as for the 'tonewood' thing, there's a video on YT of a guy that started with a guitar body, and bit by bit he took away THE ENTIRE BODY! He was left with strings and a pickup strapped from 1 table to another table and it sounds EXACTLY the same as the guitar body! google it!

@davedixon2167

Жыл бұрын

We all saw that video as well. To me, personally, I don't think it sounded exactly the same to my ears, but I think we ultimately need to go down to some kind of robotic strum on the same electronics with varying woods and then seeing the results on an oscilloscope graph to really nail it down scientifically. I've been trying to figure out the best way to go about that on the channel; need more science experts on the line about it!

@ricardojmestre

Жыл бұрын

It does sound almost the same :)

@antatchi5036

Жыл бұрын

when it comes to electric instruments the pickups will always sound the same as their designed to. Only thing really changing the tone is the player and the actual setup of the bass, uneven frets, poor intonation, etc

@EversonBernardes

Жыл бұрын

@@davedixon2167 if you need to go down to oscilloscopes and mechanical strumming to find a difference, then that difference is pretty much irrelevant for all intents and purposes.

@ramoniak6

Жыл бұрын

I saw the video too, but it's weird that when I upgraded my old Luna bass (not the tattoo one you find on google) with DiMarzio DP122CR and a new tusq nut, it still sounds bad, compared to my stock Squier JB & Fender PB. Maybe it's the bridge or string tension.

I started bass about two years ago. I’ve bought several HB models and this is my favourite but not the most expensive! I have since replaced the pups with EMG Geezer Butlers, the pots and wiring from a Crimson Guitars kit and the tuners with Hipshots. The bridge is next on the list and it’s had a complete setup and fret dress by a local luthier whose opinion is that it’s as good as any Fender he’s had in! That’ll do for me!!!

Did anyone else get excited when he said he was gonna have a tlc show but realized it was a hoarders joke 😅

I bought the P-bass version of this as a cheap hotel room bass when I'm travelling for work (nervous about taking my Fender American Standard P-bass on the road). After popping some EMG GZR pups in the Harley Benton, it's a fantastic bass and my go-to now for D-standard and Eb tunings (also fitted heavier gauge strings). Honestly, for the money you can't go wrong... it's a great starting point to upgrade parts on at a later date. 👌 🤘🤘

@_Melos

Жыл бұрын

-_- ... just say a FAP-bass.

@teddystevens6624

11 ай бұрын

Did you have to file the nut for tuning it to d standard with heavier strings?

@themiddle-agedmediocrebass479

11 ай бұрын

@@teddystevens6624 nope, it worked perfectly without filing the nut. Your experience might be different, though...

here is my mentality regarding inexpensive gear, the gear should not be too cheap enough where it makes you wanna buy another that does a similar job (basically something that already covers most of what you want from a gear), and it shouldn't be too expensive enough that you won't take it out of the case out of fear that it will be broken/stolen or something...

@ricardojmestre

Жыл бұрын

Bingo, totally agree

If someone thinks that an instrument is an investment and not mainly a tool to show your musical skill and craftsmanship then we are mixing up two different things. Musician thinks about music, collector thinks about money spent and received later on. It's just a piece of wood with strings attached, the person playing it is what makes it rock or suck.

@markgreen950

Жыл бұрын

I don't think you're being fair here. If playing music is how you earn a living, then buying a new instrument is very much a business investment. If you want to get hired for session work then you have to provide the tone your client wants not what you want.

@MrPlastyfikator

Жыл бұрын

That's one more reason to invest in several inexpensive but good instruments rather than few extremely expensive ones. You can have 3500$ historic relic precision bass but it won't help you if client is looking for modern metal tone. BTW when was the last time your client requested that your bass has to be of certain price or made of certain wood? :D

wow very nice bass Marc now I need one

I have two Squire basses (4 and 5 string Jazz Basses) with maple necks. What I did was swapped the tuners out (Hipshot) and the 4 got the extender key as well. Both got Hipshot bridges and the nut on both is brass. SD Quarter Pound PUPs (My Geddy Lee Jazz also got those) and I upgraded the volume and tone pots. The sound is INCREDIBLE! I would play the Squire 4 string live exclusively except for the weight... Imagine a VERY early P Bass... And it's more than that LOL.... I used the Squire for recording (for the first time) and the owner/engineer of the studio came into the booth and I said "What's up?".. He said "I just had to see if that really was a Squire like you told me.. It's tone is amazing!".

Well said at the end. Regardless of price, I got to be inspired to keep picking it up.

Valid points. I'm just returning to bass playing so I think I may check one of these out.

