Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series

So got it, restrung it, set it up, as you should any new bass, no matter price tag.

And got to say for the price I join the choir that sings this is astonishing value for the money.

It sounds great, it feels great, it plays great.

Only fault I can detect is the the fret ends are a little sharp, nothing that will rip up your fingers, it just feels a little rough if your fingers happens to brush against the fret ends.

And it is surprisingly quiet too.

I mean it does buzz a slight bit when your fingers/hands does not touch strings or any metal parts, but not significantly so.

It would benefit from being properly shielded, as would any bass with passive pickups, though.

Otherwise it is a freaking amazing bass at that price point.

And it's honestly a great bass regardless of price.

Ah, one thing more, the tuners are really low quality, they work, but I seriously question for how long.

Astonishing mod platform though, regardless of price.

The bass it self, apart from slightly sharp fret ends, plays and feels amazing, and it sounds genuinely great too.

Ok, one more thing, it weights about a ton, but on the other hand it is very well balanced, no neck dive here.

Overall I am definitely satisfied with my purchase, and am happy I decided to get it.

One last thing, 2mm string action at 12th fret on lowest string, as I prefer it, without any fret buzz whatsoever.


So to sum up:

Pros:
- It is dirt cheap
- It feels great
- It sounds great
- It plays great
- Low string action can be achieved without any fret buzz whatsoever

Cons:
- Slightly sharp fret ends (nothing that will rip up your fingers, just feels a bit rough when touching)
- The tuners are pretty darn crappy (but functional, however I question for how long)


Another thing I should probably point out is that string spacing is 16mm, not 19mm as Thomann and Harley Benton states, but this is actually plus to me personally.

This is the black satin 'stealth' finish. They seemed to be on the light weight side, and mine didn't disappoint at 8.6 lbs. The bass itself was flawless. Fit and finish are remarkable for a cheapo bass. The bass feels substantial and well put together.

The set up was not the best, but a few minutes spent reducing the neck curvature and adjusting the saddles brought it to a very comfortable action. The tuners hold tune well. The plastic nut seems well cut. The knobs work great with no noise or scratchiness. I haven't adjusted the nut yet because it plays well enough already, but I'll have to do that to make the top positions a bit more comfy to play.

I really like it. The neck takes some getting used to as it is wider (about 45mm) than a SR5 but not excessively chunky. I find it quite comfortable. The frets are level which I find surprising for such a cheap bass. The narrower string spacing and the additional string means I was a little clumsy to start, but I've been playing this bass exclussively since I got it and I'm getting there now.

In fact, I'm starting to really like this 5 string thing.

If I had to give it a one word review it would be 'wow'.

This is a very decent bass, regardless of price, but when you consider the price... yeah, wow.

It has that Stingray vibe and the passive electronics are just fine. Sure, not as versatile as having an onboard preamp, but I actually love passive tone controls, so I'm happy with it as it is.

It was a bit frustrating at first, but as I adjust to the different layout it becomes more fun... and I feel like something clicked. I'm enjoying immensely how I can move across strings and reduce the movement up/down the neck that way. That being said, it sounds surprisingly good. It has a growl to it that I was not expecting. The bass sat good in the mix and the lows were pretty defined. The B string wasn’t as sloppy as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t go below D on the B string and found fretting the E came in handy as opposed to playing it open on the E string. The only thing the bass really lacked was high end spank (could be due the the strings it came with). I don't use the additional lower notes that much, but I use a lot of the notes I would often play on the E string on the B string now, just moving across with fewer jumps to different hand positions on the neck which also means I look at the neck a lot less. And having the option to play those notes between the low E and A on the E string for more definition or on the B string for additional girth is really useful too.

This may be the bass that makes me finally 'get' 5 string basses. All in all it is a fantastic bass at €140 shipped. For my first five string I think I made a good decision getting this thing and have no regrets at all. I am glad I made the purchase.

finally landed one of these yesterday after months of waiting for thomann's somewhat 'erratic' (to be polite) restock estimates. so after all that waiting, its ....okay....

there is nothing wrong with the bass itself, its as described, fretwork is perfect, neck is straight, finish is pretty perfect - all the usual critiques. aesthetically i have no problem with the tort pickguard, and the glaring white nut on a stealth black bass is an odd choice, but again, its a minor detail. out of the box, the setup was decent. the bridge plate is very, very slightly wonky.

the biggest problem is the sound. after being blown-away impressed with the roswell pickup in the HB 51 PB, next to it this poor humbucking twin single coil *thingy* of a pickup just doesn't cut it. its way too thin, the highs are too crispy, mids too pronounced and the bass is non existant. i'm fairly sure with EQ it can be solved of course it can, but off the shelf, its poor.

a passive stingray wannabe, i can live with. but one with such a poor quality pickup, and this whole twin single coil thing? eh maybe not so much. but i mean they had to fill out those three knobs on the control panel somehow.

having said that, here it comes - for the price, this is a beginners instrument. its a budget as budget can be. given the quality of the actual body, neck, fretwork, finish and so on, a pickup swap is well worth it. the thing *looks cool*. Maybe even cheap two band EQ and a battery box, again, if you have the tools, this is the perfect candidate.

so all in all its a good buy. but, dayum, thomann. stick a decent roswell in this thing for the price increase you sneak on every three months

Ok, this is just amazing, especially at the price it goes for!

I don't really have to write very much here.

Fit and finish were spot on. And I mean, SPOT ON! Not a single spot on it is bad. No paint/clear runs, nothing. Everything is as it should. My only gripe with it is the white nut. Why they chose to put a white nut on a stealth black bass is beyond me (cost cutting, obviously but still).

As for playability. This one does have a few high frets and the nut did need a bit of filing. Nothing excessive and it can be set up with medium-lowish action without buzzing so I'm leaving it alone for now. The nut I did file a little but honestly, it would probably be okay-ish without it, if you're okay with a little higher action.

The electronics are also just fine. The pickup gets growly and grindy easily and, considering the price, you can't argue with it! It is passive, after all and I quite like it as is. I don't think I'd swap, honestly. Perhaps it might benefit from a 2-band preamp but it's fine as is. The separate coil volume controls work fine, although I usually have them dimed and roll off a little treble with the tone.

The low B is okay. Nothing crispy or perfect but it is servicable and it's by no means bad.

Bridge does its job, tuners are fine as well. I'd upgrade the tuners at some point but it's not really necessary.

What IS absolutely necessary is a string change. And I mean, right out of the box! Do not expect to like this bass very much with the stock strings. When I first tried it, the output was so low it was surprising. I though that was the nature of probably a cheap pickup in a Chinese bass.
But no.
After changing the strings, the bass came alive! MASSIVE difference in output. I have no idea what kind of strings were on it from the factory but they were absolute rubbish and sounded beyond dead. The only use for them is to serve as DIY nut files!

All in all, this is a 5/5. At this price, you can't get a better fiver and it punches way above its weight. If anything happened to it, I'd probably buy another one!