smooth gradual decrease, but the tone knobs are subtle in effect over most of their travel with a big change over the last few degrees of rotation. I expect that's due to the chosen taper type of the pots, but there's plenty info online about that if you want to change the pots if you don't happen like that.
The supplied factory strings are perfectly usable, later I'll likely change them for D'Addarios of the same gauge,

The sound, as others I think have said, is 'modern' but the actives are quite transparent and noiseless. I usually lean towards using the passive mode (if there is one) on active basses, but here the active mode, to my ears, doesn't have the 'too clean' harshness I find with some actives, so it's quite usable if used. The bridge pickup is quite 'middly' in tone and you can get quite an aggressive growl from it with it's trebly edge. The neck pickup is smoother sounding and also 'fat'. The blend pot gives the expected 'scoop' at the centre detent but it occurs at quite a narrow window of rotation.
The pickups arrived at the bottom of their travel on mine, but set at the correct distance for the action the bass came with. If you want to try a super low action, depending on how you approach that, it may require a little work there. Though taking into account the cost of the bass, I don't regard that as a criticism here, that would be totally unreasonable, rather more of something to potentially be aware of if that is common (all basses at any price will have some variation).
String tone and volume balance I found to be quite even across strings.

The hardware isn't going to be the most expensive at this overall price point obviously, but it all works and the fundamental body, neck and frets are just lovely. Certainly considering the cost of the bass to begin with, there's also scope for modders to spend a bit more on it, upgrading bits if desired or simple individual fettling to preference of what's already there and end up with a very nice bass at still a modest price.
For ¤158 I'm very impressed indeed and couldn't be happier.

The BassTheWorld's video review I referred to earlier, having now experienced the bass, I agree with 100%. It's just plain fun and one of those pick it up and can't put it down instruments. I'm delighted with it and simply very glad I bought it. What more can I say.

this is an instrument i am sort of familiar with .
i bought a five string version of this guitar six months ago ..and thought that it was a great instrument ..and am very happy with that .. i didn't really think that there would be any difference between then.. and i was right .. yes you have a low B .. but now i have the high c .. makes a difference when your writing songs and the ability to scale high down to low when your improvising .. has a greater range ..obviously you may say : )
but the cost is a huge appealing factor hear .. cheap budget poor quality instrument here is not the case .
this like all the harley benton range are superbly constructed ..well balanced ...reliable look good .. feel good ... and definitely sound good .. because you'd have to be a bit silly to buy one ..ie five string .. then a six string ..
i guess because i had the confidence knowing it would deliver .
the active pre amp makes it very responsive to all style of playing ..
weather finger style or plectrum .. in fact it makes it easier .
like i said it feels great to hold ..and for a six string neck i was very surprised to see and feel how easy it was still was to play .
All the hardware is robust ..
the tuning keys are very precise .
the neck is a very easy feeling to it .. this eases play .
It can also be used passive or active ..which is handy adding a wider variety of sounds .
the bolt on neck i particular like ..the rigidity enhances the sustain through the body .
the paintwork is of a high standard ..and looks up there with some of the more expensive guitars ..
I don't really have any negative comments on this instrument really .
i am happy with this guitar as i was happy with the previous ..
a very reasonable price ..
great for gigging ..recording .. a great all rounder .
i have no regrets ..and would easily and happily recommend this guitar to anyone .
another great priced instrument from H B .
three basses i have from H B and impressed with all of them at a great price as well ..
hope this gives you some insight to low end priced bass guitars .
i'm happy with mine ..
thank you harley benton : )

this bass as good as some 280 - 350 Euro bass guitars , no joke
i couldn't believe it when i open the box that i just pay 179 euro for such fine instrument along with gig-bag and cable , lets go through everything : tuners is stable and roll nicely and not lousy or hard also stays in tune , the neck smooth stained maple back with a black walnut fret-board which i try for the first time it feels like some where between to warmth of rose wood and the smoothness Ebony , frets edged and finished nicely , body is strong solid gloss black no dents or bad finish paint , awesome shape and side curves that made according to your arms position specification for better play-ability , the wiring cavity is isolated and all wiring is highly pro job with the 500k knobs and active mode convertor to 250k for better sound integrity , pickups sounds really good rich , punchy mid, sharp treble and strong low end , bottom line is you pay that few money for such bass .. its a 5 stars deal, Bravo Harley Benton , the bass arrived with low action neck setup and tuned already this bass can handle low action setup with no frets buzz or any problem

