Harley Benton JB-75MN NA Vintage Series Reviews

Exceptional value for money

Got it earlier today and tested it at band rehearsal trough an amp. Looks good, plays good, sounds good and was set up pretty well.

Beginner's best friend.

It has everything one can wish in a bass with the classic "j" style, with one of the most competitive prices per valute/quality.

Nothing wrong with this, really.

For years, I've had only a Fender Precision Bass. I wanted to add the Jazz Bass sound to my repertoire. I had previously bought the most affordable Harley Benton acoustic and Strat-style electric guitars, so I knew that HB offers surprisingly good quality for the money. In this case, though, I decided not to go for the cheapest HB J-Bass, but the next level up, due to the presumably better pickups.

I was not disappointed. It looks beautiful, there is nothing wrong with the frets, the tuners work just fine (haven't really noticed a difference to the ones on my Fender tbh), the action and intonation were perfect out of the box, and it gives me that growling and percussive Jazz Bass sound I was craving. The only tiny little thing I had to adjust was the neck pickup: it was screwed in a bit slanted, so it was further away from the high strings, making them quieter than the lower strings. This was easily fixed with a screwdriver. Now, there really is nothing wrong with this bass (although the heavier weight of it might bother some people). Astonishing value for money!

Fantastic value

Plays like an expensive bass the quality and playability are great I've basses 4x the price and this is in part to them.

Amazing quality!

First off, I am an off-on again guitar player of 17 years (Yamaha acoustic). This was my first bass proper. Order came in a week or so .

I am not an expert on basses (beginner) but read reviews on this and went for it.

First thing when it came, I gave it a proper check and was reassured with the QC tag on it.

Ran my fingers up and down the fretboard and not one bit of fret sprout.

I will give it a good clean and polish in time.

The ash body is visually beautiful, not a flaw on it and feels solid and quite heavy. It just feels so premium.

Strings do buzz but needs a setup and new strings (which I got)

Haven't gotten an amp yet but looking forward to testing out once I do get one.

Highly recommend this bass

It's a jazz bass

I was really surprised when I plugged it in for the first time.

This feels/looks/sounds and plays like a higher end jazz bass.

All the hardware feels good

The roswell pickups sound pretty nice and they don't really buzz or hum to bad either.

There was no fretsprout or anything and the only setup I had to do was to adjust the truss rod a touch to lower the action.

I'm so happy about the natural finish on this thing, it looks absolutely beautiful.

It's is a bit on the heavier side when it comes to weight but I actually like that.

It's a jazz bass folks.

I don't really know what else to say.

Thrilled!

Can't believe how cheap this guitar is for the quality!

a no brainer for the money

I'm a guitarist who wanted to have a bass for recording. this instrument is great for that. obviously nothing exceptional about it but overall it's really good. if you want to be picky there are 3 things I noticed:

1. electronics are rather average to put it nicely - I mean it works fine, but it's not like my Lollar loaded guitars, and let's face it, rarely any guitar has a world class electronics these days. it does the job in my opinion

2. frets needed some love to be "pro" level - I left it with my luthier for set up and he did them and it shows, although it wasn't terrible or anything out of the box

3. my friends who are actual bass players said I could swap bridge for something better but this one isn't bad as well

4. it's really heavy - I think it does it good in terms of sound but I can't see myself standing with it for 2 hours or something

overall I'm really happy with the purchase, it's not a luxurious guitar but it's nice, looks great, does the job and I have no complaints whatsoever. highly recommended

Great Bass in General

Bought this because of the good reviews on YouTube, The wood grain pattern is awesome, the sound gives my fender a run for its money and it has a quality feel about it. I really could not be happier with this purchase

My first jazz

Fantastic..... Just fantastic.....I have several Hb basses but this is special...... For the money its a no brainer... Plenty of tonal range whilst keeping things simple with a vol /vol/ tone set up for the pick ups.... Bridge seems fine.... Tuners are a little cheap looking but do the job..... If you want a jazz you can't go wrong.......UNLESS you are feeble or have back trouble because bit is this one heavy soab.

You can't go wrong with it

So i feel it is time to fully review that amazing piece of instrument. I am not a bass player, i play the guitar and i wanted a bass to fill some recording gaps. I wanted something cheap and i found the JB. The looks is second to none, the playability straight from the box was spot on and the feel of the neck top ( for my taste) I play with it every single day! i just love it so much. Stays in tune like any good quality instrument. I haven't even changed the strings of it. Minor issue i will just say that it is a heavy instrument but since i always play sited it doesn't bother me at all. Just have that in mind. If are thinking to buy one then don't it is amazing!

