Harley Benton HBB500FLTBK

The other reviews of this bass adequately describe the features available on this bass so I'm not going to repeat them, especially as I don't have it any more.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't try playing this bass much for the reasons described in Action, Fit & Finish. It came with roundwound strings fitted which made me worry a bit about damaging the fingerboard before sending it back to the supplier.

In all I had 3 of these delivered:

#1 - The action didn't seem too bad, and the build in general didn't seem too bad, but the body had a number of pretty bad scratches on it and some more minor flaws so it went back.

#2 - Much the same as the first one from an action and build point of view, but the fingerboard had a 'bump' on it around the 3rd fret position. This mean that, if I slid my finger up through that position the strings buzzed. I tried adjusting the truss rod to compensate but it was obvious that it wasn't helping as it was a more fundamental problem than just a neck relief issue. Basically, if you looked down the neck you could see there was a bend where the strings threw a shadown on to the fingerboard. That's just not right so it went back.

#3 - Had exactly the same problem as #2. This time I asked Thomann if they'd let me get it fixed and refund the repair cost. They said to get a quote so I did; ??200 (about ??50 more than the bass cost) so it went back, this time for a refund.

Surely I'm not the only person who's found that sort of a flaw on these basses? Or am I the only person who uses the whole neck?

Given that the fingerboard in at least 2 of the 3 brand new basses I got from Thomann was bent, I can't imagine that a 'good' one of these basses would last very long.

Thomann's customer support was, err, interesting. They were generally very helpful but very, very slow. With the 3rd one of these, it was over about a month between it arriving and going back because every time I contacted them by email it took the best part of a week for them to reply. In fact, that happened pretty much the same with the first two it was just that I didn't have to consult a luthier with those ones.

Also they seemed to take a relatively long time processing the replacements.

Also it was very difficult to actually speak to someone as the lines were almost permanently busy and, when I did speak to them, despite their English being phenomenally good, I always felt I hadn't quite got my message across.

One particular instance was with the last one; I'd asked for a refund to my customer account but they started processing it to my credit card then, on my customer account page, everything got very confusing and I had no idea where the refund had gone. Fortunately they have at least one native English speaker so I managed to get it clarified through him.

I've been playing on and off since around 1981 and also own a 2007 Dean Edge Pro 5 String, a 1985 Aria Laser 4 String and a Satellite Precision copy that I re-finished (twice - badly!) and de-fretted. I generally use my Carlbsro Stingray Bass head and Hartke 115xl cab with my AX3000B.

Before buying this bass I'd read the reviews here and tried to find out more about it but unfortunately that didn't help, they were still rubbish.

As I've sent it back, I guess the lost or stolen bit doesn't count, but it would definitely put me off anything else by Harley Benton.

This Yamaha-lookalike lightweight bass includes active circuitry to give a huge tonal range from the 'MM' and 'JB' style pickup complement. The controls are news to me! - They seem to comprise a master volume, two pickup blends and a master tone arrangement. Stunning tone contrasts are available. The bridge is a simple preset, diecast unit - with the only adjustment being height of the strings over the fingerboard. That's fine as the individual hardened saddle pieces are staggered in the casting to accomplish a fair intonation of the strings it comes fitted with - some fairly lightweight, plated roundwounds. The neck is (fretless!...) without marks in the face and only bears the artifact of position dots in the top edge for a fretted version, I guess. That's fine; I'm blind and don't cheat much!

Schaller-like machine heads are well lubricated and don't make Me worry about the tiny cogs inside for that B-string! Feels smooth.

The 5-bolt 'maple' neck is well-seated in the 'alder' body recess. I suspect this adds to the amazing rigidity (and hence, sustain) of the lightweight build. The electronics and battery share the same body cavity (behind a 4-screw coverplate) and I agree with an earlier reviewer, in that changing the battery is not an 'unlit on-stage' job, by any means! A firm-feeling jack into the body cavity completes the hardware details.

The finish is a hard clear polyurathane over black-dyed hardwoods - a superb black lustre of woodgrain quite visible through the transparent coat. 'Glassy and classy'!

I first gigged with bass in '78. This instrument is frighteningly impressive for its price! The extreme veriety of tonal range is preamped by a quite hiss-free 'ABC'-branded circuit. To improve the playability - out-of-the-box - I only had to lift a few saddle pieces, which were 'optimistically' low in their setting which caused heavy buzz on the lower reaches of the B- and E-strings. I use an old (pristine!) Peavey TKO65 and the low string is surprisingly well reproduced.

