Harley Benton JB-75 SB Vintage Series Reviews

Best "bang for the buck"

Without any doubt it is the best deal you can make for a beginner's bass and it will serve you very well even if you are an experienced bass player that wants a perfectly fine and ready to play, out of the box, bass. The sound is very good and so is the finishing. I love the neck (but this is a personal opinion). The only concern is that if you are playing frequently, this bass may be a pain to your back since it is really heavy. Otherwise, it is just unbeatable for the price and for the amazing quality!

Would recommend (and I usually do) to any friend and would surely buy again if mine was stolen.

WOOW!!

I have this baby for almost 1 year now...and i can only say WOW,nice sound,perfect build,no sharp edges.

Pickups sound nice and warm.

The bass holds tune extremly well.

I cant find any mistakes!

For 140¤ is best!

If it has Fender name it would cost 1400¤!!

Just buy it,you wont regret!!!!

Beautiful Bass, Very high Quality

This bass is really incredible for the money. Fit and Finish is excellent, tone and playability is typical Jazz bass, Hardware is excellent. One downside, the weight...It is a bit on the heavy side...with that said, thats about the only drawback I find negative. Order one, you won't regret it.

It's heavy, but it has its charms.

I was impressed by the neck profile. It's rather thin and the finish is decently done that you can slid up and down the neck very comfortably. Despite the weight of the body, the headstock is rather big and thought there might be a neck dive, but no.I was very impressed by the neck.

However the body was very thick compare to normal Fenders. So, the contour of the body feels "off" and wasn't comfortable at all. Also the body material is Northern Heavy Ash and it's already heavy and the thickness of the body adds some more weight. I was surprised how you can feel the weight, but the instrument was made well balanced so you don't feel like it's extremely heavy. You will feel the weight especially when you're playing this bass while sitting. I sure did, because my leg fell asleep every time I played sitting down.

As for the sound, it's OK. The weight of the body compliments the tone/sustain, but I think you can change the pickup and electronics to beef it up a bit.

I am not sure about the gold saddles for the bass bridge though.

Great bass!

I really like this bass. Sounds great, easy to play.

Wow!

I have to say I?m astonished at what I received for ¤139. I?ve been playing bass for 45 years and have owned more than my fair share of top name brand basses. I bought this more out of curiosity than anything and expected to play it a few minutes and return it. No, that?s not what happened. First, the woods used to make this bass are excellent. Swamp Ash, Maple and Palissander are used by the best makers. The tailpiece is a good solid medium weight part with brass saddles. The pickups are very decent with plenty of lows, mids and highs. The pots are smooth and clean, no scratchy noise. The nut was cut perfectly. The finish is also very well done. The neck is a little thick for my liking but it plays smooth and fast. The bass overall is very solidly built. And yes, it is quite heavy. Not a problem for me since I sit while playing.

I did have a couple of minor issues with mine. The fret job was a bit lacking and I was getting a lot of fret buzz in a few places. The tuners are also not that good. I spent a couple hours leveling the frets, re-crowning them and buffing them, along with putting a set of Fender tuners on it that I had lying around. I have the knowhow and tools do this kind of work on guitars and it didn?t take long or much effort to fix these issues. This is now my go-to fretted bass when I?m not playing my Ric 4001v63.

Despite the minor issues with the bass, I?m still giving it 5 stars. You simply can?t buy a better instrument for the price. Oh, and did I mention this is a great looking bass? ;-)

Everything perfect except one big problem

This bass is lovely to play, looks great, and the bridge pickup sounds great to me. Nice and clear. The only bad thing is that it showed up with the neck pickup just not working at all... Just no sound, and its not just me being stupid it actually doesn't work.

Why go through all the trouble of assembling and wiring up a bass and not test it for ten seconds after?

I'll take it to my tech and get it working I hope. Just bear in mind you get what you pay for.

Quality Bass

Had this bass for about a year now. Thought I would give an honest review after road testing it. Firstly at this price point I really do not believe you could get a better quality instrument.

I have been playing guitar for about 20 years and fancied getting a cheap bass to mess about with.