Love it!

I love the finish!

But you should be aware that the level of quality of HB's can vary!

My new jb-75 in natural finish should be pretty much like my jb-75 in sunburst.

No way.. I have sanded frets and worked on intonation and trussrod, but.. Maybe I can make it play like its sunburst "brother".. My conclusion is that there are variations within the Harley Benton spectrum.. From "Fantastic" to "OK, but need some work"..

JE

Incredible Bass at an Incredible Price!

I bought this as my primary bass for worship/music ministry and it really impresses me! This bass delivers exactly the sound I was looking for and really exceeded my expectations. Right out of the box it was setup and ready to play live. I have easily logged well over a hundred hours on this since my purchase 7 months ago and it has definitely held up. I have nothing bad to say about it whatsoever. Having played other high end jazz basses previously, I can say with confidence this thing competes easily with other jazz basses in the $500 or more price range. This is the ultimate bass for beginners and veterans on a budget alike!

An amazing bass for a starter like me

Sounds amazing for the price, built amazing and smooth and i enjoy it maybe too much.. ive been playing it all day! The only downside i could find is that it has a little bit of neck dive, but i have never played bass before so i cant compare with past experience. I highly recommend this bass, an amazing bass with an amazing feel for the little money you spend on it.

Best jazz bass I have ever owned. Beats the big "F"

For a passive jazz bass,this has it all!

Super sound versatility, awesome neck, perfect action, quality materials, great looks, and a crazy low price. Great for any style, slap, funk, traditional, you name it. Came playable right out of the box, no set-up required

Just a FUN instrument!

Just purchased the enhanced 5 string version.

Excellent bass for beginners and advanced players.

First of all, this bass is gorgeous. It's stunning. It's amazingly beautiful.

It has an awesome sound too, very versatile thanks to those three knobs. It isn't as heavy as I thought and that's a positive point.

This is my very first bass but I'm certainly not buying a new one for a really long time. This one sounds awesome, looks awesome and feels awesome.

Completely recommended for beginners and even advanced players, I honestly can't find a single flaw on this bass.

Great bass

I couldn't be happier with this jazz bass. Looks great, plays great. Along with the single cut electric guitar, these were the beginning of many awesome Harley Bentons. I always recommend the product.

What the hey....!!!

This bass cam to my collection today. To be honest I did not expect much more than a playable, mediocre bass, but OH BOY was i surprised!

I have been an active bassist since the -80,s, and have owned a number of Fenders and Sadowskys. Now I play a Devon JB 5, but wanted a 4 sting. I decided to get a cheap bass which I could do some upgrading to. Since the pandemic has reduced gigs to the absolute minimum I could not spend a lot of money, so I took a chance on this Harley Benton.

I was immediately stunned by the building quality. Very nice 3 piece body that at a glance looks like one single. Smooth & thick C neck. Dead straight out of the box. Very fast! Good pots and surprisingly nice pups. sound very close to a late 70,s Fender Jazz. The bridge seems to work OK.

Some small cons: 2 frets are buzzing and needs some care. I play with a very low action, so others that play with higher action won´t notice this. Also, the frets are a bit rough. Easy to polish with some steel wool. Some fret ends needs to be fixed. The bass is heavy, but has good balance. There is no shielding of the electronics, so there might be some hum. Will fix this with some copper foil. The nut is of rather poor quality, but does the job so far.

This bass is a total surprise for a few bucks! I don´t think I wil do any mods on this one as I planned, except for some of the issues I have mentioned. It sounds and plays sweet.

What more can I say? I am deeply surprised!

About this bass

So, in my opinion this is the best, what you can buy for that money. This is my first bass, and i'm pleased with the purchase

Good, but could be better...

Bought as a spare bass in summer 2021

Amazing for the price

Fit and finish is great.

Looks like a £300+ bass

She's Heavy!

Holds tune well.

Slight tweak to set up made it really nice to play

MY ONLY ISSUE

Cavities within body are not shielded!

Terrible hum when not touching strings.

Solved this evening with patience and some 20mm wide copper tape.

I could gig this now...

Love the look, love the tone, love the price

Glad I bought it!