Harley Benton PB-20 BK Standard Series

Little did I expect perfection from a bass guitar of this price!

I'm almost done with recording my upcoming album and the sound this bass makes, really sings!!

I must admit, I was indeed sceptical of how this would sound but now I realise for such a low price, this bass guitar is truly ahead of it's time - and that's all thanks to the legendary Musikhaus Thomann efficiency and quality!

At the risk of annoying customers: HOW CAN YOU SELL THIS FOR SUCH A GREAT PRICE?! It's worth more than I could put into words - and the bassist in my live touring band agrees!

The clarity and dynamics of every note is unbelievable and it's as if this beast of a bass is permanently EQ'd to perfection; there's the lows that can cause an earthquake, the mids that'll tear right through you and the high-end spank that you can slap with; oh and I forgot to mention, the setup of the Harley Benton PB-20 BK Standard Series is something I am in awe of!

Please, Thomann, PLEASE KEEP THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BASS GOING! :D

As a guitar player, I know what I'm looking at and through experience; I find that my eye is subconsciously trained to notice quality control, imperfections & shortcuts and yet, Musikhaus Thomann have perfected a wonderful instrument that is both versatile and incredibly musical, without ANY problems!

I promise you will not be disappointed in the slightest with this fine art of a bass guitar; you would be WRONG not to want one!!

By all means, test out and trial any bass guitar, and somehow you will find yourself running back to THIS bass guitar - it's truly a masterpiece!

Thank you, for such a wonderful instrument!!

Okay quality is the best quality at this pricing.

Good: PRICE, build quality, Durability, Sound quality, Weight and weight balance, PRICE!!
Great for rock and band music.

Bad: cheap P bass can never bring sophisticated bass sound, therefore not ideal for a bass solo music.
It needs some setup work out of the box.

Over 15 years of bass playing life and experiencing almost every known basses except ridiculous looking ones taught me this; there are good cheap instruments.
Cheap things give you an instant doubt. It's bad. It's never durable. It never serves the serious purpose. This bass isn't one of them disappointments.
This is well built under the right amount of quality control. P bass always gives you its inherent simplicity that allows(or forces) you to concentrate on the music, so all you need is the bass itself and its toughness as a structure. This Harley Benton bass will give you what you expect from a simple P bass.
If you expect a miracle work, you will OBVIOUSLY be disappointed. Especially for pickups, since they are the same as any microphones that can be made good or bad by using all kinds of different material and in different configuration, which requires investment to come to the reality, which a cheap instrument can't get. This instrument gives an OKAY P BASS sound. It's not horrible. But it's not great either. It's acceptable. For the price, THIS SOUNDS GREAT.
One tricky thing about any cheap instrument is the initial setup. Just like any cheap instrument, this doesn't come with an almost perfect setup. Mine did have some buggery sharp fret edges that needs sanding down, just like the other buyers or this same instrument from here. and you will likely to need the trussrod adjustment, which is a relatively simple task, and the bridge saddle height adjustment, which can be time consuming. trossrod wrench and the bridge saddle wrench come with the instrument, so I just set up the instrument to the string height to the point it won't give me any annoying string buzz.

Remember. It's a P bass with a cheap pickup. You should know it will give hum noise. If you are an experienced musician, you know you can't complain about this not being suitable for playing a bass solo song. You are not paying a Fodera money. not even a Musicman bass money.
Okay quality is the best quality at this pricing.

I have read forums and reviews of Harley Benton guitars and I was getting more and more curios to see if what I was reading was true.

I wanted a precision bass and so I thought I would give this one a go. I was half prepared to be disappointed when it arrived but I was also quite sure the forums were right, and they were.

The first thing I noticed was how well the guitar was packed, the guitar box is in a huge outer box filled with air pillows, it's hard to see how any damage could occur. The guitar is encased in bubble wrap and there is even protective paper wrapping over the strings.

The guitar looks lovely, well made and a lot of care appears to have been taken in making sure that you get a guitar in perfect condition.

The finish is pretty flawless, I think I can find the tiniest of defects if I look really hard but I can on guitars that cost more than five times as much.

The guitar sounds great although I must admit that I changed the strings almost immediately, I plan no other modifications, the guitar plays great, it's comfortable, it looks the part and most important, I love it, I would have been happy to have paid much more for this, I cannot recommend these guitars highly enough!

Getting back in to playing bass after an 8 year bass. Delivered to NC, USA in 4 days. The finish was great, obviously needed a setup. The only odd thing is that all the pickup screws were loose to the point of falling out. Luckily none were lost in shipping.
I didn't even plug it in as it was received. I immediately shielded the full cavity and pickguard, replaced all the wiring with an upgrade kit, put in a SD Quarter Pounder P/U, and a set of good flat wound strings.
After a good setup (complete setup - Truss Rod, string height, intonation, pickup height)-- This thing plays and sounds as good as any factory $700+ instrument.
I'm ordering a JB model today, and will be trying out their amps too. I'm now a HUGE HB fan!

To set the scene I am predominantly a lead guitarist having played for the last 27 years...wow I feel old! I occasionally fill in playing bass with friends bands when the occasion arises. I generally borrowed friends basses however the time came when I wanted a bass for myself so came to the ever reliable Thomann to see what they had within the budget I had.
I like p style basses so when I found the PB-20 I had to give it a go. The bass arrived extremely quickly well packed and had remarkable playability straight from the box. A very light adjustment to suit my playing style and I was away. The bass is fairly light but it still has the right weight ratio to prevent the neck diving to the floor.
The neck was finished well with no sharp fret ends, Frets were properly dressed and sat at a really playable height. Now the sound of the bass is the most impressive aspect. Punchy doesn't quite do the bass justice Thumping is more appropriate . I have to add I did put a thicker set of strings on the bass but I was knocked back by the hot sounding pickups. I was able to achieve that classic P sound with ease . I put the bass into my friends bass amp head through a 4x12 cabinet and he was bowled over at the shear rumble the bass produced. I have played the bass over a handful of gigs and really remain totally impressed .I cant think of anything bad to say given the price.
I cant recommend this bass enough to a student moving up from a 3/4 size bass or starting out or perhaps somebody looking for a reliable and easy playing instrument , you really need not too look any further!