Harley Benton P-Style User manual

Harley Benton Bass-Guitar Kit P-Style
Owner‘sManual
Bass-Guitar Kit P-style

Harley Benton Bass-Guitar Kit P-Style
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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 3
Body finish ................................................................................................................... 4
Neck finish ................................................................................................................... 4
Assembling of tuners ................................................................................................... 5
Neck............................................................................................................................. 6
Wiring........................................................................................................................... 6
Bridge assembly ........................................................................................................... 8
Strap buttons............................................................................................................... 8
Setting up .................................................................................................................... 9
Notes ......................................................................................................................... 11

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Introduction
Thank you for buying the bass guitar kit. All the wood, hardware and electrical components of the bass guitar
are contained in this package. Please read the following instructions for assembly and nishing.

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Body finish
The rst consideration to be made before assembling is to choose the preferred nish of the bass guitar body.
The basswood body of the bass guitar is sealed and prepared for various types of lacquer coating. A wide
variety of nishes can be procured from DIY, timber and automotive outlets in aerosol cans making nishing
straightforward without requiring specialist skills. The use of a dust mask is essential when spraying.
The rst step is to check the t of the body to the neck joint. The bass guitar is machined from high-grade tone-
woods to ensure optimum alignment. But all woods have a natural propensity to change the shape very slightly
over time. If the t is too tight, a gentle adjustment using a sharp chisel or sandpaper may be required. Please
remember that the coating of lacquer will make the neck t a little more tightly into the cutout.
Before coating the body, ensure that all surfaces are clean and free of dirt and dust. Conduct all coating pro-
cesses in a well-aired, dust-free environment. Slow and patient progress is the key to a good quality of the
body nish and it is recommended to test the colour and technique on a spare piece of wood rst.
A hole is drilled in the neck cutout so that it can be suspended by a hook for spraying and drying or alternative-
ly, a spare length of wood can be screwed in place of the neck in the cutout as a handle.
Spray on the edges of the body rst and allow the coat to become touch dry. Once the edges are dry, continue
on the rear and then on the front of the body. Gradual and smooth passes will ensure an even coat. If there are
any imperfections, allow for to become fully dry and then sand out with ne grade (e.g. 800+grit) before re-
spraying. Apply three or more coats for full coverage.
Finally, after allowing two to three days of drying to fully cure the nish, then buff or polish the body as required
to give the desired level of gloss. Take care not to buff too vigorously as this may remove the nish.
Neck finish
The neck of the bass guitar is supplied sealed with a light coat of matte lacquer and is ready to use. If prefer-
red, the neck can be nished with a colour or gloss lacquer. If so, do the following.
The rosewood ngerboard does not need coating with lacquer, so it is important to mask off the exposed rose-
wood and frets prior to spraying. Ensure all parts to be sprayed are free from dirt and dust and that the envi-
ronment is dust-free and well-aired. The use of a dust mask is essential when spraying.
Choose a good quality, clear or lightly tinted wood lacquer aerosol for the neck and begin at the front and sides
of the headstock. Start with a gradual, even pass to apply a thin coat, allow drying (to be touchable) and repeat
this two or three times. Take care not to apply too much, which may cause runs. If this happens, sand down
the area and re-apply evenly.
After the headstock has become dry, turn the neck over and lay it down on its ngerboard. Repeat the above
process for the rest of the exposed maple.
Allow two to three days for the lacquer to fully harden and then, if desired, polish the lacquered surfaces to get
a suitable shine.

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Assembling of tuners
Before attaching the neck to the body, t the tuning machine-heads to the headstock by setting a washer and
inserting the thread through the pre-drilled holes and bush over it. Screw down the bush onto the thread until
it ts tightly to the touch and then adjust the rear of the machine-head so that the tuning button sits vertically
above the top edge of the headstock.
Fix the retaining screw through the loop on the rear of the gear housing into the pilot hole to hold the tuner
in position. Tighten the nut on the front face of the tuner until it is rm by using a spanner of the correct size.
Repeat this for the remaining three tuners and then t the string tree.

