Harley Benton Beatbass FL VS Vintage Series Reviews

beautyfull bass

I have long wanted to try playing the fretless bass and decided not to spend too much money, in case I will not like it.

In general, the quality is not bad, the finish is flawless but the bass was not set up at all. It would have been easier to give it to the guitar repairman right away, but I decided to set it up myself. I had to adjust absolutely everything: the truss rod, file the nut, set pickup height, set the bridge height and scale lenght. There were sharp screws sticking out of the bridge that could scratch the body (at least they put a cloth under the bridge during delivery) I filed them with a file, all plastic parts were so sharp that you could cut your fingers also had to be blunt with a file. Stock strings were terrible, the 4th string was absolutley dead.

As a result, after full setup and changing the strings, i got a pretty good bass.

What a fine bass

It took me a while to find the sound I wanted. But I found it. After changing strings and fiddling with the knobs I found this fine full bodied woody sound I was looking for. This is a surprisingly good bass. The sound is even from the lowest note to the highest. If you are a bassist wanting to explore the wonders of the fretless underworld of sound then this is a fine start. I have played many a bass in my time, expensive stuff, famous basses, but this little thing will stay with me for the rest of my days. Cheap in price, very rich in sound. It may take some time to understand the features, but believe me the sound is there.

High hopes more than met

Wonderful short scale fretless violin bass.(actually the only short scale fretless I could find) After minor neck and bridge adjustments and a change of strings this bass really sings. I’m using it mainly to play jazz and funk but it also is capable of nice reggae,pop and country sounds. Just not good for slapping. Build quality is on par with my other basses worth literally at least five times as much. I am from Cleveland Ohio and it took about three weeks to arrive safe and sound.

Look Honey, No Frets

It's no secret that some of us are piecing together small HB collections within our guitar collections. This is tough, because HB makes a wide selection of unique instruments and where are you going to find a short scale, fretless Beatle bass? Not at the beach, that's for sure.

It is wunderschon out of the box, and the first thing you'll notice is that the fretboard has no dots and no frets. (This is my first fretless).Initially, it's like your first time on skates, but it took only a few minutes to get the hang of it. And once you do, you can glide around with ease (there are markers on the side).

Yes, it almost has that stand up bass sound, and once you realize that you can ascend and descend with that sound, you might be cooler than you already were being a bass player and all.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't care, but I should mention that the girlfriend loves it, because it's hard not to love that sound. Whoosh! FYI, I'm playing it through a Fender Rumble, which appears to be a good match for it, no pedals.

I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it, and it weighs about 6 pounds. So, if you're building an HB collection, I'd say leave room for this dessert.

You get what you pay for

I bought this bass after I've had a chance to play exactly the same model at my friend's place. I fell in love with it. Not being a bassist I thought it would be fun to have this little cheap guy just for fun at home, so I ordered one and I regret to say, but I should have sent it back. Shame on me, but I was late for that.

As general quality goes, nothing great in particular, exactly what I'd expect from a cheap bass. Came with a completely dead string. Setting up was also pretty rough, but with a help of professional the bass came to life. It is fun to play now, but still sounds cheap.

All in all, it's ok because I'm playing it only for myself, but I wouldn't take it for a gig.

Taking into account my friend's and my own bass I need to warn about one thing. HB seems to have poor quality consistency so don't make my mistake: test it right away and send it back if you don't like it.

very nice

All the positive reviews are true. A more than decent way to enter in to the fretless world. Do yourself a favor and change the strings that come from the factory. The E string is completely dead. The setup was ok didn't have to correct anything. Nice comfortable neck. Electronics decent no need to change anything. Overall satisfied.

Good bass for learning Fret-less bass

Bought to learn using fret-less bass. home practice. value for money and served the purpose.

Nice bquality at a low price range.

A great sounding. and unusual fretless. Also a bargain !

This is a great sounding little bass.

It is not a toy like some other reviewer suggested - but you will need to invest in a set of quality flatwound strings to get the best sound and to preserve the rosewood fingerboard.

Missed a Beat

Poor sound quality, poor electrics, not pleasing to play. A novelty item only.