Initial thoughts were that it was alot better quality than I had expected for the price. Its not a Rickenbacker bass but it easily of comparable quality to a £300-£400 range guitar, quite honestly I dont know how these guys are making a profit. The bass has full binding and is really well balanced some people complain about the weight but I have les pauls weighing in at roughly the same (maybe a bit lighter) Personally I dont see this as an issue if you have a good quality strap.

The wilkinson pickups are unbelievable which produce a very wide range of usable sounds, astounding really given the price.

As previously mentioned the guitar has full binding and absolutely no rough edges. The D'Addario strings are a nice touch. All I had to do was give a slight adjustment to the truss rod and saddles which I would do with any new guitar. The neck is a satin finish and feels brilliant and the fingerboard mother of pearl inlays are quality.

The only thing I could criticise is that the jack plug fitting is a little flimsy but saying that when it comes loose the cable stays attached and there is no loss of sound quality, even so at this price it is a very minor thing.

This guitar is a real pleasure to play and I would definitely gig with it with no concerns.

For the price this guitar is of exceptional build quality and a very good standard, I would of been happy to pay three times the amount, also it really is beautiful and the finish is unreal.

If you are thinking about buying a cheap bass or something to gig then this bass is an absolute no brainer. I am probably going to buy another with a maple neck because I am so impressed.

I have owned good and bad cheap and expensive guitars and this is an absolute gem. If you are thinking about buying this bass guitar then go for it I guarantee you wont be disappointed. :-)

For the money...

For the money, its great. It plays well and feels good however its just lacking a bit of high end twang compared to other bases I have owned and played. These basses however are many times the price so that is to be expected. It is really good for the price though!

harley benton jb=75sb rw jazz bass

I bought this bass based on its reviews,and all I can say is that I still cannot believe that a bass of this quality can be sold at such a low price.I can assure you I am no novice and have been playing guitar and bass for many years and this bass ticks all the boxes.ie.great quality and value for your money and plays great and was well set up straight out of the box.Thanks.

Great bass

For many years I have longed for a 70's style block inlay Jazz Bass however an example of the original item is well out of my price range and even the reissues cost more than I care to spend. When I happened to come across this by chance I knew I had to buy it there and then.

The bass arrives well wrapped and padded (Wrapped in a foam bag, double boxed and padded with air pillow padding). All it required was to bring the strings up to pitch and it was good to go.

I thought there had to be a catch considering the budget price, however I cannot find one. My example is a two piece ash body with a beautiful grain that can be seen through the yellow stain. The neck has real block inlay (not stickers) and cream binding. The bridge is a more substantial than the usual budget offerings and comes with the bonus of brass saddles. Wilkinson brand alnico pickups with waxed cloth wiring are a great addition especially at this price point. My only modification is to fit a black pickguard ? when removing the red tort guard I was surprised that the two pickup cavities are the only routing cavities on the body. Quite often I seen jazz bodies where the neck pickup cavity is connected to the control panel cavity with a channel that is obscured by the pickguard ? the result of this is that this bass will look fine with the pickguard should you prefer this look.

The bass is nicely balanced on a strap with no neck dive and produces all the usual jazz bass tones. The controls are smooth with a pleasing level or resistance when turned. The tuners do their job.

As others have mentioned, it does have some weight to it but nothing that is onerous to me. (My example weighs 9.7lbs).

Would happily recommend.

Today I received a Harley Benton JB-75 too, the sunburst version with a rosewood fingerboard and fancy blocks and binding.

I was familiar with the pups, as I had installed them on a SX jazz bass I had. The PUs might not be your thing if what you're after is supervintage tone ? I am after a decent sounding Jazz Bass, which is the epitome of the concept of "good enough" in bass world. Yet, the bass does sound great, so I guess it goes far beyond that.

Speaking of which, I must say that I found the build quality surprisingly good. Compared to the SX. Except for the pickguard, which truly is ugly (and will, in due course, nay, immediately, replaced with a black one), the bass is reasonably well made. The sunburst looks more or less the same as the SX. The body is, I think, two pieces, reasonably well matched. The neck has a satin finish, unlike the SX, which may or may not entice you. It does feel excellent.

