Harley Benton JB-40FL 3-Tone Sunburst Reviews

Unbelievable Quality for the Price!

This is my first Fretless bass, and based off of other reviews, it seemed like a great buy at $159usd. Man, this bass is fantastic! Really blown away by how great it sounds! Intonation is great, and build quality is stellar. The only downside is the weight, but honestly it makes the bass feel really solid and of high quality. Do yourself a favor and throw on some flatwound strings and enjoy the warm, buttery tone this bass produces!

my favorite

I own 12 basses, and I love different things about each of them; this one is my favorite to play, and when I'm not sure what I feel like doing, slapping or fingerstyle, this one fits me the best. I put flats on like I do for almost all basses, and swapped out the nut for a bone one, and everytime I play it I can't help smiling. If you are on the fence, you should buy it- if it were thrice the price it would still be a good deal.

Fretless

A nice fretless bass,great sound,heavy enough,a HB diiamond,value for money

If your a serious bass player GET THIS!

Bought this after a year of having it in the “shopping cart” and thinking about it. After I saw Lobster’s video giving it 5 “claws” I was sold. This is my first Harley Benton product and definitely not the last!

The bass is very well constructed. I am so impressed at the quality of the finish, fit, parts and sound, it blows my mind to know it came from a bass this inexpensive.

The sound is very reminiscent of a true jazz bass, but mixed in with the obvious mwah and nuances of a fretless bass. Pickups are great, although electronics could benefit a better, higher quality wiring harness or preamp, mostly for volume, and noise reduction, as it is a bit noisy. But certainly not at all necessary.

Hardware is great. Was expecting way cheaper feeling tuners/bridge, but to my surprise I will be keeping both on as I don’t find it necessary to upgrade them.

Neck is buttery smooth. I just love it. The fretlines are very well installed, and fingerboard wood is beautiful. The edges of the fingerboard are a little sharp though, i will round it out eventually.

I love the harley benton headstock shape. One of the best ones out there.

Now for the “cons”. This bass is somewhat heavy. Heavier than my 5 string jazz bass with active preamp. I just use a wider strap and strap locks.

Like I mentioned, the noise. I haven’t gone under the control cavity, but I’m guessing these basses aren’t shielded. But if that’s the case, it’s an easy fix.

In conclusion, i can’t recommend this bass enough! For your first fretless is more than enough. Even as a main player, it is just good. I think of a fretless bass as a must for any serious bass player to learn, as you just learn to navigate the fingerboard in a totally different way. It’s just FUN!

Superb value for money!

Bought this on the strength of a few Youtube videos and the random desire to own a fretless again while spending the minimum amount of money, and I'm honestly quite shocked - arrived perfectly set up with fit and finish which would put a lot of very expensive manufacturers to shame.

Notes sing out beautifully, the Roswell pickups aren't the best Jazz style pickups I've ever heard, but they're far from the worst. Only negative points I'd give are the fretboard seems very dry, and the weight, which is firmly in the "Super chonky" category verging on "May generate its own gravity and end up with my cat captured in orbit", definitely not one to buy if you have back or shoulder problems.

"Wherever I lay My Hat, That's My Home"

Those of us old enough can remember Paul Young & the opening bars to this huge worlwide No1 hit. Ohhhhh that Pino Palladino bass sound.

The fretless bass line that started the entire 80's love affair with the Fretless bass

I had a Steinberger headless active fretless bass in the 80's, fast forward to now & this HB bass beats it hands down, I cannot believe such a quality of sound for such a competitively priced instrument.

Play's straight out of the box, action is very well set, oh & did I mention that sound.......mind & ear blowing

It's has that Active sound if you wish my mixing the pick up's & also a classic fretless low bass sound from a Guitar to Double Bass vibe.

This one now goes with me to every session & people LOVE the sound when I say "Hey lets just try a spot of fretless"

Most kid's today don't even know what that means but soon learn when I start to play.

All this coupled with Thormann's great pricing & speedy delivery service, it's doesn't get any better !

Best buy for ages

A sitting down bass...

The sound of this bass is classic and clean. But it is a very heavy bass

Very nice bass.

Overall this is a very nice bass for the price. Of course you need to manage your expectations of this instrument. It looks and sounds great, but it is very heavy. It as well as my other Harley Benton bass, has been difficult to setup for low action. The playability is not bad, but it's not where I would like it to be. Other than that it is a great instrument for the price.

SPOT ON

No flaws. Impressive all around. Better on every level than the same model Squier I sold because it sucked. Incredibly fast shipping.

