Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Std. Series

Short Scale Electric Bass

Left hand model
Body: Poplar
Bolt-on neck: Maple
Fretboard: Amaranth
Dot fretboard inlays
Neck profile: Modern C
19 Frets
Scale: 762 mm
Nut width: 42 mm
Dual action truss rod
Pickups: 1 PB style split coil
1 Volume knob and 1 tone knob
Hardware: Chrome
Classic PB-Style machine heads
String thickness: 040 - 095
Colour: Black high gloss
Suitable gig bag: Article no. 121548 (not included)

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

3-Year Thomann Warranty

Available since December 2012

Item number 290768

Sales Unit 1 piece(s)

Colour Black

Soundboard Poplar

Neck Canadian Maple

Fretboard Amaranth

Frets 19

Scale Shortscale

Pickup System P

Elektronic Passive

Incl. Case No

Incl. Gigbag No

£82

Including VAT; Excluding £10 shipping

Sales Rank

in 4-String Lefthanded Basses

Bundles & offers

Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Std. Bundle

£104

Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Std. Set 1

£165

Create your own bundle

starting from £175

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Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Std. Bundle

£166

Shrunken classic

Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Standard Series Shortscale Electric Bass

For a few years now, short-scale basses have been all the rage once again, and of course Harley Benton has not let this trend go unnoticed. The PB-Shorty, here in the left-handed version, is a four-string P-style bass with a shorter scale and the look and sound of a classic. With its split-coil pickup and passive electronics, it follows the model from the 60s and is similarly at home in almost every playing style. For children and young people in particular, a short-scale bass makes it easier to get to grips with the instrument and embark on a rockstar career. With all of its features, the PB-Shorty offers an extremely well-priced overall package, as one has come to know and almost expect from Harley Benton.

Pickups of the Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Standard Series Shortscale Electric Bass - front view

All the features a bass needs

A poplar body, a maple neck, and an amaranth fingerboard are the basis of the Harley Benton PB-Shorty. The scale is 762mm long and is about 10cm shorter than the 864mm of a "full-size" instrument. The nut width of 42mm and the C-profile of the neck provide a familiar playing feel and a comfortable grip for the fretting hand. The split-coil pickup and the passive electronics with a volume and a tone control have defined the typical P-bass sound for over 60 years, and the PB-Shorty is no exception. But the sound is not the only thing that matters – a pleasing appearance is also important. The design, finish, vintage-style machine heads, and pickguard create a suitably authentic look. The black lacquer finish is also absolutely timeless and fits every style.

Back of the Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Standard Series Shortscale Electric Bass - back view

For players of all sizes

It goes without saying that smaller basses also fit smaller hands, and the Harley Benton PB-Shorty is thus perfectly suited for children, teenagers, and all those who find it difficult to play "normal" electric basses because of their size. Even guitarists who occasionally pick up a bass will certainly find it much easier to switch between instruments with a short scale, as the scale of the Harley Benton PB-Shorty is very close to that of a guitar. Of course, a small bass also takes up less space, which comes in handy if you often travel with your instrument on public transport such as buses and trains. Here too, the Harley Benton PB-Shorty can make life easier.

Headstock on the Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Standard Series Shortscale Electric Bass

About Harley Benton

Since 1998, the Harley Benton brand has been catering for the needs of numerous guitarists and bassists. In addition to an extensive range of stringed instruments, Thomann's house brand also offers a wide choice of amplifiers, speakers, effect pedals, and other accessories. In total, the range includes over 1,500 products. Built by established names in the industry, all Harley Benton products combine quality and reliability at attractive and affordable prices. The continuous expansion of the range ensures that Harley Benton always provides new, exciting, and innovative products that keep players perfectly in tune with the musical world, day after day.

Small bass - big sound

With short-scale basses, it is not only practical aspects such as size that make a difference. They also have a very special sound that is indispensable to music history - consider Paul McCartney, for instance. The shorter the scale compared to the same string gauge, the bassier the sound - some definition and sustain is also lost, however. These traits are ideal for styles like Blues, Rock, 60s Soul, and almost anything that can be labelled “vintage”. Here, a transparent and defined bass sound tends to push itself too much into the spotlight and doesn't really want to be integrated into the mix. In these cases, short-scale basses like the PB-Shorty offer a great alternative, especially in combination with flatwound strings.

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88 Customer ratings

5 46 Customers 4 34 Customers 3 7 Customers 2 0 Customers 1 1 Customer

4.4 / 5

features

sound

quality

Review guidelines

57 Reviews

Great Instrument

pds1 19.10.2020

Lovely instrument and well set up out of the box. I have added some shielding to get rid of some hums, apart from that it didn't need anything. Action and Relief were good. I'll probably change the strings soon, and might play with the capacitor value on the tone control.... at the price of this bass I can comfortably take it apart and play around without fear! Great buy.

Edit: I have had it a few weeks now. After sorting out the shielding issues (copper tape in the cavity and nail varnish on the pickup poles) I noticed that one of the pickups was microphonic: when I tapped the pickup housing I could hear the tapping through the amp. Pup probably needs re-potted. I swapped the pickups for some cheap Chinese ones and that fixed the problem. Put on some Daddario EXL220S strings when I put it back together. All sounds great. And I'm enjoying learning about the inner workings of a bass!

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Shorty Bass

Billbo 28.12.2019

I love it, I usually play guitar and I own a bass but I get along with this shorty so much better, purely because of its size. It feels more like a standard electric guitar and I find it more practical so have it at hand to pick up and play whenever I please. 👍✌😀

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Crazily priced!

tomas26ie 15.08.2015

For what you're paying you're getting an extremely nice starter bass that you'd most likely pay around ?200+ for in another music shop.

The neck on my one is flawless and very playable, the finishing on the fretboard and frets is also excellent. The tuning heads are of a decent quality and I can't tell yet whether I'll have to put something like a set of Schaller's on it.

The body of the bass is beautifully finished and extremely light. As for the pickup and electronics, they're functional. Obviously it's not going to sound like a thousand euro bass, but for the price you pay you're really getting a lot for under ?80.

I plan on replacing the pickup with a Seymour Duncan P-Bass pickup, but for the absolute beginner there's not a thing wrong with the stock pickup and the shielding appears excellent.

In short, if you have a measly ?79 in your account and were thinking of giving the bass a try then spend it on this before you waste your money on something that won't last a 1/100th of the time that this bass will last you.

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Absolute bargain!

Theodore85 23.05.2020

Got this for my son to start learning the bass.
Great bass, amazing build quality and good output from the pickups (considering the cheap electronics).
Hardware is acceptable, but what is not is the strings. I would prefer the instrument to cost 10 pounds more than to have a string break due to mild slapping two weeks later.
All in all, an amazing bass for 90 pounds, should you include the 20 pounds spent on strings.

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Harley Benton PB-Shorty LH BK Std. Series

Short Scale Electric Bass