So not wanting to spending allot of money on a real Gibson Thunderbird, I figured I give this Harley Benton a go. Amazing what you get for your money! So the Good, awesome build quality! Right out of the box it played great. Just need some minor tweaks of the truss rod. Extremely well made, flawless finish and great fretwork. It has a nice deep growly tone and amazing at this price point it sports active electronics.
So the bad......there is a serious design flaw. This is Harley Benton's take on a Gibson Thunderbird. But when they designed it they moved the neck way too forward on the body. Thus makes for a LONG reach to get the low F on the E string. If you look at a real Thunderbird, the bridge is much closer to the rear of the body, so the reach is not that bad.
Also due to the neck being pushed so forward......horrible neck dive. The worse I ever experienced. But it can be somewhat fixed. The main issue is they have the front strap button in the wrong location (on the top edge of the body). I had to move the front strap button to the backside of the body where the neck meets the body (like on a real Thunderbird). That pretty much solved the neck dive issue.
So for the price point of this bass, I can't complain too much. But with that awkward design and long reach, will not be using it much on a gig. Just not comfortable for a night of playing.
