Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series

This is the black satin 'stealth' finish. They seemed to be on the light weight side, and mine didn't disappoint at 8.6 lbs. The bass itself was flawless. Fit and finish are remarkable for a cheapo bass. The bass feels substantial and well put together.

The set up was not the best, but a few minutes spent reducing the neck curvature and adjusting the saddles brought it to a very comfortable action. The tuners hold tune well. The plastic nut seems well cut. The knobs work great with no noise or scratchiness. I haven't adjusted the nut yet because it plays well enough already, but I'll have to do that to make the top positions a bit more comfy to play.

I really like it. The neck takes some getting used to as it is wider (about 45mm) than a SR5 but not excessively chunky. I find it quite comfortable. The frets are level which I find surprising for such a cheap bass. The narrower string spacing and the additional string means I was a little clumsy to start, but I've been playing this bass exclussively since I got it and I'm getting there now.

In fact, I'm starting to really like this 5 string thing.

If I had to give it a one word review it would be 'wow'.

This is a very decent bass, regardless of price, but when you consider the price... yeah, wow.

It has that Stingray vibe and the passive electronics are just fine. Sure, not as versatile as having an onboard preamp, but I actually love passive tone controls, so I'm happy with it as it is.

It was a bit frustrating at first, but as I adjust to the different layout it becomes more fun... and I feel like something clicked. I'm enjoying immensely how I can move across strings and reduce the movement up/down the neck that way. That being said, it sounds surprisingly good. It has a growl to it that I was not expecting. The bass sat good in the mix and the lows were pretty defined. The B string wasn’t as sloppy as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t go below D on the B string and found fretting the E came in handy as opposed to playing it open on the E string. The only thing the bass really lacked was high end spank (could be due the the strings it came with). I don't use the additional lower notes that much, but I use a lot of the notes I would often play on the E string on the B string now, just moving across with fewer jumps to different hand positions on the neck which also means I look at the neck a lot less. And having the option to play those notes between the low E and A on the E string for more definition or on the B string for additional girth is really useful too.

This may be the bass that makes me finally 'get' 5 string basses. All in all it is a fantastic bass at €140 shipped. For my first five string I think I made a good decision getting this thing and have no regrets at all. I am glad I made the purchase.

finally landed one of these yesterday after months of waiting for thomann's somewhat 'erratic' (to be polite) restock estimates. so after all that waiting, its ....okay....

there is nothing wrong with the bass itself, its as described, fretwork is perfect, neck is straight, finish is pretty perfect - all the usual critiques. aesthetically i have no problem with the tort pickguard, and the glaring white nut on a stealth black bass is an odd choice, but again, its a minor detail. out of the box, the setup was decent. the bridge plate is very, very slightly wonky.

the biggest problem is the sound. after being blown-away impressed with the roswell pickup in the HB 51 PB, next to it this poor humbucking twin single coil *thingy* of a pickup just doesn't cut it. its way too thin, the highs are too crispy, mids too pronounced and the bass is non existant. i'm fairly sure with EQ it can be solved of course it can, but off the shelf, its poor.

a passive stingray wannabe, i can live with. but one with such a poor quality pickup, and this whole twin single coil thing? eh maybe not so much. but i mean they had to fill out those three knobs on the control panel somehow.

having said that, here it comes - for the price, this is a beginners instrument. its a budget as budget can be. given the quality of the actual body, neck, fretwork, finish and so on, a pickup swap is well worth it. the thing *looks cool*. Maybe even cheap two band EQ and a battery box, again, if you have the tools, this is the perfect candidate.

so all in all its a good buy. but, dayum, thomann. stick a decent roswell in this thing for the price increase you sneak on every three months

Ok, this is just amazing, especially at the price it goes for!

I don't really have to write very much here.

Fit and finish were spot on. And I mean, SPOT ON! Not a single spot on it is bad. No paint/clear runs, nothing. Everything is as it should. My only gripe with it is the white nut. Why they chose to put a white nut on a stealth black bass is beyond me (cost cutting, obviously but still).

As for playability. This one does have a few high frets and the nut did need a bit of filing. Nothing excessive and it can be set up with medium-lowish action without buzzing so I'm leaving it alone for now. The nut I did file a little but honestly, it would probably be okay-ish without it, if you're okay with a little higher action.

The electronics are also just fine. The pickup gets growly and grindy easily and, considering the price, you can't argue with it! It is passive, after all and I quite like it as is. I don't think I'd swap, honestly. Perhaps it might benefit from a 2-band preamp but it's fine as is. The separate coil volume controls work fine, although I usually have them dimed and roll off a little treble with the tone.

The low B is okay. Nothing crispy or perfect but it is servicable and it's by no means bad.

Bridge does its job, tuners are fine as well. I'd upgrade the tuners at some point but it's not really necessary.

What IS absolutely necessary is a string change. And I mean, right out of the box! Do not expect to like this bass very much with the stock strings. When I first tried it, the output was so low it was surprising. I though that was the nature of probably a cheap pickup in a Chinese bass.
But no.
After changing the strings, the bass came alive! MASSIVE difference in output. I have no idea what kind of strings were on it from the factory but they were absolute rubbish and sounded beyond dead. The only use for them is to serve as DIY nut files!

All in all, this is a 5/5. At this price, you can't get a better fiver and it punches way above its weight. If anything happened to it, I'd probably buy another one!

