Harley Benton bass differences

irakliszs

irakliszs

Aug 26, 2013
42
2
4,621
Athens, Greece
#1
Hello there!
I am in search of a good cheap P bass. The only ones (i know of) that fit in my tiny budget are these three:
HB PB-20 standard series
HB PB-50 vintage series
HB PJ-4 deluxe series

I have spent hours and hours reading the I own a Harley Benton thread, and i learned lots of useful info, and also I ve been searching the forum and listening to clips and videos of the three, but still I can't decide!

What i would like to know is how exactly do these three compared with each other? For example should i go for the PJ4's alder body over the "soft" PB50's basswood (limewood) and PB20's poplar? Are the necks of these basses identical in terms of materials used?

I know that for the price there shouldn't be any huge differences between them, but I would like to avoid sending back and ordering another one.

The looks of the three dont help me decide either. I would get the PJ4 if it was black body, I would get the PB50 if it was rosewood fb, I would get the PB20 if it was tortoise pg.

I hope you help me decide!
 
#2
I've owned all 3 so I'll try and remember what they are like.

1st the PB-20. This was bought to try F# tuning on,as the strings went to .175" I knew the nut and bridge would need adjusted so a cheap bass was got.
At the time I had a Squier Affinty P-bass and much preferred the PB-20,the poplar body had the edge.
The F# experiment didn't work:D and when a talented young shredder was looking for a bass it went to him strung BEAD. He uses it for his
symphonic metal tracks. It's a BOG standard black P-bass with a reasonably chunky neck and does a what a P-bass should. If you were swapping the PG
for tort I'd reckon be prepared to plug the screw holes and make new ones,chances are a replacement won't fit straight off.

PJ-4 HTR. Another one with a decent neck,not too heavy and a nice finish. Reasonable tone. All in all a very good buy for 115euro. This didn't get used much by
me,not because of the bass itself just I had other things on. An Italian student in Edinburgh is currently slapping ten bells out of it. The tort PG is really white with
a tort film on top and I've saw some where the film wore off. Not a problem if you want a white PG :thumbsup:

This leaves the PB-50. Personally I think this is a great bass,I've bought 3 of them. Really good P-bass neck,one of mine has an almost flamed effect,lightweight
and after 3 years I've swamp ash basses with more dings in them than these basswood PB-50s. Much as I rate them I hesitate to recommend them to everyone.
Couple of reasons.

The Wilkinson SC is a fine pickup, my good brother subdude67 in Kenya did an A/B between the Wilkinson & a Duncan with no marked difference except the Wilkinson
was louder :D That SC though makes it sound different to a standard P-bass,not better or worse just different. This fact means it's slightly less versatile than a standard
P-bass.

It's also a bass that should ship with flats. Quite a fair few owners I've spoke to agree, I've had black nylon tapes on one from the start and another sports La Bella's.
If you think the same then that's an added expense for strings,Fender flats are good and not too expensive.

Maybe I've been lucky but none of these 5 needed adjusted.

If a well made but very affordable P-bass is what you need then the PB-20 is my recommendation,it does everything it's supposed to. The PB-50 is my favourite of the 3,
there's a Cirrus custom shop screams "play me !! " while I spend hours playing the 50,but it's a different slant on the P-bass so may not be for you. As I can't remember
too much about the PJ-4 I won't say "yay or nay".
 
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#3
Hey Kodiak, thanks for fast and detailed response! Much appreciated!
As a matter of fact, i just refreshed my thread right after i finished reading (again) your detailed review on PB50 and have listened (again) to pickup shootout on soundcloud before that!
I must say, this PB50 has got me!
The ONLY drowback is what seems to be a very whiteish maple neck and FB but i am already reading again and again the thread about a PB50 that got a neck tint.

Last time i owned a bass, i was using flats on a jaguar PJ practically using only the P pickup.
I dont know if this '51 style pickup will be my cup of tea but from my little experience fingers and finger position will compensate for any pickup's specificities, not to mention that i liked every PB50 clip with flats i listened to.

My basket is ready with PB50, a second thumbrest (I am used to rest my thumb on the P or J pup, but this 51 style i bet wont be able to serve as thumbrest) and fender flats 45-100!
 
