# Sub 250 7 string bass on thomann



## welsh_7stinger (Jul 28, 2014)

Hello, don't know if I've been ninja'd on this. Thomann have now got a harley benton 7 string bass for about £230-240. 

Harley Benton BZ-7000 NT - Thomann UK

Personally I think this is brilliant. I gottan their original 7 string (with flaoting trem), 6 string bass. Would like to know what my fellow sso members think of this.


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## rikomaru (Jul 28, 2014)

Interesting.........a btb7 with lower cost woods? I can't lie......I wouldn't exactly turn it away. Lol
Thomann ships to the states, ya?


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## welsh_7stinger (Jul 28, 2014)

rikomaru said:


> Interesting.........a btb7 with lower cost woods? I can't lie......I wouldn't exactly turn it away. Lol
> Thomann ships to the states, ya?



they actually do ship to the states. flatrate of 30 euros.


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## rikomaru (Jul 28, 2014)

Oh shit....that's not bad at all. :O


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## crg123 (Jul 28, 2014)

Wow and its a neck through haha.


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## Winspear (Jul 28, 2014)

Yeah I think HB are Thommans own brand? I bought a cheapo 5 string acoustic bass from them. It's exactly what you'd expect for such a low price but a playable instrument like that with that price is always a cool thing!


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## welsh_7stinger (Jul 28, 2014)

EtherealEntity said:


> Yeah I think HB are Thommans own brand? I bought a cheapo 5 string acoustic bass from them. It's exactly what you'd expect for such a low price but a playable instrument like that with that price is always a cool thing!



Yeah they are their own brand. The stuff is hit or miss. i found their 8 string's bridge to be a bit on the showing its cost side. But for the cost of the instrument you could easily use the saved cash to get aftermarket upgrades.


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## JoeyW (Jul 29, 2014)

Anyone know anything about the string spacing on these? I don't think it says anything on the page linked and narrow string spacing is usually what kills a lot of basses for me. Never thought I'd even entertain getting a 7 until I was ready to drop like 4k+ on a custom but this looks like it could be a cool little project.


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## Captain Axx (Jul 31, 2014)

I'm going to pick one up, definitely no harm in trying one! Had a 6 string Harley Benton for a while and I quite liked it, nothing special but it was definitely a reliable and actually pretty good bass.


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## Preacher (Jul 31, 2014)

Damn you OP, I need one of these now, I had a 6 string bass and sold it to fund my 8 because I never played it, then got into home recording and need a bass again, but was looking at the BTB7 for the low range, but counldnt justify the price to my wife. I probably still cant justify this but I REALLY want one of these...


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## Captain Axx (Aug 7, 2014)

I've ordered it, I'll put a review up (and hopefully a video provided my camera actually works or I can borrow one) should have it around the first week of September!


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## crg123 (Aug 7, 2014)

Hmmm, if someone gets this let me know I think that if I get one I might defret it


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## JoeyW (Aug 7, 2014)

JoeyW said:


> Anyone know anything about the string spacing on these? I don't think it says anything on the page linked and narrow string spacing is usually what kills a lot of basses for me. Never thought I'd even entertain getting a 7 until I was ready to drop like 4k+ on a custom but this looks like it could be a cool little project.



?


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## TKOA-Dex (Aug 10, 2014)

Whoa!!! That's one beautiful bass. I was considering some 6 strings but I might have to get this thing! It looks amazing, neck thru, and from what you all have said sounds like it can hold it's own. What are 7 string basses tunings anyways? I'm sure I could learn to play it quick.


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 11, 2014)

I joined this forum when I was wondering about buying the 8 string Harley Benton guitar and using it like a bass tuned E up in 4ths. As soon as I saw the BZ-7000, I had to have one. Mine's now on order, waiting for the shipment on the 25th of August. I won't be looking into the 8 string HB now. When my seven string arrives, would that make me a qualified member of this forum? 

Anyone interesting in Harley Benton should most definitely read this thread: Lasse Thernøe, Harley Benton Mastermind Google Translate seemed to do a reasonable job on it.