Awesome demo! 😎🤘🏻🎸 harley Benton makes phenomenal basses for the price and this skb model is no exception. It has a great tone. Especially when played through a gk legacy amp(which I’ve been thinking about purchasing). I personally dig their mm-styled bass and I would go with the 5-string version of that bass and maybe one of their other models. Other than that, Harley Benton makes great basses for the price.

@alexskibicki2262

Жыл бұрын

As for the talk about the instruments you very pleased with owning, I agree with that. If you own a bass that you’re truly pleased with, it should matter to you. And it really doesn’t matter how much they cost, it’s the sound quality that matters the most. I own basses that I’m truly pleased with and I’ve been treasuring them ever since. If you’re curious about a particular bass, there’s really nothing wrong with giving them a shot. You might like it or you don’t. Either way, you took a chance on trying it out.

For a beginner, it's amazing what you can get for little money these days. And for a professional or semi-professional, a Harley Benton bass is always an excellent backup bass. I don't want to drive to a gig with two vintage Fender basses, but I don't feel comfortable without a backup bass either. Because if a show has to be interrupted just because one of the strings breaks, that's really embarrassing.

Sounds Great

That thing sounds really good.

going from stock Squier affinity pickups to EMG P pickups I noticed an improvement. I was already happy with the squier pickups and got the EMGs as a gift. the main benefit of the EMG pickups is they are noiseless and the increased total spectrum the bass now has, there is lower lows and higher highs while still having that mid range emphasis that P bass pickups are known for. I don't think it is ok to hate on an instrument just because it's price is low. Just point out it's flaws and either you can live with those flaws or you can't. If you are a professional you are going to want at least one professional quality instrument to play shows with but why not have a $200 copy of a rickenbacker. You have to be a fairly wealthy individual to have a music instrument "collection" but as a hobbyist I can see why it would be fun to have multiple basses even if they are of lesser quality. The price of instruments has started to go through the roof so if more people are buying the inexpensive models the more established brands will have pressure to lower their prices. Competition is good for the consumer at the end of the day.

My first ever bass was this bass but the version with just the p bass pickup (I only started like 2-3 years ago) It served me fine for my needs, the action on it out of the box was high as a skyscraper, so it may have hindered my progress when i was starting out. But once i learned to adjust action, i got it down to a reasonable level. It still to this day sort of feels clunky but that might just be because im not used to size of a traditional p bass. ...although i did treat it kinda poorly and now its in a state of disrepair, basically would probably need to swap all the electronics except maybe the pickup itself Would I reccomend it to begin with? If you are looking for a good starting p bass tone, sure. But with the range of choices harley benton has, im sure this is just one of the many basses that can get you there. So pick and choose your favourite style and size!

Regarding your unpopular opinion #2, cheap instruments like HB are great way to check out what you really want, sure you can drop couple of thousand bucks for Music Man or whatever boutique instrument you drool over, but is it really the tone and feel you want? And if they are worth nothing on the used market... then get used! For example I've never been interested in P basses until I bought HB P-bass and i LOVE it. I have more expensive, custom built basses but I still like coming back to my Harley Bentons and I play them a lot, they have their issuses and obviously aren't built that well, but I simply enjoy playing them, I like the feel and the sound... isn't that what really matters? I think a lot of bassists are caught up in this illusion that unless you spend a fortune on instrument you can't play good music and be happy. You can. And the difference isn't really that big...

I was thinking about buying this bass as my first bass

Ah, some of us don’t care about resale value. Some buy a bass and actually keep it. The HB MM-84A SB is a really nice bass for the price. Comes in at $169!.00! What’s nice is it has 24 frets and two massive humbuckers! Another is the B-450 QTB. Different colors in this series. Again 24 frets and good wood for the body, neck and fretboard. Sounds extremely good and comes in at $159.00 If you’re strapped for cash, these are good options.

The upside of a cheap HB is you can teach yourself to modify /work on a bass without worrying about messing up a $2K Fender. So swap out the output jack and teach yourself to solder. Work on using a fret file without fear of causing Leo to turn over in his grave.

i used to have many expensive basses, but i always came back to a old cheap epiphone p bass, and my heart broke when it broke

Hot take: being concerned about "retaining value" on instruments, shows you aren't putting concern/emphasis on the things that make you a musician. to each there own, but don't confuse *THAT* with being a player who wants a tool for their craft. yeah?

Still rocking MB-5 HB, dropped in an EMG MMCS, and it was a huge, noticeable difference in sound. Feel, and build quality is the biggest issue I have with most HB. "Higher end" HBs (HBZ series) are a bit of a different story but still.

