NBD: Harley Benton JB-FL

[uk_lefty]

The "Jaco-alike" Harley Benton, in left handed! I wanted the Fender MIJ one but the cost of those is ridiculous and this Harley was obtainable and priced at the amount I received for selling off some pedals. 

 

Opinion... Well, I wasn't expecting much. Though these get rave reviews I'd heard good things about Westfield basses and when buying one thought it was awful. This is an excellent bass "for the money" though. My number 1 bass is a US Stingray. It's not as good as that, but it's not 12x worse either. I'm very pleased. My nearest reference points are a 90s MIM Fender jazz I owned for years and possibly one of my Sire basses (I owned a V7 Vintage and now have a V9).

 

The body is not very well matched in terms of woodgrain, you can clearly see the three pieces when up close but gigging I don't expect this to be obvious. The neck feels lovely, I don't know if it's unfinished, but if it's finished it's finished very nicely with satin rather than sticky gloss. The neck is quite chunky, which I like, it is solid and resonant. The finger board is laurel and I want to see what it's like after a bit of oil, at the moment it's a bit dry looking and there's patches that look like wear but could just be how the grain is. Hardware-wise the tuners are functional, I'm not keen on plastic nuts but not offended either, everything seems ok. The electronics are better than expected but if course not to the standard of a Sire or MIM Fender, maybe not far off though. 

 

Soundwise this does what I want: jazz fretless sounds! I own a five string fretless but it sounds very dark, this bass has more brightness and natural mwah to it. It feels good to play, not super light but I wouldn't call it a heavy instrument, and the fingerboard is nice and smooth. The bass arrived set up with a decent low action and I haven't checked but to my ear I'm not picking up on any intonation issues.

 

I've only played it through a Positive Grid Spark practice amp and not my ABM rig but amplified it makes the expected sounds! It doesn't scream "premium, complex tones" but it's unmistakably a fretless jazz bass. 

 

I'm going to gig this sucker next year. My band mates had never encountered a fretless bass before until I brought mine out on a few gigs and now they're seeing the benefits and understanding it more. This is more a "play at home" tool for me though to explore stuff I do t usually do in the band. I'm very pleased with it. If it cost three times as much I don't think I'd have been disappointed. 

 

While I could work through some upgrades to everything except the body and neck, right now I just don't see the need. This bass is likely to be played with not-so-subtle EQ shifts, reverb and frequent chorus, maybe even octaver, so the amount of processing it goes through means I don't think I'll hear much benefit from hundreds of pounds worth of upgrades. 

 

Overall a very good use of money if you're after a first fretless, or a backup for gigging.

[songofthewind]

I had one of these. Great value for money. Enjoy!

[uk_lefty]

I've been away a lot since receiving the bass and had a band practice cancelled due to illness so yesterday was the first chance I got to give the bass an extended run out. It was only through a Positive Grid Spark with it's little 4" speakers but the bass really, really sings! I'm so impressed with it. I had thought I'd need to upgrade a lot of it but I'm not going to for now. The pickups are really nice and punchy, even through a small amp, it's just pure fretless jazz sounds. The tone control isn't just an on/ off as they are on lots of cheap basses, granted it could be better but it's definitely good enough. The controls feel cheap but plastic knobs always do to me, I might stick on some chrome ones out of the spares box later.

 

I don't know of we will get a band meet up in this week but there's a gig on Friday and this bass is playing.

[theplumber]

Is it heavy? I have heard that these weigh a fair bit? Nice looking bass!

[uk_lefty]

6 minutes ago, theplumber said:

Is it heavy? I have heard that these weigh a fair bit? Nice looking bass!

I wouldn't call it heavy, no. It's not super light but I generally don't weigh my basses. My Sire V9 five string is heavy, so I wear a good quality strap but on a long gig it can get a bit uncomfortable. This bass is ok for weight but the only strap I have spare is a big thick leather one anyway. I don't expect it to be uncomfortable at a gig. It's probably lighter than the old MIM Jazz I had.

[uk_lefty]

Gigged it last night. Not at all dissatisfied! I could have EQ'd better really and the style of music isn't entirely suited for fretless but I played the whole gig with it anyways. Very comfortable bass with a consistent sound. Towards the end of the gig I was maybe missing my US Stingray a little for some of the finer detail and finishing around the neck but that's only after two hours of solid playing. Really this bass is more a toy for me at home but will happily take it out to gigs or use it as a main bass in other contexts.

[Franticsmurf]

I have a right handed one. I got it to try out fretless and see if it was for me. I've already recorded with it and I'll definitely be gigging it this year, maybe not for the whole set but certainly on a few songs. Great guitar.

[squire5]

I have one of these as well.I stuck a tort pickguard on it just to finish it off. Unfortunately, in my opinion, one of its downsides IS the weight. I found it really heavy compared to my Squire 5 string Jazz.I haven't weighed it as I dont have the suitable scales,but it is noticeably heavy.Plays nice though.