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#4
@irakliszs

That's great to hear. You got it right about fingers and finger position,makes a huge difference.
Did an A/B for a guitarist once,he said " B ! those are new strings.". Same bass,no new strings,no volume or tone controls wired,just moved my fingers to play
by the bridge.:laugh:

Hope you enjoy the 50 when it arrives.
 
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#5
kodiakblair said:
This leaves the PB-50. Personally I think this is a great bass,I've bought 3 of them. Really good P-bass neck,one of mine has an almost flamed effect,lightweight
and after 3 years I've swamp ash basses with more dings in them than these basswood PB-50s. Much as I rate them I hesitate to recommend them to everyone.
Couple of reasons.

The Wilkinson SC is a fine pickup, my good brother subdude67 in Kenya did an A/B between the Wilkinson & a Duncan with no marked difference except the Wilkinson
was louder :D That SC though makes it sound different to a standard P-bass,not better or worse just different. This fact means it's slightly less versatile than a standard
P-bass.

It's also a bass that should ship with flats.
Click to expand...

I believe that the HB instruments are incredible good for the money and I never made any bad experiences with Thomann and I buy stuff there since 20 years or more. But why do you buy 3 nearly identical basses for 100,- each instead of one bass for 300,-?
The sentence about the flats made me laugh. I paid 70,- for my last Labella flats alone. That leaves 35,- for the rest of the instrument:) or I could just leave the rest and buy a Shaller tuner for the e-string and a Shaller tuner for the a-string (40,-) to go along with the Labellas.

@irakliszs: I would choose a model first before being concerned about body woods etc. The PB-50 which is kind of a Fender 51 or 54 copy is not for everyone. I love it, but not as my main bass. I would rather recommend going for a more traditional P or J or PJ design.
I don't know if the hardware is different and better on the ones that cost a little more, if so, I would go for it. We are talking about real budget instruments here and every additional Euro invested into better tuners, better pickups etc. is worth it.
 
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#6
@DirkP

Why 3 ? Simple I had one with Nylon tapes and after a year fancied one with a Fidelitron pickup so bought another. Botched the routing so bought another,deko this time.
Try buying a finished body anywhere for less than 50 euro. Decided against the Fidelitron and fitted a Peavey Super Ferrite. Wilkinson went to Kenya and deko with replaced
tuner went to a friend's son. Hard to try and do all 3 with one bass.

Notice I never said it should ship with La Bellas just flats. I just happen to like La Bellas,TI's work great on it too. When you consider the longevity of good flats it makes sense.
Would you use poor quality engine oil in car that drives great.Not if you want to enjoy it for longer:thumbsup:.
 
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#8
kodiakblair said:
@DirkPI just happen to like La Bellas,TI's work great on it too.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the fenders 9050L on it? I noticed they are the same gauges as the stings its shipped with. Maybe I should go with 9050ML or they would put too much strain on the neck?
With my old VM Jaguar bass (long scale one) I was using chromes, don't remember really the gauges, and tbh I didn't like 'em too much. Were too sticky to my fingers.

I would like something with punch (maybe kind of high tension?) and very defined tone and also to work good with this wilkinson pickup.

EDIT: Dont really care how much the flats cost since they last forever and they provide the character I'm after ;)
 
Last edited:
#9
irakliszs said:
Have you tried the fenders 9050L on it? I noticed they are the same gauges as the stings its shipped with. Maybe I should go with 9050ML or they would put too much strain on the neck?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much about the neck,the Status Hot Wire tapes have been on mine for 3 year and despite being pretty high tension that neck has never needed adjustment.
You'll also see not all have the super pale maple fretboard.


PB 50s (2).jpg


EDIT: Dont really care how much the flats cost since they last forever and they provide the character I'm after ;)

Amen to that brother:thumbsup: There's an unopened set of Fender 9050ML in the cupboard,still waiting on the day they'll be needed :)
 
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#12
irakliszs said:
Have you tried the fenders 9050L on it? I noticed they are the same gauges as the stings its shipped with. Maybe I should go with 9050ML or they would put too much strain on the neck?
With my old VM Jaguar bass (long scale one) I was using chromes, don't remember really the gauges, and tbh I didn't like 'em too much. Were too sticky to my fingers.

I would like something with punch (maybe kind of high tension?) and very defined tone and also to work good with this wilkinson pickup.

