Harley Benton B-35NT Acoustic Bass Series

Comprei esse instrumento para fazer um teste e acabei me surpreendendo com a qualidade de som. Primeira coisa que fiz foi tirar os traste pra deixar Fretless e coloquei as cordas flatwound também dá Harley Benton. O som ficou muito brutal, realmente me surpreendeu a qualidade do som tanto acústico quanto plugado. Mesmo sendo um instrumento barato e as cordas flatwound da mesma marca também as mais baratas vendidas aqui, esta combinação ficou impecável. Acabei por usar este instrumento para gravar o baixo para uma música e realmente me surpreendeu a qualidade do som. Pra quem quer ter um instrumento acústico nessas condições fretless concordas flatwound gastando pouco, esta é a melhor opção ao meu ver. Pra mim valeu a pena!

Confesso que estava à espera de menos, mas a Harley Benton já me habituou a oferecer mais valor do que o preço sugere. Este baixo revelou-se bastante versátil e confortável, com uma ação ligeiramente alta, mas ainda assim equilibrada.

O ponto mais fraco é a parte eletrónica, captador/pré-amplificador, com um som ligeiramente metálico e algum ruído na captação. No entanto, usando a saída XLR não se nota nada. Penso que, com uma simples mudança de cordas, o instrumento ganhe uma sonoridade menos metálica. Curiosamente, as cordas de origem ficaram mais agradáveis depois de algumas utilizações.
No geral, estou bastante contente com o resultado. Este baixo é sobretudo usado em contexto de igreja, para acompanhar viola e piano acústicos e nesse contexto, o instrumento brilha.
Gostei tanto dele que, estou seriamente a equacionar adquirir também a versão FL Fretless do baixo...

Sound:
Overall sound is actually quite good. The purely acoustic sound from the body is really nice and fat and the little metallic buzz from strings and frets add a bit of sharper edge or "presence" to it.

But the bad thing is, that the buzz from frets and strings becomes a bit annoying when played through amp or PA, because the buzzing sound cuts over the top of everything. But that can be overcome by cutting the high frequencies with EQ or some high-gating, so it doesn't become that much of an issue.

Features:
Features are better than good, when compared to the low price.
To have both, plug and XLR-connections is a really nice feature.
Built-in tuner is also a very convenient, with LED's helping to tune when playing in a dark corner of a some smoky pub. The tuners display is not lit, but that is something you can live with.

Also the 5-band equalizer is really good thing to have. When playing in those pub's, where you have to do the mixing by yourself, you can make adjustments to the sound straight from the bass itself and you don't need to tumble your way to the mixer.

Only bad thing in features is, that the battery is drained really fast if left in it's socket. And when the battery is dead, so is all the electronics including the pickup. But you should always have an extra battery in the gig bag anyway.

What comes to the dimensions and measures of the instrument, that is always a personal matter. What comes to my preferences, I really like the quite thin neck profile. The neck overall felt really comfortable and "fits" to my hand perfectly. The space between the strings is a bit narrower than in my two electric basses, but that is something I got used to really quick.

Quality:
Price-quality ratio is really good in this one. The crafting and finishing is good, no flaws, no sharp ends on frets or anything. It needed no adjustments, I basically took it to a gig fresh out of box and had no troubles. Well, new battery was needed, but that was it.

Overall:
Good instrument with balanced and unbalanced outputs, built-in tuner and 5-band EQ. Well worth the price. Best for home playing and occasional live performing. When played through pickups, needs cutting in high frequencies.