Harley Benton HBZ-2005FL NT Deluxe Series 4-stars Reviews

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.

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

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.

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.

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.