Harley Benton B-650FL BK Progressive Series

Got this instrument in summer-autumn of 2018. Got better basses since then, but still keep coming to this one few times a week to practice (mostly unplugged) - it just feels great. Maybe good flatwounds add to the feel (stringed with around-half-the-bass-price Thomastik JF 346 - they don't feel loose and even kinda growl (open E, low-B) on this bass when unplugged).

Pros:
- price: can you find cheaper fretless that doesn't fall apart in your hangs and requires almost zero maintenance (except truss-rod adjustments) for a couple of years?
- build quality: instrument feels solid, nothing's loose, everything can be set up just fine - quite low action, intonation, neck relief / truss-rod etc
- very comfortable and pleasant feel-wise: some people complain about neck dive - did not even notice that even when playing standing (maybe not all the pieces of wood are equal)
- narrow string spacing: matter of taste, but I really like that (and IMO it makes sense for fretless as it's mostly played fingerstyle)
- smooth fingerboard: no pores at all (have another fretless with panga panga and it's a really big deal)
- powerful fat lows: long notes or staccato ones - even uncompressed homemade direct input recording sounds nice and fat in the mix

Non-irritating cons / notes:
- tuners feel cheap, but do their job: some tuners "slide" a bit before string actually starts moving
- nut is not "slippery" enough even for flats: need to pull/stretch the string while tuning or it can go slightly flat after a couple of relatively aggressive plucks
- fingerboard feels quite "soft" and easy to scratch, I suggest stringing it with flats from the day one

Cons:
- clarity/midrange: not enough clarity in lower register - you can hear some midrange-y overtones unplugged, but they're not picked up when plugged; fast riffing / galloping in lower registers sounds muddy and indistinguishable; haven't tried that with rounds though (but I think it wouldn't improve it much - IMO, pickups are to blame)
- pickups/electronics can clip the signal if you're digging into strings quite hard - IMO, worth replacing, the bass itself is well-built and resonates fine - just need to overcome the mental barrier to pour basically as much as this entire bass costs for normal (not the best) pickups
- built-in EQ is... Meh. Don't think you can make the bass sound better with it (even the opposite), so it's pretty much useless; better play with pickup balance instead

TL;DR: very usable bass with some minor issues.

I kind of missed having a fretless, even though my current band has little use for one. This one seemed to fit the bill nicely and wouldn't break the bank. After a few days my conclusions are as follows:

- Fit & Finish: I can't really fault it in any way. The paint has no flaws, the neck feels nice and smooth.

- Sound: overall very usable. The stock strings suck and were immediately replaced by proper ones. I like passive mode somewhat better than active, but the passive tone control has very little effect and is next to useless.

- Setup and hardware: The bridge feels like it's made from hard pastic but does the job. It's a candidate for upgrading though. The nut suffered a minor malfunction when I replaced the strings: the end at the B string broke off. The string stayed in place and I was able to glue it back, so no biggie for now, but definitely an upgrade candidate. The fretboard is super smooth and feels good to the touch. I could set the action fairly low without any issues. Setting intonation also was easy. Accessing the truss rods requires removal of the strings. I prefer having the truss rod access at the body end. The rods operate smoothly and effectively. The tuners also feel kind of plastic-y but work as expected.

So far I like the bass. For 160 euro you can't really expect it to be perfect in every way, and you should factor in some 30 to 40 euro for proper strings, but then for 200 euro you get a very usable package. I think I'll keep it around for a bit...

In general, it is an amazing instrument for the price, it has good sound, it doesn't feel cheap and it is probably the best 6 string fretless bass in that price range. The only small issue i found is the cutaway because it is a little hard to reach the high register of the neck without stretching the hand. Aside from that, everything in this bass works fine.

The battery is very easy to remove since you don't require a screwdriver, so you can always remove it if you aren't going to play for extended periods of time; it also has a pull/push knob to swap between active and passive mode. The only feature i would like to see in this bass is a mid knob for the pre amp.

I have always wanted to mess around with a six string bass but I never wanted to invest a boat load of cash to do so. I was intrigued by the retail pricing of this instrument, especially considering the features it has. I prefer a fretless bass after I was in a motorcycle accident that cost me a leg as well as a broken forearm and a couple of snapped fingers. The pressure needed to play a fretless bass was difficult for me after recovery so I opted for a fretless. The one gripe I had was the strings that came on the bass were pretty rough to me. I prefer a lighter gauge as well as the strings being flatwould, especially of a fretless model. This thing sounds amazing. Active pickups that absolutely scream! I have four other electric basses, all outfitted with EMG pickups of farious configurations. This bass performs right on par with all of them, even on the one I did an 18V upgrade on! The action is low and every note rings out beautifully. I have healed a lot after my accident and I think I may snag up one of the J-Bass style natural finish Bentons. This bass performs as good if not better than many other basses I have played/owned. Worth the scratch without a doubt! If you're on the fence, just pull the trigger and be ready to be pleasantly surprised!

I've owned a few HB basses, and this is one of the better ones. I'm not reviewing this bass as a sub 200 Euro bass, but objectively as in if it truly useable or not.

The build quality isn't bad. The bridge kind of feels like plastic or even hard rubber, but it does the job and holds the intonation. At least the saddle feels like real metal. The nut feels completely like a piece of cheap plastic, but then again, it is holding up so far.

The fretboard is way too soft to my liking. I feel like the fretboard held this bass back in sounding more professional. The pick ups...... They will be changed as soon as I decide that it is worth the money to upgrade this bass.

I play this always in passive. Active mode sounds kinda weird, and I can't put my finger on exactly why. Passive/active don't really have any differences on this bass anyway. The knobs feel great to turn, EXCEPT for the volume knob. A little whisper of wind could turn the knob.

Overall, a useable bass. If someone you don't care much for wants a 6 string fretless, this is it.

I am not that experienced and this is only my second bass, so I don't have much to compare with. But I really like this bass, I like the sound, the fact that it got both active and passive mode and, I like the string spacing, which is really comfortable for me, who only played 4-stringed bass before, and of course, the price was really good too.
I was worried about B string, but it is okay actually, after I changed strings and set the bass up in sounds just like the others. I couldn't fix the little buzz on the first "fret" on B-string, but it's fine by me and also it's the only spot with buzz.
The things I didn't like are that volume knobs feels really loose, it does it job, but feels weird comparing to other. The tuning pegs feels cheap and I need to tune this bass more often, then my previous one. It also have a neckdive, yes.
But overall I really enjoy this bass, it feels pretty comfortable and sounds good.