Some counters: 1) Not everyone can save up for that $1-3k bass. Given life's other responsibilities (kids, mortgages, utilities, etc.) spending 4 figures on a luxury item (and let's face it - the majority of people playing are NOT professionals, by occupation, and can't even benefit from write-offs, thus making instruments luxury items) is simply not feasible for many people. The cheap bass market exists for a reason, after all. 2) Beware the law of diminishing returns. Yes, a $600 LTD may be noticeably better than the $60 Glarry, but how much better is the $3000 Spector? We start to get into the realm of subjectivity. If your needs in an instrument are simple, and the build quality is decent enough, why spend more on features you may not need? 3) Inexpensive basses give you the opportunity to customize and make them into your own, whereas the minute you change a single tuner on a $1K bass, you've diminished it's value. 4) I've been inspired playing cheap instruments and expensive instruments alike. If you need to be "inspired" by the worth of an object, the issue isn't the object - it's you.

@TheBassChannel

Жыл бұрын

People get too hung up on the money. The fact that an instrument may or may not be $3,000 isn’t and shouldn’t be the sole factor for its inspiration. My point is get the one you really want. Whether it’s $60 or $3,000 (or likely somewhere in the middle) is up to you. Buying a cheap instrument isn’t inherently bad, but some people often fall into the trap of buying more and more just to satisfy a need to have a new thing. That’s all I’m saying. Not trying to sound elitist or snobby or any of that, just giving my opinion based on my experience.

Super channel. It could be nice with a review on a sandberg bass. I would like to hear your thoughts on that brand.

@andrejpliaskin9444

Жыл бұрын

Sandberg is super basses, but they are expensive ;) Harleys is good basses and they are cheap as shit ;)

I've never liked how PJ basses sound, I always find myself just using the P because of the huge volume drop I get with all of them

we all saw that video about the guitar with no body that sounded the same. I'm not certain the same mechanics apply to bass frequencies. I'd like to see that test.

Interesting. Would like to know if you've found any beginner priced EB-O basses yet. These HB and Squires etc., ad nauseum are all P-Bass style look and sound alikes. What about the baby Gibson bass player's? Are they relegated to Epiphone for their starting point? If yes, well maybe the far east factories are just going pop and our secret handshake Gibson player's are smiling with no clones out there. Curious as to your thoughts. I have a friend who plays guitar and keyboards who would like to add a beginner bass to his studio. He wants my Alvarez 5 string now that I got my 'the one that got away,' at last but I'd rather see him start on a 4 string.

Weird video. I can't tell if it's praising HB for making great value instruments or bashing it from a shill POV. The title tells you this bass performs great in a live mix, then the owner tells you how well it performs during the live performance. And then it turns into an almost 10 minute rant that with all due respect, seems to be coming from a place of pure salt trying to validate the investment oo much more expensive guitars when there are instruments perfectly capable of doing the same job for 10 times less money. I understand where you are coming from though. I have the Harley Benton MB5-SBK 5 string (musicman copy) and a real Stingray Special 5 H which is literally almost 20 times the price. Was I blown away or my life changed by the difference in quality? Not really. It's still wood and some cables. It is definitely crafted better obviously, but definitely not "throw the HB in the garbage or burn it" better. For the weekend warrior/bar rat any bass will do really. Specially if you upgrade what you think needs to be upgraded. I feel It's when if someone is a touring, session or hired gun musician where you need to perform at the top of your game and have the absolute most pristine sound (no noisy electronics, rattling hardware, bad frets, etc.) the sum of the parts from the premium instruments ammount to something. The sentimental value of having something nice I can agree on. We all want nice things. Expensive instruments definitely look and feel like they were made with more attention and care.

@ricardojmestre

Жыл бұрын

It was confusing, true.

10:22 100% agree.

The fretboard on the bass neck seems more like techwood and not rosewood...

I am a fan of cheap basses....😔, I am sorry....but I love my Ibanez basses, especially the short scale Mikro ones. I use one with guitar strings and distortion in my metal band which has no guitars.

question - any neck dive? I have the standard series version and its got TERRIBLE neck dive!

@davedixon2167

Жыл бұрын

While I haven't played this one specifically myself, lighter tuners generally help - but before you go slapping hipshot ultralites on everything, Gotoh Res-O-Lites are even lighter and have smoother gearing!

@stevenaustin4591

Жыл бұрын

@@davedixon2167 you didnt answer my question - Is there neck dive? yes or no?

@davedixon2167

Жыл бұрын

@@stevenaustin4591 I did say i havent played this specific bass myself. it went from chris to lenny. My apologies.

@nickthompson3339

4 ай бұрын

I have one - no discernible neck dive. 😁👍

This is a fantastic take on the topic of cheap basses. Some of them may perform well and some people may love them, but having that thought in the back of my mind that I can never recover an investment or successfully trade into something else with it would eat at me. Great video as always and keep it up.

