Why are people complaining about it being heavy? When were proper bass guitars light? Many people play sitting so that cannot be an issue at all. Me (and another batch of others obviously) playing standing and never complaining. I had a full maple bass at a time. Yes, FULL MAPLE BODY. Now THAT was heavy. No complaints!
This Bass just WORKS! Mine came with Roswell pickups. I put on a 17 year old set of Rotosound Flats that had done many duty cycles on 3 other FRETTED basses. The bass has a heavy ash body. It has a robust maple neck with a thick Pau Ferro fretboard....which is a very dense hard timber. The neck is proper stiff (good). Although the body is heavy hard ash (Not lower density 'Swamp Ash')...the instrument is not quite on the turning moment of neck dive, due to the heeeeavy Pau Ferro. Fear not : use a wide, grippy strap. Superb sounds are to be had. Dare to raise the action a tad. Make sure you have some neck relief because 'fretless' basses still need to allow the strings to oscillate. Be strong and decisive in both hands. Do not be a wanker and disrespect the fret lines, like you are some kind of REAL Muso. If you play ON the fret line your intonation will be mint. When I have got the cash, YES : I will buy those posh, expensive strings from Thomastik.....coz....This Bass is fantastic. :-) :-)
Thanks for watching and for the comments. Mines' the older version with a rosewood fretboard and Wilkinson pickups. Still really heavy but no noticeable neck dive. I still use this bass lots and it is just amazing value for money. I have to disagree with you on the fret lines, they are just there as a guide and the whole point of a fretless is the sounds you get from playing between the fret lines and making those minor corrections for the fact that every fretted bass is a compromise and by definition can never be intonated correctly. I'm no expert on playing fretless but in my experience you have to learn to use your ears much more than your eyes when you play one of these.
You're right about playing ON the fret. I listened to many YT video's where this is not done and you can hear it, it's not in tune 100% but just a little bit too low. That's a real pitty when the player is for the rest virtuoso. And no one seems to put it in the review. I used to play the violin and one of the first things you have to get right is play 100% in tune. If not, it sounds not right even if the rest of your technique is top notch.
Had ordered that Bass 2 weeks ago for myself. I play bass for 30 years now, but it was time to start finally with fretless. This is a real masterpiece from Harley Benton, i couldn't find any minor or major issues on it. The Roswell Pickups are fine, i don't see any reason to swap for something with a bigger name on it. Even the Hardware is ok, maybe i will experiment with a more massive Bridge but for now it is real good!
Nice sound! I’m impressed. At one time I would consider this bass but my needs have changed. I’m now disabled and wheelchair reliant. So I need a fretless bass that’s light. It’s a tough one so I’m looking at the Ibanez fretless SRF 700. I haven’t tried it yet but I have a a wee look at some of the fretted SR series and they are stunning! This is a nice fretless though. Looks pretty smart too 👍
i had to return mine that arrived this week, the strings were practically glued to the neck so it was unplayable. Waiting for the replacement with excitement, see a lot of good reviews everywhere, the "excelent for the price" kind of praise
I've kept mine totally stock, and all the hardware, though not the best is fine for the job. The pickups are absolutely fine in my opinion, I think you'd have to spend a fair bit of money to beat the Wilkinson pickups it came with. However please check the current specifications, as i think the new CITES regulations mean that the fingerboard is no longer rosewood, and I think the pickups may have changed as well.
What strings would you recommend for this bass please? Also my current bass jazz pickup (single coil) is really sensitive to inductance loop in the church I play at. Any idea if these pickups are super sensitive to this? Can the balance be set to equal from each coil to reduce/cancel out interference? Or should I consider the Progressive that has dual humbuckers? Thanks in anticipation
Hi Stephen. The strings you choose all depend on the sound that you want. For the Pastorius type sound Rotosounds roundwound are great, but they may cause a bit of wear on the fretboard. For a smoother jazzy sound then flatwounds are good from a variety of different brands. They are more expensive to buy but last longer. Inductance loops are a pain with single coil pickups. I think that you can get round this on the HB by running both pickups at the same time which hopefully has the same effect as using a humbucker (but this will depend how they are wired and I'm not sure of this without testing it out). To be on the safe side you'd be better off with humbucker pickups which seem to work fine with inductance loops in my experience.
Cioghan - I found it is Pino Pallandino as well as Tony Levin that I want the fretless to sound like - anyhow since bass is a hobby instrument for me I figure a EU200 order to Thomann will be on its way soon. Thanks for your assistance.
very cool sounding bass ! nice playing too ! it seems to be a liitle heavy ? i d like to buy this bass but i ve got a bad back and i really like to know its weight. Would you please check its weight and tell me ? thank you very much
I haven't the means to weigh this but you are right it is REALLY heavy and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with a bad back unless you want to play sitting down all the time. It is probably the heaviest bass I own - the body is solid ash and quite thick, not all bad as the wood used gives it good tone and sustain. Maybe you can find something with a hollowed out body or basswood body that is lighter?
i called thomann today and they told me it s weighted at 4.05 kg. i think it s not that heavy, my jazz is 3.9 kg so maybe for 150g more i should give it a try. i was expecting 4.5 kg at least.
My main bass is a G&L which is made of swamp ash and it is significantly lighter, but it sounds like it might be worth a try if it is not much heavier than what you are used to. Bear in mind that the specs have changed slightly since I got mine, it no longer comes with a Rosewood fingerboard, and the pickups are no longer Wilkinsons, but it sounds like they are an unbranded equivalent.