*Short Review*
Take the bass out of the box, change the strings, adjust the string height and enjoy your new bass.

*Long Review*
I was really disappointed with the bass the first day it arrived. The bass had horrible fret buzz on the D string. The B and E strings were dead and all strings extremely rough to the touch and would chew through my fingers within 10 minutes of playing. I've been playing bass for 21 years and have never had strings that bad. The pick ups didn't really produce much sound at all. I usually keep my amp on 2-4, but I had to turn it up to 5-7 to get the same volume, when compared to my Fender P-Bass. My amp is an Ampeg BA-210.

All is not bad. I put a new set of Fender strings and adjusted the string height and the bass really came to life. It was like a different bass. No more fret buzz, I had to turn my amp down to the normal 2-4 volume and the bass sounds amazing.

Overall, I'm very happy I got the bass. I'd say it is a much better bass than the price suggest. For under $140 USD, you could really do a lot worse.

The Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series bass guitar is an outstanding instrument that offers high sound quality, comfortable playability and stylish design at an affordable price. This instrument has become popular among bass guitarists due to its superior sound and ease of use.

One of the key advantages of the Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series is its high-quality sound. Designed using quality materials and components, this bass guitar has a clean, powerful and rich sound that is suitable for a wide range of musical styles. With its five strings, it also offers an extended range of sound, making it an ideal choice for bassists looking for more room to express themselves.

In addition, the Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series Harley Benton MB-5 SBK has excellent playability. Its comfortable fingerboard and ergonomic body make playing it enjoyable and comfortable, even with prolonged use. It is also equipped with high-quality hardware, including the pickups and bridge, which ensures tuning stability and excellent sound.

Use:
I primarily bought this bass to play wedding gigs since there are a couple of sets were I needed a five string and I don't really like playing 5 strings so I didn't want to spend much money.

Clarity:
The instrument really does look and feel more expensive than it is until you plug it in. The fretwork was really good, all the frets were as level as you'd expect for this bass and suprisingly no frets are sticking out which is a pleasant suprise for this price. The action was very high in my opinion but I have since found out some people like it like that. The intonation was dreadfull though. With factory strings it was almost impossible to set up the intonation properly so I bought a pack of DR PureBlues. But all of this is ok for the price. But the pickup is just horrid. The high are so prounounced and loud aswell as the hi-mids while there is no definition in the bass and low-mids frequency range. Once I plugged it in my MarkBass Little Marcus 500 and heard it I thought I got a defective bass and then I saw that people had the same problems online. I fixed this with a 13 dollar AliExpress pickup and it really is a dealbreaker for this bass. IMHO you can not use this bass in any sort of professional situation if you don't change the pickup.

Pros&Cons:
Pros - Good looking, pretty affordable and very playable after a decent setup and a new pack of strings
Cons - The pickup(whose production should be illegal), really cheap and low quality plastic nut and really bad strings

Conclusion:
If you want something to hold on to and use for a lot of years to come avoid this bass, buy the J or P style HB. If you know how to work on basses and install pickups, electronics etc. for not much more money you can build an excellent bass. The AliExpress pickup, and DR strings made the bass come to life and it sounds awesome now.

____PROS____
This thing is gorgeous
Quality and finish were flawless
Neck works well for those of us with smaller hands
Worth every penny at this price
Sounds very good considering the stock pickups
Fun to play

Next are the cons and they are vey minor but I do want to put it all out there
_____CONS____
Strings suck but so what right?
For me the biggest con were the tuners, the bass feels very sturdy but the tuners could be a bit stronger
The tone knob does very little to affect the sound

This thing is fun to pick finger pick and slap. Most basses I leave as is for whatever reason but I love this one so much and see it's potential which has made me decide to invest in it and add new tuners, pickup etc. The bare bones and foundation of this bass is so nice that I feel great about putting some extra $ in it.
I read a review that suggested the option of upgrading a short list of things upon purchase such as tuners, pickups maybe the bridge. I'd be happy with just having the option to upgrade tuners since the inexpensive Harley Bentons are so great but not having locking tuners is very disappointing. So I agree with others who've made this suggestion. Anyway, I'm happy with my first purchase here. The shipping was shockingly fast considering the fact that I'm in Alabama. I was worried when I saw that the box looked like it had been through hell but I tore it open & realized the bass was in a box within a box. Thomann seems to really care about making it's customers happy. I'll soon be buying the fretless Harley Benton violin bass or the 6-string Progressive!

It’s really incredible how HB managed to cram so much bass into a 140-ish EUR price tag.

Look, let’s be honest, it’s not gonna beat any high end basses but on the other hand, it definitely gives other entry level basses at even double this price a run for their money.

As many point out, it does need a setup but so do many other, way more expensive basses when you first get them. For beginners reading this - don’t skip this step! Have someone do it for you or if you have no luthier or other bass player in your area, try it yourself. It’s not as difficult as it seems.

Another thing some have pointed out and I can only confirm, the factory strings aren’t the best. They’re OK sounding but they start getting really uncomfortable really fast once you start sliding on them. I mean, you can’t expect 40€ strings on a 140€ bass, that would be almost 1/3 of its price but just keep this in mind and grab some new strings asap.

Other than that, this is a great bass to start on as well as add it to your collection if you need something inexpensive but solid.