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## welsh_7stinger (Aug 12, 2014)

Captain Axx said:


> I've ordered it, I'll put a review up (and hopefully a video provided my camera actually works or I can borrow one) should have it around the first week of September!



I'll be keeping my eye open for that. and in advance hnbd.


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## Narayane (Aug 21, 2014)

Yeah, I ordered this bass aboute month ago, and finally they got it in stock. The UPS service says I might got it till friday 22.08, so I'm gonna put some pics and make quick review guys, hope it's gona be flawless


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## Preacher (Aug 21, 2014)

Please please *please* do a vid and sound clips if you can (esp if you tune it F# B E A D G C!) I know for that cost the pick ups will be wack, but I can replace them with some x-bars or something for a laugh


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## Narayane (Aug 24, 2014)

Preacher said:


> Please please *please* do a vid and sound clips if you can (esp if you tune it F# B E A D G C!) I know for that cost the pick ups will be wack, but I can replace them with some x-bars or something for a laugh



Still waiting ... hope I will get it tomorrow :/ Sorry but i don't have eq for sound clips, but I will upload some pics and my personal opinion aboute this bass for sure. Nah ... I bought the 7-string bass to get higher notes not lower  I'm gona tune it like a regular 7-string guitar or in 4's [BEADGCF]


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## Narayane (Aug 25, 2014)

So i have this bass! : D Here are my observations: 
*Finish*: really good, apart from a slightly askew tightened masking plate winding rod and the remnants of glue around some frets, I can not get to anything. Wood looks nice, without cavities or structural defects. Bass is obviously a massive (well it's 7 strings). The string spacing (measured in the middle between the pickups is about 12mm). For me, no problem, but I do have big hands and 
*Sound*: And here the two biggest flaws: the strings are total crap, tarnished, slightly rusty, shitty as ...., in the beginning as I plugged into amp, I was a little shocked, sound quiet, flat and dull  Fortunately, I already bought a set wariwck 40-130 + 2 separate 0.25 and 0.20. After the new strings and fretboard clean, the bass sound as it's supposed to sound, like 30% louder and clear. Unfortunately, the second thing is more serious: the bass is not captured screening: // when set active and no right hand touching the bridge (for grounding) or left surrounding the neck, the bass just screams ... the noise gate from my guitar stompboxes, and ZNR from my Zoom effect, give some improve and mute, but not 100%, you can get used, but still it is a big disadvantage, resulting probably from the fact that bass, however, is a low-cost 
*Active preamps and sound creation possibilities*: Great! There are 5 knobs with 2-step adjustment: pickup balancer (bridge, both, neck), tone (mellow-semi-bright), bass (which is also a push-pull activating preamp), mid and treble, also with 2 -step of adjustment. Like always the mid knob do the talking
If not for the lack of shielding, for this price and with these parameters I would give the bass quietly strong 8 + / 10, but I must decrease to 7/10 with a clear conscience Harley Benton BZ-7000NT can do the trick!


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## vansinn (Aug 25, 2014)

Looks quite nicely build - a Bit in the direction of a Wolf 7 (mine is a custom, though).
It'll be interesting with an audible review 

Does it have double trusses?
What does the ebonol fretboard feels like? Fretwork quality?
How are the tuners? (mine are smooth Wilkinsons)


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 25, 2014)

I received a notification that my HZ-7000 had been dispatched last Wednesday morning. However, it hasn't even left Germany yet.


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## Narayane (Aug 25, 2014)

It is well build, althoug it has some small flaws (like the truss rod cover) but the body , neck and pickups itself looks fine to me. Knobs twist with little drag (which is good) and you can feel the "click" while you twisting the knob to 2nd position. Yes, double trussrod ;> That ebonol fretboard is black as magic, but ofcourse it hasn't got the feel like real ebony. I would say 6-7/10 for fretboard. The tuners are standard, no fireworks here ;p Well unfortunatly I dont have eq and tools now to make an audio sample, but you can get pretty much from mellow jazz groove to agressive Webster-style rich brutal sound  Here one more pic of inside preamp and knobs pocket:





