B-450FL BK Progressive Series : Perfect vehicle for learning fretless bass

I make a comprehensive review of this bass on my You Tube channel (search for "Harley Benton B450FL long term review - cool fretless bass.").

The only slight issue is neck dive - but I have this on almost every bass I have. Decent strap and cured.

At the time of my purchase it was £120 for a 4 string active pickup fretless bass. The key selling point for me was the humbucker pickups - which reject all sorts of noise in the church where I play. I then added some La Bella nylon coated strings - adjusted the truss rod (2 way!) and wow. But a lot of folks like the sound of normal strings - and at the price I doubt you need to worry about chewing up the fretboard - just buy another!

I have taken this bass apart, set it up multiple times. The tuners have a little bit of play but keep tune. I also did the "superglue" on the fretboard - worked fine. But it doesnt really need it - I just wanted to experiment.

The awesome thing about this active system - if your battery dies then pull out the volume knob and you go into passive mode. Not much difference in volume, master tone still works but the bass boost stops. This is a real bonus compared to EMG, where there is no such passive switch option.

Sure they are not EMG pickups - but they are very usable especially given I tend to add a Zoom B1XFour infront to shape the sounds more.

All in all a great bass - lovely neck - thin without feeling it will snap. Satin back. Rejects noise from induction loop - and with the La Bella's has the whole double bass tone and luxurious feel.

I followed Jim Stinnett's Real Bass Lessons/drills and was soon into fretless. Will look good on the wall too when you decide you need another fretless in your life - and once you get the hand of this bass you wont want to play fretted again!

My one regret? That I didnt buy the 5 string version. The 6 looks a little too plank like. 5 string to me is the most natural bass layout.