Harley Benton Beatbass FL VS Vintage Series

I ordered this bass to Alberta, Canada and Thomann had it in Canada Post's hands within the week.

This bass, after shipping and duties ended up being around $375 CAD. For a bass that includes a bunch of different awesome selling points (violin bass, short scale and fretless) that price is nigh unBEATable ;p

You definitely get more bang for your buck by ordering multiple things at a time from Thomann as the $102 CAD delivery fee seems to be a flat fee.

With the logistical pieces out of the way, let's get to why you're really here. This bass kills, in every meaning of the word. First things first, it's fretless. This doesn't only give you that beautiful muwah tone that fretless basses are known for but you also get the thump and roundness of the hollow body Hofner- it truly is a match made in heaven. The tone is unmatched and you get a huge amount of options to change the individual pickup volume, turn them on and off- and the unsung hero of the control panel the Rhythm - Solo switch, which let's you switch between a tone that cuts right through the mix and one that is mainly supportive. Don't be mistaken though, rhythm doesn't mean an overly bassy pitched kick drum- it's a warm and round tone the kind that you'd want to eat for breakfast on a cold day. The solo is not an overly trebley wannabe Jaco mess- it's gracious and beautifully baritone. Think of the Griffins call.

With both pick ups on and the volume set on both all the way up, this bass sounds a scary amount like an upright. You obviously miss that slapping/clanking sound of the strings but I'm actively working to discover a way to get that.

You'd probably get the impression that this bass isn't very versatile, smarten up and listen. I genuinely believe this bass could find a comfortable place in just about any musical scenario you could think of. It fits greatly in the obvious places like jazz, beatles-esk pop rock and psychedelic genres, but I've been made to believe it could find it's pocket anywhere in any mix- prove me wrong if you don't agree.

The bass is put together very well. Minimal blemishes anywhere, the finish is gorgeously done (at this price!) and the hardware is all up to snuff and then some.

I'll cover some cons now.

The fingerboard was BONE dry. It seemed to me, my band mates, and the guitar tech at L&M that the fingerboard hadn't ever been conditioned. When I say it was dry, I'm talking seriously dry. I have decent callouses (though keep in mind I almost exclusively use flatwound strings) and the fingerboard alone tore my fretting hand a new one with how dry it was. I conditioned it with two coats of lemon oil (the first coat was completely absorbed) and it felt amazing. I won't give this one to Thomann just because it didn't come like this, but man is that amaranth fingerboard silky smooth once conditioned.

The other big con is the factory strings. Seriously, they are horrible. The G and the D were acceptable, the A was mediocre at best and the E was completely horrid. Seriously, it sounded like boomwackers or like someone slapping the bottom of a plastic bin- completely dead. The strings were also super rough despite being flatwounds. They felt more like rounds then flats to me which was just super weird. I also noticed they were chewing up the fingerboard quite a bit. I got those god awful strings off and threw on some LaBella flatwounds made for the Hofner beatle bass ASAP.

I'd like to say that I'm making my glowing recommendation on the basis that you are prepared/willing to fork out an extra $100ish CAD to get this bass in full working order. While it is not 'unplayable' the enjoyment factor, sound and just general feel were not great right out of the box (which is to be expected with a bass this cheap).

Aside from those I have nothing else bad to say about this bass. Throw some nice strings of your choice on (they have to be medium scale or made specifically for the Hofner violin basses), condition the fingerboard with some lemon oil and you have an instrument worthy of you and your musical genius.

Now stop reading the reviews and buy it so you can change the world with beautiful music.

I've had it for almost a month now and I must admit, it's really Good. Where do I start?

From the physical aspect, it's just great. Looks great and FEELS great. The sunburnt color from the body stretches nicely across the neck too, which makes the bass look "whole" (if you know what i mean.. there are So many bass guitars that have a sunburnt body but lightwood neck and, personally, not a fan of these from an aesthetic point of view). Other parts of the bass look great too, just all of it.
It's super comfortable too tbh?? Which, I didn't expect that, considering its shape; i thought it'd be chafing my tie but surprisingly it isn't. The neck is also super comfortable and easy (surprisingly!) to fret on, there's no problems with plucking either. It's shortscale so it also feels just much more pleasant and faster. It's just cool. Feels good.

Now, as for the sound, it's also just... very good? Great? The flatwound strings sound great and both pickups give you very distinct but nice tones; it almost sounds like an upright bass. It's so warm and thick, love it.

The only downside is that there's a rather prominent neck dive but that's to be expected with a semi-hollow body so I don't really count that as a con.

I feel like, for that price especially, that is a STEAL. Like, a violin bass? Fretless? Shortscale? With two humbucker pick-ups? With flatwound strings? And so nice-looking? Really, REALLY worth its price. Rare to find all of these qualities on one bass (if not impossible).

It is my first bass, so keep in mind I don't have any experience with other bass instrument. But I own several acoustic and electric guitar, so I imagine I can evaluate this instrument reasonnably...
5 stars, because it is a pretty good instrument for a very low price. If like me you are just starting bass, and just want a simple fretless instrument to see if you like it, don't hesitate this one will do the job.
Just a quick note, I didn't experience the original strings, I put some Pyramid Gold Flatwound 040-100, as I do with every guitars I buy (spending a little much for good strings! This is, in my opinion, the easiest upgrade to do with any instrument, and never regrets doing it)