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## welsh_7stinger (Aug 25, 2014)

Narayane said:


> So i have this bass! : D Here are my observations:
> *Finish*: really good, apart from a slightly askew tightened masking plate winding rod and the remnants of glue around some frets, I can not get to anything. Wood looks nice, without cavities or structural defects. Bass is obviously a massive (well it's 7 strings). The string spacing (measured in the middle between the pickups is about 12mm). For me, no problem, but I do have big hands and
> *Sound*: And here the two biggest flaws: the strings are total crap, tarnished, slightly rusty, shitty as ...., in the beginning as I plugged into amp, I was a little shocked, sound quiet, flat and dull  Fortunately, I already bought a set wariwck 40-130 + 2 separate 0.25 and 0.20. After the new strings and fretboard clean, the bass sound as it's supposed to sound, like 30% louder and clear. Unfortunately, the second thing is more serious: the bass is not captured screening: // when set active and no right hand touching the bridge (for grounding) or left surrounding the neck, the bass just screams ... the noise gate from my guitar stompboxes, and ZNR from my Zoom effect, give some improve and mute, but not 100%, you can get used, but still it is a big disadvantage, resulting probably from the fact that bass, however, is a low-cost
> *Active preamps and sound creation possibilities*: Great! There are 5 knobs with 2-step adjustment: pickup balancer (bridge, both, neck), tone (mellow-semi-bright), bass (which is also a push-pull activating preamp), mid and treble, also with 2 -step of adjustment. Like always the mid knob do the talking
> If not for the lack of shielding, for this price and with these parameters I would give the bass quietly strong 8 + / 10, but I must decrease to 7/10 with a clear conscience Harley Benton BZ-7000NT can do the trick!



Well i now want it more (just make sure i got spare strings and some copper shielding) Is the neck hi gloss?


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## Captain Axx (Aug 25, 2014)

Man.. I completely forgot to post back on here, I had to cancel my order unfortunately  didn't have enough money, which is a massive bummer seeing as the pics look real good, HNBD Narayane!


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

welsh_7stinger said:


> Well i now want it more (just make sure i got spare strings and some copper shielding) Is the neck hi gloss?



Yes hi gloss, I prefere natural wood feeling of the neck, but I think I get used to this


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## welsh_7stinger (Aug 26, 2014)

Narayane said:


> Yes hi gloss, I prefere natural wood feeling of the neck, but I think I get used to this



Thanks. same here but i've started to sand my hi gloss necks down to a satin neck. Another question is it 2 9v or bunch of AA batteries?


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

welsh_7stinger said:


> Thanks. same here but i've started to sand my hi gloss necks down to a satin neck. Another question is it 2 9v or bunch of AA batteries?



Two 9V batteries ( I use rechargable) one for preamp, and second for pickups (I suppose) hide in nice small, click-to-open plastic pockets. No screwdriver required


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## Preacher (Aug 26, 2014)

Narayane said:


> Two 9V batteries ( I use rechargable) one for preamp, and second for pickups (I suppose) hide in nice small, click-to-open plastic pockets. No screwdriver required


 
Nice, so quick release battery covers?

Related question: How difficult is it going to be to shield it correctly to stop all that horrible pup screaming?


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

Preacher said:


> Nice, so quick release battery covers?
> 
> Related question: How difficult is it going to be to shield it correctly to stop all that horrible pup screaming?



Hmm ... dunno I need to contact to my luthier for more info, although I think the shielding need to be done either inside the pickups holes but also inside the preamp/knobs pocket, since only the plastic cover has a some kind of aluminium layer but only on the bottom side of a cover, the whole pots/preamp socket is not cover with anything. Like I wrote the NG/ZNR helps for decreesing the noise (mayby ca. 50-60%) but it still a bit pain in the ass


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 26, 2014)

Mine has arrived. The electronics on mine aren't particularly noisy. I wonder if Narayane's bass has an earthing problem. There is some discolouration of the strings around some of the frets (not wear, something else, not sure what), but the strings seem OK-ish. There are some finish flaws on mine, including a grey spot on the side of the fretboard and a few other things. It's smaller and lighter than I expected given what I read here. The battery covers open up very easily, but I haven't tried taking the batteries out. Overall, it plays fine, in my opinion, and is a nice bass. It's not exceptional, but IMHO well worth the price. Are the two batteries not because it's an 18v circuit?

