Harley Benton PB-20 SBK Standard Series

HB PB-20 SBK: 88 EUR, shipping to France included...?

Quality:

I'm no stranger to the handy-work that's sometimes required to render new acquisitions playable, and honestly, I expected to spend some time with this baby...

Initial inspection after unpacking the instrument left me quite surprised though.

Neck relief: perfect.
Action: a little high for my taste, but already quite good.
Fret finish: not super-shiny & polished, but nothing wrong with it; smooth all the way through. No sharp edges along the neck. All good.
Fret board: some minor traces of white (dusty) residue, but easily removed with a brush/cloth.
The paint-job is a really nice - the satin finish looks killer, and I could not spot any imperfections.
The neck-joint is flawless - no gaps, rock-solid.

Closer inspection of the fretwork didn't reveal any issues. All well leveled.

After a little TLC & Wax for the fret board, I lowered the action to suit my preferences. No buzzing, no problem-spots/frets. Very comfortable now.

The hardware is OK. The tuners are a bit tough-going compared to more expensive parts, but a little grease here & there...problem solved.

A glance under the pick guard reveals some left-over saw-dust, but otherwise, things are in order.

Playability / Sound:

Played dry, it's present, good attack & bite. The vibration propagates nicely throughout body & neck, the sustain is good. No obvious dead spots.

The instrument is very light and quite well balanced, although - being very picky - a wee bit heavy on the head. Nothing serious though, and a good strap easily takes care of that.

Amplified, the sound is remarkably good. The pickup is not of the fattest order, but delivers good output & the dry characteristics of the instrument shine through quite well.
The tone control is efficient, and cuts the high frequencies without affecting the upper mid range bite; the sound remains present at all settings.

I replaced the stock-pickup with a spare EMG split-coil & pots I had in a drawer, and now this budget-beauty really sings! ;-)

Now let me repeat this: 88 EUR, shipping to France included!

I play Bass for more than 30 years, and spent considerable amounts for the majority of my instruments.
While I love them all dearly, and appreciiate each and every one of them for their qualities, I cannot help but be utterly gob-smacked by the value-for-money delivered in this case.

I owned instruments costing 10 times this price that were plagued by inexcusable quality control & manufacturing issues...or simply lousy design. It's amazing to see, that such a small price can get you an instrument, that is absolutely perfect for beginners, and - given the quality - well beyond that.

Highly recommended.

I've bought now 6 HB basses, and this one is the worst. In fact, it's the worst product I've bought from here. Bar none. I was thinking at least it'd be better than the Glary's and Monoprice's or my 20-year old p-bass I use fore practice, but no. The neck is very chunky and really uncomfortable for smaller hands. The pickup is tinny at best. Hardware is as cheap as you can buy (man, they don't bother removing the jagged edge of the pick guard). The strings ain't even D'Addario that come with the other HB basses. There's absolutely no setup!!! If you don't know how to set it up, don't buy. It can't play out-of-the-box: the action is a mile high. The setup wasn't simple: I had to fiddle around with both the truss rod and the saddle heights to get it to a decent (i.e., without buzz) action, but still quite higher than what I'm used to. Fret ends are good. Finish good, except there's a chip at the head stock. The only thing I like about it is the color scheme!!! Spend a bit more money to get the deluxe line (PJ-74). The costs of the strings and the Roswell pickup(s) are already worth the difference.

In summary, it is not worth the wood and even the minimal labor put into making it.

Let's get serious... I bought the bundle and I left the base last on my reviews! I am a piano player for 12 years and I decided to start Bass as well. I mean I am completely noob on basses but not on sounds (not entirely :D )
When I received it, after a full inspection, I tuned it and started playing, I was so amazed of it's rock solid sound that I fallen in love with it even more! The solid construction, the deep black mat color, everything was perfect. I would like to mention as well about packaging, absolutely perfect! After three months of daily practice I can say that it never let me down... I can play any type of music I want, rock or blues, not in level to try Jazz though. I really love this bass and I recommend it to anyone. For it's price I think is the perfect choice for a beginner. Even if I go for an expensive bass later, I am gonna keep my first and awesome bass for practice! Thank you Thomman for this awesome instrument! You make people happy!!!

The good:
- Looks great
- Does everything you'd expect a P bass to do
- Cheap enough to mod and not worry too much

The bad:
- Poor action from factory. The action is way too high beyond the 12th fret even with the saddles slammed as low as they can go. Had to shim the neck to get it playable.
- Poor bridge placement from factory. In order to intonate properly with the stock bridge as fitted, I have to tighten the screws all the way. The bridge could do with being moved 10mm or so lower down on the body to give more play in the adjustment.
- The strings aren't great. This one's luckily a simple fix.
- The stock pick ups are a bit thin. Again, another relatively simple fix.

Bottom line:
Although I had more negatives than positives, this is not a bad bass. A great looker that, with a little work, will be a great bass. This is okay for a non-beginner like myself, however a total beginner may be disappointed with it and not be able to articulate why or fix it themselves.