Easy intonation. Love it.

Over the Moon!

This is my first fretless so I really can't compare this to anything else. First impression was the weight being just right. I prefer a little heft to my guitars, I associate this with quality. The build on this is pretty good. Didn't have to do much out the box besides an initial set up. Plugged this into my Fender Mustang, butchered a few Jaco riffs and found my little piece of Nirvanna!

Very nice

After a setup with deeper cut nut slots, new flatwound strings and a shimmed neck (for super low action) this bass is wonderful. Just wonderful. Mwaah..

So much fun!!

I bought this to try out a fretless bass, and MY GOD is it fun! I've owned several Harley Benton guitars and basses, and this might just be my favourite.

The quality of the pickups are great, they do just what I expect a jazz bass to do. And on other Harley Bentons my biggest issue has been fret sprout, and guess what! That ain't an issue here! Looking over the bass super closely I found a couple of places where the fret markers weren't filled in properly, but I can't feel it when playing.

The fretboard is flat and nice, with no deadspots, and the finish is flawless. It is heavy, though...

But the most important aspect of this is how damn fun and inspiring it is to play! I keep gravitating towards it constantly, just jamming and playing around. Highly recommended!

Unreal value for the money even with the shipping!

This bass came to me in less than a week and well-packaged. It is beautiful and plays like a dream! So much fun! Action and intonation is very good but may need a slight tweek well within the scope of any new instrument. Yes, at some point some hardware upgrades will boost the sound and playability but the only solid upgrades I see are premium pickups and beefier tuners. The cavity could use some shielding but I roll the tone off anyway. My main bass is solid Zebra wood so any talk about weight is relative! Otherwise this bass is incredible and you will not be disappointed! *****

Wow

Excellent bass . Looking to get first time fretless. This is the one. Little heavy but you will get used to it

Review-Some things to consider

Pros- it's a nice looking bass

- the tuners and bridge seem to be okay

-sounds okay, able to get mwah fretless sound (on d and g strings at least)

-neck wood looks better than I thought it would

Cons-the bass is extremely heavy (5.4 kg on my scale)

-You'll need new set of strings

-can't seem to adjust height of neck pickup, seems stuck

A word of caution to those purchasing outside of the E.U. Return shipping costs will have to be paid by you. Basically the cost of

buying a new bass in this case. I would have returned it but I guess I'll

have to keep it or sell it now.

Beautiful playing bass

This is a beautiful instrument Such a low price, quality is excellent

A good Jaco replica

I bought this bass because I wanted the Jaco tone for a cheap price. It delivers, but there is one peeve of mine with it: the neck is pretty thick. It's not unplayable - I still enjoy the bass - but it feels like it belongs on a P bass and not a J bass. I would have also appreciated it if the guitar had a lacquered fretboard like Jaco's, but that would be a bit much to expect at this price point. It sounds fine, although when slapping its tone goes out the window and it becomes sound rather than music. For what I bought it for, it works.

Great bass

It's a great bass . Great materials, a little heavy I would have rated higher but mine came not set up at all. The strings buzz on the 1st 2nd and 3rd and the intonation is off a bit. It's a shame cause I know nothing of setting up a fretless so I will have to take it to a luthier(more expense😭). It's a beautiful bass tho and the hardware is alot better than I expected .

Good for study

I liked the sound and the quality of the body of this bass guitar. But initially there were problems with the height of the strings, it was impossible to play, the strings lay on the fingerboard. After going to the guitar master, everything was fine. The bass is very heavy, my guitar weighs 5.3 kg, the strap on the case came off from such a weight. I really liked this sound, the markings are quite clear, the pickups are quite high quality. I immediately changed the strings to flatwound ones and I advise everyone who is studying to do this, since the overlay from round strings deteriorates. I liked the guitar and I would recommend it for purchase.

Exception built

I always wanted a Jaco bass! The limited edition from the big F was far too expensive, and I am not too sure about their built quality. I once bought a 1962 reissue F Jazz( two knobs) and the neck was a nightmare. The frets were uneven also. So when the HB came along, I bought it without hesitation. For a start, they are inexpensive and even if it turned up to be a block of wood, I could just hang it on the wall. However, I was really delighted when I took it out from the carton box. People complained about the weight, but seriously, it's no heavier than my 1978 F Jazz and the finishing, neck/body joint, is perfect without any gap at all. The stock pickups are fine considering the price, and one can always change it on a later time if desire.

Yes, I am very please with this bass and I believe you will too.

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