Harley Benton B-650FL BK Progressive Series

ze stejného důvodu, i obecně nelze v podstatě cokoli vytknout. Nástroj dorazil seřízený, pohodlně hratelný i znějící.. Jako největší přednost bych viděl to, že ten základ, tj. dřevo je velice slušné, i jeho zapracování, spasování.. Jinak řečeno má cenu s tím něco dělat a překopat si nástroj k svému obrazu.. Elektroniku jsem kompletně vyhodil a udělal z toho pasiv alá Jazz Bass s tím, že jsou tu dvě "Mejdlíčka", humbuckery.. Humbucker u krku jsem opatřil rozpínáním cívek, abych mohl použít singl.. Snímače mají čtyři vývody! Hmatník potřeboval pár hodin hladit 1000 smirkem a párkrát napustit směsí včelího a carnauba vosku... Z hovězí kosti jsem vyrobil nultý pražec a basu jsem osadil hlazenými Gallistrings.. Na závěr celou basu seřídil, doladil... A mohu dodat jen jedno, je to paráda!! Pro účely které potřebuji 6strunný fretless je to přesně to, co mi vyhovuje a plně dostačuje.. Možná i lepší než jiné basy stejného typu 2-3x dražší... Někdo tady píše že struny jsou nepoužitelné, na určitý styl použitelné jsou. Snímače... Řekl bych že aktiv tady konkrétně neprospěje.. Pasiv mě zní lépe a mám naprostý přehled o tom co hraju.. Ani snímač u kobylky nedělá extra práci.., možná bych až dodal že je tam vcelku zbytečný a stačil by umístit více doprostřed jen jeden snímač, ten krkový + dát mu ono rozpínání singlu.. Ale to je můj názor a mé řešení.. Poslední úprava kterou jsem provedl byla instalace kolejničky, srážeče strun, na všech šest. Zlepšilo to tón i sustain, možná i dotáhlo intonaci.. Vyrobit takový nástroj za necelých pět tisíc považuji za malý zázrak.. ;-)

Hi to all.

At first, this is not my first instrument, or not first contact with FL bass.
It is not necessary to compare instrument with anny other FL basses. If you are new in FL, or want to start play on some, here is the deal: BUY THIS HARLEY BENTON. And if you already played before or have at home one, and you want some spare bass for practice, or for live use if something happen with your 2K bass, here is the same deal :-D
In anny case i need to say, this instrument is high quality, and basic at the same time. Construction of bass is good engineering, playable body, and neck shaping. Light weight, no neck drop, perfect shape for high or low hanging. Ultra fast neck.
Sound...
This is something extra. Variabilities of sounds, and possibility of active/passive sound. That is something more than you can expect from instrument of higher cost. Signal strong, both pickups works as the have to (bridge deep strong base with long resonatin ending and neck bright sharp shape with deep cut)
And the finish.... well... this is the basic of the instrument. Looks good. Nothing special, but nothing bad. Just black high gloss.

I seriously highly recommend this instrument as a experienced player for all who want play FL.

Got this instrument in summer-autumn of 2018. Got better basses since then, but still keep coming to this one few times a week to practice (mostly unplugged) - it just feels great. Maybe good flatwounds add to the feel (stringed with around-half-the-bass-price Thomastik JF 346 - they don't feel loose and even kinda growl (open E, low-B) on this bass when unplugged).

Pros:
- price: can you find cheaper fretless that doesn't fall apart in your hangs and requires almost zero maintenance (except truss-rod adjustments) for a couple of years?
- build quality: instrument feels solid, nothing's loose, everything can be set up just fine - quite low action, intonation, neck relief / truss-rod etc
- very comfortable and pleasant feel-wise: some people complain about neck dive - did not even notice that even when playing standing (maybe not all the pieces of wood are equal)
- narrow string spacing: matter of taste, but I really like that (and IMO it makes sense for fretless as it's mostly played fingerstyle)
- smooth fingerboard: no pores at all (have another fretless with panga panga and it's a really big deal)
- powerful fat lows: long notes or staccato ones - even uncompressed homemade direct input recording sounds nice and fat in the mix

Non-irritating cons / notes:
- tuners feel cheap, but do their job: some tuners "slide" a bit before string actually starts moving
- nut is not "slippery" enough even for flats: need to pull/stretch the string while tuning or it can go slightly flat after a couple of relatively aggressive plucks
- fingerboard feels quite "soft" and easy to scratch, I suggest stringing it with flats from the day one

Cons:
- clarity/midrange: not enough clarity in lower register - you can hear some midrange-y overtones unplugged, but they're not picked up when plugged; fast riffing / galloping in lower registers sounds muddy and indistinguishable; haven't tried that with rounds though (but I think it wouldn't improve it much - IMO, pickups are to blame)
- pickups/electronics can clip the signal if you're digging into strings quite hard - IMO, worth replacing, the bass itself is well-built and resonates fine - just need to overcome the mental barrier to pour basically as much as this entire bass costs for normal (not the best) pickups
- built-in EQ is... Meh. Don't think you can make the bass sound better with it (even the opposite), so it's pretty much useless; better play with pickup balance instead