A call to US Harley Benton owners

[HankHillWaluigi]

My uncle is starting to get back into playing bass after dropping it in the 80's, when he sold his beloved '68 Tele bass to pay for bills. He loves '51 P/Tele styled basses, and is looking to get back into it by buying a Harley Benton PB-50 (money is tight for him ATM) until he can build a '51 styled P on his own. Couple of questions for those that own HBs:
- How is the build quality? Tone? Feel?
- How much was the import cost? Any extra costs besides base and tax?
- Any mods right away?
I would have recommended a Squier Classic Vibe P, but that's more than he can afford (even used) and he's dead-set on a single-coil P bass. If all goes right, I may order one myself.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

With the Dollar/Sterling rate at historic, almost parity, now is the time.

 

[kodiakblair]

@AModestRat

This video explains ordering from Thomann to the USA. Covers delivery times,warranty, and any duties that may be due.



As to the PB-50 I've had mine coming on 3 year and it gets more play than any others. It's a P bass,P basses are a simple design. I've never believed you need much to make a good P bass. Of the 3 PB-50's I bought the necks were good on all,so there's 70% of my P-bass requirement,tuners held tune another 5%,Bridge holds strings and intonates so +5%,pots work +5%. So straight off I've pretty much got 85% of my ideal P bass.

It ships with D'Addario roundwounds and they don't say 50's P bass to me so TI jazz flats went on one,Status Hot Wire nylon tapes the another. 3rd PB-50 was given to a friend. The TI's and tapes made up the remaining 14% as nobody is ever 100% satisfied.

You'll note I felt no mods of any kind were needed.

I'll mention the Wilkinson pickup now. It's a good pickup there's no doubt and it's a fairly high output pick too. With roundwounds I felt too bright but a foam mute or flats fixed that. A good friend had a Seymour Duncan in his when he bought it,he got a Wilkinson and here's the A/B





I'll be honest I dish out member numbers on the HB club here,am down as a mod on the HB forum and read nearly every HB thread but I don't work for Thomann The PB-50 is the one bass I never hear anybody complain about,sure a few folks have had QC problems but even in the USA your warranty rights stand as does the returns process so there's no worries there.Normal response from folks who've played one is " How can this cost just ???". That's down to the design,give folks a decent neck and the job's done.There's nothing fancy so Thomann can concentrate on getting the basics right.

Closer to home. Rondo used to sell a Douglas that was very very similar to the PB-50,think it was called a Pisces. Maybe your uncle could track one of them down instead. Didn't have the Wilkinson pickup but surely a used one would be cheap enough that an upgrade wouldn't kill the budget.

Whatever he chooses I hope it tides him over until he gets his Tele bass built.

 

[Mark Yurick]

I ordered a guitar from Thomann to test the buying experience. I received only sadness and frustration. Their stuff looks nice, but their customer service is pretty poor in my experience. This is my first post on this forum, so I want to point out that my buying experiences from Sweetwater, Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Musician's friend and StewMac have all been first rate. Amazon is a good source as well. I wouldn't buy from Thomann again. Too much hassle and poor communication.