The neck is, perhaps, a bit bulkier than a regular J, but then again, I like it this way (I'd very much have a P neck on every four stringer). The nut is low and the fret job is excellent. I am playing with basically no relief and my action on the G string is a hair less than 1.5 mm at the 20th fret, perhaps 2 on the E string. I have a reasonably light touch, but I must say that, of all the basses I have had, few could handle something like it. My Status S-1 just couldn't, to name a classic name. I don't know what they do to these new guitars, but when I think to my first bass around the year 2000, I am just baffled.

The bass arrived well packed, in tune and was definitely playable out of the box (I only set it up because I need something to tinker with, and I prefer a lower action).

Finally, I don't know if anyone noticed yet, but the saddles on the bridge are look like brass. It reminds me of the Squier Classic Vibe series bridge. The bass does have a lot of sustain, albeit with the usual dead spot at the 5th fret of the G string -- not worse than that on much more expensive counterparts.

Bottom line, I would use it in serious live or recording situations, no doubts on that. I will, however, have to replace the pickguard, or better yet cover it with something.

She's a beauty!

I had just joined a band and I was stuck for a bass - I had been using a signature series Ibanez I borrowed from a friend. I was pretty broke at the time, so I took a gamble and ordered the cheapest bass I could find. I was pretty aprehensive about it, I've played some pretty horrible basses in my time but I went with my gut (and the endless amount of good reviews).

For the price you pay, this bass is a masterpiece. The sound quality surpassed ALL of my expectations, not to mention it's absolutely gorgeous. I've been playing for 14 years and I've been through a lot of basses, I can't express enough how great this instrument is for the price.

There are some problems with the hardwawrd. It has been well broken in since I first received it and the jack screws seem prone to wear - twice I've had the jack itself come loose at gigs, requiring a quick screwdriver job to fix.

It is also quite heavy, which is tiresome for those longer shows.

Aside from that, I've had no problems. Well worth it. I just ordered the fretless version of this bass and I CANNOT wait to play her.

Happy bassing!

Excellent bass for the low price.

I've had this bass now for a month now and I love her! Came within 4 days from order, and arrived very well packaged. When I removed the plastic cover to protect the bass, and she was all shining I knew I made the right choice on whether to buy this bass or not. The build quality is top notch. Great, sturdy American Ash body (better then any Squire out they!) and a good chunk of Canadian Maple for the neck. The neck to body to joint is also really good with no gaps at all. All hardware is great too and don't feel to cheap (the tuners are slightly stiff when tuning.)

The setup and sound is really good. Didn't have to adjust anything (was even nearly still in tune!) Now I like a slight fret buzz when playing and this does buzz because of the low action. Can easily be raised to conquer this but then harder to play so I haven't bothered and I like the sound I get with the buzz. The pickups are top quality. I had a pair of cheaper Wilkinson's is my 1st bass and these blow them out of the water! Much more clarity and response. Mixed wiht the low action, sounds killer. The neck feels excellent also on the hand and moving up and down the neck feels great.

So all in all, I'm very pleased with this bass. How they sell this for under a £100 is beyond me considering the hardware alone ranks up to a £100! I would defo buy a other Harley Benton Vintage bass if this ever got damaged or stolen .

Love that bass

I am playing bass more than 1 year, but i am playing guitars since 12 maybe, then i start to went to music school so music are my passion. At first i have Tokai P-bass, but i very want to have a Jazz bass, so i sold it and buy this Harley benton JB-75 vintage series jazz bass.

It looks very nice, every day i am enjoying it! that bass is hanging on wall in my room. I want to say that in live that bass looks better than in photos.

Sound great, good wood, good pickups, true jazz bass sound. and btw good setup out og the box. good bridge factory setup.

BUT, it is a little heavy.. for young child who is starting playing bass it can be to heavy, if you will standing with it. it weights 5kg. I am 21 years old, for me it's okey it will not break my back.. i fill comfortable with it, so if you are not kid it's okey :)

you can check my videos of that bass there - https://www.youtube.com/user/GEEKMADE

Chunky!

Not sure what I was expecting, but it's beautiful.

Big solid lump of ash for a body, nice burst on it it. Neck with inlays looks excellent.

I actually couldnt fault it. I would gig with this straight out the bag.

The decent strings on it was a nice touch, makes things very playable quickly.