Harley Benton PB-50 SB Vintage Series

754 Customer ratings

4.6 / 5

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143 Reviews

Harley Benton PB-50 SB Vintage Series
395 AED 100 €
Plus 277 AED shipping
The price in AED is a guideline price only
Since we ship from Germany, additional costs through taxes and customs may be incurred
In stock within 8-10 weeks
In stock within 8-10 weeks

This product is expected back in stock soon and can then be shipped immediately.

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1
J
Needed a set up but great value
JGW1977 23.05.2022
The bass arrived perfectly packaged, with no blemishes on the bass itself. It is beautiful to look at. The neck has a nice feel to it, one major issue apart (see below). The bass itself does not feel too heavy. Once plugged in,it sounded great. The action was good, not too high, not too low.

The main issue was the number of sharp frets that scratched my fingers as I moved up and down the neck, but even to a novice like me, a metal file on a £99 guitar is no stress and they were soon smoothed down with no damage to the neck wood. That 10 minutes worth of work made it perfectly playable and it's a shame that Thomann's QC did not sort this before shipping.
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GC
Thought I'd try a non b-stock
Greg C. 21.08.2022
Not one for paying full price and don't mind the odd blem so usually go b stock. Love the look of the bass and the quality is great. Disappointed to say that like most budget HB's the set up is terrible. I've bought around 30 HB's now and a good few needed to have the nut and frets sorted, which I can do. It must be so crushing for a new player to have to put up with a high action in order for it not to choke or rattle!
I'll be getting the tools out soon to sort it out and I dare say, it will be great.
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B
Great sounding vintage bass but don't expect perfection
Bazzboi98 15.09.2020
I was impressed with the overall spec and Sunburst colouring of the wood. Seriously, the stock images don't do it justice. The strings are very twangy / metallic when playing un-Amped. One YouTube reviewer from the UK had received his PB-50 with flatwound strings and immediately changed them. When plugged in they provide the classic beefy growl of the late 70s - the string action and tension is just right and not too tight. Personally I would have preferred flatwounds as i don't do the whole slap 'n' pop vibe. Flats would be better to add more depth and flavour to the sound. The headstock had a few small dints but nothing serious. The patina on the neck is outstanding and when playing the neck, it is thick as expected but also provides fast navigation. Surprisingly it is smooth to play, especially as i always have difficulty on the bottom four frets of the E-string with my spindly fingers. One review on here says that the bridge was slightly misaligned. I checked mine out of interest and it was but not noticeable from a distance. The control pots are reversed but they still function correctly albeit slight delay.

One more thing spotted later on was that the edge of the basswood body was splintered off where the neck sits in the cavity. More care should have been taken when attaching the neck and not slamming it in! When it comes to the weight, the PB-50 is significantly lighter than my bog-standard split-pickup precision. That one is just under 4kg and this has got to be around 3.7/3.8 so nicely comfortable and no neck dive (happy face). Please be aware that the packaging does fall apart and the polystyrene neck support had broken off on delivery. The large container could do with more padding to protect the guitar.
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TJ
Great bass for anyone who wants a vintage tone at a cheap price
Toby J. 05.03.2021
This bass is extremely great value for money. Firstly the neck feels very nice and has a nice satin finish which makes it very easy to move around the neck, additionally the neck is quite chunky which is to be expected from a p bass, especially a 51/54 styled bass. However i can see this type of neck being difficult for beginnners due to how thick the neck.
The body is very nice and wasnt super light like i imagined it would be which which helps to keep the whole bass balanced when playing with a strap.
The hardware is very nice all round, the tuners are very stable and the nut is alright, the volume and tone knobs are not bad but nothing special, the pickup has a classic 50s sound with a big booming sound with a punchy tone.
The setup on this bass out of the box was decent, the neck was set up nicely, the action on the strings was quite high which isnt how i like my setup but would be fine for anyone who is starting out and doesnt know how they like their bass yet
For me this bass is perfect, in the future i plan to upgrade pickup to a seymour duncan, some cts pots and a nicer output jack
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G
The best Harley benton ive bought so far
Gullih98 16.01.2021
I have 3 Harley benton instruments, 1 strat, 1 rickenbacker and this bass and the quality and feel of this bass far surpasses the other 2. So far i have nothing bad to say about this product. if you have some spare cash and want a cheap but decent bass this is the way to go
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C
a really great instrument for the buck
ChurchOfCthulhu 08.06.2021
I got this because I wanted a 50s P-bass without the outrageous Fender price and it's quite good. a bit on the heavy side and the neck is rather thick, but it's easy to get used to. the pickup sounds surprisingly good and I had a great experience as far as fit and finish go. highly recommended
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B
Never mind the price this bass sounds awesome
Bassman71 09.05.2022
Just took delivery of my pb50. Was intrigued by all the positive reviews online so figured I'll take a gamble on it as its only just over €100. First impression are the bass sounds fantastic. 1 slightly dead fret but I can fix that quickly. Other than that highly recommended. A little TLC and this bass is a humdinger (never mind for the money) it's a really good bass.
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BK
Not bad at all.
B K 28.11.2022
For a bass that cost $100 plus shipping it's great value.

The good: Great finish. Nice sounding pickup. Serviceable bridge and tuners. Good fretwork. A useable tone knob!

The bad: The neck is a chunky beast! Not for beginners. But is does have a good finish and feel.

In all I'm happy I bought it.
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l
good for starters
lsmug 07.06.2023
the tune controls are cheap and the frets wear off a bit fast but very good sound for the price
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A
Good bass but be sure to check upon arrival
Anonymous 20.10.2015
Is a good bass but be sure to check upon arrival, mine came with a couple of flaws namely the ground wire was not soldered to anything and the tone control turned at an angle, I contacted Thomann who offered store credit against my next purchase so i am happy with that, ground issue was easily sorted , wedged the ground wire between the bass body and the metal control plate and once I have sorted the tone control issue this will be a great bass for sure.

Anyway enough about the issues onto the bass itself, the bass is very good for its price point, the tuners are solid if unremarkable they hold tuning well and feel substantial enough, the pickup is pretty good and has a growly bright articulate tone , i may replace it in the future for a sd pickup but it is good enough for now, the bridge i really like, it is a beefed up version of the fender style bridge and is better than the standard bent piece of tin you get with a lot on basses in this price range.
I swapped out the stock strings for some labella flatwounds and tweaked the truss rod slightly and the bass sounds and plays great and looks great
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Harley Benton PB-50 SB Vintage Series