This 6 string bass is remarkably well made considering its price tag of only € 199,-. Stable and smooth neck with a natural feeling fretboard. Decent frets, proper intonation and string spacing and reliable tuners. The push/pull volume knob seconds as a passive/active selector. Next are balancing, trebble and bass. Nice black finish and chrome hardware. Its sound is decent, covering my basic needs. This is my first six string bass and having played only 4 string basses it does take a while to get used to the much wider fretboard but it gave me great pleasure getting there in a few weeks. I would recommend this as a low budget 6-string practice bass guitar, however:

The rear control cavity cover is made of flimsy plastic and does not stay flush. One extra screw would have prevented that. The bass knob was whobbling and cracking indicating bad installation and quality control. After a few weeks it failed to produce any sound. This should not have been shipped. I have enquired for a repair and/or return.

Features: Four stars, five if it had all worked fine.
Sound: Three stars, I would have liked a little more high freq but this bass is definately not boomy
Quality: 3 stars, as aforementioned. The rear cover is cheaply made and the installation of the knobs leaves to be desired. I would with no doubt give 4 stars if it worked properly and 5 with a proper cover.

My god, this was love at first touch. 9 years ago, I bought it out of total need for an instrument. I was going to live abroad for 4 months away from my family and I needed comfort. I had been playing bass for many years but I had to leave my instruments back home. So, I bought this just to try 6 strings and to keep me playing. Long story short, it felt right all from the beginning. I have used it on gigs and on recordings and it both handles great and sounds good. If you want to broaden the note range of your playing, this is the best tool to try it and experience. You might not have to buy a more expensive one later on.

This thing is beastly, heavy, and great for tuning down to A or lower.
Stays in tune very well.
The only downside is I have an unavoidable fret buzz on the low B string while using the 2nd fret only. Unsure if that's due to fret leveling, but even with trying to set it up differently it was still unavoidable which is kind of a bummer.
Pickups are okay, I would probably change them at some point but they get the job done well enough running through DSP Parallax.
Mainly use it for metal, and downtuned projects.
Not too much of a fan of the neck wood, it's pretty dry and something with the texture of it, but it's a budget guitar and definitely worth your money despite the small little opinion nit picks.

I bought this bass as a newbie for the six strings and the quality is not as I expected.... Yeah, it's a cheap bass but the neck actually feels nice and comfortable, thanks also to the small string spacing.
The EQ is nicely made and gives you the opportunity to switch to passive pickups with a Push&Pull pot and the hardware is well made.

Obviously there are also some cons:
- the body shape isn't that "smart", the small horn is really too small and the bass tends to fall off when playing sit;
- I don't really like the double truss rod system in the neck;
- the finish on the neck feels cheap (but it's a very cheap bass, so it doesn't really matter);
- when it arrived at my home, it was unplayable (it needed a huge setup to remove the huge fret buzz), also some nut slots were too low, so I had to remove the nut itself and place a shim under it.

A nice bass if you're entering in the world of the six strings, but I would recommend this only to a newbie such as I am.

I studied the YouTube videos with the greatest fear it being damaged in shipping but that was only one guy -and mine came to Canada in mint, perfect condition. You have to expect to set the relief, action and intonation but it played actually pretty good, right out of the box. 12th fret intonation off big-time, but easily remedied. The EQ can be a bit boomy, but pan back to the bridge humbucker with the bass off and you can get a Jaco midrange. Using pedals you can get it all and more if desired. Neck flat and straight, adjust the low B where you want it and set all string action as well, the flat fingerboard doesn’t have the Fender bump radius so you can go low. I like this bass so much, I’m having one of Canada’s top luthier do a PLEK on the frets, if it indeed even needs it. Put Dunlop strap locks on it with a Levi wide leather strap and you have dream bass.
Lastly check out the YT video on the B-650 by BassTheWorld running 6:41- that review gave me the confidence to make the purchase. Very glad, I did.