Post by Scurvy on Jul 20, 2020 14:50:45 GMT
Greetings and salutations my dear friends here at the Harley Benton Club!
I apologize for not contributing more in the recent past, but I have been awfully busy although I do check in regularly to read some posts.
I made a large order with Thomann a couple of weeks ago, and received the 1st parcel of 2 total to be shipped a day ago. The second shipment is waiting on a TE-90 flt VW tele I have been drooling over now for 8 months. Lol
The 1st parcel arrived here in the state of Nebraska U.S.A. undamaged and all the contents inside were correct including the PB-50 bass. I had them running around in the warehouse on this order guys... a couple of pedals, a gross of picks in different brands and thicknesses, 2 snark tuners, cords, straps, 3 sets of HB locking tuners, hygrometers and humidifiers, this list goes on... they nailed the count right though! Lol
About the bass, (I'll keep it short.)
The bass has only a couple of very small scuffs in the paint which will easily hand polish out.
Only 3 various fret ends were only slightly rough so I dressed them with a 2000grit ceramic fret stone. No need to use a fret file. The tuners although budget, work effortlessly with no dead spots, but needed some lubrication. Set up was a breeze as I took the neck off straightened it, and checked the frets across the board and everything was level. No highs or lows anywhere.
Neck back in place, truss rod adjustment for a little relief, check nut height, and adjust the saddles accordingly for string height at the 12th fret, then intonation. It's holding rock solid where I set it so far. (Good sign.)
There is a slight amount of R.F.I. (radio frequency interference.) you know... that dreaded 50/60 Hertz hum that we all face? Well, it is a open single coil pickup so I will be drowning the electrical cavity in conductive shielding paint and the when dry, lining the cavity with copper shielding also. I know it's overkill folks, but It's just something I do myself. One or the other process is usually fine by itself.
All of the other hardware, pots, and the Roswell VTN4 Vista Alnico-5 single work well. The pickup in this bass is killer my friends. I plan on ordering another pickup alone for spare parts or projects. So snappy and responsive. This design may have been born in 1951 during the true heyday of country/western music, but she's blasting out Black Sabbath right now. Lol
Pretty impressive copy of the 1951 precision bass other than the headstock shape and the body contours. $113 U.S. minus shipping which was close to $80 U.S. for the two large parcels combined. Throw one in your cart on your next order. You owe it to yourself.
You can blame it on me to your wife/girlfriend that I made you do it.
I can take the heat. Lol
Stay safe my friends...
Best regards,
The last thing I would like to add is this bass will be staying bone stock as the day it left the factory. It plays wonderful and looks great to me as she sets.
If the pots give out or pieces/parts wear out prematurely then I will upgrade, but I don't see that happening for quite a while. I don't think those two upgrades would cost me right now as I have a ton of CTS pots in my parts bins and I might even have a fender bass bridge as a spare tucked away somewhere over the years. Lol
Cheers!
I apologize for not contributing more in the recent past, but I have been awfully busy although I do check in regularly to read some posts.
I made a large order with Thomann a couple of weeks ago, and received the 1st parcel of 2 total to be shipped a day ago. The second shipment is waiting on a TE-90 flt VW tele I have been drooling over now for 8 months. Lol
The 1st parcel arrived here in the state of Nebraska U.S.A. undamaged and all the contents inside were correct including the PB-50 bass. I had them running around in the warehouse on this order guys... a couple of pedals, a gross of picks in different brands and thicknesses, 2 snark tuners, cords, straps, 3 sets of HB locking tuners, hygrometers and humidifiers, this list goes on... they nailed the count right though! Lol
About the bass, (I'll keep it short.)
The bass has only a couple of very small scuffs in the paint which will easily hand polish out.
Only 3 various fret ends were only slightly rough so I dressed them with a 2000grit ceramic fret stone. No need to use a fret file. The tuners although budget, work effortlessly with no dead spots, but needed some lubrication. Set up was a breeze as I took the neck off straightened it, and checked the frets across the board and everything was level. No highs or lows anywhere.
Neck back in place, truss rod adjustment for a little relief, check nut height, and adjust the saddles accordingly for string height at the 12th fret, then intonation. It's holding rock solid where I set it so far. (Good sign.)
There is a slight amount of R.F.I. (radio frequency interference.) you know... that dreaded 50/60 Hertz hum that we all face? Well, it is a open single coil pickup so I will be drowning the electrical cavity in conductive shielding paint and the when dry, lining the cavity with copper shielding also. I know it's overkill folks, but It's just something I do myself. One or the other process is usually fine by itself.
All of the other hardware, pots, and the Roswell VTN4 Vista Alnico-5 single work well. The pickup in this bass is killer my friends. I plan on ordering another pickup alone for spare parts or projects. So snappy and responsive. This design may have been born in 1951 during the true heyday of country/western music, but she's blasting out Black Sabbath right now. Lol
Pretty impressive copy of the 1951 precision bass other than the headstock shape and the body contours. $113 U.S. minus shipping which was close to $80 U.S. for the two large parcels combined. Throw one in your cart on your next order. You owe it to yourself.
You can blame it on me to your wife/girlfriend that I made you do it.
I can take the heat. Lol
Stay safe my friends...
Best regards,
The last thing I would like to add is this bass will be staying bone stock as the day it left the factory. It plays wonderful and looks great to me as she sets.
If the pots give out or pieces/parts wear out prematurely then I will upgrade, but I don't see that happening for quite a while. I don't think those two upgrades would cost me right now as I have a ton of CTS pots in my parts bins and I might even have a fender bass bridge as a spare tucked away somewhere over the years. Lol
Cheers!