Harley Benton HBZ-2005FL NT Deluxe Series Reviews

TBT?? Wow for this price? Amazing~

I bought this bass knowing it would be a great buy for anybody wanting a "Bass Through Body" style as so many high end basses are designed. This has always mase sense to me for any guitar yet some manufactures avoid it. It's just not as easy to make, no doubt, but has many benefits. Thought that I'd have to put pickups on it but never bothered. The stock pickups as Great for the price, which is unbelievable!

Nice fretless

Actually it's my first fretless bass and I waited for a good long of time (almost 2 years) to write down my object opinion. So I used it primarily at home, but jammed with friends as well multiple times. My honest opinion is that this bass is most suitable for workhorse studio usage, not gigging. I had issue with electronics (bad soldering) and occasionally my input jack unscrews, which is an easy fix, so I keep it on, not a big deal, but can be improved. Now regarding the sound - I use rechargable batteries and didn't notice difference than normal ones - the sound feels amazing for the price point. I actually don't know if some high-end instrument can sound better than this. Pickups are good, still using the original strings, btw. After two years of usage the strings started eating the fretboard (especially 4th and 5th), because are roundwound. I saw that on normal fretless basses there is some epoxy or lacquer to save the fretboard from scratches. Nevertheless it does not make any difference for me for now. Tuners are fine, bridge is good, I would definately buy an upgraded version of this instrument.

Worth 4x what it costs

After receiving this bass and seeing how unbelievably well built and finished it is, I bought a 6-string version and a 4-string fretless version as well. They’re all works of art and play magnificently. The frets are all level & polished, no sharp ends, the body construction is flawless and I genuinely can’t find any faults anywhere. I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years, and honestly don’t care what the headstock says anymore. In my collection of 42 guitars, 14 of them are now HBs because the quality & value for the price is absolutely unbeatable. I don’t know how they’re able to produce this level of product at the prices they charge, but I’m incredibly grateful because it given me the opportunity to own many beautiful instruments at a fraction of what I’d pay if a different name was on the headstock.

Amazing bass!!!

I've had this bass for a week now, and I CANNOT PUT THIS THING DOWN! It's my first fretless bass and I was a little hesitant because of it being lineless but none of that matters, this bass feels so good in your hand and the side markers are more than enough. The sound on this beast is BEAUTIFUL zero complaints on it. The build quality is SUPERB

Not perfect but very good especially considering the price

This is my first fretless bass, you may want to take that into account.

Pro:

+ looks good

+ sounds good

+ decent set-up out of the box

+ price

Con:

- some imperfections in the lacquer

- you can slightly feel the glue joints on the back of the neck

- some buzzing around 1st fret/position of A-string

Just did not feel right.

I wanted a 5 string fretless, this seemed well enough made but, I would have had to do a lot to it to keep it. For a low cost entry level that can be good for upgrades, this did not have any fret guide marks so will have been hard to play. I have played fretless for over 40 years and always had fret guide on the top edge of the neck. If it had felt nice I would have kept it and upgraded it.

Pretty, but problematic

I had seen and heard some good thing from HB and wanted to give them a shot. I know that "economical import" brands are hit or miss. I feel like I got a miss this time. The fit finish of the bass is OKAY. There are some sanding and lacquer flaws that I was willing to overlook because they aren't anywhere my hands go. My real concerns are with the electronics. The single-coil pickups are horribly noisy anywhere other than at 50/50 blend, and they aren't CLEAN there. This is bad because they seem to be a proprietary shape so I can't easily replace them. There is also a VERY prominent grounding issue. Any time my hands leave the strings there's an afwul sizzle, at all pickup positions. The input jack also has dead spots and is extremely stiff. I checked the electronics cavity and the flaws really show here. The routing is abysmal. There was NO grounding tape, paint, or anything of the sort. Not in the cavity or even on the cavity cover. All of these issues make any kind of recording impossible, basically at any professional level. And you can forget trying to use any heavy compression.

It's playable. It sounds good all things considered. It's feels nice in the hands. You get what you pay for.

