Harley Benton HBV 990BCF 4/4 Electric Violin

I decided to buy an electric violin one day. Never played a violin before but made my mind up and then started browsing.

I looked at loads online between £50 and £150 and did some research watching online tutorials and reviews. In the end I decided to get this one for the following reasons.

It has a proper jack output. I never realised until I did some research, some have mini jack outs. can you imagine such a thing? just think how angry you'd be to unpack a new instrument and find it takes a mini jack!?. They don't say on the specs on this site but one of the HB models looked like it had a mini jack from the pic.

It comes wit a carbon fibre bow. not all do and since I'm a complete beginner I have no idea what material is best but I'm a musician and a motorcyclist so I know that anything that's made of carbon fibre is inherently cool. In fact it looks a bit plasticky but it's black so from a distance looks cool.

It's not too heavy. I considered buying the Stagg violin. a little cheaper in the UK and I saw the Online Violin tutor give it a good review but although it looks cool, there's quite a lot of wood to it and apparently a bit heavy. I had no idea how much the weight would be an issue but now I have this model I realise it would be hard to learn.

It looks cool. all the available finishes look awesome. I couldn't decide which one to buy. although carbon fibre was one of the options so obviously I picked that. The Stagg model looks good too (it's in the shape of a big "S") but at the same time advertises its cheapness. This doesn't give away the make so looks like an expensive yamaha model.

Comes with everything. Most do I know but you get everything including a decent case. The headphones are the worst headphones I have ever shared a room with but I won't mark them down on that because chances are you own better headphones anyway, even if they're the ones that came with your iPhone. I think maybe they could save a couple of cents by not bothering.

I can play (a bit)! I spent a day watching tutorials learning how to hold the bow and where fingers go etc and after 24 hours had recorded myself playing a fairly decent violin line on aversion of "Lux Aeterna" I'm working on. OK it's the pat played on one string but I'm happy.

The reasons I haven't scored it 5:

The shoulder rest is really good, I need to use it but it does tend to fall out. not a big issue just a slight annoyance.

There's no circuit break on the jack. This means if you unplug it you need to remember to switch it off. I took mine out today and I'd left it on overnight. That said, the battery still seems ok.

It's cheap. Therefore there's bound to be corners cut but I'm not experienced enough to spot these yet. Probably an expensive set of strings might improve it 100% in which case it might still be an instrument that grows with me.

I had to wait for nearly a month from making the decision to it coming in stock but I'm glad I did although sad I haven't spent that month playing violin. Hopefully stock won't be a problem if you're thinking about this now. I took a break from recording violin to write this. I use lots of Logic Pro orchestral sounds in my compositions but having the option to accent my strings exactly how I want is amazing. I have many years of learning to do now though...

I played acoustic violin a few years ago and I wanted to pick it up again but with an electric violin, and since I didn't want to spend too much money before I know if I like it I bought this by chance.

I'm happy to say I'm very satisfied and I love my new violin! I think it actually has pretty good sound, nothing amazing but still playable. It has somewhat of the typical "nasal" sound electric violins get, but it's really not that bad, and in addition it produces a pretty thick sound. I honestly like the sound it makes!

Quality wise it's not bad, but it's not perfect either. The neck is actually pretty rough and seems to be untreated wood. The carbon look seems to be just a glued decal, which is fine as long as it doesn't tear up. The shoulder rest is in my opinion worthless and one do well in investing in a proper one.
This being said it's pretty rugged, the frame is bolted in place instead of glued, and it has a solid feeling. It feels good to hold and play on, and it feels like I can go "metal" on it! :)

Additionally the bow feels good and has a nice curvature, and the case feels great and is of good quality.

For conclusion I say that for this price it really surprised me and even exceeded my expectations! I really enjoy playing it and it feels really good.
This is a great purchase if you're looking for something affordable to get into electric violins.

I bought this as I used to play violin as a child and wanted to get back into it.
I needed an option that could be played in an appointment without bothering the neighbors to much and read up a bit on different options, mainly from Harley Benton.
Admittedly I haven't used it very much or frequently since I bought it (~4 years ago) except the first few months, but it still works without issue whenever I feel like playing.
I'm sure one would notice a difference if compared with a more expensive instrument, but this violin is excellent value for a beginner or even a more advanced player that needs an alternative to practice at home.

I've ran it through both headphones and my guitar amp. It sounded fine on headphones but a bit shrill through the amp. That is likely due to my horrible technique, and the fact that I didn't bother to mess around with the EQ very much.

The supplied hardcase is excellent. My only gripe is that the shoulder rest has to be removed for it to fit (this is normal, of I recall my childhood correctly though) but there isn't really any good place to put it; you have to store it next to the violin, making it rattle around when transporting the case.
I have done this several times, honestly not as carefully as I probably should be at times, but have had no issues because of it, so it should not be a concern.

In conclusion it's great value, especially at this price point. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for their first electric violin, a good practice violin, a backup instrument or as the first violin for a beginner.