@dominiquebertin921

Жыл бұрын

I have a HB JB-75 that i've been playing for 10 years. Even if end up just throwing it in the trash, it will have cost me 17 EURO/year. That's enough return on investment for me :D

To te resale point: you usually can sell used instruments at 70% of the price of a new one. Let say you buy 1000€ bass and sell it for 700€ you lose 300€, even if you just give away that HB you lose 150€ or what ever its selling now for. So imo thats quite mute point. And instruments are meant to be played not sold. Thats my 2 cents

Hi, I bought this Harley Benton so that I can leave a bass ready for me at the rehearsal room (my heavy Status is getting even heavier as I get older). That said: it's an all-round bass that plays well (needs a little setup and better strings), holds its tune, sounds good and looks even better. As for loss in investment: true, you'd better give this bass as a present to someone starting with a bass than trying to sell it. But...if you enjoyed it for a few years and then give it away, you lose 120 dollars, make someone happy and that makes you happy as well. If you buy a 3000 dollars bass, enjoy it for a few years (there's always better out there ) and than sell it... you easily loose 1000 dollars. OK, you'll make someone happy too but I bet you won't feel that happy yourself. It would be nice to advice your readers some good strings because the stock ones are ...challenging ...(hurting actually)

Ceramic pickups aren't better or worse, just different. It's a just a different construction method. Most of the mainstream thought surrounding pickups is wrong anyways, and the magnets themselves aren't even that important.

On the tonewood thing, people always try to simplify these things and ultimately fail. “Sounds the same” is very subjective. A lot of these experimenters ultimately say that “there might be some differences in sustain” which means it sounds totally different, because sustain is tone. Sustain isn’t frequency independent, different configurations of woods and strings give different sustain on different frequencies, meaning some frequencies die off sooner, some last longer, totally changing the feel and tone of the instrument. And finally, I have never heard anyone say a hollowbody guitar sounds the same as a solid body. So somehow, adding air to the instrument DOES change tone, but different wood doesn’t? I also firmly believe the composition of the guitar has massive influence on the tone and feel of the instrument. Not just the strings and electronics.

Tone wood ohh god. But, that said ash bodies do usually sound 'better'...why, simply because the wood is so dense and provides such a firm anchor for the bridge....the stiffer the two ends of the string are supported the more the string resonates thru the pups, which simply react to the string movement. The downside, ash is ridiculously heavy, a sit down player.

yeah i bought a used cort bass no one really wants them in the second hand market

Unfortunately we can't all afford 1500 dollar basses

Id rather have 20 cheapo guitars/basses than one pricey one. A good musician can make anything sound and play good. Anything else is just BS.

I'm a earth is flat guy myself.

don't buy 12 100 dollar basses buy 26 500-2000$ basses such as I have in the background.

I don’t have 2k

Deep comments on pricing....yet doesn't know the price😂

Damn i just ordered it after this vid XD

It's from Germany, not Asia.

@nicktorious4829

5 ай бұрын

Company is based in Germany the factory is in China

@nickthompson3339

4 ай бұрын

@@nicktorious4829it’s from Indonesia. Pedantic I know but it’s a different country completely.

Wise words re cheap basses. You may have just stopped me spending £150 that I didn’t need to be spending. I got rid of a cheap one that was just hanging on the wall.

WOOD DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE ...The argument is that the the wood does not vibrate and send a certain sound thru the PU's because they can only be activated by the metal strings. Surprise!!! ...that argument is correct. What wood does do is 'absorb' frequencies ..it has a sponge like quality. What frequencies it finds easiest to absorb it does and what is left goes thru the the PU's. So if you like an ash body on a bass it is because what you hear is what is left and that is what you like. This I got from the designers of Yamaha pianos trying to find the right absorbance for their pianos because Steinway has found the formula from trial and error over a hundred plus years and they want to duplicate it. Yes they know that the piano is acoustic and it has inner tone chamber but they nailed that decades ago and found out it was not near good enough it is controlling and tailoring the absorption that is the problem

@davedixon2167

Жыл бұрын

Wild! I was a piano salesman a hundred years ago when I was young, and I thought Yamaha and Kawai sounded far better than Steinway because they were crisp and bright!

Utter bilge. As a luthier, once you spend over that needed for a Harley Benton or Squier and set up - and even a 5k boutique bass needs a set up - you are merely paying for perceived romance. As for resale, you spend 150 on a Harley, it's worth 100 second hand. You drop 2k on a US bass, you loose far more, simple mathes.

You're looking for a ROI for a $120 bass? "Don't buy a $120 instrument, buy a $1200 instrument." So, wait for potentially years before you start playing? Useless advice.

Guess you get what you pay for.. a cheap sound. That thing sounded like a slab of wood with a broom handle attached to it.