A
Best bang for the buck
I needed a bass guitar quickly as my old one was quite beaten from years of playing. I am a guitarist most of the time, but I do play bass a lot and I needed a functioning bass for a specific studio project. I always loved the 51 stlye P basses and the price of the Benton is hard to beat, so I pulled the trigger.
Honestly, I was expecting an ok instrument and was sure I will need to get myself something "better" down the road, but to my surprise this bass suits me like a glove! Great P bass sound, lovely fit and finish and after I put on some flats it turned out as a killer bass.
I bought it and I used it on a commercial record about a week after the purchase with great results, so I guess that speaks enough about the quality of the instrument.
Pros:
- great playability, very comfortable unfinished neck
- great P bass sound from the single coil
- Fit and finish is very good for the price
- It was set up pretty solid out of the box
- For me it is a better fit than some of the squier basses that are double the price (prefer the unfinished neck on these, but your milage my vary!)
Cons:
- upper fretwork was not perfect (specially on the treble side), but nothing too bad (easy fix, had sharper frets on my gibson to be honest...)
- some minor cosmetic issues; there is a bit of glue residue wher the neck meets the body on the side of the fretboard, but it's only visual as it is "flat" and I can't feel any raised areas.
- the neck is chunky. and I mean CHUNKY. It is one of the chunkiest necks I've played, but I happen to love it. If you want to fly over the fretboard or prefer thinker necks, avoid this one.
- tuners are not the best, although they hold tuning well and turn ok, but it's the only thing that might need replacing down the road.
Honestly, I was expecting an ok instrument and was sure I will need to get myself something "better" down the road, but to my surprise this bass suits me like a glove! Great P bass sound, lovely fit and finish and after I put on some flats it turned out as a killer bass.
I bought it and I used it on a commercial record about a week after the purchase with great results, so I guess that speaks enough about the quality of the instrument.
Pros:
- great playability, very comfortable unfinished neck
- great P bass sound from the single coil
- Fit and finish is very good for the price
- It was set up pretty solid out of the box
- For me it is a better fit than some of the squier basses that are double the price (prefer the unfinished neck on these, but your milage my vary!)
Cons:
- upper fretwork was not perfect (specially on the treble side), but nothing too bad (easy fix, had sharper frets on my gibson to be honest...)
- some minor cosmetic issues; there is a bit of glue residue wher the neck meets the body on the side of the fretboard, but it's only visual as it is "flat" and I can't feel any raised areas.
- the neck is chunky. and I mean CHUNKY. It is one of the chunkiest necks I've played, but I happen to love it. If you want to fly over the fretboard or prefer thinker necks, avoid this one.
- tuners are not the best, although they hold tuning well and turn ok, but it's the only thing that might need replacing down the road.
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v
unbelievable value for money.
Received my L/H PB-50 last week and it is excellent. looks, plays and sounds really good. I?ve got much more expensive basses.....the case for my MM Stingray V cost more than this bass! .....always fancied an original shape/style P bass.....no chance of a Fender Left Hander and then alongs comes this bass at a fantastic price. Quality instrument, equal to much more expensive models and a no brainier....
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M
Impressed
Bought this bass to kick about on so I don't damage any of my expensive, big brand basses, I didnt expect much for such little outlay.
I wanted to ditch the scratch plate and go for a vintage 'bits missing' look, as it happens the guard is pretty rubbish...the rest of the bass however is little short of awesome. I ditched the offending guard and immediately liked the instrument. The build quality is a surprise, the fretwork, playability and tonal versatility are all superb.
Playing through a Fender Rumble 100 I managed to find various usable tones from heavy, low bass stuff to slap and funk tones. I found it a little more focused than a p bass and a little hotter than a jazz.
Overall I could use this to record and gig without any setting up, though a half hour of fine tuning the setup yielded an instrument that couldn't play any better.
