JB-75MN NA Vintage Series : First bass, quite happy

I occasionally play some guitar. So here's the pandemic and I decided to give da BASS a go.

I remember playing only one song on a bass about 30 years ago. That was the only time I touched a bass. And you don't call that experience, right? ;)

I wanted a four-string bass that was simple to take care of, but something to be good enough to live up as (possibly) my only bass. After weeks of research I ended up choosing the JB-75.

When I took the instrument out of the wrapping, I noticed an irregularity in my breathing. The MN NA was gorgeous!

Out of the box, it didn't play nicely, though. While many buyers claimed that their instruments needed no setup, mine did need some work.

The trussrod needed about 3/4 turns that I applied over three takes (first bass setup), which took me three days. as it was suggested to leave the neck to settle, overnight.

To be fair, my city, Yerevan, has a different climate and is about 1000 meters higher than Burgebrach, so some truss rod correction should be expected, I guess.

The action was like 9 mm high!! Interestingly, I also bought a guitar with the bass, and it came with even higher action, almost to the top of its limit.

You'll need an extra allen key to fix the action height to your liking, as the bass comes with only the truss rod allen key.

BTW, It also comes with a basic guitar chord, which could serve well as a backup.

Tuning wise, on average, 2 random strings come out of tune every day.

The JB-75 feels like a solid (and heavy) tank that should withstand quite some action. The workmanship is remarkable. I cannot say much about the sound, as I don't have the trained ears. But it sounds decent. As long as I do the muting correctly :)

Thank you, Harley Benton team!