Harley Benton B-35BK-FL Acoustic Bass Series

Hi,

i've been playing Fretless for a quite longe time now, but quit playing Bass in a Band.

Formaly I mostly played Death Metal in my Bands, now I'm searching for a Bass to play at home just for fun.

Since I still have an E-Bass (also Fretless) I thought about getting a Acoustic Fretless Bass for playing at home or even at a camp fire.
So I ordered this one.

The Bass feels solid and is for a 5 String quite easy to play. I have small hands and had sometimes Problems with the Neck of let's say a Ibanez BTB or a G&L L2500.

The neck of the B-35 is comfortable to play, not thin, but quite nice to handle. You have something in your hands, but you can still play some fatser licks if needed.

The String spacing is fine two (something about 16.5 to 17mm).

The sound I get out of the Bass is (considered the price) very good. The Bass comes with some no name NIckel roundwound strings. They do the job. The B String provides a solid low end and you can even Downtune the Bass to A if needed and will still provide a hearable, substantial tone.

For a Fretless I'm missing some more sustain, but you stiull get this lovly "maaawww" sound of it. To improve this sound, I consider to change the Strings to Flats.

Tuning is okay, although the Hardware will not hold the tuning for very long under some climate changes in the room, so the build in tuner is quite handy.

I had no problem to tune the Bass to B or A Standard.

The buildquality is.... okay.... the side dots are a little off and you can see many issue with the painting, but these are minor issues that do not really interrupts you playing or the sound. The essential parts (hardware, woods, electronics, strings) are good.

About the build in electronics: I have not tested these very much, beside the tuner, the preamp is at least working and does not sound terrible, but it has no use case for me at the moment.

So is this Bass worth the money? Absolutly. You get an instrument to start palying Fretless, you may even be loud enough to perform at a campfire, you have a build in tuner, a preamp if you have a small Box and a lighweight digi amp and the most important part: the sound is okay.

So for playing at home on the balcony in the sun set at a warm day this works perfectly fine, at least for me :-)

I was looking for an acoustic fretless bass, with that classic double-bass-like sound, at an affordable price (it's not easy to find acoustic fretless basses, especially this cheap, let alone with 5 strings). This instrument is exactly what I wanted and even better, and so fun to play! It is my first fretless, as well as my first 5 string. I'll list the pros and cons below (though it was difficult to find any cons, this instrument is perfect!)

PROS:
-Classic double bass like sound, great lows and highs, and that "maaww" sound when you slide
-Very well built, is lightweight but feels solid
-Beautiful glossy black finish, certainly a looker!
-Smooth feel, easy to slide

CONS:
-The low B string is a bit muddy compared with the others, it's not a huge problem though and can be fixed with EQ (or possibly a string change)

All in all a great fretless bass, really love this instrument and can't stop playing it! Would highly recommend this to anyone who'd like to buy a fretless!

EDIT: I have changed the strings to flatwound D'Addario Chromes. Great sound, no squeaks, the only issue is that the low B string does not fit properly, even after removing the silk from the ball end of the string (the original was .130 and the Chrome is .132, so not a huge difference), and now the Chrome is stuck there, so I cannot remove it either. I'd suggest widening the low B hole with a small file before switching to a larger string gauge.

EDIT 2: I have gone back to the stock strings, the nickel roundwounds. These strings sound more lively than the flats I was using, even if they will wear down the fretboard over time. If you do decide to keep the roundwounds, give them some time to break in. The low B is also sounding a lot better than when I first bought the bass, so actually the stock strings are great once you wear them out a bit!

I purchased the BK-35 after having tried another one belonging to a friend. The value for money is excellent. The bass is easy to play (not stiff at all), and the tuning machines work precisely and steady the tuning. Comparing the two instruments (mine and the one I tried), I can tell that the quality is constant. It is not a 'scientific' assessment, but it might help make one's mind.
I did not try the electronic because I prefer using an external microphone and, unplugged, the bass sounds good. Of course, more expensive instruments might deliver better quality. However, it is not necessarily so. I ended up selling another acoustic bass made by a well-known brand costing the triple and kept the B-35.
A word to the wise, though: no matter what a review says, an instrument should always be tried before purchasing it.