I?ve always been interested in the concept of Ubasses since it first came on the market. However, the first ones were quite expensive, at least for me too expensive, to just buy out of curiosity, and to fiddle with at home. By coincidence I stumbled upon a forum where they were discussing the Harley Benton Ubasses, and it got pretty good reviews. Unfortunately at the time, they were sold out. I e-mailed the thomann customer support, I got a quick response about when the Ubass would be back in stock, and so I waited! I have to admit I often checked the website to see if they were back in stock, and when they were I immediately ordered one.
I loved it from day one. When it arrived in the box, it wasn?t tuned, and it takes some time to get used to the strings, so, it took quite some playing to get the strings ?settled in?. But after that, the strings kept tune very well! The built-in tuner does what it?s supposed to do, however it has some trouble picking up the E-string. For me this isn?t a problem, I usually just tune the G-string, and then do the others by hearing.
The instrument itself feels quite solid, the tuners are light (so no neck dive) and operate very smoothly. The finish is OK, nothing more, nothing less, it?s very well built, the neck is comfortable to play, no sharp frets, the fretboard is a nice big slab of rosewood. But it kind of feels like something is missing, I guess I don?t really take to the satin finish. But, seeing as this is a budget instrument, I?m not complaining!
About the sound, acoustically, it?s louder than I expected, loud enough to use at home, perfect to play along some songs on the computer. And it just sounds great! Now amplified, the buttons of the pre-amp are quite small, and feel a bit cheap, but again, for that price, I?m not complaining. When amplified it sounds HUGE, I couldn?t believe the tones I got out of that small instrument! The tone and volume buttons do what they are supposed to do, although in my opinion, it?s best to keep the tone button somewhere in the middle stand, when it?s completely open it sounds quite shrill. But hey, whatever floats your boat!
In conclusion, I?ve had this UBass for a year now, and it still gets a lot of playtime! It?s just easy to pick up, sit on the couch and play some riffs, or play along with the music. It takes some getting used to playing it, but it is so much fun! Like stated before, there are some minor flaws, like the finish and the pre-amp, but it doesn?t really bother me, and if it would bother you, those are 2 things you can adjust relatively easily.
In my opinion you get a lot of bang for the buck! If you are interested in a Ubass, or just want one to fiddle with at home, but don?t want to spend hundreds of euros, this bass is the way to go!
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