# NBD: So Cheap, They Forgot the Frets



## thraxil (Oct 30, 2016)

Had a project that I needed a fretless bass for, I grabbed one of these:






Harley Benton JB-40FL SB. 148 from Thomann.


















Have to say I'm pretty impressed.

It's a pretty blatant Jaco-style defretted Fender Jazz Bass clone (which is fine with me). Heavy ash body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. Nothing fancy.

Picking it up, you wouldn't mistake it for a super high end, expensive instrument. But... it plays fine, sounds great, looks decent, and gets the job done. I can find some small cosmetic flaws like side-dots that aren't perfectly centered, a chip in the rosewood where they installed the nut, and one of the pickup screws that wasn't really in straight. But nothing that affects playability or sound. Really nothing "wrong" with it in that sense.

The rosewood is super dry. Definitely going to hit that with some lemon oil as soon as I get a chance.

It is also quite neck-heavy; doesn't really want to sit nicely on my lap. I haven't tried putting a strap on it yet, so I don't know if that would fix it. It's also been a long time since I've played a regular Fender Jazz Bass, so I don't remember if that's just something they always do, or if the weight distribution on this one makes it worse than normal.

Like I said, overall, I'm definitely impressed. I've played basses that cost ten times as much that didn't play or sound as nice as this. If you're looking for a fretless and don't want to spend a lot, or you're looking for a cheap workhorse that you can take to gigs and not worry too much about, these are certainly worth looking at.


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## Hollowway (Oct 30, 2016)

Nice. I want to get a cheap jazz 4 string myself. Who/where makes these?


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## thraxil (Oct 30, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Nice. I want to get a cheap jazz 4 string myself. Who/where makes these?



Sorry, it's buried in there after the first picture. Harley Benton. Popular cheap brand in the EU. Don't know if they've made it over to the US at all (I don't remember ever running across them when I still lived over there). Got mine from Thomann.de: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm


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## TemjinStrife (Oct 30, 2016)

Squier did a fretless Jaco-alike at one point.


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## Miek (Oct 30, 2016)

I think they even used ebanol for those fretboards which is a hella cool fretless material.

Nice bass OP! Don't think I'll be dipping my toes in the world of fretless anytime soon but i've always loved the sound.


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## Rachmaninoff (Oct 30, 2016)

It's cheap and it gets the job done, so that's fine. HNBD, dude.


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## Hollowway (Oct 30, 2016)

thraxil said:


> Sorry, it's buried in there after the first picture. Harley Benton. Popular cheap brand in the EU. Don't know if they've made it over to the US at all (I don't remember ever running across them when I still lived over there). Got mine from Thomann.de: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm



Yeah, I saw that they were Harley Benton, but I didn't know if it was the lower end brand of another known company, or if they make them in a factory we know about in china/indo/korea.


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## Nlelith (Oct 31, 2016)

HNBD!

AFAIK, Harley Benton is Thomann's own brand. Not sure where they made, but most of the time people are pretty happy with them.


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## Faldoe (Dec 2, 2016)

Nice bass for the money.


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## Rizzo (Dec 3, 2016)

Been watching this same bass for a while. Sadly they don't have it left handed


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