EDIT: Dont really care how much the flats cost since they last forever and they provide the character I'm after ;)
Click to expand...

I've tried a lot of different flats, like TIs, Chromes, Fenders, D'addarios etc. It depends a lot on the tone you want to archieve. If you really want vintage flat sound a la James Jamerson, nothing compares to the high tension fat Labellas, but they are not for everyone. I have Fender flats on the bass I'm gigging with 'cause they sound kind of vintage but allow to do things roundwounds are supposed to do. You can even slap them. And they are affordable. But they are not Labellas.
 
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#13
DirkP said:
I've tried a lot of different flats, like TIs, Chromes, Fenders, D'addarios etc. It depends a lot on the tone you want to archieve. If you really want vintage flat sound a la James Jamerson, nothing compares to the high tension fat Labellas, but they are not for everyone. I have Fender flats on the bass I'm gigging with 'cause they sound kind of vintage but allow to do things roundwounds are supposed to do. You can even slap them. And they are affordable. But they are not Labellas.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! Hmmmm maybe not a la James Jamerson, I want them to do 70s rock too. Maybe I'll stick with fenders medium light and see what happens
 
#14
kodiakblair said:
I've owned all 3 so I'll try and remember what they are like.

1st the PB-20. This was bought to try F# tuning on,as the strings went to .175" I knew the nut and bridge would need adjusted so a cheap bass was got.
At the time I had a Squier Affinty P-bass and much preferred the PB-20,the poplar body had the edge.
The F# experiment didn't work:D and when a talented young shredder was looking for a bass it went to him strung BEAD. He uses it for his
symphonic metal tracks. It's a BOG standard black P-bass with a reasonably chunky neck and does a what a P-bass should. If you were swapping the PG
for tort I'd reckon be prepared to plug the screw holes and make new ones,chances are a replacement won't fit straight off.

PJ-4 HTR. Another one with a decent neck,not too heavy and a nice finish. Reasonable tone. All in all a very good buy for 115euro. This didn't get used much by
me,not because of the bass itself just I had other things on. An Italian student in Edinburgh is currently slapping ten bells out of it. The tort PG is really white with
a tort film on top and I've saw some where the film wore off. Not a problem if you want a white PG :thumbsup:

This leaves the PB-50. Personally I think this is a great bass,I've bought 3 of them. Really good P-bass neck,one of mine has an almost flamed effect,lightweight
and after 3 years I've swamp ash basses with more dings in them than these basswood PB-50s. Much as I rate them I hesitate to recommend them to everyone.
Couple of reasons.

The Wilkinson SC is a fine pickup, my good brother subdude67 in Kenya did an A/B between the Wilkinson & a Duncan with no marked difference except the Wilkinson
was louder :D That SC though makes it sound different to a standard P-bass,not better or worse just different. This fact means it's slightly less versatile than a standard
P-bass.

It's also a bass that should ship with flats. Quite a fair few owners I've spoke to agree, I've had black nylon tapes on one from the start and another sports La Bella's.
If you think the same then that's an added expense for strings,Fender flats are good and not too expensive.

Maybe I've been lucky but none of these 5 needed adjusted.

If a well made but very affordable P-bass is what you need then the PB-20 is my recommendation,it does everything it's supposed to. The PB-50 is my favourite of the 3,
there's a Cirrus custom shop screams "play me !! " while I spend hours playing the 50,but it's a different slant on the P-bass so may not be for you. As I can't remember
too much about the PJ-4 I won't say "yay or nay".
Click to expand...

A great reply!

When you say they really should be strung flat NOT wound round do you mean the PB 50 tends to sound too Brigh&Zingy with it s single coil or is it purely nostalgia/accentuate the differences between this and the usual PBass kind of thing…?

“Enquiring minds need to know!”
 
#15
merseymale said:
A great reply!

When you say they really should be strung flat NOT wound round do you mean the PB 50 tends to sound too Brigh&Zingy with it s single coil or is it purely nostalgia/accentuate the differences between this and the usual PBass kind of thing…?

“Enquiring minds need to know!”
Click to expand...
Nostalgia will have coloured my thinking,started out playing a P-bass with tapes many years ago :D Thing is,the PB-50 sounds great with flats and tapes.

Sounds pretty good with round wound too. Sergio here proves that :)



He has another PB-50 video playing finger style.
 
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