I can't help but be impressed, the only notably bad part can be unscrewed and discarded
I wanted to ditch the scratch plate and go for a vintage 'bits missing' look, as it happens the guard is pretty rubbish...the rest of the bass however is little short of awesome. I ditched the offending guard and immediately liked the instrument. The build quality is a surprise, the fretwork, playability and tonal versatility are all superb.
Playing through a Fender Rumble 100 I managed to find various usable tones from heavy, low bass stuff to slap and funk tones. I found it a little more focused than a p bass and a little hotter than a jazz.
Overall I could use this to record and gig without any setting up, though a half hour of fine tuning the setup yielded an instrument that couldn't play any better.
I can't help but be impressed, the only notably bad part can be unscrewed and discarded
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B
Great little bass; very vintage looks and feel
This is a great bass at its price point. I only gave 4 stars for features because it’s pretty basic but it has a great punch and the looks and feel are so much like an original ‘51 telebass.
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k
It's worth it
Very nice looking bass for those, who like the classic bodies.
Three tone sunburst paint job looks good, but I would prefer it to be two tone. The chrome parts do look a bit rushed, quality wise, also the nut is a cheap looking plastic, but for the price it is still worth it. Besides, you can swap the parts for a better ones, if you don't like it.
I changed the strings for a flat wound, as the ones it came with did not sound so good, at least for me. Overall, a very comfortable and beautiful bass for beginners for a price you can't beat.
Three tone sunburst paint job looks good, but I would prefer it to be two tone. The chrome parts do look a bit rushed, quality wise, also the nut is a cheap looking plastic, but for the price it is still worth it. Besides, you can swap the parts for a better ones, if you don't like it.
I changed the strings for a flat wound, as the ones it came with did not sound so good, at least for me. Overall, a very comfortable and beautiful bass for beginners for a price you can't beat.
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Bo
How do they do this at this price point?
Simple, light, and has a classic but present passive tone which is exactly what you want with this kind of bass. I bought this as a gift for a right handed player and strung it in reverse (their request), which was pretty easy. It must have been well setup out of the box because I eyeballed and reversed the bridge saddle positions, and intonation was very close! A very minor truss adjustment before that, which is totally understandable after transatlantic shipping. It arrived fairly quickly and very well packed. With this bang for the buck + high QC, HB is blowing away the legacy brands and I am here for it. Absolutely recommended!
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C
Great Starter Bass
I only wanted a Bass to record some parts into logic and compose some bass-lines with, for the price this Bass is great quality and you definitely get your moneys worth. You can alter so much in post these days that it this bass really does the job for me.
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CR
Great bass for the money
My dad bought this in early 2019. Gigged every weekend for a year, up until lockdown at the end of March. Has held up as good as anything 10 times the price.
Very well made, for the money
Pickup sounds good
Weight is very good, quite light feeling, for this style of bass. Much lighter than if it was made of alder, or ash.
Holds tuning perfectly.
Fretwork is good. Intonation is great
Highly recommended
Very well made, for the money
Pickup sounds good
Weight is very good, quite light feeling, for this style of bass. Much lighter than if it was made of alder, or ash.
Holds tuning perfectly.
Fretwork is good. Intonation is great
Highly recommended
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L
This bass has a cool 50's vibe!
This bass is a very good version of about a '54 P bass. It is very accurate in detail with the exception of only one thing I can find(will explain further down). It is extremely hard to find anything left handed to begin with but I've always wanted this style of bass and not have to have it custom made. This is a fun bass! The modifications I have made are: A Seymour Duncan SCPB-3 Pickup (nothing is wrong with the Roswell Stock Pickup, I just wanted more output on stage as I use it for some oldies work here in Nashville). I have also added the original pickup covers for these basses that came on them in the 50's and they fit perfect and look perfect! My only con(not really a con) is that I personally think it should come with a white pickguard on the sunburst finish and then it would look period correct! Great bass and fun to play!
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WB
Excellent Value! This Bass sounds as good as it looks!
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