Harley Benton B-35NT Acoustic Bass Series

Totally worth it.

After a month of ownership, let's leave a review. The price/value is a 5 star. The build quality and finish is really pretty good. The looks are good. The sound is ok, not very loud. It totally qualifies for the job: a practice and acoustic bass guitar that can also be plugged in. Oh, and 5 string, that was my excuse to buy it because i got tired of drop-D.

Some remarks though:

* The strings are brass round wound. They have quite some finger and fret noise. The good part: as practice guitar, you really learn to control it. Both avoid and (ab)use string/fret/picking noise. But it can be a bit too much. Luckily the 4-band equalizer is perfectly capable of making it totally acceptable in any amplified situation, and for acoustic situation it is just fine. But it is very tempting to put flat-wound strings or even synthetics, just for sound balancing.

* There is no documentation, at all. Not even a single piece of paper. Also not online. And why this is relevant is because, well, it has electronics. So, by experiment: your battery will not drain if you leave it unplugged and the tuner powered off. However, as soon as you plug a cable the battery will last for any limited time. Also, just a nice guide about maintaining, tuning, that weird extra button on the tuner, storing, using and possibly playing the guitar would be nice at virtually zero added cost.

* The logo. I happen to have another HB. And the font of the logo is totally different. Yes, somewhat similar, this fancy font but. It's a little something that bugs me. How can you have a big factory producing fine guitars, but, the logo is a knockoff. It's just a detail.

Also some positive remarks:

The tuning stays totally fine over time. In-built tuner is adequate but you hardly need it, maybe after transport or on occasion, but not daily.

I nagged about the strings but on the other hand i also like them. They play well, yes the sound is bit sharp at times but then again they provide a lot of feedback. How you pick the string has big influence on the sound.

The tuner is handy and accurate

The amplifier output is really quite. It is way cleaner than i expected an acoustic guitar to be. This is really quite useable, to the point it could actually replace an electric bass. With some equalizer. And with the feel and touch of course.

Conclusion

Are there better guitars. Sure. Does it play comfortable. Yes. Do i like to play it better than my electrical bass. Yes. Is it acceptable build quality. Yes, more than. Does it sound ok. Yes. Can i use it plugged in and out. Yes. Is it on my lap every night. Yes.

Just needed a bit of fret work

Needed to hammer down a few frets that were taller than others, was causing fret buzz, now it plays great.

Cannot beat it for the price

I love the thing.

It is quiet, as acoustic bases are. The low B stands up surprisingly well. Not crazy about the nut and saddle. The fretboard doesn't appear to be top quality, but the frets themselves seem nice. Overall it blew away my expectations.

Great acoustic bass

Great sound even when not plugged in

Great quality for the price

I had tested a couple acoustic bass and this came out not only as the cheapest but the best sounding.

You can't go wrong with it.

First bass and it's great!

I'm more used to guitars and this is my first bass but it's great. Took some time getting used to the size but it sounds good right out of the box and look's great. For this price I can only recommend it.

Now I just have to practice playing bass :D

Good

Bought it for acoustic projects. Comparing to my other guitars, it feels huge :) it takes time getting used to it's size. The low B sounds ok, but of course - I had to adapt my playing technique to get the best sound out of it.

I think it's a good acoustic bass. Is it the best? Of course not. Does it get the job done? Yes, of course. Does it sound good? Yes.

Unbelievable value for great quality

Very pleased with all this acoustic bass has to offer, can't believe the price for what I got.

Only minor fault is the fret buzz which is fixable.

Generally this instrument has a very nice construction and a grat response !

as for its sound it has a huge booming response at its lowest freqs that it can be too much at times , and there is some creaks at specific frets . these are the only two drawbacks....

i almost got rid of the freting and the very lows by adding some foam under the bridge . got an improved , smoother timbre for my tastes .

I would like to see this intrument made of better quality woods... but you know you get what you pay for .

completely satisfied with this choice !

Amazing for the price!

This bass exceeded my expectations. I'm thrilled with the quality considering how inexpensive this instrument was.