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Post by th3hors3 on Jan 29, 2016 17:32:28 GMT
Hi folks,
I am asking your opinion on these (supposedly) fine basses. You read about lots of people praising their HB Ps and Js but I just can't find anything about these fellas.
Here's my situation: I have been looking for a cheap but decent, modern active bass, a 4 string that will be promptly tuned BEAD or even AEAD, for a long time. Then I thought "Hey, HB's short scale P bass was not half bad, maybe they have something that could suit me". So I startet browsing and I discovered the BZ series of instruments. They look great and might be just what I was looking for, but I found just a couple of user reviews on TB. Does any of the users here own one? I mainly have a few concerns: 1) there's a lot of wood! I have rarely seen instruments with these many layers of different woods, and I don't know how they would react, in time, to temperature and humidity changes. Also, there must be a lot of glue, wouldn't that stop a bit the body from resonating properly? 2) I remember reading somewhere that the bz-7000 was a heavy beast, weighting 7/8 kg, so I'm curious about the other basses' weight. Not a major issue, since I'll be playing them at home, but still... 3) Do they have an active/passive switch? 4) How do the stock pickups sound? Has anybody swapped PUs on his bass?
Thank you for your replies, I know I am asking a lot of things but I'm really intrigued by this basses.
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Post by mrdes on Jan 29, 2016 23:10:30 GMT
Hiya I took delivery of my bz4000 on wednesday of this week and have been itching to put up a post about it but it is so good I cant stop playing long enough to put up the pics etc..... It is fabulous. Really really good, compared to my other harleys it is built like my Paradise les paul copy not the music man copy. It is very well finished. Looks beautiful, feels like a part of you and sounds good. Im not 100% on the pickups as I havent done any testing with the eq on my amp just everything set to 0. It is very quiet unplugged but sustsins longer than my attention span, it holds notes ridiculously long. I dont think that the different types of wood and glue should worry you as I have a 60s violin bass and a 1986 fender jazz and a cheap 1995 squire strat and none of them show any ill effects from glue degradation or the wood ageing differently and this harley is built better than any of them. My missus even agrees that the craftsmanship is so good that it would happily be worth the price as an ornament. Out of the box I gave it the tiniest of a tune same as all my HBs, must be the difference between Germany and ireland as they were all the same amount out!!
To sum it up I cant recommend highly enough the only decision is weather to buy the 4,5,6 or 7 or if your flush all of em!! Any questions just ask but im up the walls with a newborn, family trip and super busy at work so I may be a few days between posts.
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Post by mrdes on Jan 29, 2016 23:15:22 GMT
Oh BTW tjere is passive/ active switch on vol pot. Reassuringly heavy feels like quality. Ill weigh when I get a scales.
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Post by th3hors3 on Jan 30, 2016 11:21:07 GMT
mrdes congratulations on your newborn, enjoy your family trip and thank you for your input. Quality-wise it sure looks good, I just have a prejudice against basses with lots of different woods sticked together... don't know why. Anyone out there?
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Post by GKon on Jan 30, 2016 15:32:22 GMT
mrdes congratulations on your newborn, enjoy your family trip and thank you for your input. Quality-wise it sure looks good, I just have a prejudice against basses with lots of different woods sticked together... don't know why. Anyone out there? Laminated wood does not concern me at all. It's quite common in guitar and bass building. Especially in high end boutique instruments. Typically it makes the item even stronger if done properly. As far as tonal quality I wouldn't even give it a second thought.
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Jan 30, 2016 16:15:26 GMT
Oh BTW tjere is passive/ active switch on vol pot. Reassuringly heavy feels like quality. Ill weigh when I get a scales. thats enough to convince me somehow I don't go well with active pickups My HB B-450 and B-650 has the same push/pull and I always play in passive mode. I installed EMG 81/85 in one of my HB SC-500 WH Vintage and within a week I ordered new passive pickups for her. SO no I'll get one BZ might just go for the 7000 I already have 4 and 6 strings don't need a 5 because the 6 string is a 5 string with an added hi string a 7 string would add one more low string so it would go well with my 8 string HB
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Post by kodiakblair on Jan 30, 2016 20:36:00 GMT
Lets see. I pre-ordered my BZ4000 June/July 2014 and have needed to do zero to it. The Ebonal fret board will last longer than wood,10 year old Curbow is showing no sign of wear. Construction is top class and it's miles ahead of anything else costing the same.I think Thomann take a smaller profit on the BZ series than on other models,on the rare occasion one comes up as deko they are 50% instead of the normal 33%. Electrics are provided by G&B who make Peavey preamps,Spector Tone Pumps and EMG pickups amoung others. My 4 strings wweighs probably 5Kg around the same as a JB-75. Fellow member derek currently has mine so he'll be able to answer more. Various Squier P basses cost much more than even the 7 string. 399 euro for an Eva Gardener ? Just goes to show how expensive a decal is
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Post by th3hors3 on Jan 31, 2016 17:04:44 GMT