Will probably swap the pickups sometime in the future, but overall great unit

The bass stays in tune and plays great, really sings. the 2-band EQ works as expected, although the high shelf can introduce some noise when cranked up. The one issue I do have with it is that there is surprisingly little to no difference between the two pickups in terms of sound. You can hear the blend knob doing its thing but the sound remains mostly the same.

A Fabulous Unique Fretless Bass

I bought this because I was looking for a fretless 5 that didn't sound or look like my other two fretless 5s. This one fit the bill. There were only two things I didn't like - the strings weren't a good fit for a fretless, so I changed to a set of DR Black Beauties, which sound great, and are coated for minimal neck damage. I didn't like the sound of the preamp, so I changed it out for an Artec SE-3, which made all the difference. The neck has an excellent profile, and, for a five string, it is fairly light weight. All in all, this is one great bass. I only gave it four stars for Sound because I needed to change the preamp and the strings. It is certainly a 5 star bass in all respects now.

Love this bass.

For the price, this cannot be beaten. The ONLY issue that I've encountered is the pots basically needed replaced. That's it. Had this instrument for over a year and it's rad. Buy one.

Fantastic 5 string for the price

Have been wanting to try a 5 string for a long time and also fancied returning to a fretless. This ticks both boxes and sounds terrific art the same time. There are not many 5 strings or fretless bases on the UK market (at least not compared to 4 string fretted) and prices tend to be quite high. This played really well straight from the box. only reason for not giving five stars all round is that I can't understand why they don't come with flat wound strings as standard?

Love the new bass

I've wanted a five-string and a fretless for a long time.

I'm very pleased with the action and the feel of the bass.

Beautiful wood work as well. Would gladly trade my old Fender P-Bass for another Harley-Benton.

Awesome

Beautiful to look at, wonderful sounding. A well made bass guitar.

Good instrument, needed heavy setup

Construction is very good - couldn't find any flaws or defects. Sounds excellent and packs quite a punch. Pickups buzz when the selector is set to 100% of either one. When in the middle the buzz is gone, and I like the tone in that position anyway so that is where I play most of the time.

The only real problem I had was the condition of the instrument upon arrival. I don't know if it was intentional, but the bass came virtually unplayable: the neck had such a strong back-bow that I was afraid it would break in half if I touch it. I needed to loosen the truss-rod considerably before the first string would even play an audible note. Intonation was abysmal, and even after adjustment it's not perfect.

If you don't know how to setup your instrument, be prepared to spend extra money for a setup at a guitar shop or luthier.

Overall I really like this bass and recommend it. I hope your order comes in better shape than mine.

Wonderful value for money

This bass cost me €299! It's a five strip neck through body which looks absolutely beautiful. My main bass is a 5 string Warwick Thumb NT and to my surprise this bass plays nearly as good as the Warick for a fraction of what the Warwick costs. I have been thinking about geting a 4 string bass for a while and I will more than likely buy a Harley Benton 4 string considering how happy I am with the fretless.

I would without a doubt recommend this bass for either someone playing for a long time like myself or a beginner.

Very good Bass

I have owned over 50 basses and been playing since 1964. I started playing fretless in the mid 80's long before lined fretless basses were around. This bass has no lines and it's NBD!

The only flaw I found is the fit of the electronics cover it is not a perfect fit but it's hard to notice it and very minor. I'm going to buy another HB bass soon because this one is so good. I just wish HB had a 35" scale... Some hum from the pick-ups they are single coil and it's normal... No problems lowering the saddles on this one.

More than meets the eye!

I took a look at this bass attracted byt he look, at the end I decided to give it a chance as I was looking for a cheap fretless and when I got it I was positively surprised!

Very nice woods, nice feel, just needed a good setup (it took me just few minutes to get a keller action and perfect tune!) and it was ready!

It plays awesome, sure there are better sounding electronics and pick ups, but you can't have them for such a low price!

It's crafted amazingly, I could barely find minor cosmetic flaws, hard to notice.

Hardware seems good and it stays in tune much better than expected from any "raw" wood bass.

The only cons I could find was that most of the saddles needs to be lowered 'till course end to get the best action.

Not a big issue, but there might be thinner saddles to keep "a little room".

Best fretless bass for the price, much better than a curbow!