EDIT: for the poster who would prefer a non-gloss neck, I buffed the gloss off my six-string (bass) neck, and that (to me) improved the feel. I'm not going to do that with the Harley Benton as it's the only new bass I've bought and despite it being cheap, I don't want to <something> with it. (My six string is a Shine and was many times cheaper).


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

Annoying Twit said:


> Mine has arrived. The electronics on mine aren't particularly noisy. I wonder if Narayane's bass has an earthing problem. There is some discolouration of the strings around some of the frets (not wear, something else, not sure what), but the strings seem OK-ish. There are some finish flaws on mine, including a grey spot on the side of the fretboard and a few other things. It's smaller and lighter than I expected given what I read here. The battery covers open up very easily, but I haven't tried taking the batteries out. Overall, it plays fine, in my opinion, and is a nice bass. It's not exceptional, but IMHO well worth the price. Are the two batteries not because it's an 18v circuit?



Well mayby it's personal point of view, although when I'm playing only plugged into amp (withoute my Zoom effect) the pickups noise is decreased while via effects it's much more noisy.


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 26, 2014)

Narayane said:


> Well mayby it's personal point of view, although when I'm playing only plugged into amp (withoute my Zoom effect) the pickups noise is decreased while via effects it's much more noisy.



What happens if you use just the Zoom and headphones?

PS: Which Warwick strings did you use? Red, Yellow, Black Label, or something else?


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

Annoying Twit said:


> What happens if you use just the Zoom and headphones?
> 
> PS: Which Warwick strings did you use? Red, Yellow, Black Label, or something else?



The noise intensifies, when its plugged directly via cable to amp, it's almost silent. I must do some test with different cables, because i found that the noise is different via diferrent (even some of my old) cables, so mayby the noise problem lays somwhere else ...

Red label warwick.


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 26, 2014)

Narayane said:


> The noise intensifies, when its plugged directly via cable to amp, it's almost silent. I must do some test with different cables, because i found that the noise is different via diferrent (even some of my old) cables, so mayby the noise problem lays somwhere else ...
> 
> Red label warwick.



If it's a Zoom with a wall wart type power supply, then it may not be earthed. Some effects units assume that they will be plugged into an amp and will be earthed that way. When not plugged in, e.g. on headphones, then the bass isn't earthed because the 'earth' of the cable isn't attached to an earth. If the bass is near silent when plugged straight into an amp, but noisy through effects, then this suggests to me as well that perhaps the bass is not at fault. Or at least not completely at fault. 

Red label Warwick strings are the cheapest ones, aren't they? I wonder what more expensive strings such as the yellow or black label strings would be like on it.


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## Narayane (Aug 26, 2014)

Annoying Twit said:


> If it's a Zoom with a wall wart type power supply, then it may not be earthed. Some effects units assume that they will be plugged into an amp and will be earthed that way. When not plugged in, e.g. on headphones, then the bass isn't earthed because the 'earth' of the cable isn't attached to an earth. If the bass is near silent when plugged straight into an amp, but noisy through effects, then this suggests to me as well that perhaps the bass is not at fault. Or at least not completely at fault.
> 
> Red label Warwick strings are the cheapest ones, aren't they? I wonder what more expensive strings such as the yellow or black label strings would be like on it.



You might be right, I do the test with my guitar amp which is Randall RG-75. I plugged the bass via cable only (withoute any effects or stompboxes) and I hear only like 5% of noise, on my bass amp I hear just a little bit more noise, but when I connect my Zoom effect (which is cheap plastic B708) the noise intensifies ... from the other hand I didn't have that issue with my previous bass, but it was classic p-j passive 4 stringer, so mayby I too hastily post the info aboute lack of shieldieng in HB 7000 ... Well, now I change some of the parameters on my patches, add noise gate, and its playable, withoute major problems, but yet there still some noise.


