Harley Benton HBZ-2005FL NT Deluxe Series

I had seen and heard some good thing from HB and wanted to give them a shot. I know that "economical import" brands are hit or miss. I feel like I got a miss this time. The fit finish of the bass is OKAY. There are some sanding and lacquer flaws that I was willing to overlook because they aren't anywhere my hands go. My real concerns are with the electronics. The single-coil pickups are horribly noisy anywhere other than at 50/50 blend, and they aren't CLEAN there. This is bad because they seem to be a proprietary shape so I can't easily replace them. There is also a VERY prominent grounding issue. Any time my hands leave the strings there's an afwul sizzle, at all pickup positions. The input jack also has dead spots and is extremely stiff. I checked the electronics cavity and the flaws really show here. The routing is abysmal. There was NO grounding tape, paint, or anything of the sort. Not in the cavity or even on the cavity cover. All of these issues make any kind of recording impossible, basically at any professional level. And you can forget trying to use any heavy compression.

It's playable. It sounds good all things considered. It's feels nice in the hands. You get what you pay for.