Lets see. I pre-ordered my BZ4000 June/July 2014 and have needed to do zero to it. The Ebonal fret board will last longer than wood,10 year old Curbow is showing no sign of wear. Construction is top class and it's miles ahead of anything else costing the same.I think Thomann take a smaller profit on the BZ series than on other models,on the rare occasion one comes up as deko they are 50% instead of the normal 33%. Electrics are provided by G&B who make Peavey preamps,Spector Tone Pumps and EMG pickups amoung others. My 4 strings wweighs probably 5Kg around the same as a JB-75. Fellow member derek currently has mine so he'll be able to answer more. Various Squier P basses cost much more than even the 7 string. 399 euro for an Eva Gardener ? Just goes to show how expensive a decal is Thank you, that' a very in-depth analysis, just what I was hoping for! 5kg is not exactly light, but I'll be probably playing it sitting in my room, I don't see me going back to play downtuned metal for the time being I'll still love to practice some Sikth or Tesseract though. gullum I can't really use active PUs neither, never got the hang of them, so even if I'm looking for a modern, active bass a passive switch is a must-have option. 7 strings... don' know, I am still struggking with five
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Post by kodiakblair on Jan 31, 2016 19:16:11 GMT
Glad to be of help th3hors3. The bass itself balances well so the weight really isn't an issue,many late 70's Fender Jazz basses can weigh more as do my Peavey T-40's. A wide strap and you're good to go The 7 strings proved very popular on release as I think they were 319 euro and again nothing came close,this was before the price increase as Thomann struggled with the poor performing euro. I rarely play 5 strings so can't conceive what you'd do with 7 Whatever model you decide on I wish you every success with it.
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Post by th3hors3 on Jan 31, 2016 22:19:55 GMT
Just having some fun would be more than enough! By the way, from what I understand only the 6 and 7 strings are 35" scale, is that right? That's a shame really, I would have loved a long scale 4.
And since we are on the subject, any thoughts on the HBZ series? They seem hardly worth it, with the BZs costing just a few € more...
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Post by kodiakblair on Feb 1, 2016 0:59:55 GMT
Yes just the 6 & 7 strings are 35" scale. My Peavey Cirrus is 35" as is the Grind but it makes very little difference,had been playing the Grind for a few years when I got asked about the extra inch. Put the tape measure away and thought " Bloody hell it's a 35" !! " . Another thing I noticed was folk making a big deal about 35", " Oh it's too far a stretch " they cry. About 8mm of a difference from 1st to 5th frets between a 34" & a 35" Overall length too, 35" Grind is the exact same size as a 34" BXP Cirrus. On a through neck design it's more moving the bridge back than longer necks. Some folks swear 35" is necessary for 5 strings but personally I'd say choice of strings and a proper set up reap more benefits. Old Peavey Foundation 5'er sounds B clear as a bell, ditto the Vintage V1005. I did consider the HBZ's for a while but have the same slanted pickups on some old Washburns and don't think the position adds a great deal. I believe they have a satin finish that some folks prefer and clearly many were built as 5 years later they're still available . Having fun is the number one priority,thankfully that's almost guaranteed on bass
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derek
Harley Benton Club Member
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Post by derek on Feb 2, 2016 3:18:27 GMT
Lets see. I pre-ordered my BZ4000 June/July 2014 and have needed to do zero to it. The Ebonal fret board will last longer than wood,10 year old Curbow is showing no sign of wear. Construction is top class and it's miles ahead of anything else costing the same.I think Thomann take a smaller profit on the BZ series than on other models,on the rare occasion one comes up as deko they are 50% instead of the normal 33%. Electrics are provided by G&B who make Peavey preamps,Spector Tone Pumps and EMG pickups amoung others. My 4 strings wweighs probably 5Kg around the same as a JB-75. Fellow member derek currently has mine so he'll be able to answer more. Various Squier P basses cost much more than even the 7 string. 399 euro for an Eva Gardener ? Just goes to show how expensive a decal is [ Yes , Kodiakblair is bang on with the weight . Its around the same as the JB75 but has better ballance . The volume pot is a push/pull type passive , active set up and an 18v preamp . Im loving the ebonol board and the gorgeous woods used in construction . The range of sounds available is rather impressive too . You wont find a better bass , anywhere near this kind of cash , especially new .
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Post by th3hors3 on Feb 2, 2016 17:54:48 GMT
So many great suggestions and inputs, thank you all!
so. bz4000 or 5000 it is... UNLESS I decide to go with the EUB500, I unfortunately found out that I like manouche and charleston. GAS is one hell of a condition, no doubt on that.
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Post by JAC on Feb 4, 2016 13:57:38 GMT
The answer is always "both", except in this case where "all three" is just as appropriate
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derek
Harley Benton Club Member
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Post by derek on Feb 13, 2016 16:38:13 GMT
So many great suggestions and inputs, thank you all! so. bz4000 or 5000 it is... UNLESS I decide to go with the EUB500, I unfortunately found out that I like manouche and charleston. GAS is one hell of a condition, no doubt on that. Well , did you order one ? And which did you go for ?
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