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Neck
With the body placed face up on a protective surface, position the neck into the neck cutout until it is fully
inserted.
Turn the assembly over and position the neck plate (with its black protective seal) over the four bolt holes at
the rear of the body and drive in the four long screws through the neck plate, body and pilot holes in the neck
until all ts tightly.
Wiring
The pickups and controls are pre-assembled on the pick-guard and simply need to be connected to the output
jack socket and earth. Wiring is implemented as plug-in modules, soldering is not required.
There are two loose cables in the wiring assembly. One cable has a connector and the other one has no connec-
tor. Gently thread the red cable (connector lead, with connector) through the hole behind the tone control cavity
to the separate routing for the pickup cavity. Insert the blue cable (string grounding cable, without connector)
into the small hole until it runs through the hole under the bridge. String grounding reduces noise (hum).

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Wiring
Connect the connector wire to the connector on the pickups.
Now position the pickguard on the front of the body in a way that the pickups and all the wiring sit neatly in the
routed cavities. Ensure that the edge of the pickguard sits snugly at the end of the neck and straight to the
bridge assembly. Secure the pick-guard with the small dome-head screws provided into the pre-drilled pilot
holes.

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Bridge assembly
Position the body face up on a soft surface. Take the bridge and t into the right section toward the rear of the
body. Line up the seven screw holes that have been pre-drilled and secure with the seven screws provided.
Ensure that the bare end of the blue string grounding cable is properly clamped by the bridge.
Strap buttons
Screw the strap buttons into the pre-drilled holes at the bottom edge of the body and at the tip of the upper
horn of the body.

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Setting up
Fitting strings to the bass guitar is achieved by threading from the bridge, emerging through the relevant sad-
dle on the bridge. Start with the thickest bottom string in the uppermost position on the bridge.
Ensure that the string sits smoothly on its saddle and keep taut whilst winding a couple of turns on the relevant
tuner. Thread through the string post and bend the string back on itself to anchor it in place. Apply a little ten-
sion from the tuner and move on to the next string. Repeat the above process for all four strings.
Bringing all the strings up to pitch gradually is better achieved with a digital guitar tuner or pitch pipes as a ref-
erence. Please be aware that the tension of the strings may take some time to settle and re-tuning a few times
might be necessary. Stretching each string gently after reaching the pitch will help to take up slack.

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Setting up
The neck is tted with a truss rod which may need adjusting. When the strings are tuned up, they will try to pull
away from the neck, which may mean that the action becomes too high. If this happens, use the larger of the
two hex keys provided to gradually tighten the truss rod – a half turn is usually enough and may not take ef-
fect immediately – allow the adjustments to settle each time – do not be tempted to over-tighten the truss rod.
Sighting along the neck should show a very slight concave tendency which is called “relief” and too straight a
neck may lead to “fret buzzing”. Some strings may need to be raised or lowered individually to give the correct
action and this can be adjusted using the smaller of the two hex keys provided.
Once the desired action is achieved, all that remains is to set the intonation. After tuning up all the strings, you
just have to gently touch a string, right above the twelfth fret and then pick the string. The resulting chime-like
sound is a harmonic (12th fret harmonic). This harmonic should have the same pitch as when the string is
pressed at the twelfth fret. If the pitch of the two notes differs, adjust the saddle for this string back or forth on
the bridge. Listen carefully and adjust gently until the two notes match, to achieve correct intonation. Repeat
this procedure on all strings until the harmonics and the fretted notes sound the same.
Please also remember that over time, slight adjustments may need to be made and different gauges of strings
will need compensating for in the set up.
The pickup height can now be adjusted for best performance and can be balanced by adjusting the screws at
the top and bottom of each pickup. As a general rule, hold down the strings at the 21st fret and adjust so that
the strings are at least 2 mm clear of the pickup. Any pickups that are noticeably louder than others can be
made quieter by adjusting them further away from the strings.
For future adjustments, keep these instructions as a reference and enjoy your custom made bass guitar.

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Harley Benton Bass-Guitar Kit P-Style
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Notes

Harley Benton Bass-Guitar Kit P-Style
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© 2013 • Musikhaus Thomann e. K. • Treppendorf 30 • 96138 Burgebrach • Germany • www.thomann.de