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## Dr Zoidberg (Aug 27, 2014)

Hmm, been thinking about a 7-string for a while. This looks interesting, but you can find used Conklins for $100-200 more (after shipping to the US, at least) with some patience, and I'm thinking that might be a better route for someone in the US. Looks to be a good deal in Europe, though!


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## LordCashew (Aug 27, 2014)

Narayane said:


> ...so mayby I too hastily post the info aboute lack of shieldieng in HB 7000...



It looks like the electronics cavity in your bass _is_ shielded, but maybe not perfectly.

Many inexpensive to midrange instruments use black electrically conductive paint in the cavity along with a foil inner cover, which provides a complete shield. This looks to be what's going on your bass.

However it does look like the paint in your control cavity is applied very thinly, enough that the wood grain is visible through it. If you were to add another coat or two of conductive paint or shield with foil instead you may get better results.


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 30, 2014)

@Narayane - Which Red Label strings did you use? The 0.130s or 0.135s? (or something else?) Did the new strings make a difference to the string tension for the B and E strings?

@Dr Zoidberg - here in the UK the most recent Conklin 7 string to sell on Ebay went for £800. It was a nice looking one, but that's many times more than I paid for my HB. I've seen cheaper ones on USA ebay. For the £234 or so my bass cost me (free delivery, no customs or other charges), it's an amazing bargain compared to the alternatives. (They are a few pounds cheaper now). This is less than I'd pay for a Squier Vintage modified jazz bass brand new, or about the same as I'd pay for a bolt-on Epiphone Thunderbird. In the UK The Harley Benton is in a completely different price range than the Ibanez BTB, the Conklins, etc.


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## Narayane (Aug 30, 2014)

LordIronSpatula said:


> It looks like the electronics cavity in your bass _is_ shielded, but maybe not perfectly.
> 
> Many inexpensive to midrange instruments use black electrically conductive paint in the cavity along with a foil inner cover, which provides a complete shield. This looks to be what's going on your bass.
> 
> However it does look like the paint in your control cavity is applied very thinly, enough that the wood grain is visible through it. If you were to add another coat or two of conductive paint or shield with foil instead you may get better results.



I think what you sayin is right, cause I see only I thin layer of that black paint, and 1 layer of aluminium on the pocket cover. I think that the proper shielding inside preamp/knobs pocket is need to be done, bacause when playing passive, all the noise disappear. So I think the pickup sockets are fine, only the knobs/preamp pocket emitates noise, when preamp is active ...

@Annoying Twit I use130's, firstly I get used to those gauge for quite time, and second since it is a 35" scale bass, the tension seems to be proper. Howevere I changed the C string from 0.25 to 0.30 so now my strings are all Red label Warwick: 130-100-80-60-40-30-20 the progression seems to be fine within this bass. I'm tunning it standard four's [BEADGCF]


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## Narayane (Aug 30, 2014)

A bit off-top what do you guys think of it:

Harley Benton BDI-2000 - Thomann Polska

I know it's HB again  but it looks like cheap Sansa Amp Tech-21 rip-off, and there is ground-lift switch would it help grounding my bass throug this device?


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## LordCashew (Aug 30, 2014)

A noisy, improperly shielded BDDI knockoff? 

I kid, I don't know anything about them.


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## noUser01 (Aug 30, 2014)

Considering your only major issues with it were easily fixable ones, seems like this thing is a steal. I might pick one up myself! Thanks for doing that review for us, man.


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## Annoying Twit (Aug 31, 2014)

Narayane said:


> A bit off-top what do you guys think of it:
> 
> Harley Benton BDI-2000 - Thomann Polska
> 
> I know it's HB again  but it looks like cheap Sansa Amp Tech-21 rip-off, and there is ground-lift switch would it help grounding my bass throug this device?