The bridge has adequate string height adjustment to make this very playable. In theory, you could offset the saddle pieces if you needed very slightly different string spacing, but I'm not sure that was really intended. The neck joint is a marvel! It has the advantages of a shim-able 'bolt-on' with all the sustain of a thru-neck - because of that superbly crafted joint! The only sign of less than amazing build is what you see behind the control plate - no metal foil sheilding, just aluminised paint! I'm not sure that's very electrically effective, but the hiss level is certainly no worse than a non-preamped bass often is. You don't normally see it - and if you can't hear it?....

Like most reviewers, I've had it only a few days! 'It still works'! The woodwork is of superb quality finish - as you might expect from China's history of crafting. Nothing goes crack when you move it, so I reckon it's likely to be durable. The balance of the instrument is perfect (on two fingers under the neck joint!). Very comfortable on your knee or around your neck!

I wanted an 'entry level' 5-string-and-fretless. This instrument has not only shown me that 'low and fretless' is good for me - but that this student-price instrument is going to keep me happy for a while too! Therefore value-for-money is a clear '10'!

This a is a 5 string fretless bass made in Korea, it has a solid ash body and a 34? scale maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, the pups are active and you get one Musicman type in the bridge position and a jazz style pup in the neck position, controls are volume, blend, bass & treble and all work as they should. The bridge is very meaty and of badass standard with heat treated saddles, the unbranded tuners are also of good quality. The side dots are a matter of opinion I personally prefer the dots where they would normally be on a fretted bass, and it?s good enough for Warwick and many other top brands.

Played acoustically the bass has a good toner with lots of resonance, plugged in the combination of active electronics and pick-up choice make this a very versatile bass, it had a good woody tone with plenty of character. There is no excessive noise from the pick-up even when played near computer monitors.

This bass was set-up by the seller, and so I can?t vouch for the factory set-up, but this bass was just about perfect and I didn?t have to touch a thing, the fit and finish belie the price and the bass really does look and feel like a much more expensive instrument.

It?s a very solid bass and I don?t doubt it will last many many years, it also came with a 3 year warranty, so no worries.

I dealt with Benton Music who is a UK seller, he was very knowledgeable and answered all my questions in depth, I feel very confident buying from him and would again.

I?ve been playing bass for some time; I have a Fender Jazz Fretless but really wanted that low B string as on my fretted basses, I bought this bass on impulse and have since tried a few others like the Ibanez GWB35 and I?m really happy with my choice, it was an absolute bargain, in fact I have since bought the fretted 6 string version as well.

Fretless five strings, 2bd active eq, one mm-pu in the bridge and one jazz-bass like in the neck. Transparent dark purple, good bridge that you can adjust in every way (even string spacing!).
Fretjob very well done indeed, there are none. 864 longscale neck, but it is a shame they didn't put the side(and only ones)dots at the right place. In fact they are the same as the fretted version, so everything is very wrong regarding this.
Eq is center-marked so you know when it is set flat.
Good-to-very-good finish and crafting, one really wonders about the price...
wrenches and lo-fi jack provided.
The neck feels very comfortable, for me the right shape, and I can play for hours without fatigue.
Great.

No other noises than wished, I only use the eq flat because it sounds perfect as it is, and the sound:
The p-u configuration is not standard for fretless but I must admit it is very effective. THe bridge pu in mm-style is strong and powerful, and let your fingerplaying shine and ring with a lot of autority. The in-between sound is prefect for slap (no problem on a fretless if you adapt your technique) while slightly back volume wise so it helps to maintain the overall level even. Not dumb, this pu-thing. The neck-pu alone is somewhat shallow and spongy, I guess it will make for reggae who knows?
In fact you can play what you want with it, it is very versatile.
You guessed it , I am fond of it!

Very well set-up. Intonation was perfect, and I just lowered the action a bit to my taste. I am not sure if I even touched the p-us.
The neck is straight, its joint perfectly tight, the body has no flaws, I am absolutely amazed. Even the saddle is very ok. No noisy pots, and the provided battery still lasts(I played about forty hours on it)...
Santa Claus, as far as I'm concerned...

Absolutely, but things happen. The only concern I hav e is about the battery: it is in the same cavity as the electronics, and changing it is not practical, since there is not a lot of space so you touch other parts as well. I don't like that at all, I guess that with some bad luck you even can short something when putting the new battery in.
My advice: do that in full light, with patience and no stress. So you won't have problems on staage. Of course a lithium battery won't hurt.
For the rest of the bass it feels very solid.

What a great bass! I am playing since 15years, my other bass is a fretless five also but a lot expensiver and frankly I don't see any differences as far as I play.
If any, the harley is better because of its somewhat special pus.
I know some about guitar-making, cnc machines and low-cost countries but still I can't believe the price, considering the overall excellent quality of the bass.
I play ethnic, fusion, rock and some funk, no blues nor reggae nor metal. Incredible, what a fretless brings to the music. In fact I only play fretless, fretted basses sounds so poor to my ears.
Go get a Harley...