Harley Benton Enhanced MP-5MN Natural

All of these things considered, I think I just got a lemon and I still recommend this bass.

Fit and finish are excellent. I really love the satin-finished wood grain body. The neck is very nice, with stainless steel frets, and like everything HB it came set up almost perfectly out of the box. The neck pickup is really thick and meaty, and the bridge pickup has that awesome throaty MM sound. There is also quite a bit of deep, rich bass when you roll on the knob. You can get an amazing mix of tones out of this guitar in both active and passive modes and it sounds and looks like something that should cost you at least $1000. Output on this guitar is HOT, and it will play louder than a lot of other basses you might own.

For me, at least, this guitar was hindered by one very glaring issue -- I'm not sure if the preamp was damaged in transit, or maybe there were some wiring issues, but for whatever reason any time I rolled on any treble at all, it also produced a very loud, squealy buzzing noise that essentially made the guitar unplayable. The noise more or less disappeared when I switched it over into passive mode. I'm working with Thomann to resolve the issue right now, but this QC defect has stopped this guitar being something I can make a lot of use out of.

You might be rolling the dice a bit on this one, I don't know. However, it is a VERY nice bass and one that I'd say is worth the purchase.

I have 3 Harley Benton bass guitars, and this one is the 4th one of the family, and I have to say, I'm truly impressed. Even a store clerk was impressed by it.
I love the pick up blend control, the clear distinction between the P PU and H PU. Truss rod and bridge adjustment is very easy as well, although I didn't have much adjustment to make straight out of the box.
I am not a fan of the active sound on this bass. It doesn't sound natural, and it feels like it is forcing something out that doesn't really belong to the bass. No worries, the passive mode sounds spectacular enough.
The specs say that the neck is "C," but to me, it feels more like "D" than "C." No complaints here, just pointing something out. The sound of this bass is very warm and punchy.
The control knobs seem to be backward, except for the pick up balance, which leaves me slightly puzzled...

Pros:
Price
Quality
Sound
Adjustability

Cons:
Backward control knobs (except for the PU balance)
PU Balance knob is angled, not straight on
Active mode sounds unnatural.

I have a Dingwall Combustion and have played some Ibanez, Sire and Fender models. I have some understanding of bass guitars. I can say this is one of my best purchases of musical gear. It's resembles a model from a German brand costing a lot more. For me this bass is perfect. I can play anything on it. I bought it as a mod platform but I don't know what to improve. Everything is good. Maybe one day I will paint it dark-blue and will change the bridge pick-up but that's optional. The pre-amp is nice to have but I never use the pre-amps on any of my basses.
Pros:
- Great P-bass sound. Perfect tone for me.
- Pretty versatile with the 2 pick-up types and the preamp.
- Very comfortable neck.
- Beautiful design. I love seeing the wood.
- Good build quality. Wood is perfect. Bridge, tuning keys and pots seem pretty good to me. Can't find any flaw.

Cons:
- Like any bridge pick-up, the Stingray pick-up is lacking some low-end.
- I find the blend knob useless but all basses have that. I prefer a rotary switch.
- Having a single tuning key on the other side of the headstock looks silly to me.

Conclusion:
One the best price/value ratio bass guitars. You get a lot for you money. Absolutely worth it. But you have to try it. Maybe it won't be as comfortable and good sounding for everyone.