Harley Benton MM-85 SB TEARDOWN AND REVIEW - On the Bench

[@GeorgeVrachliotis]

It's not active pickups, it's passive pickups with active electronics. The plactic cube is the preamp. This bass is one of the best budget basses out there. very versatile. Also a very nice platform if you want to play around with some better pickups and electronics and end up with a bass that will sound like 2-3 thousands bass

[@TheGearGarage]

I didn't know this, thanks for the information. To me it didn't appear that there was a preamp in the plastic thing, but that would be the logical reason for it, so I think you're right. I was just surprised that there wasn't some sort of massive circuit board since I've honestly never seen the insides of an active guitar or bass

[@GeorgeVrachliotis]

@@TheGearGarage well this way is more versatile. Most preamps nowdays come as this one to allow various applications, check Aguilar OBP or DarkGlass tone capsule

[@CorvetteCoonass]

@@TheGearGarage The ony basses I can think of on the top of my head that has a big circuit board in the electronics cavity are the Spector USA basses with the HazLab preamps.

[@asfodhell]

Been using this one for about 10 months, and I really like it :) It has some flaws ; bent pots, not the best fret leveling (still good enough for a rather low action), selector's plastic tip is very very loose, tuners were pretty stiff from factory, nuit is too high (as usual, not enough to be an issue) and I had to lower the bridge saddles a fair bit (usual stuff really). It's important to really want a dark sound, as these pickups are super dark. I like to dig deep into technical stuff, going as far as making my own micro-headless-bass, fixing super cheap used instruments and so on ... But I never felt the need to go past the pickguard removal on that bass (almost necessary to remove the strings for that). Thank you for this video 😉👍

[@mauricioapodaca9016]

That was really good, I appreciate what you did here I'm planning on getting this bass and knowing what is inside really helps

[@silvansky]

Yep, I opened mine too. I plan some modding, gonna add a miniswitch near the volume pot that will disable active circuit and make this bass sound passive.

[@TheGearGarage]

nice, that sounds like a great idea

[@templehillsfunk]

The biggest flaw with this bass is how close the neck pickup is to the neck itself. It makes slapping really difficult.

[@ag052976]

One concern is the lack of shielding within the cavity itself. And on the plate. Esp. In the single humbucker modes. Need shielding tape. The routing of wires can lead to noisy audio, also.

[@Guitar6ty]

For recording its not a problem there is simply no hum or sound of frying. Shielding is always a good idea but if it aint broke dont fix it.

[@Dapno_]

Hey man! Great Video. Such insight is really helpful. I could not quite get a grip on how huge the Pickup routing is. Do you think it is too large for the Bass to look clean with the pickguard off?

[@TheGearGarage]

I couldn't get the pickguard off completely, but it didn't look like the pickup routing was the exact shape of the pickups, more of an oval shape, so it might need pickup rings if you want it to look as clean as possible

[@Dapno_]

@@TheGearGarage ah dang :/ Thank you tons for your fast answer! You saved me the painful experience of finding out myself :D

[@Guitar6ty]

ITs a well crafted Bass and at its price point nothing else comes close. The black plastic square is a pre amp.

[@jasf1961]

Hay preamp caros de ≈ 180 € tipo Aguilar que también son un cubo negro cerrado donde va los circuitos. Lo importante, es que te guste el sonido. Lo peor son los 24 trastes, inusables, que alargan el mástil, empeoran el balance (cabeceo) y complican el slap.

[@zerozeroleszek]

can it switch between passive and active mode?

[@bernardrolle6709]

tought you would explatn the electronic and controls

[@александрхасьянов-у7д]

А что там обьяснять ,? И так всë ясно как божий день. 1 положение, нек хамбакер,. 2 положение , по одной катушке синглами как джаз бас, 3 е оба хамбакера, 4 катушка сингл бриджа и 5е положение бриджевый хамбакер типо мьюзик мен. Эквалайзер ,низ средние , высокие и громкость😊

[@feritkeser]

how many weight?

[@TheGearGarage]

It's very heavy. I don't have the proper scale to weigh it but I'd estimate It's at least 12 pounds

[@feritkeser]

@@TheGearGarage thanks 🙏

[@Guitar6ty]

It has a bit of weight but not excessive a Gibson Les Paul weighs more.

[@gramursowanfaborden5820]

never been fond on the look of Musicman style instruments, they look as though someone designed actual guitars based on Facebook emojis.

[@TheGearGarage]

yeah I agree, a lot of their designs just look kinda bland. I loved the versatility of this bass so that's why I got it

[@gramursowanfaborden5820]

@@TheGearGarage i prefer a haphazard 4 string to 5 string conversion myself, but to each their own. Harley Benton are definitely good for the money.

[@DMSProduktions]

Well it WAS a FENDER design!

[@TheGearGarage]

@@DMSProduktions lol, Leo fender was indeed a wild man. in my opinion all the original fender designs just look a lot more classic, the more modern designs from music man and g&l are amazing but they don't work for everyone

[@DMSProduktions]

@@TheGearGarage True. I guess!