Harley Benton B-450FL BK Progressive Series

Mukana tuli roundwound kielet, jotka jättivät jäljet otelautaan jo muutaman tunnin soiton jälkeen. Kannattaneekin vaihtaa flatwoundit heti jos ei halua naarmuttaa otelautaa.

Otelaudan päällä on merkit nauhoille (3, 5, 7 jne.) joten soittaminen sujuu hyvin vaikka ei olisikaan kokemusta nauhattomista instrumenteista. Kaula on paksuhko (n. 25mm otelaudan kanssa), mutta melko mukavan tuntuinen soittaa. Mukavuutena tietenkin on että tässähän ei ole mitään teräviä nauhan päitä. Runko vaikuttaa tukevalta ja on muotoiltu mukavaksi soittaa - reuna on viistottu joten mikään terävä kulma ei hankaa rannetta.

Elektroniikka ajaa asiaansa ihan kelvollisesti. Humbuckerit ovat ihan hyvät tämän hintaluokan bassoon, kalliimmissakin bassoissa on paljon huonommat mikrofonit. Johto kannattaa irroittaa aina kun ei soita, sillä elektroniikka imee mehut patterista melko nopeasti. Patterin tyhjentyessä ääni selkeästi säröytyy. Vetämällä volume-potikan ylös, toimii basson passiivisessa tilassa jolloin patteria ei edes tarvitse. Aktiivisen ja passiivisen tilan välillä on hienoinen soundi ero.

Yleisesti ihan varteenotettava vaihtoehto nauhattomaksi bassoksi.

Bought the bass to test out a fretless for cheap, and wouldn't you know it, Harley Benton delivers once again! Very good quality as far as I can tell, good sound, although the strings did have to get changed immediately. I didn't want to scratch that beautiful fretboard up immediately after all! Overall, a very good instrument for the price it's marked at, perfect for a broke bass-enthusiast such as myself.

First and foremost my opinion of the guitar, then some notes on what you might expect on receipt. I was very pleased with how it looked and the build quality. The action adjustment at the bridge could be more robust but to be fair it does the job. And the nut does look cheap and of simple manufacture, so could easily be remedied for a marginally higher quality component, but again does the job. I upgraded the strings to La Bella deep talking bass and I think this is a significant thing to do. They are beautiful strings that enhance any guitar. In this case the tonal difference is radical, I couldn't have played it with the original roundwound strings. Well I say that, it would play, but just not the same experience. So, for under 200 Euro I have a nice sounding fretless bass, a strap (I added that myself) and some very good strings. I have a 1980 Fender Precision and a Double bass so it was up against some stiff opposition, but it does compare very favourably. Some people might say, its an in-house, not a well known Brand, like Fender or Yamaha etc but does that matter if you are getting a good guitar for very little outlay. The HB badge might affect resale value, but I was never planning to sell mine. That's the good. The bad! Out of the box it is unplayable and if you've never set up a guitar there is no guidance, so its necessary to watch Youtube tutorials, But when I asked Thomann did send links to their site with advice on essential setup I have suggested a single page of set-up guidance notes to accompany deliveries would be a good idea, details of the transcript I sent is as below. In summary for the money quite exceptional, but my proviso would be with upgraded strings and perfect for a first foray into the world of Fretless bass.
I have suggested that at least a single page of advice notes are issued with each sale. It is unplayable, (out of the box) as received and not everyone will understand that it needs a proper setup.
> Just some guidance notes; Important Information. Truss Rod adjustment maybe required... do it like this and action set -up, like this... then intonation, like this, even if only a paragraph on each subject.