Anyone know how much of a risk it'd be getting this Harley Benton 5-string fretless?

[kwmlondon]

Hiya. What do you think of this? I fancy dipping my toes in 5-string fretless playing, and I LOVED the Musicman Stingray I tried a couple of weeks ago but I'm not prepared to stump up the £2,300 to find out it's not my thing long-term.

 

Is this a reasonable punt?

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbz_2005fl_nt_deluxe_series.htm

 

I mean, if it was dreadful I could return it couldn't I?

[ezbass]

It will be probably be heavy and the finish might not be top hole, but it’ll be much better than you’d expect for £275. I’m more than happy with my HB ‘Stang-alike. You can send back too, although this can be a royal PITA because of the B word.

[ominous bear]

I bought one B stock, for exactly the same reason as you. Really nice bass and an absolute bargain even at full price.  Assumed I'd end up buying a more expensive FL 5er if I liked it, but no need and would need to spend loads more to step up. 

Needed shielding and a good set up (particularly nut slots), plus the neck benefited from a sand, cos you could feel the joins between the different woods. 

But a cracking playing, decent sounding bass. 

[TheGreek]

Have a hunt around. I reckon for that sort of money you could find a nice Squier or similar...and you have the fun of the hunt.

[SamIAm]

Low risk I'd say.  I was kindly gifted a HB B-550FL BK Progressive Series after my fire and it is lovely.  Not light (and sadly I've found 34inch scale length too much for me) but well built, nicely finished, good pups (with active/passive mode) and it is lovely in terms of feel and tone.  Thomann have a great simple return policy (Tho I've always found it near impossible to find a local dropoff point for their free return delivery service).

 

Sam x

[Paddy777]

Loads of nice Sire v7 Fretless’s kicking about sub £300, that being said I’ve been impressed with every Harley Benton branded item I’ve ever had, from straps to pedalboards to basses it’s a very good value for money brand which presumably cuts out the middleman and sell direct so they can be so cheap. That Fretless looks nice - the fretboard looks a bit strange but it might be the photo 

Edited April 10 by Paddy777
Autocorrect misspell!

[PaulThePlug]

Looks real nice... If you can sort a setup yaself... Great.

Likely... Finish dink or some-such, email and maybe £25 - £50 refund.

Probably... lt will need a bit if meddling nut, bridge and the like, but well worth the time...

Realistically... nothing will need replacing, although you might like to meddle - Bart Jazz 5's on here a while back 😉

Essential...

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hqs_bass_5_45_128_flatwound.htm

Worst... Back it goes and as long as you have the time to wait between credit card due dates to cover it before ya get your refund.

Recommendation... 'Add to Basket'... Oh look!, 'Unexpected Bass in Bagging Area'.. 

Edited April 10 by PaulThePlug

[kwmlondon]

Well… they had a b-stock for £228. With delivery. I bought it! 

[PaulThePlug]

Good Darts!

Did you add the Flats?.. I think they are the same as the Olympia Strings... well worth the £15...

Edited April 10 by PaulThePlug

[Paddy777]

Harley Benton Flats are definitely decent

14 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Good Darts!

Did you add the Flats?.. I think they are the same as the Olympia Strings... well worth the £15...

 

[tauzero]

Why the obsession with flats on a fretless? Rounds on all of mine.

[BreadBin]

5 hours ago, tauzero said:

Why the obsession with flats on a fretless? Rounds on all of mine.

Same here

[Burns-bass]

I had one of these and I really liked it.

[kwmlondon]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

Why the obsession with flats on a fretless? Rounds on all of mine.

I guess it's just a tasty pairing. No reason not to go with rounds but it's such a lovely combination that it kinda gets under your skin.

[Paolo85]

I had one, I thought good but stupidly heavy. If I was to go for a 5-string again I'd probably try a HB B550 or something Ibanez

[Rich]

10 hours ago, tauzero said:

Why the obsession with flats on a fretless? Rounds on all of mine.

Likewise. I have my usual Elixir nickel rounds on my fretless bitsa-Rayish thingy and the sound is *chef's kiss*. 

[Paddy777]

12 hours ago, tauzero said:

Why the obsession with flats on a fretless? Rounds on all of mine.

The common reason I hear from people is that it saves your fretboard as they feel rounds will chew the fretboard up without the frets there to protect it. I think this is maybe true if it’s an ebony board but generally I don’t think it’s the problem people think it is. It’s honestly not something I really heard until I started reading online forums & groups where it seems to be the norm

[kwmlondon]

Well.... mine's on th eway!

 

I'll put a set of flats on it as I just fancy that. I may swap out for a set of rounds in the future, see how it goes. I'm pretty neutral but right now I'm in the mood for tapie-wapies!

 

[asingardenof]

On 10/04/2024 at 15:26, kwmlondon said:

Hiya. What do you think of this? I fancy dipping my toes in 5-string fretless playing, and I LOVED the Musicman Stingray I tried a couple of weeks ago but I'm not prepared to stump up the £2,300 to find out it's not my thing long-term.

 

Is this a reasonable punt?

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbz_2005fl_nt_deluxe_series.htm

 

I mean, if it was dreadful I could return it couldn't I?

I've only ever seen good reviews of that series so I doubt it'll be terrible.

[Richie_b]

On 11/04/2024 at 09:01, Paolo85 said:

I had one, I thought good but stupidly heavy. If I was to go for a 5-string again I'd probably try a HB B550 or something Ibanez

This is my exact review.  It's good to play, sounds good and is silly VFM.  It is, however, insanely heavy.  Like, I-can't-stand-for-30-mins-with-this-on-without-backpain heavy.  I play in a band where we swap insrutments about, so it's not too bad, but I dread having 2-3 consecutive bass tracks, so have got something lighter for everyday.

So it's great for messing with and playing seated.  It isn't a bass I'd want to gig without some serious gym work, though!

[TheLowDown]

I have the fretted HB 550 and it's lightweight(it's around 8.5lb) and comfortable. The fingerboard on the fretless version(I have the 4 string) is similar to the HBZ and feels nice to me with enough mwah, if that's important.

[kwmlondon]

Just out of curiosity, what's the pickup? It says JJ but that doesn't look like a standard Fender-type pickup. Anyone got any idea? I'll have a good look when I'm changing the strings but just wondered if anyone had any experience.

[kwmlondon]

On 13/04/2024 at 10:13, Richie_b said:

This is my exact review.  It's good to play, sounds good and is silly VFM.  It is, however, insanely heavy.  Like, I-can't-stand-for-30-mins-with-this-on-without-backpain heavy.  I play in a band where we swap insrutments about, so it's not too bad, but I dread having 2-3 consecutive bass tracks, so have got something lighter for everyday.

So it's great for messing with and playing seated.  It isn't a bass I'd want to gig without some serious gym work, though!

Hmm. Bit worried about the wall-mounted guitar hanger then!

[Richie_b]

5 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Hmm. Bit worried about the wall-mounted guitar hanger then!

If your hanger is in a solid wall, you'll be grand.  I could show the pitcures of what happens after time with it on in a stud partition wall 🙂
It is now on a floor stand! lol  & I haven't got round to fixing the holes just yet!

[ominous bear]

5 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Hmm. Bit worried about the wall-mounted guitar hanger then!

If it helps, I've just weighed the one I have (that exact model) and it's 9.1 lbs / 4.13 kg. 

Oh, and the pickups are nowhere near jazz shape, but sound pretty decent to my ears.