I"ve just played my BZ-7000 through a Behringer BDI21, which has a ground lift switch. This was the first time that I've heard significant noise with my BZ-7000, but only if the bass was in active mode. With the bass in passive mode it was quiet. I was playing the bass through the BDI21 and then through a Zoom B2 into headphones. The ground lift switch made no difference. Which I don't think surprising (I'm not 100% on understanding earthing issues - but given that the BDI was powered by a battery and the Zoom B2 by 9VDC, I don't think anything is earthed). When the bass was active and noisy, putting my hand on the strings reduced the noise.

Thanks for the info on strings. My Olympia strings aren't bad, hence I am wondering what to do, but don't need to change anything immediately. I do have some shielding tape around the house somewhere, but don't really feel that I need to do anything, it seems to take a fair bit to make my bass noisy. 

In response to comments in other posts, as an owner of a BZ-7000, I think they are fabulous value for money. But, they aren't perfect. There's nothing major wrong with it, and some of the things I think are't 100% might actually be just subjective opinion. E.g. the string tension.

I've submitted a lengthy review to Thomann. Narayane, I hope you don't mind that in it I mention you (not by name).

I'm suggesting to Thomann that they consider making a BZ-9000. If anyone agrees, could they please mention this to Thomann. The more people who discuss such a possibility, the more likely it is to happen. Should I start a petition


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## Narayane (Aug 31, 2014)

Annoying Twit said:


> I"ve just played my BZ-7000 through a Behringer BDI21, which has a ground lift switch. This was the first time that I've heard significant noise with my BZ-7000, but only if the bass was in active mode. With the bass in passive mode it was quiet. I was playing the bass through the BDI21 and then through a Zoom B2 into headphones. The ground lift switch made no difference. Which I don't think surprising (I'm not 100% on understanding earthing issues - but given that the BDI was powered by a battery and the Zoom B2 by 9VDC, I don't think anything is earthed). When the bass was active and noisy, putting my hand on the strings reduced the noise.
> 
> Thanks for the info on strings. My Olympia strings aren't bad, hence I am wondering what to do, but don't need to change anything immediately. I do have some shielding tape around the house somewhere, but don't really feel that I need to do anything, it seems to take a fair bit to make my bass noisy.
> 
> ...



Same with mine: passive - no noise, active - noisy, but since I throw out my zoom effect, suprisingly I am much satisfied with my sound only with amp, and no extra efffects (I throw out the NG too) and since then, the noise seems to be a bit reduced, mayby the stomboxes itself generate some extra noise? dunno. Well if those strings suits you thats ok, but I suggest quick change  I send my review to thomann too, they say I will get some voucher for my review 

BTW: Tomorrow I'm giving my bass to friend of mine, he's a luthier and he said he'll look for my bass and do some shielding! As soon as I will get it back, I will share my experience and some photo too!


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## iron blast (Sep 1, 2014)

It looks like it cost $410.49 in America doesn't seem too bad I could be missing some cost though any thoughts?


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## Necris (Sep 2, 2014)

^ I feel like customs fees and taxes would add a significant amount for those of us in the US, I'd expect at least another $100.
Still not a bad deal considering the price.


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## Narayane (Sep 8, 2014)

Last update.

Work done. This may look simple, but it do the shielding in 90%. One important thing, the preamp has tiny little yellow screw (I heven't realised it before, lol xd) and by turning this screw clokwise - decreased the preamp gain, counter-clokwise - inrceased. So after the shileding done by my friend, and lowing down a bit this yellow screw (decreasing preamo gain), the hissing noise and almost 90% of other noise and buzz is gone, even w/line my ZoomBFX700 mutlieffect. Last pic here, anyway the bass is great, within it's prise. Buy it , keep it, have fun of play.


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## Ducktrix (Sep 17, 2014)

This is probably a retarded question, but how does this compare to basses like LTD D6, Ibanez BTB 675, Ibanez SR 506, and such in terms of sound, playability etc.? I know this one is like half the price of those basses, but just out of curiosity...


