Sounds brilliant as always. For the price, I doubt there's a better fretless acoustic bass out there. On a sombre note, it's a shame string prices have more than doubled recently. I use Dunlop flats on mine and they've gone from £50 to £115 in just a couple of months.
I closed my eyes and I could tell the difference. The sound is not as big. I don't mean "as loud" but there is not the same volume of vibrating air although the notes are cleaner. On the other hand there are a LOT (too many) of upright basses that don't sound the way an upright bass should sound. I discovered an interesting thing about my own bass years ago while putting on new strings. My bass had a noticeably better resonant sound with just 3 strings rather than 4 strings. But I played it with all 4 strings installed except the time one string broke during a gig so I played with 3 strings. I had read that the original string bass configuration had 3 strings. And the wash tub bass I played in a bar in Santa Cruz, CA had only one string but that was more than 50 years ago.
Thank you for your comment. I could Tell The difference too but if you play this instrument in a Big band you can barely notice these differences (big sound and sustain)😉
@@Midemabass I would LOVE to play that instrument in a big band. When can I start? BTW, I'm 84 and live on the California coast and there seems to be a little arthritis in my hands . . . 😳
It sounds very close. Im getting one on payday now that Thomann have them back in stock. Have you tried a very mild foam mute under or taped over the strings near the bridge? That might more accurately represent the sustain characteristics of the double bass - it takes a lot of energy to pluck and it dies away quicker than electric fretless. More Ba-oow than M-waaah ?
If i hadn't seen it first, i would have assumed it was an upright with a pickup, maybe higher action and an onboard mic would make it punchier, great sound though.
What bass is this? Also the lower notes definitely do but the higher notes sound very different, you move way to fast and have to much sustain to sound like an upright especially those slides, the upright bass is an extraordinarily hard instrument to play almost to the point where it’s a barley functional instrument so try treating your lines like such, I’d also recommend having a very high action
I appreciate that you tried to make a fretless sound as close to an upright as possible. Most people on RU-vid get a fretless in their hands and immediately try to make it sound like a sitar or something, it's annoying.
Nice tone. What are we hearing exactly? Is it only the amp or is it a smartphone recording both sounds (distant amp + near acoustic sounds from the guitar) ?
Like an upright ? I wouldn't say so, no. But it sounds surprisingly good for an inexpensive acoustic bass (generally a very unforgiving instrument), though.
great tone! i bet if you modify it a bit it will sound more like an upright. i though about getting one and installing a tail piece to put the strings through and a wooden bridge
credo che registrato D.I. + microfono alla cassa, il suono si a molto valido nel mix , preso singolarmente si intuisce che non è un contrabbasso ma in orchestra fa la sua bella figura
Is it 1-for-1 to an upright? Definitely not. Even the venerable Takamine TB10 is only like "halfway between" in terms of upright bass and bass guitar sounds, and that is probably the closest we've ever gotten or likely ever will get to an upright sound out of a guitar form factor. So this one is even less of a match than that beautiful beast. HOWEVER on a casual listen, it sounds to my ears close enough that it can achieve a vaguely similar vibe, and seeing as though I don't know if I'll ever be able to afford a quality upright (nor ever learned how to REALLY play one), this bass lands close enough to the outer orbit of that sound and for so cheap that I think I would want one anyway, and will hope to buy one. Can you tell me the exact model of this bass? I know they have a few, and I'd want to aim for this exact one. Thanks! Nice vid!
Hello ! You nailed it. If you play In a big band you can't tell the difference and it costs less than 200euro! The exact model is Harley Benton B-35BK-FL Acoustic Bas 💪
Hi, Michele - I like your tone in this bass. I myself have a Warwick Alien fretless 6 and I have the same kind of sonic experience. Have you made any modifications on the Harley Benton bass? Any feedback or hiss/hum issues when amped? Keep it up - great playing with lovely double bass licks on that 5 string fretless. I am stunned🙂
Thank you for your kind words. I had an Alien,great acoustic bass but I had a lot of feedback trouble. With this one, I'm able to use a feedback buster in the hole. A great improvement 👍
@@Midemabass Can you tell me more about what the feedback buster is? This thread right here is why I'm choosing the Harley Benton over the Warwick Alien
@@BajopalabrapodcastThere are flat-wound strings for acoustic bass guitar (meaning: non-magnetic ones). At least there were. I'm awaiting an answer from Eko about the strings on my 1981 Chetro bass. (I have just remounted these instead of the (Ernie Ball?) flat-wounds that it had for over forty years.)
I clearly hear a sound from this bass that is much more similar to a double bass or an upright than a fretless electric bass, and most people agree here
