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.

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!!!

I've been hearing lots of great things about Harley Benton lately and was in the market for a P-bass. Decided to give this a try and I couldn't be happier. It plays amazing and sounds really freakin' good! There are some QC issues though...

Features: It's a p-bass--it's pretty basic. There's the 2 pups and a volume knob and a tone knob. Idk what else you need.

Sound: It's that p-bass sound I've wanting for a long time. Haven't put new strings on it but have been pretty happy with the factory strings. Could only sound better with new, nicer strings.

Quality: The biggest issue (and my only real complaint) were really sharp fret ends but a $25 fret dressing file and about 45 mins of gentle, careful filing fixed that issue. If you know how to fix this then it's barely an issue, especially in this price range.

There's also a spot on the back of the neck where it looks like dust got into the paint before it dried, but it's barely noticeable and I couldn't care less about that. Again, price range. Not complaining.

Overall, $109 for the bass, about $70 shipping and the $25 file and I have a bass that I am so in love with and can't put down. For this price range I am honestly blown away by this bass. I couldn't be happier and will definitely be picking up a couple more of their different models!

So, I thought I bought an electric guitar but I ended up with this bass on my doorstep. Initially I wanted to send it back but then I did my research and decided that I wanted to keep it. And it was a great decision ngl.
The body is gorgeous and the contrast it has with the red/white pickguard is beautiful. The only bone I have to pick with it is that the volume/tone knobs feel a little bit cheaper (material wise) compared to the rest of the bass.
The sound is pretty nice, I dont have much to say about it other that no matter where you set the tone knobit still sounds great.

Truthfully, I only gave it a 4/5 feature rating because it would look suspicious to have it rated at a full 5/5.
For the money, its definitely worth it. Great bass.

I’ve been playing bass on and off for 30 years. I’m a metal bassist and have played all types of basses. I’ve have a couple of custom built basses, I recently purchased the Spector Dimensions 4 string bass. Let me tell you the PB-20 SBK plays just as as good as those basses. The bass looks amazing, plays amazing and sounds amazing. For a passive stock pick up sounds great and it’s hot. When I plug it in I have to use the active setting on my amp. The intonation is good. I just had lower the action a bit. Everyone’s preference for string height is different but out of the box it was good, I just like to bounce the strings off the frets. This is truly a great bass and I’ll be purchasing more Harley Benton instruments. OH! I live in the states and I ordered my bass on Sunday and I had it on Thursday. Thank you Thomson.