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## DeKay (Sep 19, 2014)

So is this bass good when played really loud aswell? Like in a band context? I want to purchase the 6 string version of this to slap the hell out of it and to have a second bass for live usage  This is currently the only real review of the bass online so I am stoked to hear more about your experience with it!


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## Narayane (Sep 19, 2014)

Well DeKay it depends on your amp and playstyle I guess, as I mentionted, after string swap and shielding job (although annoying twit said that he hasn't such noise/buzz issue with his bass), my bass works very good, but I'm a sunday player, just in my room with 100W amp, and I don't play louder than gain3 vol4 on amp settings. But I suggest buying 7-string version  The price gap between 6 and 7 is couple of euros, and you will enjoy the fun of extended range. I've never had or play 6 string befeore so I bought 7 for blind shot, but I'm happy with it. As I wrote down before the string spacing is only 12mm so it's a "tight" 7 stringer, for ex. in Ibanez BTB 7 you have 13.8 or sth (I might be wrong) but for sure neck of this HB bass will suits well, it's like playing on a bit wider 5 string fender and I have perfect spot for my left thumb during play. (It dosen't slide over neck)


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## DeKay (Sep 20, 2014)

Narayane said:


> Well DeKay it depends on your amp and playstyle I guess, as I mentionted, after string swap and shielding job (although annoying twit said that he hasn't such noise/buzz issue with his bass), my bass works very good, but I'm a sunday player, just in my room with 100W amp, and I don't play louder than gain3 vol4 on amp settings. But I suggest buying 7-string version  The price gap between 6 and 7 is couple of euros, and you will enjoy the fun of extended range. I've never had or play 6 string befeore so I bought 7 for blind shot, but I'm happy with it. As I wrote down before the string spacing is only 12mm so it's a "tight" 7 stringer, for ex. in Ibanez BTB 7 you have 13.8 or sth (I might be wrong) but for sure neck of this HB bass will suits well, it's like playing on a bit wider 5 string fender and I have perfect spot for my left thumb during play. (It dosen't slide over neck)



Thanks for the reply man 

I'm a slapper and I think the 7 strings would make things harder than easier, currently I play a yamaha rbx 5 string bass. I also really like the looks of the 6 stringer so I think I go that route unless you can really convince me to go 7 other than the price  and the string spacing


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## welsh_7stinger (Sep 30, 2014)

Anyone here that has one of these basses, is the bridge thru only or can it be top loaded? and if its string thru only will a 175 fit?


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## Narayane (Oct 6, 2014)

welsh_7stinger said:


> Anyone here that has one of these basses, is the bridge thru only or can it be top loaded? and if its string thru only will a 175 fit?



The strings can be load either thru-body or top loaded, but I can't tell you if 0.175 gaguge will fit through the key hole.


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## welsh_7stinger (Oct 8, 2014)

Narayane said:


> The strings can be load either thru-body or top loaded, but I can't tell you if 0.175 gaguge will fit through the key hole.



If its top loadable then it dosn't matter if a 175 will fit thru the string thru.


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## guy in latvia (Oct 10, 2014)

Damn, that looks like an awesome bass! I've got an HB 5 string myself, that I bought 5 years ago or so. Its a damn good bass!

How well does the bass hold tuning? My 5 string really struggles with the low A (1 tone downtuned), makes me consider upgrading tho this.


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## FretSpider (Oct 18, 2014)

JoeyW said:


> Anyone know anything about the string spacing on these? I don't think it says anything on the page linked and narrow string spacing is usually what kills a lot of basses for me. Never thought I'd even entertain getting a 7 until I was ready to drop like 4k+ on a custom but this looks like it could be a cool little project.



I can't say for sure, but I THINK they're 16mm. I could be wrong, and it's 15.5.


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## JoeyW (Oct 18, 2014)

FretSpider said:


> I can't say for sure, but I THINK they're 16mm. I could be wrong, and it's 15.5.



Ahhh bummer, way too narrow 

Thanks though, wasn't expecting a reply after so long haha


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## DeKay (Oct 18, 2014)

Everybody still happy with their HB Bass? I can't wait to get the cash for the sixer. Slapping comfortable on it?


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