Harley Benton JB-40FL 3-Tone Sunburst

As other reviewers have said, this is just excellent for the money - it would be good value at two or three times the price. It is a very nice looking instrument, the fit and finish is pretty good (albeit a bit rough in places), it plays very well and it sounds terrific.

I have the fretted version (the JB-75MN) and bought the fretless to see how close it would sound to an upright bass, since I play mostly jazz. The answer is not very. I have ordered some Thomastik flat wound strings (which cost half as much as the guitar) and will report back if that makes a significant improvement. I'm hopeful because the Thomastik strings I have on my archtop guitar really brought out the classic jazz sound.

I'm not a bass player so I was expecting the fretless to be hard erto play than the JB-75, but I immediately found it to be easier. The neck seems to be slimmer- it isn't actually, I think it's just that there are no frets to clear and so the string height is lower, and it is very low. I found no problem with getting a clean sound except on the first string, which buzzes a bit. I raised the saddle, which helped a bit. I noticed that there is almost no relief in the neck to I tried adjusting the truss rod, but that made no difference at all, so I set it back to the way it came from the factory.

The fretless sounds better! It has a fuller, warmer sound than the JB-75. The improvement in sound could just be due to the fact that there are no frets or it could be due to one or more of the design differences. The pickups are different - Roswell vs Wilkinson, the fretless has a black wood fretboard vs maple, the bridge is different, with steel vs brass saddles and the fretless neck has a skunk stripe.

There is one issue that I would like to raise which is that the strings do not align properly with the pickups and the neck. The bass string is nearly 1cm from the edge of the fretboard at the end of the neck. I thought at first this was a manufacturing problem but after taking some measurements, I am pretty sure it is because the bridge is too narrow. It has 19mm separation between the strings, whereas the JB-75 has 20mm, and everything aligns perfectly on the JB-75. The photographs on the Thomann website hide this because they are taken at an angle. It's not a big deal, but I don't understand why they made that design change.

Update, May 2021.
I forgot to feedback my experiences changing the strings for Thomastik Infeld flat wounds. Just do it!! I know they cost half as much as the guitar but the difference is unbelievable. The JB-40FL now sounds much more like an upright bass and with the ability on a fretless guitar to slide into the notes, It has quite convincing upright bass character that is ideal for jazz.

I used to own and play fretless basses back in the pro musician days and wanted to buy one to re-discover the magic of the instrument. However, I didn't want to spend too much cash.

Did quite a bit of research on Harley Benton before parting with my money. After all, £144 for a bass guitar would normally mean you're buying a piece of unplayable junk.

I have to say, I'm amazed by the build quality of these basses. I was half expecting to open up the box to find something that needed lots of set up work and a few quality flaws...... Not the case at all.

Apart from being a lovely looking bass, this thing plays really well. The neck action is very impressive and the overall playability is that of a much more expensive instrument. Tonality and sound is also good. It's a big thumbs up from me.

Finally, a shout out to Thomann for their levels of customer service and speed of delivery.

If you are considering trying out fretless playing but don't want to break the bank then this is the instrument for you.

This was my first Harley Benton and my first fretless and I have to say I am very impressed with the the whole buying experience.

In terms of looks this bass is stunning. The paintwork is spot on with no marks or blemishes at all.

Playing comfort: it's nicely balanced and sits well on the strap for standing playing.

The slim jazz neck is a delight to play. I have small hands but this neck is very comfortable for me. The fret lines make it so much easier for the novice fretless player to get awesome tones.
It is a touch on the heavy side but that's what you get with a good quality ash body.

There are a some issues that mean I can't quite give it 5 stars.
1. Setup; the neck is perfectly straight with no relief which is exactly how it should be for a fretless. However, the action is set too high and the nut slots need to be deeper to bring the strings closer to the fingerboard. It has the same nut and slots as a fretted jazz. The strings are flat rather than radiused to match the fingerboard radius. This is stuff that I can fix but not everyone has the tools.

2. Shielding / earhing: there is a significant amount of pickup hum unless the volume controls are even for both pickups. Again a fairly easy fix although it does entail taking the bass apart to shield all the cavities with either copper foil or conductive paint and ensuring the earth wire to the bridge is making good contact.

3. Strings: the bass is factory fitted with D'darrio round wounds which are of course really good strings. However, round wounds are not ideal for the fretless fingerboard. I would prefer to see them fitted with flats or pressure wounds. I replaced mine with D'darrio nylon wounds which give awesome warm tones that suit my playing style very nicely.

Overall this is an exceptional instrument for the price and I do recommend it.